Federal Bird Safe Buildings Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1986 To amend title 40, United States Code, to direct the Administrator of General Services to incorporate practices and strategies to reduce bird fatality resulting from collisions with certain public buildings, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 17, 2021 Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself and Mr. GRIFFITH) 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 Admin- istrator of General Services to incorporate practices and strategies to reduce bird fatality resulting from collisions with certain public buildings, 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 ‘‘Federal Bird Safe 4 Buildings Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1986.IH H1986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1986 IH SEC. 2. USE OF BIRD-SAFE FEATURES, PRACTICES, AND 1 STRATEGIES IN PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 40, United 3 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol- 4 lowing: 5 ‘‘§ 3319. Use of bird-safe features, practices, and strat- 6 egies in public buildings 7 ‘‘(a) CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATION, AND ACQUISI- 8 TION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS.—The Administrator of Gen- 9 eral Services shall incorporate, to the extent practicable, 10 features, practices, and strategies to reduce bird fatality 11 resulting from collisions with public buildings for each 12 public building— 13 ‘‘(1) constructed; 14 ‘‘(2) acquired; or 15 ‘‘(3) of which more than 50 percent of the fa- 16 cade is substantially altered (in the opinion of the 17 Commissioner of Public Buildings). 18 ‘‘(b) DESIGN GUIDE.—The Administrator shall de- 19 velop a design guide to carry out subsection (a) that in- 20 cludes the following: 21 ‘‘(1) Features for reducing bird fatality result- 22 ing from collisions with public buildings throughout 23 all construction phases, taking into account the 24 number of each such bird fatality that occurs at dif- 25 ferent types of public buildings. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1986.IH H1986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1986 IH ‘‘(2) Methods and strategies for reducing bird 1 fatality resulting from collisions with public build- 2 ings during the operation and maintenance of such 3 buildings, including installing interior, exterior, and 4 site lighting. 5 ‘‘(3) Best practices for reducing bird fatality re- 6 sulting from collisions with public buildings, includ- 7 ing— 8 ‘‘(A) a description of the reasons for 9 adopting such practices; and 10 ‘‘(B) an explanation for the omission of a 11 best practice identified pursuant to subsection 12 (c). 13 ‘‘(c) IDENTIFYING BEST PRACTICES.—To carry out 14 subsection (b)(3), the Administrator may identify best 15 practices for reducing bird fatality resulting from colli- 16 sions with public buildings, including best practices rec- 17 ommended by— 18 ‘‘(1) Federal agencies with expertise in bird 19 conservation; 20 ‘‘(2) nongovernmental organizations with exper- 21 tise in bird conservation; and 22 ‘‘(3) representatives of green building certifi- 23 cation systems. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1986.IH H1986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1986 IH ‘‘(d) DISSEMINATION OF DESIGN GUIDE.—The Ad- 1 ministrator shall disseminate the design guide developed 2 pursuant to subsection (b) to all Federal agencies, sub- 3 agencies, and departments with independent leasing au- 4 thority from the Administrator. 5 ‘‘(e) UPDATE TO DESIGN GUIDE.—The Adminis- 6 trator shall, on a regular basis, update the design guide 7 developed pursuant to subsection (b) with respect to the 8 priorities of the Administrator for reducing bird fatality 9 resulting from collisions with public buildings. 10 ‘‘(f) EXEMPT BUILDINGS.—This section shall not 11 apply to— 12 ‘‘(1) any building or site listed, or eligible for 13 listing, on the National Register of Historic Places; 14 ‘‘(2) the White House and the grounds of the 15 White House; 16 ‘‘(3) the Supreme Court building and the 17 grounds of the Supreme Court; or 18 ‘‘(4) the United States Capitol and any building 19 on the grounds of the Capitol. 20 ‘‘(g) CERTIFICATION.—Not later than October 1 of 21 each fiscal year, the Administrator, acting through the 22 Commissioner, shall certify to Congress that the Adminis- 23 trator uses the design guide developed pursuant to sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1986.IH H1986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1986 IH section (b) for each public building described in subsection 1 (a). 2 ‘‘(h) REPORT.—Not later than October 1 of each fis- 3 cal year, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a re- 4 port that includes— 5 ‘‘(1) the certification under subsection (g); and 6 ‘‘(2) to the extent practicable, the number of 7 each such bird fatality that occurred as a result of 8 a collision with the public buildings occupied by the 9 respective head of each Federal agency.’’. 10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 11 at the beginning of chapter 33 of title 40, United States 12 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 13 item: 14 ‘‘3319. Use of bird-safe features, practices, and strategies in public buildings.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:44 May 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1986.IH H1986 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS