Bird-Safe Buildings Act of 2019

I 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. BLU- MENAUER, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. CARSON of Indi- ana, 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 Admin- istrator of General Services to incorporate bird-safe building materials and design features into public build- ings, 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 ‘‘Bird-Safe Buildings 4 Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H919.IH H919 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 919 IH SEC. 2. USE OF BIRD-SAFE BUILDING MATERIALS AND DE- 1 SIGN FEATURES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 33 of title 40, United 3 States Code, is further amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘§ 3319. Use of bird-safe building materials and de- 6 sign features 7 ‘‘(a) CONSTRUCTION, ALTERATION, AND ACQUISI- 8 TION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS.—Each public building con- 9 structed, acquired, or of which more than 50 percent of 10 the facade is substantially altered (in the opinion of the 11 Commissioner of Public Buildings) by the Administrator 12 of General Services shall meet, to the maximum extent 13 practicable, as determined by the Administrator, the fol- 14 lowing standards: 15 ‘‘(1) At least 90 percent of the exposed facade 16 material from ground level to 40 feet— 17 ‘‘(A) shall not be composed of glass; or 18 ‘‘(B) shall be composed of glass employ- 19 ing— 20 ‘‘(i) elements that preclude bird colli- 21 sions without completely obscuring vision, 22 such as secondary facades, netting, 23 screens, shutters, and exterior shades; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H919.IH H919 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 919 IH ‘‘(ii) ultraviolet (UV) patterned glass 1 that contains UV-reflective or contrasting 2 patterns that are visible to birds; 3 ‘‘(iii) patterns on glass designed in ac- 4 cordance with a rule that restricts hori- 5 zontal spaces to less than 2 inches high 6 and vertical spaces to less than 4 inches 7 wide, commonly referred to as the ‘2 × 4 8 rule’; 9 ‘‘(iv) opaque, etched, stained, frosted, 10 or translucent glass; or 11 ‘‘(v) any combination of the methods 12 described in this subparagraph. 13 ‘‘(2) At least 60 percent of the exposed facade 14 material above 40 feet shall meet the standard de- 15 scribed in paragraph (1)(A) or (1)(B). 16 ‘‘(3) There shall not be any transparent pas- 17 sageways or corners. 18 ‘‘(4) All glass adjacent to atria or courtyards 19 containing water features, plants, and other mate- 20 rials attractive to birds shall meet the standard de- 21 scribed in paragraph (1)(B). 22 ‘‘(5) Outside lighting shall be appropriately 23 shielded and minimized subject to security and other 24 mission related requirements. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:16 Feb 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H919.IH H919 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 919 IH ‘‘(b) MONITORING.—The Administrator shall take 1 such actions as may be necessary to ensure that actual 2 bird mortality is monitored at each public building. 3 ‘‘(c) EXISTING BUILDINGS AND LIGHTING.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, where 5 practicable and consistent with security and other 6 mission related requirements, as determined by the 7 Administrator, shall reduce exterior building and site 8 lighting for each public building. This paragraph 9 shall not apply to buildings in which the Adminis- 10 trator does not have control of the exterior building 11 and site lighting. 12 ‘‘(2) USE OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL TECH- 13 NOLOGIES.—In carrying out paragraph (1), the Ad- 14 ministrator shall make use of automatic control 15 technologies, including timers, photo-sensors, and in- 16 frared and motion detectors. 17 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL METHODS.—In carrying out the 18 requirements of this section, the Administrator may em- 19 ploy any available methods and strategies that are in ac- 20 cordance with existing effective best practices to reduce 21 bird mortality. 22 ‘‘(e) EXCEPTION FOR SIGNIFICANT COST.—The re- 23 quirements of this section shall not apply to any acquisi- 24 tion or substantial alteration described in subsection (a) 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H919.IH H919 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 919 IH if the Administrator, after consideration of multiple op- 1 tions, determines that the use of the required building ma- 2 terials and design features would result in a significant 3 additional cost for the project. 4 ‘‘(f) EXEMPT BUILDINGS.—This section shall not 5 apply to— 6 ‘‘(1) any building or site listed, or eligible for 7 listing, on the National Register of Historic Places; 8 ‘‘(2) the White House and its grounds; 9 ‘‘(3) the Supreme Court building and its 10 grounds; or 11 ‘‘(4) the United States Capitol and its related 12 buildings and grounds.’’. 13 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 14 at the beginning of chapter 33 of title 40, United States 15 Code, is further amended by adding at the end the fol- 16 lowing new item: 17 ‘‘3319. Use of bird-safe building materials and design features.’’. Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Feb 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H919.IH H919 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS