[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]

THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION'S
PRIORITIES FOR 2021 AND BEYOND

=======================================================================

(117-31)

REMOTE HEARING

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, PUBLIC BUILDINGS, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

__________

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

__________

Printed for the use of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

Available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-
transportation?path=/browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/
transportation

__________

U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
47-038 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022

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COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE

PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon, Chair
SAM GRAVES, Missouri ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
DON YOUNG, Alaska District of Columbia
ERIC A. ``RICK'' CRAWFORD, Arkansas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
BOB GIBBS, Ohio RICK LARSEN, Washington
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky STEVE COHEN, Tennessee
SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey
RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois JOHN GARAMENDI, California
JOHN KATKO, New York HENRY C. ``HANK'' JOHNSON, Jr.,
BRIAN BABIN, Texas Georgia
GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana ANDRE CARSON, Indiana
DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina DINA TITUS, Nevada
MIKE BOST, Illinois SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York
RANDY K. WEBER, Sr., Texas JARED HUFFMAN, California
DOUG LaMALFA, California JULIA BROWNLEY, California
BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida
BRIAN J. MAST, Florida DONALD M. PAYNE, Jr., New Jersey
MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California
BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania MARK DeSAULNIER, California
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts
Puerto Rico SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California
TROY BALDERSON, Ohio ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey
TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee GREG STANTON, Arizona
DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas
JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas, Vice Chair
MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi JESUS G. ``CHUY'' GARCIA, Illinois
TROY E. NEHLS, Texas ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
NANCY MACE, South Carolina CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire
NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts
MICHELLE STEEL, California CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia
KAIALI`I KAHELE, Hawaii
MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington
NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia
MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
TROY A. CARTER, Louisiana

------ 7

Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and
Emergency Management

DINA TITUS, Nevada, Chair
DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON,
THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky District of Columbia
JENNIFFER GONZALEZ-COLON, SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
Puerto Rico CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire, Vice
MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi Chair
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California
CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida JOHN GARAMENDI, California
SAM GRAVES, Missouri (Ex Officio) TROY A. CARTER, Louisiana
PETER A. DeFAZIO, Oregon (Ex
Officio)

CONTENTS

Page

Summary of Subject Matter........................................ v

STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE

Hon. Dina Titus, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Nevada, and Chair, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings, and Emergency Management, opening statement......... 1
Prepared statement........................................... 3
Hon. Daniel Webster, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Florida, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Economic
Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management,
opening statement.............................................. 4
Prepared statement........................................... 4
Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in Congress from the
State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, opening statement.............................. 5
Prepared statement........................................... 6
Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of
Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, prepared statement............................. 33

WITNESSES

Hon. Robin Carnahan, Administrator, U.S. General Services
Administration, oral statement................................. 7
Prepared statement........................................... 9
Nina Albert, Commissioner, Public Buildings Service, U.S. General
Services Administration, oral statement \\............. 12

APPENDIX

Questions to the U.S. General Services Administration from:
Hon. Peter A. DeFazio........................................ 35
Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton................................... 37
Questions to Hon. Robin Carnahan, Administrator, U.S. General
Services Administration, from:
Hon. Sharice Davids.......................................... 38
Hon. Daniel Webster.......................................... 39

----------
Nina Albert, Commissioner, Public Buildings Service, U.S.
General Services Administration, did not submit a prepared statement.

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

November 2, 2021

SUMMARY OF SUBJECT MATTER

TO: LMembers, Subcommittee on Economic Development,
Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
FROM: LStaff, Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings, and Emergency Management
RE: LHearing on ``The General Services
Administration's Priorities for 2021 and Beyond.''
_______________________________________________________________________

PURPOSE

The Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings,
and Emergency Management will meet on Tuesday, November 2,
2021, at 10:00 am EDT in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building and
virtually via Zoom to hold a hearing titled, ``The General
Services Administration's Priorities for 2021 and Beyond.'' At
the hearing, Members will receive testimony from the
Administrator of General Services and the General Services
Administration's Public Buildings Commissioner.

BACKGROUND

The General Services Administration (GSA) provides
workspace for 1.2 million federal employees across more than 50
federal agencies.\1\ GSA's Public Building Service (PBS) owns
over 1,500 federal buildings.\2\ Approximately 53 percent of
PBS's portfolio is over 50 years old, and 28 percent is over 75
years old.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R46410
\2\ https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/
GSA%20FY%202021%20Congressional%20Justification.pdf
\3\ https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/
GSA%20FY%202021%20Congressional%20Justification.pdf
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
GSA's PBS leases approximately 8,100 office buildings,
courthouses, land ports of entry, data processing centers,
laboratories, and specialized space around the country for
federal agencies.\4\ During the period from fiscal year (FY)
2019 through FY 2023, 60 percent of PBS leases will expire.\5\
GSA's PBS portfolio is projected to include 183.4 million
square feet of owned space and 183.5 million square feet of
leased space in FY 2021.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/gsa-properties
\5\ https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/
GSA%20FY%202021%20Congressional%20Justification.pdf
\6\ https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/
GSA%20FY%202021%20Congressional%20Justification.pdf
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THE FEDERAL BUILDINGS FUND

GSA's PBS and its activities are funded through GSA's
Federal Buildings Fund (FBF).\7\ GSA enters into occupancy
agreements with its federal agency tenants and charges
commercially equivalent rent.\8\ Those rents fund the FBF.\9\
In turn, the FBF funds the operations of PBS, new construction,
repairs and alterations, and payments for commercial leases.
The availability of funds in the FBF are subject to annual
appropriations.\10\
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\7\ 40 U.S.C. Sec. 592
\8\ 40 U.S.C. Sec. 586
\9\ 40 U.S.C. Sec. 592
\10\ 40 U.S.C. Sec. 3307
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GSA has raised concerns that because Congress has not
appropriated $10.3 billion in FBF rent collections over the
last ten years, ``GSA is collecting commercially equivalent
rent from its occupant agencies but is precluded from
reinvesting all of these funds in the aging federal facilities
occupied by those rent-paying agencies.'' \11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/
02_FY_2022_CJ_FBF_Narrative_Final_2.pdf FBF-11
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GSA's FY 22 budget requested:

`` . . . positive net budget authority to adequately preserve
and invest in the Federal Government's real estate assets.
Providing positive net budget authority in FY 2022 will allow
GSA to begin addressing the liabilities resulting from the
$10.3 billion in unappropriated FBF [New Obligational
Authority] (NOA) over the last decade. Reduced budget authority
impedes PBS's ability to fund critical repairs and improvements
to the Federal inventory, resulting in avoidable increased
costs due to delayed repairs and missed opportunities to
consolidate space.'' \12\
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\12\ Id.
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GSA'S PROCESS

The Administrator of General Services (GSA) is authorized
by 40 U.S.C. Sec. 585 to enter into lease agreements (of no
more than 20 years) to secure space for federal agencies.\13\
GSA also acquires space through new construction or
purchase.\14\
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\13\ https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/LDG-CHAPTER_INTRODUCTION-
FINAL_9-30-11final_508C.pdf
\14\ 40 U.S.C. Sec. Sec. 3304, 3305
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GSA's leasing process begins with the development of space
requirements. Typically, GSA begins reaching out to expiring
lease tenants approximately 24 months in advance of the
expiration to determine whether a continuing need exists, and
to notify the agency of the need to provide GSA with a request
for space and begin development of the program of requirements.
After the space requirements are developed and GSA agrees with
and finalizes the documentation for the lease, if the lease
cost is below the ``prospectus'' threshold currently at $3.095
million, GSA begins the process of lease acquisition.\15\ If
the lease costs is above the prospectus level, GSA develops a
prospectus pursuant to 40 U.S.C. Sec. 3307 that includes
details on the purpose, need, size, scope of the leased
space.\16\ The prospectus is submitted in the House to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and in the
Senate to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. Both
committees must approve via resolution each prospectus prior to
GSA executing the lease.\17\
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\15\ https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/design-construction/gsa-
annual-prospectus-thresholds. FY22 threshold will increase to $3.375
million, Letter dated January 4, 2021 from the General Services
Administration to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
\16\ 40 U.S.C. Sec. 3307.
\17\ Id.
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Similarly, for new construction, alteration, or purchase
projects, GSA works with its tenant agencies on a program of
requirements and committee action on a prospectus is required
if the costs are above the prospectus threshold.

PROPOSED ALTERNATIVES TO ADDRESS FUNDING CHALLENGES

Since 2011, the amount of funds available in the FBF for
new construction and repairs and alternations has decreased
below receipts received by GSA from its tenant agencies.\18\ In
addition, reductions, consolidations, and reconfigurations of
space to improve efficiency and decrease real estate costs
often require capital upfront to execute such plans.\19\ Given
this, a number of solutions have been proposed for alternative
ways of funding projects, including public-private partnerships
(P3s), discounted purchase options, and the creation of a new
fund outside of GSA's FBF.
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\18\ See appropriations acts beginning in FY2011
\19\ See, for example, GSA's Consolidations Activities Program,
Prospectus No. PCA-0001-MU21
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While GSA has the legal authorities to carry out public-
private partnerships (P3s) and discounted purchase options, the
Office of Management and Budget's (OMB) interpretation of
budgetary scoring rules effectively prohibits GSA from using
these alternatives.\20\ Specifically, OMB's interpretation of
the budgetary scoring rules effectively would require GSA to
have the full amount of budgetary authority for a project up
front.\21\
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\20\ OMB Circular A-11, Appendix B
\21\ Id.
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GSA CLIMATE RESILIENCE STRATEGY

President Biden's Executive Order 14008, Tackling the
Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, directed federal agencies to
develop a climate resilience strategy.\22\ In response, GSA
published a Climate Change Risk Management Plan in September
2021.\23\ The plan identifies GSA's vulnerabilities to climate
change and priorities for action.\24\
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\22\ 86 FR 7619, pg. 7619-7633
\23\ GSA. Climate Change Risk Management Plan. September 2021.
Available at: Climate Change Risk Management Plan (sustainability.gov)
\24\ Id.
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GSA guidelines require it only lease properties outside of
floodplains to mitigate the risk posed to its property.\25\ As
floodplain maps are updated to account for climate change, GSA
anticipates the availability of suitable leasing space will be
restricted and higher rental costs more expensive as a
result.\26\ GSA will also incorporate updated floodplain data
into its Building Assessment Tool Survey to ensure owned
property has service life of thirty years at minimum.\27\
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\25\ Id.
\26\ Id.
\27\ Id.
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Historic buildings within GSA's portfolio are vulnerable to
climate change and natural disasters.\28\ Historic buildings
were constructed using flood maps that do not reflect updates
to 100-year and 500-year flood risks.\29\ The age and
architecture of the buildings limit opportunities to make
modifications that enhance resilience.\30\ Additionally, GSA's
repair backlog has left properties within the federal real
estate portfolio at greater risk to extreme weather events.\31\
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\28\ Id.
\29\ GSA. Climate Change Risk Management Plan. September 2021.
Available at: Climate Change Risk Management Plan (sustainability.gov)
\30\ Id.
\31\ Id.
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In September 2021, the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) noted that the federal government has not made measurable
progress to reduce its fiscal exposure to climate change.\32\
GSA filed a prospectus (PCR-0001-MU22) requesting one-hundred
million dollars to make investments that will mitigate their
financial losses in the long-term.\33\ The proposed use of
these funds is to, ``conduct formal agency-wide vulnerability
assessments to align with the climate science from the latest
National Climate Assessment (NCA) and to fortify agency risk
management efforts.'' \34\ Funds will also be used to execute
projects which enhance GSA's access and use of data to
determine vulnerabilities, update agency guidelines to account
for climate change, train agency professionals to consider
climate vulnerability, identify and map at-risk assets, and
execute capital projects that new data and vulnerability
assessments determine to be the highest priority.\35\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\32\ GAO. Federal Real Property Asset Management: Additional
Direction in Government-Wide Guidance Could Enhance Natural Disaster
Resilience. September 2021. Available at: GAO-21-596, Accessible
Version, FEDERAL REAL PROPERTY ASSET MANAGEMENT: Additional Direction
in Government-Wide Guidance Could Enhance Natural Disaster Resilience
\33\ GSA. Prospectus--Alteration, Climate and Resilience Program,
Various Buildings (PCR-0001-MU22).
\34\ Id.
\35\ Id.
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THE FEDERAL ASSETS SALE AND TRANSFER ACT

The Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act of 2016 (FASTA)
(P.L. 114-287) established a new process for disposing of
unneeded federal space. Under FASTA, federal agencies (except
for the Department of Defense, the National Park Service, Coast
Guard properties, properties located outside the United States
that are operated or maintained by the Department of State or
the Agency for International Development, properties controlled
by Indian and Native Alaskan tribes, the USPS, and the
Tennessee Valley Authority \36\) are required to develop a list
of disposal recommendations, which could include the sale,
transfer, conveyance, consolidation, or outlease of any
unneeded space.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\36\ https://www.crs.gov/Reports/
R44999?source=search&guid=ca749e38e3594abfbea82839c8844
c6c&index=0
\37\ See P.L. 114-287.
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The disposal of unneeded federal real property has been a
long-standing management challenge for GSA and the federal
government.\38\ In 2011, the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure and the Obama Administration both proposed
creating an independent board of experts to develop
recommendations on specific properties to be disposed of or
redeveloped for better use.\39\ The Committee, on a bipartisan
basis, worked on crafting legislation culminating in the
passage of FASTA in 2016.\40\ FASTA also made other changes in
law, including codifying and clarifying requirements for the
Federal Real Property Profile (FRPP) which is the government's
database detailing all federal real estate assets.\41\
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\38\ https://www.gao.gov/highrisk/managing-federal-real-property
\39\ See Hearing on ``Sitting on Our Assets: Cutting Spending and
Private Redevelopment of Underperforming Buildings,'' Subcommittee on
Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management,
February 10, 2011 and Section 735, President's Budget Request for
Fiscal Year 2012.
\40\ See H.R. 1734, 112th Congress; H.R. 695, 113th Congress; H.R.
4465, 114th Congress.
\41\ https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/policy/real-property-
policy/asset-management/federal-real-property-profile-frpp/frpp-
frequently-asked-questions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The recommendations of the board pursuant to FASTA are
submitted to the GSA Administrator, the OMB Director, and the
newly established Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB), an
independent agency established by FASTA to identify
opportunities for the federal government to significantly
reduce its inventory of civilian real property. The revised
list of recommendations is then vetted by the Public Buildings
Reform Board and returned to the OMB Director for final
approval or disapproval.\42\
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\42\ https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R44999
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If the OMB Director approves a set of board
recommendations, federal agencies must begin implementation of
all recommendations within two years from the date Congress
received them, and complete implementation within six
years.\43\ Agencies must work in consultation with GSA, and
within their existing authorities to implement board
recommendations, although they may contract with real estate
companies for assistance.\44\ The OMB director has the
authority to exclude a property from the board's
recommendations if the director determines the property is
suitable for use as a public park or recreation area by a state
or local government.\45\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\43\ P.L. 114-287.
\44\ Id.
\45\ https://www.crs.gov/Reports/
R44999?source=search&guid=ca749e38e3594abfbea82839c8844
c6c&index=0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, several sections of the U.S. Code that pertain
to real and personal property conveyances, particularly those
for public benefit, would not apply to recommended disposals.
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act still applies to
properties that are included in the approved set of
recommendations but which the HUD Secretary determines are
suitable for use providing services to the homeless.\46\
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\46\ https://www.crs.gov/Reports/
R44999?source=search&guid=ca749e38e3594abfbea82839c8844
c6c&index=0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FASTA was enacted at the end of the Obama administration
and its implementation during a transition of administrations
was delayed and, as a result, Congress passed legislation
extending the term of the PBRB to allow for additional time for
such transition.\47\ At the same time, Congress also passed
legislation to provide GSA more flexibility in leasing back
property to facilitate certain sales.\48\ However, according to
a recent New York Times article, there has been challenges to
the implementation of FASTA. As the article notes:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\47\ P.L. 115-437.
\48\ P.L. 115-438.

`` . . . [i]t took three years for the five existing board
members to be sworn in, and two empty seats remain, including
that of the chairman. The Government Accountability Office
reported that the board did not adequately document how it went
about selecting properties for sale. The board was sued when it
sought to sell a Seattle building that is a repository of
important tribal records. The General Services Administration,
the agency that disposes of most federal properties, has
flouted the board's advice.'' \49\
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\49\ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/14/business/sale-surplus-
federal-buildings.html
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GSA'S WORKPLACE 2030

Early in 2020, because of COVID-19, GSA began a process to
consult with its key tenant agencies and the private sector to
identify the impacts and trends on federal office space which
GSA developed into its Workplace (WP) 2030 initiative.\50\ The
initiative examined the potential of increased teleworking
beyond COVID, the opportunities it may present to improve
efficiency and reduce space needs and costs, and the potential
savings to the taxpayer.\51\
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\50\ Workplace 2030: Envisioning the Future of Federal Work,
General Services Administration
\51\ Id.
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PERFORMANCE GOALS

According to GSA's 2020 Agency Financial Report,

``GSA is meeting its targets to negotiate leases below average
market rates, reduce energy costs, and deliver capital projects
on schedule and on budget. GSA's Lease Cost Avoidance Plan,
which was implemented in FY 2018 and focuses on renegotiating
longer leases where favorable terms can be obtained, continues
to yield favorable results; in FY 2020, aggregate lease costs
are 12.6 percent below average market value. GSA also realized
a sharp reduction in energy use in FY 2020 that can be
attributed to warmer winter temperatures and reduced building
occupancy due to COVID-19.
GSA will likely miss its performance targets for vacancy
rates and operating costs associated with cleaning and
maintenance. Vacant space in inventory remains slightly higher
than the target of 3 percent, due in part to the Reduce the
Footprint and workspace consolidation initiatives, which can
result in GSA holding on to vacant space in order to implement
longer-term strategic plans with customers. While GSA is
slightly above its target, GSA's vacant space rate still
compares favorably to the private sector.
Cleaning and maintenance costs fell short of the 80 percent
target for staying within market range. GSA is undertaking a
nationwide effort to examine the methods and tools used to
procure building maintenance and custodial services in order to
lower operating costs without affecting service levels to GSA's
federal tenants.
GSA realized an increase of 1.6 million rentable square feet
(RSF) in FY 2020. In FY 2020, GSA continued to carry 1.9
million RSF of temporary leased space associated with the 2020
Census. In addition, the federally-owned inventory saw
increases from the addition of the Department of Transportation
headquarters in Washington DC (1.5 million RSF), the transfer
of 11 assets totaling 600 thousand RSF from the Department of
State for their National Foreign Affairs Training Center, and
the activation of building modernization projects.'' \52\
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\52\ https://www.gsa.gov/reference/reports/budget-performance/
annual-reports/2020-agency-financial-report/managements-discussion-and-
analysis/performance-summary
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WITNESS LIST

LThe Honorable Robin Carnahan, Administrator,
General Services Administration
LMs. Nina Albert, Commissioner, Public Buildings
Service, General Services Administration

THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION'S PRIORITIES FOR 2021 AND BEYOND

