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 four real property reform bills introduced in the 113 th Congress: the Federal Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013 ( S. 1398 ); the Excess Federal Building and Property Disposal Act of 2013 ( H.R. 328 ); and two versions of the Civilian Property Realignment Act of 2013 ( H.R. 695 , S. 1715 ), which take similar, but not identical approaches to reforming the real property disposal process. Statutory Disposal Requirements

The steps in the real property disposal process are set by statute. It would expand the role of the FRPC in collecting and analyzing real property data. Section 629(9)(B) of the bill would also require each agency to provide an annual assessment of its real property inventory to the FRPC and the GSA Administrator, including an assessment of each property that must include the
age and condition of the property; size of the property in square footage and acreage; geographical location of the property, including its address; extent to which the property is being utilized; actual annual operating costs associated with the property; total cost of capital expenditures associated with the property; sustainability metrics associated with the property; number of federal employees and functions housed at the property; extent to which the mission of the federal agency is dependent on the property; and the estimated amount of capital expenditures needed to maintain and operate the property over the next five years. The report would also include a description of the progress the FRPC has made in fulfilling its requirements under S. 1398 and the progress agencies have made toward achieving their real property goals. Expedited Disposal Program

The bill would establish a real property disposal program under which the GSA Administrator and the OMB Director, based on recommendations from landholding agencies, would identify the 15 federal properties that are excess or surplus and have the highest fair market value and the greatest potential to sell. Those properties would then bypass statutory transfer and conveyance requirements and be offered for sale immediately through public auction. The expedited disposal program under H.R. Duties of the General Services Administration and Executive Agencies

H.R. In addition, H.R. Congress would be required to vote on a joint resolution of approval by the end of that period. If no joint resolution of approval is passed within the 45-day time limit, or if the resolution is passed and the President vetoes it, then agencies would not be required to implement the recommendations. This would appear to permit agencies to bypass steps in the existing disposal process. 695 and S. 1715 propose establishing a new Civilian Property Realignment Commission that would be responsible for the final list of recommendations to be considered by Congress. S. 1398 would not create a new body to oversee the disposal process, but would instead utilize the existing Federal Real Property Council to develop asset management plans for each agency—plans that would include recommendations for disposal of underutilized properties. In addition, S. 1398 would require GSA to establish a descriptive database that must be available at no cost to the public, and require the database to include certain data that may be of use to Congress. 328 would require GSA to establish and maintain a database of all federal real properties (other than those excluded for reasons of national security) that would be accessible to the public at no cost. There are underutilized and vacant properties, perhaps thousands of them, which agencies cannot dispose of because they lack the funding to make needed repairs.
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, agencies are often required to complete major repairs or environmental remediation before properties are ready for disposal—steps for which agencies lack funding. 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.
Four bills have been introduced in the 113th Congress that propose significant changes to the existing real property disposal system. The Federal Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013 (S. 1398), would establish an expedited disposal program under which 200 properties would be exempt from time-consuming, statutory disposal requirements. In addition, S. 1398 would expand the role of an interagency workgroup, the Federal Real Property Council, to set disposal goals for agencies and monitor their progress in meeting those goals. The bill would also increase oversight of agency disposal activities by requiring the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish a real property database available to the public at no cost.
The Excess Federal Building and Property Disposal Act of 2013 (H.R. 328) would establish an expedited disposal program under which the 15 unneeded federal properties with the highest fair market value would bypass statutory disposal requirements and be offered for sale immediately. H.R. 328 would also require the GSA Administrator to establish a real property database available to the public at no cost and provide a report to Congress on the progress each landholding agency has made in reducing its unneeded property.
Two similar, but not identical, versions of the Civilian Property Realignment Act (H.R. 695, S. 1715) have been introduced. Both bills would have the same overarching structure. They would centralize the disposal process by establishing a Civilian Property Realignment Commission, which would work with agencies to develop a list of disposal recommendations to the President. If the President approved the recommendations, then they would be sent to Congress. If Congress passed a joint resolution of approval, then agencies would be required to implement the recommendations; if a joint resolution of approval was not passed, then the realignment process would end for the fiscal year.