I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1643 

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

Services to incorporate bird-safe building materials and design features 

into public buildings, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2011 

Mr. QUIGLEY 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 bird-safe 

building materials and design features into 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 2011’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) a multi-agency report issued in 2009, enti2 tled ‘‘The State of the Birds, United States of 

3 America’’, provides the most comprehensive assess4 ment to date on the status of bird populations; 

5 (2) the multi-agency report concludes that near6 ly one-third of the Nation’s 800 bird species are en7 dangered, threatened, or in significant decline; 

8 (3) death from collisions with man-made struc9 tures is one of the most serious sources of avian 

10 mortality, and it is increasing; 

11 (4) not only are birds beautiful and interesting 

12 creatures that are eagerly welcomed by millions of 

13 Americans into their backyards every year, but birds 

14 also have an impact on the United States economy; 

15 (5) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 

16 has reported that birdwatchers contribute $36 billion 

17 annually to the United States economy, and birds 

18 naturally provide billions of dollars worth of pest 

19 control, benefitting farmers and consumers alike; 

20 (6) the U.S. Green Building Council has added 

21 bird-friendly language to the Leadership in Energy 

22 and Environmental Design (LEED) Reference 

23 Guide, which will have the impact of recognizing 

24 bird-friendly design in awarding LEED credits; 


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1 (7) bird-safe design features can be incor2 porated into new construction and major renovation 

3 projects at no extra cost, and existing buildings may 

4 be made bird-safe through the use of simple, low5 cost adaptations; 

6 (8) the General Services Administration is obli7 gated, under Executive Order 13186, to ‘‘support 

8 the conservation intent of the migratory bird conven9 tions by integrating bird conservation principles, 

10 measures, and practices into agency activities and by 

11 avoiding or minimizing, to the extent practicable, ad12 verse impacts on migratory bird resources when con13 ducting agency actions’’; and 

14 (9) the General Services Administration has al15 ready constructed many award-winning, bird-friendly 

16 buildings, including the San Francisco Federal 

17 Building, the Suitland Census Complex, the United 

18 States courthouse in Eugene, Oregon, the Beltsville 

19 ATF Laboratory Center, and the United States 

20 courthouse in Buffalo, New York. 

21 SEC. 3. USE OF BIRD-SAFE BUILDING MATERIALS AND DE22 SIGN FEATURES. 

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

24 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating sections 3314, 3315, and 

2 3316 as sections 3315, 3316, and 3317, respectively; 

3 and 

4 (2) by inserting after section 3313 the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘§ 3314. Use of bird-safe building materials and de7 sign features 

8 ‘‘(a) CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATION, AND ACQUISI9 TION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS.—Each public building con10 structed, altered, or acquired by the Administrator of Gen11 eral Services shall incorporate, to the maximum extent 

12 feasible as determined by the Administrator, bird-safe 

13 building materials and design features. 

14 ‘‘(b) EXISTING BUILDINGS AND LIGHTING.—The Ad15 ministrator, where practicable, shall— 

16 ‘‘(1) incorporate bird-safe building materials 

17 and design features into existing public buildings; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(2) address interior and exterior lighting’s im20 pacts on native bird species. 

21 ‘‘(c) BIRD-SAFE BUILDING MATERIALS DEFINED.— 

22 In this section, the term ‘bird-safe building materials and 

23 design features’ includes the materials and features rec24 ommended by— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the city of Chicago’s ‘Bird-Safe Building 

2 Design Guide for New Construction and Renova3 tion’; 

4 ‘‘(2) the city of Toronto’s ‘Bird-Friendly Devel5 opment Guidelines’; and 

6 ‘‘(3) the American Bird Conservancy and New 

7 York City Audubon’s ‘Bird-Safe Building Guide8 lines’.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The analysis for such 

10 chapter is amended by striking the items relating to sec11 tions 3314, 3315, and 3316 and inserting the following: 

‘‘3314. Use of bird-safe building materials and design features. 

‘‘3315. Delegation. 

‘‘3316. Report to Congress. 

‘‘3317. Certain authority not affected.’’. 

Æ 


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