I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5626 

To provide uniform authority for executive departments to use funds from 

the disposal of Federal real property and to establish a pilot program 

in certain agencies for the use of public-private agreements to enhance 

the efficiency of Federal real property. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 

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

which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide uniform authority for executive departments to 

use funds from the disposal of Federal real property 

and to establish a pilot program in certain agencies 

for the use of public-private agreements to enhance the 

efficiency of Federal real property. 

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 Property Low 

5 Hanging Fruit Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UNIFORM AUTHORITY FOR EXECUTIVE DEPART2 MENTS TO USE FUNDS FROM DISPOSAL OF 

3 FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY TO CONVEY.—The head of each ex5 ecutive department may— 

6 (1) convey, by sale, lease, exchange, or other7 wise, including through leaseback arrangements, real 

8 and related property, or interests therein, under 

9 their ownership and control; and 

10 (2) retain the net proceeds of such dispositions 

11 in an account within the general fund of the United 

12 States Treasury established for purposes of this sec13 tion, to be used in accordance with subsection (b). 

14 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—For purposes of subsection (a), 

15 the net proceeds of such dispositions retained in the ac16 count of an executive department pursuant to that sub17 section shall be available to the head of the executive de18 partment, until expended and without further appropria19 tion and in compliance with other applicable provisions of 

20 law, to pay any necessary and incidental costs incurred 

21 by such head in connection with Federal property manage22 ment activities of the executive department, including ac23 quisition, improvements, maintenance, reconstruction, or 

24 construction needs. In conducting these activities, an exec25 utive department may enter into agreements with the Gen26 eral Services Administration for assistance. 


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1 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Director of the Office of 

2 Management and Budget, in consultation with the Admin3 istrator of General Services and the Secretary of Defense, 

4 shall promulgate regulations to carry out this section. 

5 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

6 (1) NET PROCEEDS.—The term ‘‘net proceeds’’, 

7 with respect to a disposition of property or interests 

8 under this section, means the rental, sales, and other 

9 sums received less the costs of the disposition. 

10 (2) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘ex11 ecutive department’’ means an Executive department 

12 listed in section 101 of title 5, United States Code. 

13 SEC. 3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE AGREEMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 

14 (a) PLAN FOR ENTERING INTO PUBLIC-PRIVATE

15 AGREEMENTS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—The head of a covered agen17 cy shall develop and carry out a plan to enter into 

18 one or more agreements with a nongovernmental 

19 person, for the purposes described in paragraph (2). 

20 (2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of any agree21 ment entered into under paragraph (1) shall be— 

22 (A) to lease Federal real properties that 

23 are underutilized or excess, under the terms of 

24 subsection (c); and 


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1 (B) to develop, rehabilitate, or renovate fa2 cilities on such leased properties for the benefit 

3 of the covered agency. 

4 (3) NUMBER OF PROPERTIES.—A total of at 

5 least 5, and not more than 10, Federal real prop6 erties shall be leased under agreements entered into 

7 under paragraph (1). 

8 (b) AGREEMENT TERMS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each agreement entered into 

10 pursuant to this section— 

11 (A) shall have as its primary purpose the 

12 enhancement of the functional and economic ef13 ficiency of Federal real property; 

14 (B) shall be negotiated pursuant to such 

15 procedures as the head of the covered agency 

16 concerned considers necessary to promote com17 petition and protect the public interest; 

18 (C) shall provide a lease option to the 

19 United States to occupy space in the facilities 

20 acquired, constructed, or rehabilitated under 

21 the agreement, but shall not guarantee occu22 pancy by the United States; 

23 (D) shall describe the consideration, du24 ties, and responsibilities for which the United 

25 States and the nongovernmental person are reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:06 Oct 03, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5626.IH H5626

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1 sponsible and may provide for the alteration, re2 pair, or improvement of the real property as 

3 part or all of the consideration of the non4 governmental person, notwithstanding any pro5 vision of law, including section 1302 of title 40, 

6 United States Code; 

7 (E) shall provide— 

8 (i) that the United States shall not be 

9 liable for any actions, debts, or liability of 

10 the nongovernmental person; and 

11 (ii) that no person is authorized by 

12 the agreement to execute any instrument 

13 or document creating or evidencing any in14 debtedness unless such instrument or doc15 ument specifically disclaims any liability of 

16 the United States under the instrument or 

17 document; and 

18 (F) shall provide that the leasehold inter19 ests of the United States are senior to that of 

20 any lender to the nongovernmental person. 

21 (2) ABILITY TO PLEDGE AS COLLATERAL.— 

22 Subparagraph (F) shall not impair the ability of the 

23 nongovernmental person to pledge as collateral its 

24 leasehold interest under a lease with the United 


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1 States entered into pursuant to the terms of sub2 section (c). 

3 (c) LEASE OF REAL PROPERTY.— 

4 (1) AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any other 

5 provision of law, including sections 582 and 583 of 

6 title 40, United States Code, the head of a covered 

7 agency may lease real property under an agreement 

8 under subsection (a) to the nongovernmental person 

9 that is party to the agreement. 

10 (2) PERIOD OF LEASE.—A lease under this sub11 section may be for such period as the head of the 

12 covered agency determines appropriate. 

13 (3) RELATIONSHIP TO HOMELESS ASSISTANCE

14 ACT.—Real property leased under this subsection 

15 shall not be considered unutilized or underutilized 

16 for purposes of section 501 of the Stewart B. 