----------

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2021

House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings, and Emergency Management,
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m., in room
2167 Rayburn House Office Building and via Zoom, Hon. Dina
Titus (Chair of the subcommittee) presiding.
Members present in person: Mr. Webster.
Members present remotely: Ms. Titus, Mr. DeFazio, Ms.
Norton, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Massie, Miss
Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Guest, Ms. Van Duyne, and Mr. Gimenez.
Ms. Titus. The subcommittee will come to order.
I ask unanimous consent that the chair be authorized to
declare a recess at any time during today's hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
I also ask unanimous consent that Members not on the
subcommittee be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at
today's hearing and ask questions.
Without objection, so ordered.
As a reminder, please keep your microphone muted unless
speaking, and should I hear any inadvertent background noise, I
will request that the Member please mute their microphone.
To insert a document into the record, please have your
staff email it to DocumentsT&I@mail.house.gov.
This morning, I would like to welcome our special guests
and witnesses. We have the Honorable Robin Carnahan, who is the
Administrator of the GSA, and we have Ms. Nina Albert, who is
the Commissioner for the Public Buildings Service of the GSA.
We look forward to hearing their testimony.
The GSA provides workspace for so many people who have been
impacted by the pandemic and beyond that we are anxious to hear
their testimony. In fact, it is 1.2 million Federal employees
across more than 50 Federal agencies and over 1,500 Federal
buildings.
Approximately 53 percent of the Public Buildings' portfolio
is over 50 years old, and 28 percent of it is over 75 years
old.
GSA leases approximately 8,100 office buildings,
courthouses, land ports of entry, data processing centers,
laboratories, and specialized spaces all across the country for
our Federal agencies' use and occupation. During the period
from fiscal year 2019 through 2023, 60 percent of those leases
will expire. The portfolio is projected to include 183.4
million square feet of owned space and 183.5 million square
feet of leased space in fiscal year 2021.
With that kind of portfolio, you can see why we are
interested in how the agency is doing, what it projects its
needs will be, and what some of the problems are that we can
help them to address.
We also know that 25 leases are expiring between January
2022 and December 2025, and so, with the new working conditions
and post-COVID, we would like to know what the plans are for
those leases, because we haven't seen any information about
what is going to happen with them.
In the past, this committee has addressed a number of
issues that I hope our witnesses will at least provide some
information today and then perhaps can bring back other
information. But these are issues that have been important to
me and to the other members of the committee. And if I could
just list them briefly, you can see what our challenges are.
We are always concerned about taxpayer dollars and that
they are being used most efficiently and most effectively, so
we need information on the lease versus build alternatives, as
well as deferred maintenance for the buildings that we already
have.
We want to know what the plans are now that the employment
has shifted to so many people working at home and a need for
less space, how do we need to rethink our inventory.
Also, as we build buildings, we have several things that we
want to consider. One is how to make them sustainable, how to
make them healthy, how to make them perhaps fit some of the
LEED standards so we know that they are energy efficient. We
can't just build back better; we have to include resiliency
considerations in the buildings that we construct in the
future.
Other issues related to that construction include making
them bird friendly. Some of our buildings have reflecting glass
that cause birds to crash into them. We want to see how we can
address that.
Also, parking and access to other modes of transportation
that are available as we locate some of these buildings.
And in addition to that, the design of the buildings
themselves. We have been fighting an old Executive order from
the last administration that wanted all the buildings to look
like the Parthenon. Well, this is not the Federal design code.
This is not the way they should be. They should fit with the
geography, they should fit with the culture, and they should
take into account input from the local artistic community.
We also want to talk about what happened with the hotel,
the Old Post Office that was leased by Donald Trump in the last
administration.
Now, I don't plan to relitigate everything that happened
before. We want to move forward, but we do want to know how
some of those things happened and how we can prevent making the
same mistakes going forward.
So that is kind of the agenda that we have. We are anxious
to hear what your plans are, how we can be helpful.
And I will now turn it over to our ranking member, Mr.
Webster, for a comment.
[Ms. Titus' prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Dina Titus, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Nevada, and Chair, Subcommittee on Economic
Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
I'd like to welcome everyone to today's hearing to examine the
General Services Administration's priorities for 2021 and beyond.
Joining us today are the Honorable Robin Carnahan, the
Administrator of the GSA, and Nina Albert, the Public Buildings
Services Commissioner.
Administrator Carnahan and Commissioner Albert, I want to first
congratulate you on your confirmations and welcome you to the
subcommittee.
I am hopeful that our relationship is remarkedly different than we
had with your predecessors given the important role this subcommittee
plays in your responsibilities.
Chief among our duties is the authorization of GSA's acquisition of
real property.
This does not include all transactions GSA engages in as the agency
owns over 1,500 federal buildings and leases approximately 8,100 office
buildings, courthouses, land ports of entry, data processing centers,
laboratories, and specialized space--but it does include those
construction, repair, and alteration projects that exceed $3.3 million,
and lease transactions that exceed $1.6 million in annual rent.
In fiscal year 2022, GSA requested committee consideration of 32
repair, alteration, and construction projects.
As of last week, we have authorized 25 of those projects.
I will note however, that you have not submitted a single lease
transaction for the committee's consideration.
It would be helpful to have clarity around this as there are about
25 leases expiring between January of 2022 and December of 2025, and
with sixty percent of Public Building Service leases expiring in the
next few years, it is my hope that the government is reimagining and
modernizing its real estate portfolio to address evolving worker and
constituent needs post-COVID, as well as reducing the impact on the
budget.
The federal government's leasing program is often a focus of this
subcommittee, and one particular outlease of a federal property is
probably the highest profile is the Old Post Office Building here in
Washington, DC.
The lease is currently held by the Trump Organization in an
arrangement that has been fraught with legal and ethical questions the
moment Donald Trump took the oath of office, and according to media
reports and confirmed by GSA may be in the process of being sold to a
new lessor.
I hope that the transaction will not only benefit the American
public but protects the sensitive law enforcement and national security
assets that neighbor this property, and does not repeat the same
substantial mistakes made by GSA in the management of the current lease
as outlined by GSA's Inspector General.
It was this subcommittee that directed GSA to redevelop this
property and given the unique nature of this major outlease of one of
the most prized pieces of federal real estate in the nation, it will
remain a point of interest for me and this committee.
I ask for your commitment to ensure that we are kept abreast of any
changes that may occur with the lease ownership and provide regular
updates on the financials and other details of its operations, which
your predecessors failed to do.
I know that we previously discussed draft legislation our staff has
prepared and shared with your staff to reexamine the management of
these major outleases and set parameters for GSA's outleasing program
moving forward.
I want to stress for you and for my colleagues on both sides of the
aisle that I am not here to relitigate the decisions of the past which
I found unethical and borderline illegal, and I know you both were not
responsible for signing the lease or the decisions made when Donald
Trump became president, but you do have a responsibility to manage this
lease moving forward.
My goal, and I hope this is shared with all my colleagues, is to
ensure that we do not make the same mistakes again.
I look forward to receiving feedback on this initial draft and I
encourage your staff to respond expeditiously.
Thank you, Administrator Carnahan and Commissioner Albert, for
being with us today and thank you in advance for answering our
questions.
With that I recognize Ranking Member Webster for five minutes for
an opening statement.

Mr. Webster. Thank you, Chair Titus, and thank you for who
you have invited today, the Administrator and the Commissioner.
Prior to COVID-19, we made significant progress on right-
sizing Federal office space. Through the reduction and
consolidations of space approved by the committee in GSA's
prospectus process, we saved taxpayers over $4 billion.
Following COVID, we are facing new opportunities, given this
shift in workspace needs due to increased remote work, as well
as indications that teleworking may continue at higher levels
post-pandemic.
But right-sizing the Federal real estate portfolio is not
only about shrinking space. It is about ensuring that there is
reduction in cost, and that the agencies have the right place,
and that they get rid of unneeded properties as quickly as
possible.
The goal, for example, for the Federal Assets Sale and
Transfer Act, is not just to simply streamline the disposal
process but to get agencies to look more strategically at their
assets. This helps produce financially sound and operationally
efficient results from sales, redevelopments, outleases, and
other activities.
To achieve significant changes, as we saw during the
``freeze and reduce the footprint'' efforts, it takes the
administration, including GSA and OMB, working together with
Congress, to spur agencies to make better decisions about their
space. It also means alternative financing options should be on
the table. It makes no sense for taxpayers to effectively pay
for a building, sometimes many times over, through the lease
and then have to pay fair-market value on top of that just to
purchase it.
Although the GSA has the legal authorities to negotiate
discounted purchase options and enter into public-private
partnerships, it has not been able to take advantage of those
authorities. GSA should be free to use these authorities where
appropriate to facilitate the right-sizing of the portfolio and
reduce the cost to the taxpayer. I hope we can work together to
ensure that we achieve that, and I look forward to hearing from
our witnesses today.
Thank you, Chair Titus. I yield back.
[Mr. Webster's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Daniel Webster, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Florida, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Economic
Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
Thank you, Chair Titus. I want to thank the GSA Administrator and
Public Buildings Commissioner for being here today.
Prior to COVID-19, we made significant progress on right-sizing
federal office space. Through reductions and consolidations in space
approved by the Committee in GSA's prospectus process, we saved
taxpayers over $4 billion dollars. Following COVID, we are facing new
opportunities given the shift in workplace needs due to increased
remote work, as well as indications that teleworking may continue at
higher levels post-pandemic.
But right-sizing the federal real estate portfolio is not only
about shrinking space, it's about ensuring we reduce costs, that
agencies have the right space, and that we get rid of unneeded
properties as quickly as possible.
The goal, for example, for the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act
(FASTA) is not just to simply streamline the disposal process, but to
get agencies to look more strategically at their assets. This helps
produce financially sound and operationally efficient results from
sales, redevelopments, outleases, and other activities.
To achieve significant changes, as we saw during the ``freeze-and-
reduce-the-footprint'' efforts, it takes the Administration, including
GSA and OMB, working together with Congress to spur agencies to make
better decisions about their space.
It also means alternative financing options should be on the table.
It makes no sense for the taxpayer to effectively pay for a building,
sometimes many times over, through a lease, and then have to pay fair-
market value on top of that to purchase it. Although the GSA has the
legal authorities to negotiate discounted purchase options and enter
into public-private partnerships, it has not been able to take
advantage of those authorities. GSA should be free to use these
authorities where appropriate to facilitate the right-sizing of the
portfolio and reduce costs to the taxpayer. I hope we can work together
to ensure we achieve that.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today on GSA's
priorities.

Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. Webster.
I now recognize the chairman of the T&I full committee, Mr.
DeFazio.
Mr. DeFazio. Thanks, Madam Chair. Thanks for holding this
hearing.
Administrator Carnahan, Commissioner Albert, welcome to the
committee.
We want to be a good partner with GSA. So far in fiscal
year 2022, you asked for 32 repair, alteration, and
construction projects. As of last week, we have authorized 25.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has $3.4 billion
for land ports of entry, which need a tremendous amount of
work. And the Build Back Better Act includes $500 million to
help make Federal buildings more energy efficient. And then
outside of our jurisdiction, of course, although it was part of
the INVEST Act in the last Congress, is the purchase of zero-
emission vehicles for the Postal Service, which will be a
tremendous boost to the EV industry and also tremendously
reduce pollution. I am looking forward to that acquisition.
I really want to work with GSA to make it easier, and I
would agree with a number of things the ranking member just
said. In particular, I have heard about how frustrating it is
that you can't access--I understand now there is $10 billion of
rent that you have collected. Now, like a good landlord, you
put aside funds, and then you use that to make repairs or new
acquisitions. Unfortunately, Congress has not allowed you full
access, or easy access, to those funds, and I hope that is
something that we can find a way to correct in the future, and
would look forward to working with you and your staff on ways
to figure how to do that and have you make the case that if you
had access to those funds, how you could actually save money in
the end, because of not deferring maintenance to the point
where buildings are basically on the verge of demolition and
other issues with deferred maintenance.
But, I have got to say that I think your agency is a little
bit Congress-shy, should I say. Our requests for technical
assistance take too long. We are not getting answers about
questions about your post-COVID space requirements. And that
makes it difficult for us to help you, and you have got to help
us work on that culture.
I am hoping for transformational changes under your
leadership so that we can address some of these issues. Should
you have more space than you can afford to maintain? What does
it mean if Congress allocates less money than you request every
year? What about the rent structure? How many courthouses does
the Federal judiciary really need? And how big do those things
need to be?
The robing area for the judges in the new Federal
courthouse in Eugene where my office is housed--their robing
areas are bigger than my office. There are real questions and
scrutiny that needs to be applied. I realize they are a third
and independent branch, but that doesn't mean they have to have
excess space.
And to put it mildly, your predecessor was challenging to
work with. I won't go beyond that. I will just leave it there.
But we still don't have answers about GSA's failure to
properly consider the Emoluments Clause of the U.S.
Constitution when it came to the Old Post Office Building. It
was pretty darn clear when I read it, and we never, ever got
clear answers to how that was actually constitutional.
And no clarity at all about the very sudden decision to
cancel the decade-long effort to get the FBI a new and secure
headquarters outside of downtown Washington, DC. That was a
very long effort, very, very suspiciously and abruptly
canceled. We still don't have good answers to that. We would
like answers to that.
So, I am looking for new transparency under your
leadership, and I look forward to your testimony today and
working with you in the future.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
[Mr. DeFazio's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Titus. Administrator Carnahan, Commissioner
Albert, welcome to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
The bread and butter of your work with this committee is securing
the authorization of GSA construction, alteration, and leasing
requests. In FY22 GSA requested consideration of 32 repair, alteration,
and construction projects. As of last week, this committee had
authorized 25 of those projects--proof of our good-faith effort to work
with GSA.
This committee has also supported many of GSA's infrastructure
requests, which will provide significant new resources to assist the
agency. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes $3.4
billion for land ports of entry, and the Build Back Better Act includes
$500 million to help green federal buildings.
Outside of T&I's jurisdiction, the Build Back Better Act includes
significant funding for GSA for the procurement of zero-emission and
electric vehicles, for emerging and sustainable technologies, and for
the purchase of goods, services, and systems to improve energy
efficiency, promote the purchase of lower-carbon materials, and reduce
the carbon footprint.
And I, personally, want to work with GSA to make it easier to
finance new construction projects. I've heard from previous
Administrators about how frustrating it is that GSA is unable to use
all the rent it has collected in the Federal Building Fund and reinvest
it in our public assets. If we want to fix the growing backlog of
deferred maintenance, GSA needs access to more of the funds it is
collecting.
I believe that the new infrastructure funding and easier access to
construction funding could really transform the Public Buildings
Service. But Administrator Carnahan, we need GSA staff to be more
responsive. Requests for technical assistance are taking too long,
questions about agency space needs post-Covid have not been addressed.
There is a culture within PBS of hiding from Congress, but that makes
it difficult for us to help you.
I am hoping for transformational leadership under your guidance.
Ask the big questions. Should GSA own more space that it can't afford
to maintain? What does it mean if Congress gives you less money then
you request every year? What needs to change about GSA's rent
structure? How many courthouses does the federal judiciary really need?
And how are you going to make 100 percent of the owned portfolio a
high-performing green building?
Administrator Carnahan, your predecessor was challenging to work
with. We still have unanswered questions about GSA's failure to
properly consider the Emoluments Clauses to the U.S. Constitution when
evaluating the Old Post Office lease. No clarity about the cancellation
of the decade-long effort to build a new headquarters for the FBI.
I hope for and expect more transparency under your leadership.
Thank you, Chair Titus. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. Titus. Thank you, Mr. DeFazio.
I don't think Mr. Graves is here, so we will move on with
our witnesses.
I want to welcome you both. And thank you, Ms. Carnahan,
for talking to me on the phone before we had this hearing. I
feel like we have started off on a better foot than with your
predecessor, and I appreciate that.
So, our witnesses, for the record, are the Honorable Robin
Carnahan, Administrator of the General Services Administration;
and Ms. Nina Albert, Commissioner of the Public Buildings
Service, General Services Administration.
Thank you both for being here.
Without objection, our witnesses' full statements will be
included in the record.
Since your written testimony will be made part of the
record, the committee requests that you limit your oral
testimony to 5 minutes.
We can now proceed with that testimony. Administrator
Carnahan, you are up.

