Title: Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2019
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics

Summary:
Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2019
The 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 and consistent with the requirements for outside lighting.
The bill exempts from these requirements buildings and sites listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the White House and its grounds, the Supreme Court building and its grounds, and the U.S. Capitol and its related buildings and grounds.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 919 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 919

 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

                            January 30, 2019

  Mr. Quigley (for himself, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Zeldin, Mr. 
McNerney, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. 
Wilson of Florida, Mr. Cicilline, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Lowenthal, 
  Mr. Grijalva, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Ms. Schakowsky, and Mr. 
    Soto) 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 ``Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. USE OF BIRD-SAFE BUILDING MATERIALS AND DESIGN FEATURES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 33 of title 40, United States Code, is 
further amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 3319. Use of bird-safe building materials and design features
    ``(a) Construction, Alteration, and Acquisition of Public 
Buildings.--Each public building constructed, acquired, or of which 
more than 50 percent of the facade is substantially altered (in the 
opinion of the Commissioner of Public Buildings) 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 subject to security and other mission related 
        requirements.
    ``(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 and 
        consistent with security and other mission related 
        requirements, as determined by the Administrator, shall reduce 
        exterior building and site lighting for each public building. 
        This paragraph shall not apply to buildings in which the 
        Administrator does not have control of the exterior building 
        and site lighting.
            ``(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) Additional Methods.--In carrying out the requirements of this 
section, the Administrator may employ any available methods and 
strategies that are in accordance with existing effective best 
practices to reduce bird mortality.
    ``(e) Exception for Significant Cost.--The requirements of this 
section shall not apply to any acquisition or substantial alteration 
described in subsection (a) if the Administrator, after consideration 
of multiple options, determines that the use of the required building 
materials and design features would result in a significant additional 
cost for the project.
    ``(f) Exempt Buildings.--This section shall not apply to--
            ``(1) any building or site listed, or eligible for listing, 
        on the National Register of Historic Places;
            ``(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 table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 33 of title 40, United States Code, is further amended by 
adding at the end the following new item:

``3319. Use of bird-safe building materials and design features.''.
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