II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 791 

To amend title 40, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of General 

Services to incorporate practices and strategies to reduce bird fatalities 

resulting from collisions with certain public buildings, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 17 (legislative day, MARCH 16), 2021 

Mr. BOOKER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend title 40, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of General Services to incorporate practices and 

strategies to reduce bird fatalities resulting from collisions with certain public buildings, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Bird Safe 

5 Buildings Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. USE OF BIRD-SAFE FEATURES, PRACTICES, AND 

2 STRATEGIES IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 40, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 3319. Use of bird-safe features, practices, and strat7 egies in public buildings 

8 ‘‘(a) CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATION, AND ACQUISI9 TION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS.—The Administrator of Gen10 eral Services (referred to in this section as the ‘Adminis11 trator’) shall incorporate, to the extent practicable, fea12 tures, practices, and strategies to reduce bird fatalities re13 sulting from collisions with public buildings for each public 

14 building— 

15 ‘‘(1) constructed; 

16 ‘‘(2) acquired; or 

17 ‘‘(3) of which more than 50 percent of the fa18 cade is substantially altered, as determined by the 

19 Commissioner of Public Buildings. 

20 ‘‘(b) DESIGN GUIDE.—The Administrator shall de21 velop a design guide to carry out subsection (a) that in22 cludes the following: 

23 ‘‘(1) Features for reducing bird fatalities result24 ing from collisions with public buildings throughout 

25 all construction phases, taking into account the 


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1 number of bird fatalities that occur at different 

2 types of public buildings. 

3 ‘‘(2) Methods and strategies for reducing bird 

4 fatalities resulting from collisions with public build5 ings during the operation and maintenance of those 

6 buildings, including installing interior, exterior, and 

7 site lighting. 

8 ‘‘(3) Best practices for reducing bird fatalities 

9 resulting from collisions with public buildings, in10 cluding— 

11 ‘‘(A) a description of the reasons for 

12 adopting the practices; and 

13 ‘‘(B) an explanation for the omission of a 

14 best practice identified under subsection (c). 

15 ‘‘(c) IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICES.—To carry out 

16 subsection (b)(3), the Administrator may identify best 

17 practices for reducing bird fatalities resulting from colli18 sions with public buildings, including best practices rec19 ommended by— 

20 ‘‘(1) Federal agencies with expertise in bird 

21 conservation; 

22 ‘‘(2) nongovernmental organizations with exper23 tise in bird conservation; and 

24 ‘‘(3) representatives of green building certifi25 cation systems. 


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1 ‘‘(d) DISSEMINATION OF DESIGN GUIDE.—The Ad2 ministrator shall disseminate the design guide developed 

3 under subsection (b) to all Federal agencies, subagencies, 

4 and departments with independent leasing authority from 

5 the Administrator. 

6 ‘‘(e) UPDATE TO DESIGN GUIDE.—The Adminis7 trator shall, on a regular basis, update the design guide 

8 developed under subsection (b) with respect to the prior9 ities of the Administrator for reducing bird fatalities re10 sulting from collisions with public buildings. 

11 ‘‘(f) EXEMPT BUILDINGS.—This section shall not 

12 apply to— 

13 ‘‘(1) any building or site listed, or eligible for 

14 listing, on the National Register of Historic Places; 

15 ‘‘(2) the White House and the grounds of the 

16 White House; 

17 ‘‘(3) the Supreme Court building and the 

18 grounds of the Supreme Court; or 

19 ‘‘(4) the United States Capitol and any building 

20 on the grounds of the Capitol. 

21 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than October 1 of 

22 each fiscal year, the Administrator, acting through the 

23 Commissioner of Public Buildings, shall certify to Con24 gress that the Administrator uses the design guide develVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:20 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S791.IS S791

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1 oped under subsection (b) for each public building de2 scribed in subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not later than October 1 of each fis4 cal year, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a re5 port that includes— 

6 ‘‘(1) the certification under subsection (g); and 

7 ‘‘(2) to the extent practicable, the number of 

8 bird fatalities that occurred as a result of a collision 

9 with the public buildings occupied by each Federal 

10 agency.’’. 

11 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

12 for chapter 33 of title 40, United States Code, is amended 

13 by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘3319. Use of bird-safe features, practices, and strategies in public buildings.’’. 

Æ 


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