I 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4968 

To require executive agencies to notify the public and consider public comment 

before relocating an office of the agency that has regular contact with 

the public, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 15, 2016 

Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

A BILL 

To require executive agencies to notify the public and consider public comment before relocating an office of the 

agency that has regular contact with the public, 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 ‘‘Preserving Public Ac5 cess to Federal Buildings Act of 2016’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO RELOCATION OF 

2 CERTAIN FEDERAL OFFICES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—An executive agency shall provide 

4 notice to the public and an opportunity for public com5 ment before relocating an office of the agency if the office 

6 has regular contact with the public. 

7 (b) COVERED RELOCATIONS.—Subsection (a) shall 

8 apply to— 

9 (1) a relocation proposed by an executive agen10 cy; or 

11 (2) a reassignment of office space of an execu12 tive agency by the Administrator of General Serv13 ices. 

14 (c) INITIAL DETERMINATION AND PLAN.— 

15 (1) INITIAL DETERMINATION.—Before an exec16 utive agency provides notice of the relocation of an 

17 office under subsection (a), the agency shall deter18 mine if the agency expects the relocation to impact 

19 the ability of the office’s clientele to access services 

20 provided by the office. 

21 (2) INITIAL PLAN.—If the agency determines 

22 under paragraph (1) that such relocation is expected 

23 to have such impact, the agency shall develop an ini24 tial plan to address the impact. 

25 (d) NOTICE AND COMMENT.— 


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1 (1) RECIPIENTS.—In providing notice of the re2 location of an office under subsection (a), an execu3 tive agency shall ensure that the notice is received 

4 by— 

5 (A) entities that regularly serve the clien6 tele of the office, including nonprofit organiza7 tions and advocacy groups; 

8 (B) local media outlets; 

9 (C) Members of Congress that represent 

10 the area where the office is located; and 

11 (D) the Committee on Transportation and 

12 Infrastructure and the Committee on Oversight 

13 and Government Reform of the House of Rep14 resentatives and the Committee on Homeland 

15 Security and Governmental Affairs of the Sen16 ate. 

17 (2) CONTENT.—If an initial plan was developed 

18 under subsection (c)(2), the notice shall include a 

19 description of the initial plan. 

20 (e) SUBSTANTIAL PUBLIC INTEREST.—If, after an 

21 executive agency provides notice of the relocation of an 

22 office under subsection (a), the relocation receives sub23 stantial public interest, the agency shall— 

24 (1) conduct an in-depth evaluation of the poten25 tial impact of the relocation on the ability of the ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:55 Apr 22, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4968.IH H4968

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1 fice’s clientele to access services provided by the of2 fice, particularly with respect to minority groups, 

3 persons with disabilities, the elderly, and the eco4 nomically disadvantaged; 

5 (2) develop a plan to address such impact or re6 vise an initial plan developed under subsection 

7 (c)(2); and 

8 (3) publish the results of the evaluation and a 

9 description of the plan on the public website of the 

10 agency. 

11 (f) GUIDANCE ON TERMS.—Not later than 180 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director 

13 of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation 

14 with the Administrator of General Services and the Fed15 eral Real Property Council, shall issue guidance for agen16 cies on the meaning of each of the terms ‘‘regular contact 

17 with the public’’ and ‘‘substantial public interest’’ for pur18 poses of this section. 

19 (g) EXECUTIVE AGENCY DEFINED.—In this section, 

20 the term ‘‘executive agency’’ means— 

21 (1) an executive department or independent es22 tablishment in the executive branch of the Govern23 ment; and 

24 (2) a wholly owned Government corporation. 


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1 (h) APPLICATION.—Subsection (a) shall apply to the 

2 relocation of an office of an executive agency initiated on 

3 or after the date that is 270 days after the date of the 

4 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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