II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1920 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 4, 2017 

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 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 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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(1) nearly 1 1 ⁄3 of the 800 bird species in the 

2 United States are endangered, threatened, or in sig3 nificant decline; 

4 (2) in the United States alone, an estimated 

5 1,000,000,000 birds die annually from striking 

6 buildings, bridges, and other manmade structures, 

7 with glass being one of the primary causes of the 

8 deaths; 

9 (3) birds have a significant impact on the 

10 United States economy, as evidenced by United 

11 States Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the 

12 47,000,000 birdwatchers in the United States con13 tribute $40,000,000,000 annually to the economy of 

14 the United States; and 

15 (4) the General Services Administration is obli16 gated, under Executive Order 13186 (16 U.S.C. 701 

17 note; relating to responsibilities of Federal agencies 

18 to protect migratory birds), to ‘‘support the con19 servation intent of the migratory bird conventions by 

20 integrating bird conservation principles, measures, 

21 and practices into agency activities and by avoiding 

22 or minimizing, to the extent practicable, adverse im23 pacts on migratory bird resources when conducting 

24 agency actions’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. USE OF BIRD-SAFE BUILDING MATERIALS AND DE2 SIGN FEATURES. 

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

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating sections 3315, 3316, and 

6 3317 as sections 3316, 3317, and 3318, respectively; 

7 and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 3314 the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘§ 3315. Use of bird-safe building materials and de11 sign features 

12 ‘‘(a) CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATION, AND ACQUISI13 TION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS.—Each public building con14 structed, substantially altered (as determined by the Com15 missioner of Public Buildings), or acquired by the Admin16 istrator of General Services (referred to in this section as 

17 the ‘Administrator’) shall meet, to the maximum extent 

18 practicable, as determined by the Administrator, the fol19 lowing standards: 

20 ‘‘(1) Not less than 90 percent of the exposed 

21 facade material from ground level to 40 feet— 

22 ‘‘(A) shall not be composed of glass; or 

23 ‘‘(B) shall be composed of glass employ24 ing— 

25 ‘‘(i) elements that preclude bird colli26 sions without completely obscuring vision, 


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1 such as secondary facades, netting, 

2 screens, shutters, and exterior shades; 

3 ‘‘(ii) ultraviolet (UV) patterned glass 

4 that contains UV-reflective or contrasting 

5 patterns that are visible to birds; 

6 ‘‘(iii) patterns on glass designed in ac7 cordance with a rule (commonly referred to 

8 as the ‘2 x 4 rule’) that restricts— 

9 ‘‘(I) horizontal spaces to less 

10 than 2 inches high; and 

11 ‘‘(II) vertical spaces to less than 

12 4 inches wide; 

13 ‘‘(iv) opaque, etched, stained, frosted, 

14 or translucent glass; or 

15 ‘‘(v) any combination of the methods 

16 described in clauses (i) through (iv). 

17 ‘‘(2) Not less than 60 percent of the exposed 

18 facade material above 40 feet shall meet the stand19 ard described in paragraph (1) (A) or (B). 

20 ‘‘(3) There shall not be any transparent pas21 sageways or corners. 

22 ‘‘(4) All glass adjacent to atria or courtyards 

23 containing water features, plants, and other mate24 rials attractive to birds shall meet the standard de25 scribed in paragraph (1)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(5) Outside lighting shall be appropriately 

2 shielded and minimized. 

3 ‘‘(b) MONITORING.—The Administrator shall take 

4 such actions as may be necessary to ensure that actual 

5 bird mortality is monitored at each public building. 

6 ‘‘(c) EXISTING BUILDINGS AND LIGHTING.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, where 

8 practicable, as determined by the Administrator, 

9 shall reduce exterior building and site lighting for 

10 each public building. 

11 ‘‘(2) USE OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL TECH12 NOLOGIES.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Ad13 ministrator shall make use of automatic control 

14 technologies, including timers, photo-sensors, and in15 frared and motion detectors. 

16 ‘‘(d) EXEMPT BUILDINGS.—This section shall not 

17 apply to— 

18 ‘‘(1) a historic building of national significance 

19 within the meaning of chapter 3201 of title 54; 

20 ‘‘(2) the White House and grounds; 

21 ‘‘(3) the Supreme Court building and grounds; 

22 or 

23 ‘‘(4) the United States Capitol and related 

24 buildings and grounds.’’. 


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

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

3 by striking the items relating to sections 3315, 3316, and 

4 3317 and inserting the following: 

‘‘3315. Use of bird-safe building materials and design features. 

‘‘3316. Delegation. 

‘‘3317. Report to Congress. 

‘‘3318. Certain authority not affected.’’. 

Æ 


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