COST of Relocations Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 392 To require Federal agencies to conduct a benefit-cost analysis on relocations involving the movement of employment positions to different areas, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 23, 2021 Mr. VAN HOLLEN (for himself, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CARDIN, and Mr. WARNER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To require Federal agencies to conduct a benefit-cost analysis on relocations involving the movement of employment positions to different areas, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Congressional Over- 4 sight to Secure Transparency of Relocations Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘COST of Relocations Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS ON CERTAIN RELOCA- 7 TIONS. 8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:00 Mar 18, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 2 •S 392 IS (1) ADMINISTRATIVE REDELEGATION OF FUNC- 1 TION.—The term ‘‘administrative redelegation of 2 function’’ means a Federal agency establishing new 3 positions within the Federal agency that replace ex- 4 isting positions within the Federal agency and per- 5 form the functions of the positions replaced. 6 (2) COVERED RELOCATION.—The term ‘‘cov- 7 ered relocation’’ means— 8 (A) an administrative redelegation of func- 9 tion which, by itself or in conjunction with 10 other related redelegations, involves replacing 11 the existing positions of more than the lesser of 12 5 percent or 100 of the employees of the rel- 13 evant Federal agency with new positions located 14 outside the commuting area of those employees; 15 (B) moving a Federal agency or any com- 16 ponent of a Federal agency if the move, by 17 itself or in conjunction with other related 18 moves, involves moving the positions of more 19 than the lesser of 5 percent or 100 of the em- 20 ployees of the Federal agency outside the com- 21 muting area of those employees or under the ju- 22 risdiction of another Federal agency; or 23 (C) a combination of related redelegations 24 and moves which together involve the positions 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 3 •S 392 IS of more than the lesser of 5 percent or 100 of 1 the employees of the relevant Federal agency 2 being moved to or replaced with new positions 3 located outside the commuting area of those 4 employees or moved under the jurisdiction of 5 another Federal agency. 6 (3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 7 an employee or officer of a Federal agency. 8 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 9 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 10 in section 902 of title 5, United States Code. 11 (5) NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION.—The term 12 ‘‘National Capital Region’’ has the meaning given 13 the term in section 8702 of title 40, United States 14 Code. 15 (b) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in sub- 16 section (e), a Federal agency may not carry out a covered 17 relocation unless, before any submission to the Office of 18 Management and Budget or other reviewing entity regard- 19 ing the relocation— 20 (1) the Federal agency— 21 (A) conducts a benefit-cost analysis on the 22 covered relocation; and 23 (B) submits to the Office of Inspector 24 General of the Federal agency a report on the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 4 •S 392 IS findings of the benefit-cost analysis and includ- 1 ing such other information as the Office of In- 2 spector General determines necessary for com- 3 pliance with subsection (d); and 4 (2) the Office of Inspector General of the Fed- 5 eral agency reviews the report and submits to Con- 6 gress the report described in subsection (d). 7 (c) BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefit-cost analysis de- 9 scribed in subsection (b)(1) shall be conducted in a 10 manner consistent with the economic and social 11 science principles articulated in the guidance appli- 12 cable to relocations in the Office of Management and 13 Budget Circular A–4, as in effect on September 17, 14 2003. 15 (2) ANALYSIS REPORT.— 16 (A) CONTENTS.—The report described in 17 subsection (b)(1)(B) shall include, at a min- 18 imum— 19 (i) the anticipated outcomes and im- 20 provements that will result from the pro- 21 posed covered relocation, quantified in 22 monetary or other appropriate measures to 23 the extent practicable; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 5 •S 392 IS (ii) an explanation of how the pro- 1 posed covered relocation will result in the 2 anticipated outcomes and improvements; 3 (iii) the metrics for measuring wheth- 4 er the proposed covered relocation results 5 in the anticipated outcomes and improve- 6 ments; 7 (iv) a detailed employee engagement 8 plan; 9 (v) a list of stakeholders; 10 (vi) a timeline of past and future en- 11 gagements with stakeholders regarding the 12 proposed covered relocation; 13 (vii) an assessment of how the pro- 14 posed covered relocation may affect stake- 15 holders— 16 (I) served by the positions af- 17 fected by the covered relocation; and 18 (II) in the destination Federal 19 agency or region; 20 (viii) a comprehensive strategy for ac- 21 complishing the proposed covered reloca- 22 tion that includes— 23 (I) staffing, resourcing, and fi- 24 nancial needs; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 6 •S 392 IS (II) an implementation timeline 1 identifying milestones and the persons 2 accountable for meeting those mile- 3 stones; 4 (III) a risk assessment; and 5 (IV) a risk mitigation plan; 6 (ix) an analysis of the effect the pro- 7 posed covered relocation may have on the 8 ability of the Federal agency to carry out 9 the mission of the Federal agency during 10 the covered relocation and thereafter; and 11 (x) an assessment of the short- and 12 long-term effects of the proposed covered 13 relocation on the mission of the Federal 14 agency. 15 (B) PUBLICATION.—A Federal agency 16 shall make publicly available the report de- 17 scribed in subsection (b)(1)(B) in a form that 18 excludes any proprietary information or trade 19 secrets of any person and other confidential in- 20 formation. 21 (d) INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 23 the date on which a Federal agency submits a report 24 under subsection (b)(1)(B), the Office of Inspector 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 7 •S 392 IS General of that Federal agency shall submit to the 1 Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental 2 Affairs of the Senate, the Committee on Environ- 3 ment and Public Works of the Senate, the Com- 4 mittee on Oversight and Reform of the House of 5 Representatives, and the Committee on Transpor- 6 tation and Infrastructure of the House of Represent- 7 atives a report on the findings of the review con- 8 ducted under subsection (b)(2), including— 9 (A) detailed descriptions of the data used 10 in the benefit-cost analysis described in sub- 11 section (b)(1), including the types of data and 12 the time periods covered by the data; 13 (B) the conclusions of the benefit-cost 14 analysis and the analysis underlying those con- 15 clusions; and 16 (C) a comprehensive assessment of— 17 (i) the extent to which the Federal 18 agency adhered to the guidance in the Of- 19 fice of Management and Budget Circular 20 A–4, as in effect on September 17, 2003, 21 in conducting the benefit-cost analysis, in- 22 cluding a determination whether that ad- 23 herence is sufficient to justify the use of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 8 •S 392 IS Federal funds for the covered relocation in- 1 volved; and 2 (ii) if the covered relocation involves 3 moving positions from inside the National 4 Capital Region to outside the National 5 Capital Region, the extent to which real es- 6 tate options in the National Capital Region 7 were compared to those in the destination 8 as part of that analysis. 9 (2) EXCLUSIONS.— 10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Inspector 11 General of a Federal agency shall exclude from 12 any report described in this subsection any pro- 13 prietary information or trade secrets of any per- 14 son and other confidential information. 15 (B) EXPLANATION AND DESCRIPTION RE- 16 QUIRED.—For each exclusion under subpara- 17 graph (A), the Office of Inspector General shall 18 include— 19 (i) an explanation of the reason for 20 the exclusion; and 21 (ii) a description of the information 22 excluded in an appropriate location in the 23 relevant report. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS 9 •S 392 IS (e) OTHER REQUIREMENTS NOT ABROGATED.— 1 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to abrogate, reduce, 2 or eliminate any requirements imposed by law pertaining 3 to any relocation of a Federal agency or component of a 4 Federal agency. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:54 Mar 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S392.IS S392 SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with BILLS