I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3809 
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 
OCTOBER 22, 2015 
Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastruc-
ture, and in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Re-
form, 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 establish a pilot program in certain agencies for the 
use of public-private agreements to enhance the efficiency 
of Federal real property. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Federal Property Low 
Hanging Fruit Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PUBLIC-PRIVATE AGREEMENT PILOT PROGRAM. 
(a) PLAN
FOR ENTERING INTO PUBLIC-PRIVATE 
AGREEMENTS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The head of a covered agen-
cy shall develop and carry out a plan to enter into 
one or more agreements with an eligible entity, for 
the purposes described in paragraph (2). 
(2) PURPOSES.—The purposes of any agree-
ment entered into under paragraph (1) shall be— 
(A) to lease Federal real properties that 
are underutilized or excess, under the terms of 
subsection (c); and 
(B) to develop, rehabilitate, or renovate fa-
cilities on such leased properties for the benefit 
of the covered agency, including monetary bene-
fits such as lease revenues and nonmonetary 
benefits such as avoided operations and mainte-
nance costs. 
(3) NUMBER
OF
PROPERTIES.—The head of 
each covered agency shall identify at least 5, and not 
more than 10, Federal real properties to be offered 
for lease under agreements entered into under para-
graph (1). 
(b) AGREEMENT TERMS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each agreement entered into 
pursuant to this section— 
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(A) shall have as its primary purpose the 
enhancement of the functional and economic ef-
ficiency of Federal real property; 
(B) shall be negotiated pursuant to such 
procedures as the head of the covered agency 
concerned considers necessary to promote com-
petition and protect the interests of the Federal 
Government; 
(C) shall provide a fair market value lease 
option to the United States to occupy space in 
the facilities acquired, constructed, or rehabili-
tated under the agreement, but shall not guar-
antee occupancy by the United States; 
(D) shall describe the consideration, du-
ties, and responsibilities for which the United 
States and the eligible entity are responsible 
and may provide for the alteration, repair, or 
improvement of the real property as part or all 
of the consideration of the eligible entity, not-
withstanding any provision of law, including 
section 1302 of title 40, United States Code; 
(E) shall provide— 
(i) that the United States shall not be 
liable for any actions, debts, or liability of 
the eligible entity; and 
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(ii) that no person is authorized by 
the agreement to execute any instrument 
or document creating or evidencing any in-
debtedness unless such instrument or doc-
ument specifically disclaims any liability of 
the United States under the instrument or 
document; and 
(F) shall include terms for authorizing the 
Government to terminate the agreement for de-
fault or to protect the interests of the Govern-
ment. 
(2) ABILITY
TO
PLEDGE
AS
COLLATERAL.— 
Subparagraph (E) shall not impair the ability of the 
eligible entity to pledge as collateral its leasehold in-
terest under a lease with the United States entered 
into pursuant to the terms of subsection (c). 
(c) LEASE OF REAL PROPERTY.— 
(1) AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, including sections 582 and 583 of 
title 40, United States Code, the head of a covered 
agency may lease real property under an agreement 
under subsection (a) to the eligible entity that is 
party to the agreement. 
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(2) PERIOD OF LEASE.—A lease under this sub-
section may be for such period as the head of the 
covered agency determines appropriate. 
(3) RELATIONSHIP TO HOMELESS ASSISTANCE 
ACT.—Real property leased under this subsection 
shall not be considered unutilized, underutilized, ex-
cess, or surplus for purposes of section 501 of the 
Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act (42 
U.S.C. 11411) and may be leased under this sub-
section without regard to any other provision of law. 
(d) SERVICES.—Notwithstanding any other provision 
of law, the head of a covered agency, or his or her des-
ignee, may provide services under an agreement under 
subsection (a) to the eligible entity that is party to the 
agreement on such terms as the head considers appro-
priate. 
(e) USE OF REVENUES.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, the head of a covered agency may retain 
and use any revenues derived from agreements entered 
into under this section for Federal property management 
activities of the covered agency, including acquisition, op-
erations and maintenance, repairs or alterations, other 
real property management needs, or construction needs. 
(f) PLAN.— 
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(1) MATTERS COVERED.—The plan of a covered 
agency required under subsection (a) shall— 
(A) identify the Federal real properties 
that the head of the covered agency proposes to 
make available under the agreement or agree-
ments to be entered into with one or more eligi-
ble entities; and 
(B) include performance measures by 
which the proposed project or projects will be 
measured. 
(2) CONSULTATION WITH COUNCIL.—In devel-
oping the plan required under subsection (a), the 
head of a covered agency shall consult with the Fed-
eral Real Property Council. 
(g) SUBMISSIONS
TO CONGRESS
OF PLAN
AND 
AGREEMENTS.— 
(1) 
SUBMISSION
OF
PLAN
WITHIN
MONTHS.—The head of a covered agency shall sub-
mit to Congress the plan required by subsection (a) 
not later than 12 months after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act. 
(2) SUBMISSION OF EACH PROPOSED AGREE-
MENT TO CONGRESS.—The head of a covered agency 
shall submit to Congress the final draft of each 
agreement proposed to be entered into by the agency 
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and may not enter into the agreement until at least 
30 days has expired after the date of submission to 
Congress. The submission to Congress under this 
paragraph shall also include— 
(A) an explanation of the agreement; 
(B) the name, resources, and qualifications 
of the eligible entity or persons that are party 
to the agreement; 
(C) the name of any other eligible entity 
that submitted a proposal for the property that 
is the subject of the agreement; 
(D) the factors in support of the proposed 
project or projects covered by the agreement; 
and 
(E) the projected economic performance, 
including expenditures and receipts, arising 
from the agreement. 
(3) SUBMISSION OF ALL AGREEMENTS WITHIN 
3 YEARS.—The head of a covered agency shall sub-
mit to Congress all agreements to be entered into 
under the plan not later than 3 years after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. 
(4) 
MODIFICATION
OR
TERMINATION
OF 
AGREEMENT.—In the case of a proposed modifica-
tion or termination of an agreement, the head of the 
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covered agency concerned shall submit the proposed 
modification or termination to Congress and may 
not implement the modification or termination until 
at least 30 days has expired after the date of sub-
mission to Congress. 
(h) PROJECTED ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE.—The 
head of a covered agency shall describe, in the budget sub-
mitted by the President pursuant to section 1105 of title 
31, United States Code, for a fiscal year, the projected 
economic performance, including expenditures and re-
ceipts, arising from each agreement entered into pursuant 
this section and in effect during such fiscal year. 
(i) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) COVERED
AGENCY.—The term ‘‘covered 
agency’’ means each of the following: 
(A) The Department of Agriculture. 
(B) The Department of Energy. 
(C) The General Services Administration. 
(2) HEAD OF A COVERED AGENCY.—The term 
‘‘head of a covered agency’’ means each of the fol-
lowing: 
(A) The Secretary of Agriculture. 
(B) The Secretary of Energy. 
(C) The Administrator of General Services. 
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(3) FEDERAL
REAL
PROPERTY.—The term 
‘‘Federal real property’’ means property, as that 
term is defined in section 102(9) of title 40, United 
States Code. 
(4) EXCESS.—The term ‘‘excess’’, with respect 
to Federal real property, means excess property as 
defined in section 102(3) of title 40, United States 
Code. 
(5) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti-
ty’’ means a limited liability company, limited part-
nership, corporation, business trust, nonprofit entity, 
or such other form of entity as the head of a covered 
agency may designate. 
(j) REPORTS BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF-
FICE.—The Comptroller General of the United States 
shall submit to Congress two reports on the effectiveness 
of the public-private agreement pilot program under this 
section. The first report shall be submitted not later than 
5 years after the date of the enactment of this section, 
and the second report shall be submitted not later than 
10 years after such date of enactment. Each report shall 
include specific recommendations on how best to use pub-
lic-private agreements in all Federal agencies to improve 
Federal real property management. 
Æ 
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