17 McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

18 11411) and may be leased under this subsection 

19 without regard to any other provision of law. 

20 (d) SERVICES.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

21 of law, the head of a covered agency, or his or her des22 ignee, may provide services under an agreement under 

23 subsection (a) to the nongovernmental person that is party 

24 to the agreement on such terms as the head considers ap25 propriate. 


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1 (e) USE AND DEPOSIT OF REVENUES.— 

2 (1) USE OF REVENUES.—Notwithstanding any 

3 other provision of law, the head of a covered agency 

4 may retain and use any revenues derived from 

5 agreements entered into under this section for Fed6 eral property management activities of the covered 

7 agency, including acquisition, improvements, mainte8 nance, reconstruction, or construction needs. 

9 (2) DEPOSIT OF REVENUES.—Revenues re10 ceived by the head of a covered agency from an 

11 agreement under subsection (a) shall be deposited— 

12 (A) in the case of the General Services Ad13 ministration, into the fund created by section 

14 592 of title 40, United States Code; and 

15 (B) in the case of any other covered agen16 cy, into the account of the agency established 

17 under section 2(a). 

18 (f) PLAN.— 

19 (1) MATTERS COVERED.—The plan of a covered 

20 agency required under subsection (a) shall— 

21 (A) identify the Federal real properties 

22 that the head of the covered agency proposes to 

23 make available under the agreement or agree24 ments to be entered into with one or more non25 governmental persons; and 


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1 (B) include performance measures by 

2 which the proposed project or projects will be 

3 measured. 

4 (2) CONSULTATION WITH COUNCIL.—In devel5 oping the plan required under subsection (a), the 

6 head of a covered agency shall consult with the Fed7 eral Real Property Council. 

8 (g) SUBMISSIONS TO CONGRESS OF PLAN AND

9 AGREEMENTS.— 

10 (1) SUBMISSION OF PLAN WITHIN 12

11 MONTHS.—The head of a covered agency shall sub12 mit to Congress the plan required by subsection (a) 

13 not later than 12 months after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act. 

15 (2) SUBMISSION OF EACH AGREEMENT TO CON16 GRESS BEFORE IMPLEMENTATION.—The head of a 

17 covered agency shall submit to Congress each agree18 ment entered into under subsection (a) and may not 

19 implement any such agreement until at least 30 days 

20 has expired after the date of submission to Con21 gress. The submission to Congress under this para22 graph shall also include— 

23 (A) an explanation of the agreement; 


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1 (B) the name, resources, and qualifications 

2 of the nongovernmental person or persons that 

3 are party to the agreement; 

4 (C) the name of any other nongovern5 mental person that submitted a proposal for the 

6 property that is the subject of the agreement; 

7 (D) the factors in support of the proposed 

8 project or projects covered by the agreement; 

9 and 

10 (E) the projected economic performance, 

11 including expenditures and receipts, arising 

12 from the agreement. 

13 (3) SUBMISSION OF ALL AGREEMENTS WITHIN

14 3 YEARS.—The head of a covered agency shall sub15 mit to Congress all agreements to be entered into 

16 under the plan not later than 3 years after the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (h) PROJECTED ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE.—The 

19 head of a covered agency shall describe, in the budget sub20 mitted by the President pursuant to section 1105 of title 

21 31, United States Code, for a fiscal year, the projected 

22 economic performance, including expenditures and re23 ceipts, arising from each agreement entered into pursuant 

24 this section and in effect during such fiscal year. 

25 (i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COVERED AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 

2 agency’’ means each of the following: 

3 (A) The Department of Defense. 

4 (B) The Department of Agriculture. 

5 (C) The Department of Energy. 

6 (D) The General Services Administration. 

7 (2) HEAD OF A COVERED AGENCY.—The term 

8 ‘‘head of a covered agency’’ means each of the fol9 lowing: 

10 (A) The Secretary of Defense. 

11 (B) The Secretary of Agriculture. 

12 (C) The Secretary of Energy. 

13 (D) The Administrator of General Serv14 ices. 

15 (3) FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY.—The term 

16 ‘‘Federal real property’’ means property, as that 

17 term is defined in section 102(9) of title 40, United 

18 States Code. 

19 (4) EXCESS.—The term ‘‘excess’’, with respect 

20 to Federal real property, means excess property as 

21 defined in section 102(3) of title 40, United States 

22 Code. 

23 (5) NONGOVERNMENTAL PERSON.—The term 

24 ‘‘nongovernmental person’’ means a limited liability 

25 company, limited partnership, corporation, business 


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1 trust, nonprofit entity, or such other form of entity 

2 as the head of a covered agency may designate. 

3 (6) EXECUTIVE AGENCY.—The term ‘‘executive 

4 agency’’ has the meaning provided in section 102(4) 

5 of title 40, United States Code. 

6 (j) REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF7 FICE.—The Comptroller General of the United States 

8 shall submit to Congress two reports on the effectiveness 

9 of the public-private agreement pilot program under this 

10 section. The first report shall be submitted not later than 

11 5 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 

12 and the second report shall be submitted not later than 

13 10 years after such date of enactment. Each report shall 

14 include specific recommendations on how best to use pub15 lic-private agreements in all Federal agencies to improve 

16 Federal real property management. 

Æ 


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