Agencies are required to dispose of real property that they no longer need, but many continue to hold onto unneeded building space. It then examines key provisions of five real property reform bills introduced in the 114 th Congress: the Civilian Property Realignment Act (CPRA, S. 1750 ); the Federal Asset Sale and Transfer Act (FAST Act, S. 2375 ); the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act ( H.R. 4465 ); the Federal Property Management Reform Act (Reform Act, S. 2509 ); and the Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act ( H.R. Statutory Disposal Requirements

The steps in the real property disposal process are set by statute. The poor condition of these properties, however, may deter potential buyers or lessees, particularly if they must cover the cost of required improvements as a condition of acquiring the properties. The quality of the FRPP data has also been questioned. These recommendations would need approval by the President and Congress in order to be implemented. The OMB Director would then submit the revised recommendations, along with the criteria, to a newly established Civilian Property Realignment Commission. Implementation

Under CPRA , if a joint resolution of disapproval were not enacted, agencies would be required to complete implementation no later than three years from the date the President submitted his list of approved recommendations to Congress. Properties disposed of pursuant to a recommendation would be exempt from several statutory requirements that would otherwise apply, primarily related to screening for public benefit conveyance. This restriction would not apply to the U.S. CPRA would also require GSA to ensure that the FRPP includes the following information for each property:
the age and condition of the property; the size of the property in square feet and acreage; the geographic location of each property, including a physical address and description; the extent to which the property is being utilized; the actual annual operating costs associated with the property; the total cost of capital expenditures associated with the property; sustainability metrics associated with each property; the number of federal employees and functions housed at the property; the extent to which the mission of the federal agency is dependent on the property; and the estimated amount of capital expenditures projected to maintain and operate the property for each of the five calendar years after the date of enactment of CPRA. In addition, certain public lands would not be covered. If the Director does not submit a report within 30 days of the receipt of the commission's original or revised recommendations, then the process terminates and agencies are not required to dispose of any properties under the FAST Act. Real Property Database

H.R. Federal Real Property Management Reform Act of 2016 (S. 2509)

The Federal Real Property Management Reform Act (Property Reform Act) would not establish a new process for identifying and disposing of unneeded real property in the manner of CPRA or the FAST Act. Postal Service. It would also incentivize the disposal of unneeded property by providing agencies with the authority to retain the proceeds from the transfer, sale, or lease of surplus property. Postal Service to the council. The FRPC would also be required to
develop utilization rates for each type of federal building; develop a strategy to reduce the government's reliance on long-term leases; provide guidance on eliminating inefficient practices in agency leasing processes; compile a list of field offices that are suitable for collocation; issue "best practices" guidance regarding the use of public-private partnerships to manage properties; issue recommendations on how the State Agencies for Surplus Property program could be improved to ensure accountability and increase efficiencies in the personal property disposal process; and issue a report that contains a list of the underutilized, excess, and surplus property at each agency; progress made by each agency towards the goals set in the annual plan; and any recommendations for legislation that would advance the goals of the council. Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2016 (H.R. Prospectus Requirements

The Public Buildings Act would require GSA to include new information in its prospectuses: first, the prospectus must include a cost comparison between leasing and constructing space; second, the prospectus must include an explanation of why such space could not be consolidated or collocated into other owned or leased space. Congress would have less than seven weeks to review all of the recommendations—of which there may be hundreds—before deciding whether to pass a joint resolution of disapproval. This could reduce oversight of major real property actions.
Real property disposal is the process by which federal agencies identify and then transfer, donate, or sell real property they no longer need. Disposition is an important asset management function because the costs of maintaining unneeded properties can be substantial, consuming financial resources that might be applied to long-standing real property needs, such as repairing existing facilities, or other pressing policy issues, such as reducing the national debt.
Despite the expense, federal agencies hold thousands of unneeded and underutilized properties. Agencies have argued that they are unable to dispose of these properties for several reasons. First, there are statutorily prescribed steps in the disposal process that can take months to complete. Second, properties may not be appealing to potential buyers or lessees if they require major repairs or environmental remediation—steps for which agencies lack funding to complete before bringing a property to market. Third, key stakeholders in the disposal process—including local governments, non-profit organizations, and businesses—are often at odds over how to dispose of properties.
In addition, Congress may be limited in its capacity to conduct oversight of the disposal process because it currently lacks access to reliable, comprehensive real property data. The General Services Administration (GSA) maintains a database with information on most federal buildings, but those data are provided to Congress on a limited basis. Moreover, the quality of the information in the database has been questioned, in part because of inconsistent reporting of key data elements, such as how much space within a given building is unneeded.
Five bills have been introduced in the 114th Congress that would enact broad reforms in the real property disposal process—the Civilian Property Realignment Act (CPRA, S. 1750); the Federal Asset Sale and Transfer Act (FAST Act, S. 2375); the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act (H.R. 4465); the Federal Property Management Reform Act of 2016 (Property Reform Act, S. 2509); and the Public Buildings Reform and Savings Act of 2016 (Public Buildings Act, H.R. 4487).
Under CPRA, agencies would develop a list of disposal recommendations, which could include the sale, transfer, conveyance, consolidation, or outlease of any unneeded space, among other options. These recommendations would be vetted by a newly established Civilian Property Realignment Commission, and then submitted to the President. If the President approved the recommendations, then they would be sent to Congress for review. If Congress passed a joint resolution of disapproval, then the recommendations would not be implemented; if a joint resolution of disapproval was not passed, then implementation would proceed. In many cases, disposal would be expedited by exempting properties on the recommendation list from certain statutory requirements, such as screening for public benefit.
Under the FAST Act, agency recommendations would be sent to a newly established real property board for vetting, and then submitted to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget for approval or disapproval. The FAST Act does not provide Congress with an opportunity to vote for or against the list of recommendations.
The Property Reform Act seeks to improve the management of federal real property by establishing additional disposal guidance, allowing agencies to retain the proceeds from the disposal of their properties, and requiring the U.S. Postal Service to increase the amount of underutilized space it leases to other federal agencies.
The Public Buildings Act would establish a streamlined leasing pilot program, mandate lactation rooms in many public buildings, require GSA to notify Congress of cost overruns, and require real property prospectuses to include a comparison of costs between leasing and renting space.