Fasta Reform Act of 2023
Floor Speech
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Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6277) to amend the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 to improve such Act, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 6277
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``FASTA Reform Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE FEDERAL ASSETS SALE AND TRANSFER ACT OF 2016.
(a) In General.--The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (40 U.S.C. 1303 note) is amended--
(1) in section 2--
(A) in paragraph (9) by striking ``and'' at the end;
(B) in paragraph (10) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(11) implementing innovative methods for the sale, redevelopment, consolidation, or lease of Federal buildings and facilities, including the use of no cost, nonappropriated contracts for expert real estate services to obtain the highest and best value for the taxpayer.'';
(2) in section 3(5)(B)(viii) by inserting ``, other than office buildings and warehouses,'' after ``Properties'';
(3) in section 5(b) by striking ``Five Board members'' and inserting ``Four Board members'';
(4) in section 7 by adding at the end the following:
``(c) Return to Civil Service.--An Executive Director selected from the civil service (as such term is defined in section 2101 of title 5, United States Code) shall be entitled to return to the civil service after service to the Board ends if the Executive Director's service to the Board ends for reasons other than misconduct, neglect of duty, or malfeasance.'';
(5) in section 8--
(A) in subsection (b)--
(i) by striking ``and the Director of OMB''; and
(ii) by inserting ``for a period of not less than 1 year'' before ``to assist the Board'';
(B) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
(C) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
``(c) Hiring of Term Employees.--The Executive Director, with approval of the Board, may utilize the Office of Personnel Management to hire employees for terms not to exceed 2 years pursuant to the Office of Personnel Management guidance for nonstatus appointments in the competitive service.'';
(6) in section 10 by striking ``6 years after the date on which the Board members are appointed pursuant to section 4'' and inserting ``on December 31, 2026'';
(7) in section 11(a)--
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by striking ``the Administrator and the Director of OMB'' and inserting ``the Administrator, the Director of OMB, and the Board'';
(B) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by striking ``and'' before ``square footage''; and
(ii) by inserting ``, amount of acreage associated with the property, and whether the property is on a campus or larger facility'' before the period at the end; and
(C) by adding at the end the following:
``(3) Consolidation plans.--Any agency plans to consolidate, reconfigure, or otherwise reduce the use of owned and leased property.'';
(8) in section 12--
(A) in subsection (b)(2) by striking the second sentence and inserting ``In the case of a failure by an agency to comply with a request of the Board, the Board shall notify the committees listed in section 5(c), the relevant congressional committees of jurisdiction for the agency, and the inspector general of the agency of such failure.'';
(B) by redesignating subsections (d) through (i) as subsections (e) through (j), respectively;
(C) by inserting after subsection (c) the following:
``(d) Preparation of Properties for Disposal.--At the request of, and in coordination with, the Board, a Federal agency may undertake any analyses and due diligence as necessary to prepare a property for disposition so that the property may be included in the recommendations of the Board under subsection (h), including completion of the requirements of section 306108 of title 54, United States Code, for historic preservation and identification of the likely highest and best use of the property subsequent to disposition.'';
(D) in subsection (h) (as so redesignated)--
(i) in paragraph (1)--
(I) in subparagraph (A) by striking ``and'' at the end;
(II) by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph (C); and
(III) by inserting after subparagraph (A) the following:
``(B) the process to be followed by Federal agencies to carry out the actions described under subparagraph (A), including the use of no cost, nonappropriated contracts for expert real estate services and other innovative methods, to obtain the highest and best value for the taxpayer; and''; and
(ii) in paragraph (2) by adding at the end the following:
``(C) Third round.--During the period beginning on the day after the transmittal of the second report and ending on the day before the termination of the Board under section 10, the Board may transmit to the Director of OMB a third report required under paragraph (1).''; and
(E) by adding at the end the following:
``(k) Report to Congress.--The Board shall periodically submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report containing any recommendations on consolidations, exchanges, sales, lease reductions, and redevelopments that are not included in the transmissions submitted under subsection (h), or approved by the Director of OMB under section 13, but which the majority of the Board concludes meets the goals of this Act.'';
(9) in section 13--
(A) in subsection (a) by striking ``subsections (b) and (g)'' and inserting ``subsections (b) and (h)''; and
(B) in subsection (c)(4)--
(i) by inserting ``, in whole or in part,'' before ``received under paragraph (3)''; and
(ii) by striking ``revised'' the second place it appears;
(10) in section 20 by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
``(b) Effective Date.--The provisions of this section, including the amendments made by this section, shall take effect on the date on which the Board transmits the second report under section 12(h)(2)(B) and shall apply to proceeds from--
``(1) transactions contained in such report; and
``(2) any transactions conducted after the termination of the Board pursuant to section 10.'';
(11) in section 21(b) by adding at the end the following:
``(9) Whether the Federal real property is on a campus or similar facility and, if so, identification of such campus or facility and related details, including total acreage.''; and
(12) by inserting after section 25 the following: ``SEC. 26. ACCESS TO FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY COUNCIL MEETINGS AND REPORTS.
``The Federal Real Property Council established under section 623 of title 40, United States Code, shall ensure that the Board has access to any meetings of the Council and any reports required under such section.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of such Act is amended by adding at the end the following: ``Sec. 26. Access to Federal Real Property Council meetings and reports.''.
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Mr. PERRY. 6277.
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Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
First, I would thank the Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee Ranking Member Titus from Nevada for working with me on this piece of legislation. The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act, also known as FASTA, was passed in 2016 to create a temporary board of experts to identify Federal properties for sale and redevelopment.
Unfortunately, the process has not worked as Congress originally envisioned, and this bill seeks to remedy that.
Federal agencies are reluctant to let go of property they don't need, and it has become clear the board requires more authority to gather data it needs to develop recommendations.
This bill would make a number of reforms to improve the effectiveness of the process, including extending the board's timeline, speeding up the effective date of incentives for agencies to put properties forward, and giving the board access to the Federal Real Property Council.
Madam Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. PERRY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Nevada (Ms. Titus), for her hard work on this effort. H.R. 6277 makes improvements to the authorities of the Public Buildings Reform Board, or the PBRB, established by the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016, or the FASTA, to increase the number of Federal properties the board recommends be sold or redeveloped.
By allowing for more Federal properties to be sold or redeveloped, H.R. 6277 will ultimately reduce the cost of our Federal real estate portfolio, resulting in savings for the taxpayers.
Madam Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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