Title: Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2017
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2017
This bill requires each public building constructed, substantially altered, or acquired by the General Services Administration (GSA) to meet the following standards:
GSA must: (1) ensure that actual bird mortality is monitored at each public building; and (2) reduce exterior building and site lighting for each public building, where practicable.
The bill exempts historic buildings of national significance, the White House and its grounds, the Supreme Court building and its grounds, and the U.S. Capitol and its related buildings and grounds from the provisions of this bill.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2542 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2542

 To amend title 40, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of 
General Services to incorporate bird-safe building materials and design 
        features into public buildings, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 18, 2017

 Mr. Quigley (for himself, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Zeldin, Mr. Capuano, Mr. 
 Huffman, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Speier, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. McGovern, Mr. 
    Gallego, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Beyer, Ms. 
 DelBene, Ms. Norton, and Mr. Langevin) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
                             Infrastructure

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 40, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of 
General Services to incorporate bird-safe building materials and design 
        features into public buildings, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Nearly one-third of the 800 bird species in the United 
        States are endangered, threatened, or in significant decline.
            (2) In the United States alone, an estimated 1 billion 
        birds die annually from striking buildings, bridges, and other 
        manmade structures, with glass being one of the primary causes 
        of the deaths.
            (3) Birds have a significant impact on the United States 
        economy, as evidenced by United States Fish and Wildlife 
        Service estimates that the 47 million birdwatchers in the 
        United States contribute $40 billion annually to the Nation's 
        economy.
            (4) The General Services Administration is obligated, under 
        Executive Order 13186, to ``support the conservation intent of 
        the migratory bird conventions by integrating bird conservation 
        principles, measures, and practices into agency activities and 
        by avoiding or minimizing, to the extent practicable, adverse 
        impacts on migratory bird resources when conducting agency 
        actions''.

SEC. 3. USE OF BIRD-SAFE BUILDING MATERIALS AND DESIGN FEATURES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 33 of title 40, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) by redesignating sections 3314, 3315, and 3316 as 
        sections 3315, 3316, and 3317, respectively; and
            (2) by inserting after section 3313 the following:
``Sec. 3314. Use of bird-safe building materials and design features
    ``(a) Construction, Alteration, and Acquisition of Public 
Buildings.--Each public building constructed, substantially altered (in 
the opinion of the Commissioner of Public Buildings), or acquired by 
the Administrator of General Services shall meet, to the maximum extent 
practicable, as determined by the Administrator, the following 
standards:
            ``(1) At least 90 percent of the exposed facade material 
        from ground level to 40 feet--
                    ``(A) shall not be composed of glass; or
                    ``(B) shall be composed of glass employing--
                            ``(i) elements that preclude bird 
                        collisions without completely obscuring vision, 
                        such as secondary facades, netting, screens, 
                        shutters, and exterior shades;
                            ``(ii) ultraviolet (UV) patterned glass 
                        that contains UV-reflective or contrasting 
                        patterns that are visible to birds;
                            ``(iii) patterns on glass designed in 
                        accordance with a rule that restricts 
                        horizontal spaces to less than 2 inches high 
                        and vertical spaces to less than 4 inches wide, 
                        commonly referred to as the `2  x  4 rule';
                            ``(iv) opaque, etched, stained, frosted, or 
                        translucent glass; or
                            ``(v) any combination of the methods 
                        described in this subparagraph.
            ``(2) At least 60 percent of the exposed facade material 
        above 40 feet shall meet the standard described in paragraph 
        (1)(A) or (1)(B).
            ``(3) There shall not be any transparent passageways or 
        corners.
            ``(4) All glass adjacent to atria or courtyards containing 
        water features, plants, and other materials attractive to birds 
        shall meet the standard described in paragraph (1)(B).
            ``(5) Outside lighting shall be appropriately shielded and 
        minimized.
    ``(b) Monitoring.--The Administrator shall take such actions as may 
be necessary to ensure that actual bird mortality is monitored at each 
public building.
    ``(c) Existing Buildings and Lighting.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Administrator, where practicable, as 
        determined by the Administrator, shall reduce exterior building 
        and site lighting for each public building.
            ``(2) Use of automatic control technologies.--In carrying 
        out paragraph (1), the Administrator shall make use of 
        automatic control technologies, including timers, photo-
        sensors, and infrared and motion detectors.
    ``(d) Exempt Buildings.--This section shall not apply to--
            ``(1) a historic building of national significance within 
        the meaning of the Act of August 21, 1935 (16 U.S.C. 461 et 
        seq.; commonly known as the Historic Sites, Buildings, and 
        Antiquities Act);
            ``(2) the White House and its grounds;
            ``(3) the Supreme Court building and its grounds; or
            ``(4) the United States Capitol and its related buildings 
        and grounds.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The analysis for such chapter is amended 
by striking the items relating to sections 3314, 3315, and 3316 and 
inserting the following:

``3314. Use of bird-safe building materials and design features.
``3315. Delegation.
``3316. Report to Congress.
``3317. Certain authority not affected.''.
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