I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1986 

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

Services to incorporate practices and strategies to reduce bird fatality 

resulting from collisions with certain public buildings, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2021 

Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself and Mr. GRIFFITH) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

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

strategies to reduce bird fatality 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 shall incorporate, to the extent practicable, 

11 features, practices, and strategies to reduce bird fatality 

12 resulting from collisions with public buildings for each 

13 public building— 

14 ‘‘(1) constructed; 

15 ‘‘(2) acquired; or 

16 ‘‘(3) of which more than 50 percent of the fa17 cade is substantially altered (in the opinion of the 

18 Commissioner of Public Buildings). 

19 ‘‘(b) DESIGN GUIDE.—The Administrator shall de20 velop a design guide to carry out subsection (a) that in21 cludes the following: 

22 ‘‘(1) Features for reducing bird fatality result23 ing from collisions with public buildings throughout 

24 all construction phases, taking into account the 

25 number of each such bird fatality that occurs at dif26 ferent types of public buildings. 


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

2 fatality resulting from collisions with public build3 ings during the operation and maintenance of such 

4 buildings, including installing interior, exterior, and 

5 site lighting. 

6 ‘‘(3) Best practices for reducing bird fatality re7 sulting from collisions with public buildings, includ8 ing— 

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

10 adopting such practices; and 

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

12 best practice identified pursuant to subsection 

13 (c). 

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

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

16 practices for reducing bird fatality resulting from colli17 sions with public buildings, including best practices rec18 ommended by— 

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

20 conservation; 

21 ‘‘(2) nongovernmental organizations with exper22 tise in bird conservation; and 

23 ‘‘(3) representatives of green building certifi24 cation systems. 


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

3 pursuant to subsection (b) to all Federal agencies, sub4 agencies, and departments with independent leasing au5 thority from the Administrator. 

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

8 developed pursuant to subsection (b) with respect to the 

9 priorities of the Administrator for reducing bird fatality 

10 resulting 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, shall certify to Congress that the Adminis24 trator uses the design guide developed pursuant to subVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1986.IH H1986

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1 section (b) for each public building described in subsection 

2 (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 each such bird fatality that occurred as a result of 

9 a collision with the public buildings occupied by the 

10 respective head of each Federal agency.’’. 

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

12 at the beginning of chapter 33 of title 40, United States 

13 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

14 item: 

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

Æ 


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