I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2710
To authorize public-private partnerships to rehabilitate Federal real property,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AUGUST 1, 2001
Mr. SESSIONS (for himself and Mr. TOM DAVIS of Virginia) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform
A BILL
To authorize public-private partnerships to rehabilitate
Federal real property, and for other purposes.
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 Asset Manage-
ment Improvement Act of 2001’’.
TITLE I—IMPROVED PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT
SEC. 101. PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT.
(a) PERFORMANCE MEASURES REQUIRED.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con-
sultation with the heads of executive agencies, shall
establish performance measures to determine the ef-
fectiveness of Federal property management. The
performance measures shall be designed to—
(A) enable the Congress and heads of exec-
utive agencies to track progress in the achieve-
ment of property management objectives on a
governmentwide basis; and
(B) allow for comparing the performance
of executive agencies against industry and other
public sector agencies in terms of performance.
(2) USE OF EXISTING DATA AND DATA COLLEC-
TION TOOLS.—In developing and implementing the
performance measures, the Administrator shall use
existing data sources and automated data collection
tools to the maximum extent practical.
(b) EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.—The head of each execu-
tive agency shall—
(1) monitor the performance of the agency
against the performance measures established under
subsection (a); and
(2) report the results of such monitoring to the
Congress in the agency’s budget submission under
section 1105 of title 31, United States Code.
(c) MANAGEMENT PLAN.—Within 90 days after the
date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of
General Services shall submit to the Congress a program
management plan describing—
(1) how the program established by this Act
will be implemented;
(2) individuals who will exercise operational au-
thority over the program;
(3) the qualifications of such individuals; and
(4) a timeline for implementation of the pro-
gram.
TITLE II—PUBLIC-PRIVATE
PARTNERSHIPS
SEC. 201. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AUTHORITY.
Title II of the Federal Property and Administrative
Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 481 et seq.) is amended
by adding at the end the following:
‘‘SEC. 213. (a) The Administrator may enter into
agreements for the creation of one or more public-private
partnerships with a nongovernmental person, the purpose
of which shall be (1) to lease Federal real property under
the terms of subsection (c), and (2) to develop, rehabili-
tate, or renovate facilities on such leased property for the
use, in whole or part, by executive agencies. The public-
private partnership may be a limited liability company,
limited partnership, corporation, business trust, or other
form of entity, as the Administrator may designate. The
nongovernmental person shall exercise control of the man-
agement of the public-private partnership, and shall hold
a majority interest in ownership and profits of the public-
private partnership.
‘‘(b) Each agreement entered into pursuant to this
section—
‘‘(1) shall have as its primary purpose the en-
hancement of the functional and economic efficiency
of Federal real property;
‘‘(2) shall be negotiated pursuant to such proce-
dures as the Administrator considers necessary to
promote competition and protect the public interest;
‘‘(3) shall provide a lease option to the United
States to occupy space in the facilities acquired, con-
structed, or rehabilitated by the public-private part-
nership, but shall not guarantee occupancy by the
United States;
‘‘(4) shall describe the consideration, duties,
and responsibilities for which the United States and
the nongovernmental person are responsible and may
provide for the alteration, repair, or improvement of
the real property as part or all of the consideration
of the nongovernmental person, notwithstanding any
provision of law, including the Act of June 30, 1932
(chapter 314; 40 U.S.C. 303b);
‘‘(5) shall provide—
‘‘(A) that the United States shall not be
liable for any actions, debts, or liability of any
person created by such agreement; and
‘‘(B) that no person is authorized by the
agreement to execute any instrument or docu-
ment creating or evidencing any indebtedness
unless such instrument or document specifically
disclaims any liability of the United States
under the instrument or document; and
‘‘(6) shall provide that the leasehold interests of
the United States are senior to that of any lender
to the nongovernmental person.
Paragraph (6) shall not impair the ability of a public-pri-
vate partnership to pledge as collateral its leasehold inter-
est under a lease with the United States entered into pur-
suant to the terms of subsection (c).
‘‘(c)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
including sections 202 and 203 of this Act, the Adminis-
trator may lease real property to a public-private partner-
ship created under this section in furtherance of agree-
ments under subsection (a).
‘‘(2) Master leases under this subsection may be for
such period as the Administrator determines appropriate.
‘‘(3) The Administrator may dispose of equity inter-
est controlled by the United States in any public-private
partnership created under this section whenever deter-
mined by the Administrator to be beneficial to the United
States, if the Administrator receives the estimated fair
market value of such interests. Proceeds from such dis-
posal shall be deposited into the fund created by section
210(f).
‘‘(4) Real property leased under this subsection shall
not be considered unutilized or underutilized for purposes
of section 501 of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless As-
sistance Act and may be leased under this subsection with-
out regard to any other provision of law.
‘‘(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
Administrator, or his or her designee, may provide services
to a public-private partnership created under this section
on such terms as the Administrator considers appropriate.
‘‘(e)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
the Administrator may retain and use any revenues de-
rived from agreements entered into under this section for
the physical improvement of Federal real property.
‘‘(2) At the discretion of the Administrator, revenues
from master leases authorized by this section shall be de-
posited into the fund established by section 210(f), or de-
posited into the general fund of the Treasury as miscella-
neous receipts.
‘‘(3) Net revenues received by the Administrator from
public-private partnerships created under this section,
other than proceeds from master leases of real property,
shall be deposited in the fund established by section
210(f).
‘‘(f) Upon request of the head of an executive agency,
the Administrator shall delegate to the head of the execu-
tive agency authority of the Administrator under sub-
sections (a) through (e).
‘‘(g) The Administrator shall prepare and transmit
to the Congress a business plan regarding each agreement
with a nongovernmental person under this section not
later than 30 days before the date on which the Adminis-
trator enters into the agreement. The business plan shall
identify the property that the Administrator proposes to
make available under the agreement, an explanation of the
agreement, the name, resources, and qualifications of the
nongovernmental person, the factors in support of the pro-
posed project, and performance measures by which the
proposed project will be measured.
‘‘(h) The Administrator shall describe, in the budget
submitted by the President pursuant to section 1105 of
title 31, United States Code, the projected economic per-
formance, including expenditures and receipts, arising
from agreements entered into pursuant this section.
‘‘(i) In this section:
‘‘(1) The term ‘nongovernmental person’ means
a person that is not an executive agency.
‘‘(2) The term ‘master lease’ means a convey-
ance of Federal real property to a public-private
partnership created under this section through a
lease entered into by the Administrator with the
public-private partnership.’’.
SEC. 202. REPORTS.
(a) OFFICE
OF
THE ADMINISTRATOR.—Not later
than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the
Administrator of General Services shall submit to the Con-
gress a report on the use by executive agencies of the au-
thorities provided by this Act. The report shall—
(1) assess the effectiveness of the authority to
enter into agreements to enhance the value of the
properties subject to the agreements; and
(2) review the performance measures included
in the explanatory statements submitted pursuant to
section 201.
(b) REPORT OF THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Not
later than 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit
to the Congress a report on the use by executive agencies
of the authorities provided by this Act.
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