II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1896

To amend the Public Buildings Act of 1959 to give first priority to the

location of Federal facilities in central business areas, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 9, 1999

Mr. LEAHY (for himself and Mr. BAUCUS) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public

Works

A BILL

To amend the Public Buildings Act of 1959 to give first

priority to the location of Federal facilities in central

business areas, 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 ‘‘Downtown Equity Act

5 of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that locating Federal

8 facilities in central business areas—
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•S 1896 IS

1 (1) strengthens the economic base of cities,

2 towns, and rural communities of the United States

3 and makes them attractive places to live and work;

4 (2) enhances livability by limiting sprawl and

5 providing air quality and other environmental bene6 fits; and

7 (3) supports historic development patterns.

8 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

9 (1) to ensure that Federal agencies recognize

10 the implications of the location of Federal facilities

11 on the character, environment, economic develop12 ment patterns, and infrastructure of communities;

13 (2) to ensure that the General Services Admin14 istration and other Federal agencies that make inde15 pendent location decisions give first priority to locat16 ing Federal facilities in central business areas;

17 (3) to encourage preservation of historic build18 ings and stabilization of historic areas; and

19 (4) to direct the Administrator of General Serv20 ices to study the feasibility of establishing a system

21 for meaningful comparison of Federal facility pro22 curement costs between central business areas and

23 areas outside central business areas.
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1 SEC. 3. LOCATION OF FEDERAL FACILITIES.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Public Buildings Act of 1959

3 (40 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

4 the following:

5 ‘‘SEC. 22. LOCATION OF FEDERAL FACILITIES.

6 ‘‘(a) PRIORITY FOR CENTRAL BUSINESS AREAS.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2) and as otherwise provided by law, in locat9 ing (including relocating) Federal facilities, the head

10 of each Federal agency shall give first priority to

11 central business areas.

12 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—The priority required under

13 paragraph (1) may be waived if location in a central

14 business area—

15 ‘‘(A) would materially compromise the mis16 sion of the agency; or

17 ‘‘(B) would not be economically prudent.

18 ‘‘(b) IMPLEMENTATION.—

19 ‘‘(1) ACTIONS BY ADMINISTRATOR.—The Ad20 ministrator shall—

21 ‘‘(A) promulgate such regulations as are

22 necessary to implement the requirements of

23 subsection (a) with respect to locating Federal

24 facilities—

25 ‘‘(i) in public buildings acquired under

26 this Act; and
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1 ‘‘(ii) in leased space acquired by the

2 Administrator under section 210(h) of the

3 Federal Property and Administrative Serv4 ices Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 490(h)); and

5 ‘‘(B) report annually to Congress—

6 ‘‘(i) on compliance with subsection (a)

7 by the Administrator in carrying out—

8 ‘‘(I) public building location ac9 tions under this Act; and

10 ‘‘(II) lease procurement actions

11 under section 210(h) of the Federal

12 Property and Administrative Services

13 Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 490(h)); and

14 ‘‘(ii) on compliance with this section

15 by Federal agencies—

16 ‘‘(I) in acting under delegations

17 of authority under this Act; and

18 ‘‘(II) in the case of lease procure19 ment actions, in using leasing author20 ity delegated under the Federal Prop21 erty and Administrative Services Act

22 of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 471 et seq.).

23 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.—Each

24 Federal agency shall—
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1 ‘‘(A) comply with the regulations promul2 gated by the Administrator under paragraph

3 (1)(A); and

4 ‘‘(B) report annually to the Administrator

5 concerning—

6 ‘‘(i) the actions of the Federal agency

7 in locating public buildings under this Act;

8 and

9 ‘‘(ii) lease procurement actions taken

10 by the Federal agency using leasing au11 thority delegated under the Federal Prop12 erty and Administrative Services Act of

13 1949 (40 U.S.C. 471 et seq.).’’.

14 (b) DEFINITIONS.—Section 13 of the Public Build15 ings Act of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 612) is amended by adding

16 at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(8) CENTRAL BUSINESS AREA.—The term

18 ‘central business area’ means—

19 ‘‘(A) the centralized business area of a

20 community, as determined by local officials; and

21 ‘‘(B) any area adjacent and similar in

22 character to a centralized business area of a

23 community, including any specific area that

24 may be determined by local officials to be such

25 an adjacent and similar area.
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1 ‘‘(9) FEDERAL FACILITY.—The term ‘Federal

2 facility’ means the site of a project to construct,

3 alter, purchase, or acquire (including lease) a public

4 building, or to lease office or any other type of

5 space, under this Act or the Federal Property and

6 Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 471

7 et seq.).’’.

8 SEC. 4. STUDY OF PROCUREMENT COST ASSESSMENT

9 METHODS.

10 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘‘cen11 tral business area’’ and ‘‘Federal facility’’ have the mean12 ings given the terms in section 13 of the Public Buildings

13 Act of 1959 (40 U.S.C. 612).

14 (b) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after the date

15 of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of General

16 Services shall conduct a study and report to Congress on

17 the feasibility of establishing a system for—

18 (1) assessing and giving equal consideration to

19 the absolute and adjusted comparable costs (as de20 termined under paragraph (2)) of—

21 (A) locating Federal facilities in rural

22 areas as compared to locating Federal facilities

23 in urban areas;

24 (B) locating Federal facilities in central

25 business areas of rural areas as compared to lo-
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1 cating Federal facilities in rural areas outside

2 central business areas; and

3 (C) locating Federal facilities in central

4 business areas of urban areas as compared to

5 locating Federal facilities in urban areas out6 side central business areas;

7 (2) for the purposes of paragraph (1), adjusting

8 the absolute comparable costs referred to in that

9 paragraph to correct for the inherent differences in

10 property values between rural areas and urban

11 areas; and

12 (3) assessing and giving consideration to the

13 impacts on land use, air quality and other environ14 mental factors, and to historic preservation, in the

15 location of Federal facilities.

16 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In addi17 tion to amounts made available under any other law, there

18 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section

19 $200,000 for each of fiscal years 2001 and 2002.

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