TESTIMONY OF HON. ROBIN CARNAHAN, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. GENERAL
SERVICES ADMINISTRATION; AND NINA ALBERT, COMMISSIONER, PUBLIC
BUILDINGS SERVICE, U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

Ms. Carnahan. Well, thank you, Chairwoman Titus, Ranking
Member Webster, Chairman DeFazio, and members of the
subcommittee. It is a great honor to be with you here today. I
am pleased to be here as GSA's Administrator, and on behalf of
our employees, talk about our mission, which I think has never
been more important.
Now, I know this committee has been very interested in
GSA's efforts to keep our buildings safe and operational
throughout the pandemic. So, I want to start by thanking
everyone on the committee for your support, but also
acknowledging the tireless work of the GSA team to respond to
the pandemic.
I can tell you that the work from the Public Buildings
Service, as well as our Federal Acquisition Service, has been
heroic over the past 2 years. They have acquired and
distributed huge amounts of supplies; amended thousands of
service contracts to ensure more cleaning; helped many, many
Federal, State, and local partners meet their emergency needs.
My written testimony goes into more details, and
Commissioner Albert and I will be happy to discuss any of this
important work later today.
Like me, I know the committee is very interested in what
comes next. So, I appreciate the chance to be here to talk to
you and outline what I see as the biggest priorities and
opportunities for GSA in the months ahead.
First, I want to acknowledge that President Truman's
original purpose for creating GSA in the first place remains
our North Star, and that is to streamline Government so it
works better for the people we serve and to save money doing
it. That mission hasn't changed, but especially coming out of
the pandemic, in which all of us have had to adapt to new ways
of working, the way GSA delivers on that mission certainly has
and will continue to change.
In our real estate portfolio, that means finding ways to
both right-size in light of our partners' changing needs and
rebalance our portfolio so that we can consolidate, whenever
possible, into owned Government buildings that offer customers
the type of workspaces they need going forward.
A number of those kind of new offerings are already in
progress, like an office-in-a-box concept, and also pilot
projects that will allow agency staff to access Federal and
private coworking spaces that can offer both shorter commuting
times and secure work environments.
In governmentwide acquisition, this means becoming the
marketplace of choice for our partners by making it so easy and
so fast and so cost effective to buy through GSA that it just
wouldn't make sense for agencies to look anywhere else. We know
that in order to create that kind of marketplace, it is going
to require us to make it easier, faster, and cheaper for
businesses, especially small businesses from underserved
communities, to access and sell to Government buyers.
And when it comes to technology, it means making smart bets
on creating a suite of shared, secure services that all
agencies at every level of Government can access to improve the
way they deliver services to the public and save money.
We all witnessed how outdated and hard-to-use Government
technology through the pandemic took a toll on so many families
across the country. And we know that when we make Government
websites work better for people at their time of need, it isn't
just about a website; it is about showing that our Government
can and does work effectively for the people it serves.
Of course, to accomplish all of this, we need Congress'
support and partnership, and that is why the President's budget
request, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the
reconciliation package is so important. Those are funds that
will allow us to repair and upgrade public assets, providing an
historic opportunity to consolidate agencies from this costly
leased space into federally owned space; make our buildings
safe, sustainable, and resilient to future emergencies; and
create adaptive, flexible spaces better suited for the
workforce of the future.
All this also includes, as the chairman said, modernizing
more than 30 land ports of entry, supporting border security,
and promoting trade and commerce.
With this funding, we can also do our part to combat
climate change. We can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in
Federal facilities by fully 95 percent. We can put more than
150,000 zero-emission vehicles on the road, along with charging
infrastructure at our public buildings, and we can help the
Government lead by example and dramatically reduce its carbon
footprint.
We can also make long deferred and sorely needed
investments in our digital infrastructure so that we can
provide better, secure, accessible services to the public and
our agency partners.
Overall, these investments will allow GSA to make critical
upgrades, the ones we need to ensure our Government can
effectively and efficiently deliver for the public now and be
better prepared for the future. Whether you are a teacher, a
construction worker, a small business owner, or a Member of
Congress, these are smart investments.
I look forward to partnering with the committee in the
years ahead, and I look forward to your questions today.
[Ms. Carnahan's prepared statement follows:]

