COST of Relocations Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7478 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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 1, 2020 Ms. WEXTON (for herself, Ms. NORTON, Mr. SARBANES, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, Mr. BEYER, Ms. DEAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mr. HUFFMAN) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Over- sight and Reform 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7478 IH SEC. 2. BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS ON CERTAIN RELOCA- 1 TIONS. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection 3 (d), a Federal agency may not carry out a covered reloca- 4 tion unless, prior to any submission to the Office of Man- 5 agement and Budget or other reviewing entity regarding 6 such relocation— 7 (1) such agency— 8 (A) conducts a benefit-cost analysis on the 9 covered relocation; and 10 (B) submits to the Office of Inspector 11 General for such agency a report on the find- 12 ings of the benefit-cost analysis and including 13 such other information such Office of Inspector 14 General determines necessary for compliance 15 with subsection (c); and 16 (2) such Office of Inspector General reviews the 17 report and submits to Congress the report described 18 in subsection (c). 19 (b) BENEFIT-COST ANALYSIS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The benefit-cost analysis de- 21 scribed in subsection (a)(1) shall be conducted in a 22 manner consistent with the economic and social 23 science principles articulated in the guidance appli- 24 cable to relocations in the Office of Management and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7478 IH Budget Circular A–4, as in effect on September 17, 1 2003. 2 (2) ANALYSIS REPORT.— 3 (A) CONTENTS.—The report described in 4 subsection (a)(1)(B) shall include, at a min- 5 imum— 6 (i) the anticipated outcomes and im- 7 provements that will result from the pro- 8 posed relocation, quantified in monetary or 9 other appropriate measures to the extent 10 practicable; 11 (ii) an explanation of how the pro- 12 posed relocation will result in the antici- 13 pated outcomes and improvements; 14 (iii) the metrics for measuring wheth- 15 er the proposed relocation results in the 16 anticipated outcomes and improvements; 17 (iv) a detailed employee engagement 18 plan; 19 (v) a list of stakeholders; 20 (vi) a timeline of past and future en- 21 gagements with stakeholders regarding the 22 proposed relocation; 23 (vii) an assessment of how the pro- 24 posed relocation may affect stakeholders— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7478 IH (I) served by the positions af- 1 fected by the relocation; and 2 (II) in the destination agency or 3 region; 4 (viii) a comprehensive strategy for ac- 5 complishing the proposed relocation that 6 includes— 7 (I) staffing, resourcing, and fi- 8 nancial needs; 9 (II) an implementation timeline 10 identifying milestones and the persons 11 accountable for meeting such mile- 12 stones; 13 (III) a risk assessment; and 14 (IV) a risk mitigation plan; 15 (ix) an analysis of the effect the pro- 16 posed relocation may have on the ability of 17 the Federal agency to carry out its mission 18 during the relocation and thereafter; and 19 (x) an assessment of the short- and 20 long-term effects of the relocation on the 21 mission of the Federal agency. 22 (B) PUBLICATION.—A Federal agency 23 shall make publicly available the report de- 24 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(B) in a form that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7478 IH excludes any proprietary information or trade 1 secrets of any person and other confidential in- 2 formation. 3 (c) INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 5 the date on which a Federal agency submits a report 6 under subsection (a)(1)(B), the Office of Inspector 7 General for that agency shall submit to the Com- 8 mittee on Homeland Security and Governmental Af- 9 fairs of the Senate, the Committee on Environment 10 and Public Works of the Senate, the Committee on 11 Oversight and Reform of the House of Representa- 12 tives, and the Committee on Transportation and In- 13 frastructure of the House of Representatives a re- 14 port on the findings of the review conducted under 15 subsection (a)(2), including— 16 (A) detailed descriptions of the data used 17 in the benefit-cost analysis described in sub- 18 section (a)(1), including the types of data and 19 the time periods covered by the data; 20 (B) the conclusions of the benefit-cost 21 analysis and the analysis underlying such con- 22 clusions; and 23 (C) a comprehensive assessment of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7478 IH (i) the extent to which the Federal 1 agency adhered to the guidance in the Of- 2 fice of Management and Budget Circular 3 A–4, as in effect on September 17, 2003, 4 in conducting the benefit-cost analysis, in- 5 cluding a determination whether such ad- 6 herence is sufficient to justify the use of 7 Federal funds for the relocation involved; 8 and 9 (ii) if the relocation involves moving 10 positions from inside the National Capital 11 Region to outside the National Capital Re- 12 gion, the extent to which real estate op- 13 tions in the National Capital Region were 14 compared to those in the destination as 15 part of that analysis. 16 (2) EXCLUSIONS.— 17 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Office of Inspector 18 General for a Federal agency shall exclude from 19 any report described in this subsection any pro- 20 prietary information or trade secrets of any per- 21 son and other confidential information. 22 (B) EXPLANATION AND DESCRIPTION RE- 23 QUIRED.—For each exclusion under subpara- 24 graph (A), the Office of Inspector General shall 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7478 IH include an explanation of the reason for the ex- 1 clusion and a description of the information ex- 2 cluded in an appropriate location in the relevant 3 report. 4 (d) OTHER REQUIREMENTS NOT ABROGATED.— 5 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to abrogate, reduce, 6 or eliminate any requirements imposed by law pertaining 7 to any relocation of a Federal agency or component of a 8 Federal agency. 9 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 10 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE REDELEGATION OF FUNC- 11 TION.—The term ‘‘administrative redelegation of 12 function’’ means a Federal agency establishing new 13 positions within the agency that replace existing po- 14 sitions within the agency and perform the functions 15 of the positions replaced. 16 (2) COVERED RELOCATION.—The term ‘‘cov- 17 ered relocation’’ means— 18 (A) an administrative redelegation of func- 19 tion which, by itself or in conjunction with 20 other related redelegations, involves replacing 21 the existing positions of more than the lesser of 22 5 percent or 100 of the employees of the rel- 23 evant Federal agency with new positions located 24 outside the commuting area of such employees; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7478 IH (B) moving a Federal agency or any com- 1 ponent of a Federal agency if such move, by 2 itself or in conjunction with other related 3 moves, involves moving the positions of more 4 than the lesser of 5 percent or 100 of the em- 5 ployees of the Federal agency outside the com- 6 muting area of such employees or under the ju- 7 risdiction of another Federal agency; or 8 (C) a combination of related redelegations 9 and moves which together involve the positions 10 of more than the lesser of 5 percent or 100 of 11 the employees of the relevant Federal agency 12 being moved to or replaced with new positions 13 located outside the commuting area of such em- 14 ployees or moved under the jurisdiction of an- 15 other Federal agency. 16 (3) EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘employee’’ means 17 an employee or officer of a Federal agency. 18 (4) FEDERAL AGENCY.—The term ‘‘Federal 19 agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘agency’’ 20 in section 902 of title 5, United States Code. 21 (5) NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION.—The term 22 ‘‘National Capital Region’’ has the meaning given 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7478 IH such term in section 8702 of title 40, United States 1 Code. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Jul 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7478.IH H7478 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS