Presidential Documents

5897

Federal Register 

Vol. 69, No. 25

Friday, February 6, 2004

Title 3— 

The President 

Executive Order 13327 of February 4, 2004

Federal Real Property Asset Management 

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, including section 121(a) of title 40, 

United States Code, and in order to promote the efficient and economical 

use of Federal real property resources in accordance with their value as 

national assets and in the best interests of the Nation, it is hereby ordered 

as follows: 

Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to promote the 

efficient and economical use of America’s real property assets and to assure 

management accountability for implementing Federal real property management reforms. Based on this policy, executive branch departments and agencies shall recognize the importance of real property resources through increased management attention, the establishment of clear goals and objectives, 

improved policies and levels of accountability, and other appropriate action. 

Sec. 2. Definition and Scope. (a) For the purpose of this executive order, 

Federal real property is defined as any real property owned, leased, or 

otherwise managed by the Federal Government, both within and outside 

the United States, and improvements on Federal lands. For the purpose 

of this order, Federal real property shall exclude: interests in real property 

assets that have been disposed of for public benefit purposes pursuant 

to section 484 of title 40, United States Code, and are now held in private 

ownership; land easements or rights-of-way held by the Federal Government; 

public domain land (including lands withdrawn for military purposes) or 

land reserved or dedicated for national forest, national park, or national 

wildlife refuge purposes except for improvements on those lands; land held 

in trust or restricted fee status for individual Indians or Indian tribes; and 

land and interests in land that are withheld from the scope of this order 

by agency heads for reasons of national security, foreign policy, or public 

safety. 

(b) This order shall not be interpreted to supersede any existing authority 

under law or by executive order for real property asset management, with 

the exception of the revocation of Executive Order 12512 of April 29, 1985, 

in section 8 of this order. 

Sec. 3. Establishment and Responsibilities of Agency Senior Real Property 

Officer. (a) The heads of all executive branch departments and agencies 

cited in sections 901(b)(1) and (b)(2) of title 31, United States Code, and 

the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall designate among their senior 

management officials, a Senior Real Property Officer. Such officer shall 

have the education, training, and experience required to administer the 

necessary functions of the position for the particular agency. 

(b) The Senior Real Property Officer shall develop and implement an 

agency asset management planning process that meets the form, content, 

and other requirements established by the Federal Real Property Council 

established in section 4 of this order. The initial agency asset management 

plan will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget on a date 

determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. In 

developing this plan, the Senior Real Property Officer shall: 

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(i) identify and categorize all real property owned, leased, or otherwise managed by the agency, including, where applicable, those 

properties outside the United States in which the lease agreements 

and arrangements reflect the host country currency or involve alternative lease plans or rental agreements; 

(ii) prioritize actions to be taken to improve the operational and financial management of the agency’s real property inventory; 

(iii) make life-cycle cost estimations associated with the prioritized actions; 

(iv) identify legislative authorities that are required to address these 

priorities; 

(v) identify and pursue goals, with appropriate deadlines, consistent 

with and supportive of the agency’s asset management plan and 

measure progress against such goals; 

(vi) incorporate planning and management requirements for historic 

property under Executive Order 13287 of March 3, 2003, and for 

environmental management under Executive Order 13148 of April 

21, 2000; and 

(vii) identify any other information and pursue any other actions necessary to the appropriate development and implementation of the 

agency asset management plan.

(c) The Senior Real Property Officer shall be responsible, on an ongoing 

basis, for monitoring the real property assets of the agency so that agency 

assets are managed in a manner that is: 

(i) consistent with, and supportive of, the goals and objectives set 

forth in the agency’s overall strategic plan under section 306 of 

title 5, United States Code; 

(ii) consistent with the real property asset management principles developed by the Federal Real Property Council established in section 

4 of this order; and 

(iii) reflected in the agency asset management plan.

(d) The Senior Real Property Officer shall, on an annual basis, provide 

to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Administrator 

of General Services: 

(i) information that lists and describes real property assets under the 

jurisdiction, custody, or control of that agency, except for classified 

information; and 

(ii) any other relevant information the Director of the Office of Management and Budget or the Administrator of General Services may 

request for inclusion in the Government-wide listing of all Federal 

real property assets and leased property.

(e) The designation of the Senior Real Property Officer shall be made 

by agencies within 30 days after the date of this order. 

Sec. 4. Establishment of a Federal Real Property Council. (a) A Federal 

Real Property Council (Council) is established, within the Office of Management and Budget for administrative purposes, to develop guidance for, and 

facilitate the success of, each agency’s asset management plan. The Council 

shall be composed exclusively of all agency Senior Real Property Officers, 

the Controller of the Office of Management and Budget, the Administrator 

of General Services, and any other full-time or permanent part-time Federal 

officials or employees as deemed necessary by the Chairman of the Council. 

The Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and 

Budget shall also be a member and shall chair the Council. The Office 

of Management and Budget shall provide funding and administrative support 

for the Council, as appropriate. 

(b) The Council shall provide a venue for assisting the Senior Real Property 

Officers in the development and implementation of the agency asset management plans. The Council shall work with the Administrator of General 

Services to establish appropriate performance measures to determine the 

effectiveness of Federal real property management. Such performance measures shall include, but are not limited to, evaluating the costs and benefits 

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involved with acquiring, repairing, maintaining, operating, managing, and 

disposing of Federal real properties at particular agencies. Specifically, the 

Council shall consider, as appropriate, the following performance measures: 

(i) life-cycle cost estimations associated with the agency’s prioritized 

actions; 

(ii) the costs relating to the acquisition of real property assets by purchase, condemnation, exchange, lease, or otherwise; 

(iii) the cost and time required to dispose of Federal real property assets and the financial recovery of the Federal investment resulting 

from the disposal; 

(iv) the operating, maintenance, and security costs at Federal properties, including but not limited to the costs of utility services at 

unoccupied properties; 

(v) the environmental costs associated with ownership of property, including the costs of environmental restoration and compliance activities; 

(vi) changes in the amounts of vacant Federal space; 

(vii) the realization of equity value in Federal real property assets; 

(viii) opportunities for cooperative arrangements with the commercial 

real estate community; and 

(ix) the enhancement of Federal agency productivity through an improved working environment. The performance measures shall be 

designed to enable the heads of executive branch agencies to track 

progress in the achievement of Government-wide property management objectives, as well as allow for comparing the performance 

of executive branch agencies against industry and other public sector agencies.

(c) The Council shall serve as a clearinghouse for executive agencies 

for best practices in evaluating actual progress in the implementation of 

real property enhancements. The Council shall also work in conjunction 

with the President’s Management Council to assist the efforts of the Senior 

Real Property Officials and the implementation of agency asset management 

plans. 

(d) The Council shall be organized and hold its first meeting within 

60 days of the date of this order. The Council shall hold meetings not 

less often than once a quarter each fiscal year. 

Sec. 5. Role of the General Services Administration. (a) The Administrator 

of General Services shall, to the extent permitted by law and in consultation 

with the Federal Real Property Council, provide policy oversight and guidance for executive agencies for Federal real property management; manage 

selected properties for an agency at the request of that agency and with 

the consent of the Administrator; delegate operational responsibilities to 

an agency where the Administrator determines it will promote efficiency 

and economy, and where the receiving agency has demonstrated the ability 

and willingness to assume such responsibilities; and provide necessary leadership in the development and maintenance of needed property management 

information systems. 

(b) The Administrator of General Services shall publish common performance measures and standards adopted by the Council. 

(c) The Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Federal 

Real Property Council, shall establish and maintain a single, comprehensive, 

and descriptive database of all real property under the custody and control 

of all executive branch agencies, except when otherwise required for reasons 

of national security. The Administrator shall collect from each executive 

branch agency such descriptive information, except for classified information, 

as the Administrator considers will best describe the nature, use, and extent 

of the real property holdings of the Federal Government. 

(d) The Administrator of General Services, in consultation with the Federal 

Real Property Council, may establish data and other information technology 

(IT) standards for use by Federal agencies in developing or upgrading Federal 

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agency real property information systems in order to facilitate reporting 

on a uniform basis. Those agencies with particular IT standards and systems 

in place and in use shall be allowed to continue with such use to the 

extent that they are compatible with the standards issued by the Administrator. 

Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) The Director of the Office of Management 

and Budget shall review, through the management and budget review processes, the efforts of departments and agencies in implementing their asset 

management plans and achieving the Government-wide property management 

policies established pursuant to this order. 

(b) The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration shall, in consultation with the landholding agencies, develop legislative initiatives that seek to improve Federal real property management 

through the adoption of appropriate industry management techniques and 

the establishment of managerial accountability for implementing effective 

and efficient real property management practices. 

(c) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect 

the authority of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget with 

respect to budget, administrative, or legislative proposals. 

(d) Nothing in this order shall be construed to affect real property for 

the use of the President, Vice President, or, for protective purposes, the 

United States Secret Service. 

Sec. 7. Public Lands. In order to ensure that Federally owned lands, other 

than the real property covered by this order, are managed in the most 

effective and economic manner, the Departments of Agriculture and the 

Interior shall take such steps as are appropriate to improve their management 

of public lands and National Forest System lands and shall develop appropriate legislative proposals necessary to facilitate that result. 

Sec. 8. Executive Order 12512 of April 29, 1985, is hereby revoked. 

Sec. 9. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to improve the internal 

management of the executive branch and is not intended to, and does 

not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at 

law or in equity, against the United States, its departments, agencies, or 

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