Prepared Statement of Hon. Robin Carnahan, Administrator, U.S. General
Services Administration
Good afternoon Chairwoman Titus, Ranking Member Webster, and
Members of the Subcommittee. My name is Robin Carnahan, and I am the
Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). I am
joined today by Public Buildings Service (PBS) Commissioner Nina
Albert. We appreciate the opportunity to speak with the Subcommittee
about GSA's priorities under the Biden-Harris Administration.
Today, we want to briefly touch on GSA's pandemic response--which
has been a critical effort and for which we have appreciated Congress's
continued support. Primarily, though, we want to outline what we see as
this incredible moment of opportunity for the government and the
country--a chance to dramatically cut long-term costs, better enable
mission execution for our partner agencies, and better serve the
public. We'll touch on a few of the key programs and initiatives that
are part of how we think we can seize this opportunity. The most
important of these are the President's Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request,
the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and the reconciliation
package.
Especially at this critical moment, I am honored and humbled to
serve GSA in my new role, and to work alongside proven leaders like
Commissioner Albert to fulfill our mission.
GSA's Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
GSA is a vital partner of other Federal departments and agencies in
their response to State- or Federally-declared emergencies, including
assisting agencies in responding to COVID-19. Since the beginning of
the pandemic, GSA has supported agencies by keeping buildings open,
providing clean facilities for all occupants and the visiting public,
and providing technology and services to support the mobile work
environment. We have amended and updated all of our custodial contracts
to clean and disinfect Federal workplaces in accordance with the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration, and the Safer Federal Workforce Task
Force guidance. GSA has also adjusted air ventilation and filtration
systems in buildings in accordance with CDC guidance.
GSA helped Federal, State, and local partners respond to the COVID-
19 pandemic by procuring and delivering 51 million pairs of protective
gloves, more than 983 gallons of disinfectant and cleaning solutions,
more than 662,000 gallons of hand sanitizer, 1.3 million masks and face
shields, more than 208,000 Meals Ready to Eat, 18,000 laptops for
agency partners, and 15,000 beds and cots for medical needs, providing
support to the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy in preparation for their
deployment to New York City and Los Angeles, and helping to convert
Lumen Field in Seattle into a field hospital.
With additional resources from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and
Economic Security Act (CARES Act) in March 2020, GSA has executed and
delivered enhanced cleaning in GSA-controlled Federally owned and
leased space, in accordance with CDC guidance for cleaning and
disinfection. Furthermore, GSA has invested CARES Act funding into FY
2022 to make our buildings safer, increasing ventilation and improving
air filtration within existing heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning systems to improve indoor air quality and better protect
building occupants.
GSA amended more than 4,500 leases to include disinfection
requirements consistent with CDC guidelines. GSA also secured emergency
leases to support agencies in responding to the pandemic, including
four for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), and for the U.S. Small Business
Administration to support its efforts working with FEMA.
GSA is also working with the U.S. Office of Personnel and
Management, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and other
agencies on the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, providing Federal
Executive Branch agencies with ongoing guidance to keep Federal
employees safe, enable agencies to continue operating during the
pandemic, and plan for a safe and effective reentry.
It was an honor for GSA to support the national response during
this global crisis, and I am focused on ensuring that GSA will continue
to be a part of the solution as we move forward together.
Navigating the Post-Pandemic Landscape
Our country is at a critical juncture as we re-emerge from one of
the most disruptive pandemics and pivot to opportunities to provide a
more resilient environment for the future.
Right-Sizing the Real Estate Portfolio--Government-wide adoption of
telework as a result of the pandemic presents GSA with a unique
opportunity to right-size its real estate portfolio. With more than 50
percent of PBS's total annual appropriated budget paying for leased
space, GSA has the opportunity to reinvest in its existing buildings
and reduce costly leases to save taxpayers money over the long-term. We
plan to capitalize on increased telework across the Federal Government
to work with agencies to consolidate into Federally owned buildings and
reduce costly leases. GSA has demonstrated its ability to succeed in
this area. Since FY 2018, GSA has achieved over $4.5 billion in lease
cost avoidance by negotiating leases below market costs, reducing
rentable square feet and moving from leased space to Federally owned
space. GSA's actions led to the U.S. Government Accountability Office
(GAO) removing costly leasing from its High Risk Report for the first
time in 17 years. GAO credited GSA's progress made in reducing leasing
costs and improving monitoring efforts.
Future Space Needs--Of course, as a provider of space to partner
agencies, we also recognize that we need to enhance our engagement to
help them plan for our ``new normal.'' We have expanded communications
with Federal agencies through targeted outreach; this effort includes
quarterly surveys that gauge the real estate, telework, and technology
needs of GSA's customer agencies. While agencies are still considering
what a new post-pandemic will look like, including the level and
frequency of telework, GSA will work alongside agencies to help them
make data-driven space decisions that factor in future telework
postures.
Providing Agencies with a Vision for the Future--GSA has been
partnering with agencies to define what future workspace will look like
for the Federal Government. Through an on-going engagement called
``Workspace 2030'' with more than 100 experts across 18 Federal
agencies, GSA is leading efforts to develop an integrated solution set
that includes real estate, technology, and human capital solutions. The
future of work will include the full range of options, from in-office
to remote working environments to the hybrid work model--whereby
employees work part of the week in the office and part of the week
teleworking--most likely deploying all three of these models at the
same time. It will be important for GSA to make it as easy as possible
for agencies to operationalize all of these workplace models, depending
on their mission needs as well as their employees' needs.
GSA launched Workplace 2030 to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic to
address future workspace needs. Workplace 2030 is not a one-size-fits-
all solution, but rather a process that results in the creation of work
solutions through conversation with our agency partners. Through this
initiative, agencies have positively responded to new and innovative
ways of working that have transformed the way the Federal Government
will work, long into the future. We are positioning ourselves to be
agile and flexible to this changing environment.
Through Workplace 2030, GSA is offering numerous services and
options for agencies to test and try. For example, GSA is piloting a
space solution called ``FlexHub,'' which is a Federal co-working space,
as well as home office technology equipment and furniture packages, and
finally the ``Workplace Innovation Lab,'' which allows GSA to try new
and emerging office furniture, technology, and other industry
innovations. GSA recently awarded an Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite
Quantity contract to five private, co-working companies whereby
agencies can access short-term, turnkey office space to meet temporary
space needs. By offering and testing a variety of workspace options,
GSA is proactively engaging agencies to help them make decisions about
their longer-term workspace needs.
As we navigate out of the pandemic, GSA is committed to developing
the new offerings that agencies will need to embrace new ways of
working--and proactively engaging with partner agencies to ensure we
don't just snap back to the way things were before.
Building Back Better
GSA is putting together the programs, initiatives, and outreach
strategy that will allow agencies to adapt to new ways of working, and
save money in the process. However, for us to be able to effectively
pursue this opportunity, we will need to make smart and strategic
investments--and will need the resources to do so. That's why we are so
excited about the possibilities presented by the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act, the reconciliation package, and the
President's Fiscal Year 2022 request.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act--The Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) includes over $3.4 billion to modernize
and upgrade more than 30 land ports of entry (LPOEs) along the northern
and southern borders. These resources will allow us to modernize these
ports for the future--improving our nation's border security while also
making these facilities more sustainable. These projects will also
provide the Federal inspection agencies with the facilities they need
to better promote trade, tourism and commerce. These are mission-
critical gateways for commerce that need to be secure, efficient, and
functional.
Reconciliation Package--We recognize that what ends up in the final
reconciliation package, as of the moment of putting together this
testimony, is still up in the air. But let us tell you some of the
critical opportunities we have through this infrastructure package as
well. The President's initial proposal included $5 billion to invest in
Federal buildings. We have the opportunity to use these funds for
facilities in up to 34 states, the District of Columbia and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. This work would help to address the
growing backlog of needed repairs in our public assets, as well as make
key investments to make these buildings more habitable, resilient and
sustainable. With these improvements, we can consolidate agencies into
federally-owned space, with the potential to save billions of dollars
in annual lease costs. We can also dramatically reduce our carbon
footprint by increasing efficiency and electrifying many of these
buildings and incorporating solar, geothermal, and carbon free sources
of energy wherever possible. These resources can also be utilized to
catalyze emerging markets; for instance, GSA has established a working
group within our Green Building Advisory Council \1\ to look at issues
of embodied carbon in construction materials. We can leverage these
funds to buy lower-carbon materials as we work to modernize our
existing facilities. These investments will also create thousands of
good-paying American jobs, many of them union.
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\1\ The Green Building Advisory Committee was established by
Congress in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and
operates under the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act
(FACA).
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The President's proposal also included $5 billion to electrify the
federal fleet. With this money, depending on market conditions, we can
convert between 164,000 and 269,000 vehicles in the federal fleet to
zero-emission vehicles, and install 82,000 to 269,000 charging stations
across the country at federal facilities. This is an important signal
of the government's commitment to lead by example in achieving the
President's goal of supporting electrification of our country's
vehicles. It also is in line with the direction of the market, where we
have seen major American automakers pledge to go all-electric in the
years ahead.
As Congress has moved forward with consideration of the
reconciliation package, some Committees have also proposed making
critical investments in our digital infrastructure. As the agency
sitting at the nexus of partner agency needs, GSA strongly agrees with
making investments in this area as well. As we saw coming out of the
CARES Act, the ability of the public to access the resources they
need--and to limit bad actors from engaging in fraud--is heavily
dependent on having effective and secure digital services. Moreover, as
agencies embrace the opportunity to more effectively utilize and share
their physical infrastructure, they will need to make upgrades to their
digital infrastructure. This will have substantial benefits to the
delivery of services to the public; to the productivity of the federal
workforce; and will also allow the federal government to further reduce
its carbon impacts. I know that Committees in both the Senate and House
have proposed funding for the Technology Modernization Fund, and the
Federal Citizen Services Fund, and GSA is also supportive of those
investments.
Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request--The President's FY 2022 budget
request is the final component that will allow us to achieve this
transformation of the federal workspace. The budget includes net
positive budget authority for the Federal Buildings Fund (FBF). This is
key to our ability to seize the opportunity before us to ``right-size''
the federal real estate portfolio.
As background, to sustainably care for and modernize our public
assets, the FBF was designed with the assumption that GSA would be able
to reinvest the rent that agencies pay into the fund back into our
public assets--much like a private sector landlord. Yet, for the past
decade, GSA's ability to access this rent has been statutorily
limited--and this has resulted in an inability to address the growing
backlog of deferred maintenance and to keep facilities in a good state
of repair. GSA must address these deferred maintenance needs to
continue to provide safe, functional, and healthy workspace for Federal
employees, and to manage capital costs responsibly. Without safe and
efficient facilities, we can't take advantage of this opportunity to
consolidate agencies out of costly leased space. This is the year to
get this done.
Moreover, we are leaving savings on the table from smart new
investments, like the ongoing consolidation of the Department of
Homeland Security at St. Elizabeths. This project will consolidate DHS
from more than 40 locations around the District to a modern, secure,
and sustainable campus. We have already made significant investments at
this facility and can continue to reap greater and greater value from
those investments in the future; we stand to save half a billion
dollars in real estate costs once we complete the project. Our FY 2022
request includes $257 million to continue this project. DHS is a great
example of the kind of mission that will always require a robust in-
person presence, and the surrounding physical infrastructure to support
it.
Finally, access to the FBF will allow GSA to take the steps
necessary to reduce the carbon impact of the federal government's real
estate portfolio, as well as make our assets more resilient to future
climate events. This year, the Biden-Harris Administration has included
$100 million for a new Climate Resilience and Mitigation Fund. With
these resources, we can bolster our risk profile data and make targeted
investments in facilities across the country that are likely to be
impacted by severe climate-related events. Again, this is the time to
make our buildings more resilient and reduce their climate impacts.
This is just one example from our budget request, but every project on
our list will incorporate a robust plan to reduce carbon impacts.
GSA looks forward to working with this Committee to address our
critical infrastructure repair needs, address the challenges of real
estate needs after the pandemic, and seize the opportunity in front of
us to make smart investments that will right-size the portfolio, cut
real estate costs, and deliver a more effective and sustainable federal
footprint.
Closing
In closing, I want to thank the Committee for its support of so
many of GSA's critical investments, and I would ask that Members of
this Committee continue to support GSA's FY 2022 budget request, the
Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, and the reconciliation package.
Every dollar we invest today will have outsized savings in the future--
allowing us to consolidate agencies and cut long-term real estate
costs, address our repair backlog, promote economic activity in
communities across the country, reduce our carbon footprint, and make
our public assets more resilient to future climate impacts. In our
view, this is the moment to build back better.
With that, we again appreciate the opportunity to be here, and
would be happy to answer any questions you have.

Ms. Titus. Thank you very much, Administrator.
Now we will go to Ms. Nina Albert, who is the Commissioner
for the Public Buildings Service.
Ms. Albert. Good morning, Chairwoman Titus, Ranking Member
Webster, and members of the subcommittee. My name is Nina
Albert, and I am the Commissioner of the Public Buildings
Service, or PBS, representing more than 5,500 employees.
I am happy to join Administrator Carnahan this morning to
discuss with you PBS' priorities.
I come to GSA with experience in real estate and economic
development, most recently serving as the vice president of
real estate and parking at the Washington Metropolitan Area
Transit Authority. I led WMATA's headquarters consolidation and
accelerated transit-oriented development throughout the
Washington region.
I also served in the DC government, where I oversaw major
waterfront revitalization projects and served as the Department
of Environment's chief of green economy, where I developed
commercial property incentives for energy and water efficiency.
I am pleased to bring these and my other experiences to GSA.
Since the start of the COVID pandemic, GSA has proudly
supported agencies by keeping buildings open for mission
support, providing enhanced facilities cleaning, and providing
technology and other services to support remote work. As a
result of greater rates of telework throughout the Federal
Government, GSA desires to seize this opportunity to optimize
the Federal real estate footprint and is partnering with our
customers in the executive and judiciary branches to understand
how their space needs may change in the future.
GSA is using what we are learning from these discussions to
develop an integrated hybrid workplace that will likely combine
human capital, technology, and real estate solutions. To get
there, we need to capture space utilization data, design
workspaces for enhanced mobility and collaboration, advance
smart buildings, and support employee productivity and well-
being.
One of my primary focuses will also be to develop the
strategies and plans for consolidating more agencies into
federally owned facilities and reduce our dependence on leases.
Already since fiscal year 2018, GSA has renegotiated more than
1,100 leases at below-market rates, moved more than 200 leases
into federally owned space, and avoided more than $4.5 billion
in lease costs.
The coming 5 years promise to achieve even greater space
and cost savings, and reinvesting in federally owned facilities
will be key to this strategy.
Unfortunately, we are coming from behind, and too many
Federal buildings have fallen into a state of disrepair due to
lack of consistent funding for maintenance. To gain the full
benefit of building ownership and to be the best stewards of
the American taxpayer dollar, we must address the growing list
of deferred maintenance projects.
By the way, replacing antiquated building systems with
high-performance electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and envelope
systems, as well as managing our buildings using real-time
utilization data, we can significantly reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, conserve water and energy use, and promote climate
resilience.
GSA's goal is to supply 100 percent of our electricity
needs from renewable energy sources by 2025 and achieve carbon
pollution-free electricity by 2035.
Looking forward, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
and the Build Back Better initiative will help America continue
to make smart investments in federally owned facilities.
Specifically, these two bills will help PBS complete nearly 100
projects across 34 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto
Rico. The goal is to modernize and consolidate our footprint,
to make it more efficient and resilient, all the while creating
good-paying American jobs.
In closing, I would ask that this subcommittee support and
advocate for GSA's fiscal year 2022 budget request, the
bipartisan infrastructure deal, and the Build Back Better
initiative. These programs will all enable GSA to make critical
investments in building infrastructure and allow the Federal
Government to better serve the American people.
Thank you.
[Commissioner Nina Albert did not submit a prepared
statement.]
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
We will now move on to our Members' questions. Each Member
will be recognized for 5 minutes, and I will start by
recognizing Mr. DeFazio.
Mr. DeFazio. Thank you, Madam Chair.
The 2025 figure that you just put out, Ms. Albert, could
you just repeat that again? You expect to be, what did you say,
carbon neutral by 2025, and then sustainably supplied by 2035?
Was that it?
Ms. Albert. Our commitment is to source our power purchases
from 100 percent renewable energy sources by 2025, and then by
2035, get to carbon pollution-free electricity.
Mr. DeFazio. OK. I am trying to understand the difference
between----
Ms. Albert. Sure.
Mr. DeFazio [continuing]. Sustainable and carbon-free,
because----
Ms. Albert. Yes. The difference is that buildings--so there
is power purchasing which powers buildings, but there is a
whole variety of other fuel uses for a building, primarily to
heat the building. And so, most buildings run on natural gas or
some other--mainly natural gas. And so, to get to--to alleviate
our reliance on natural gas, that is what will take us to 2035.
Mr. DeFazio. OK. So, I get, you have got, over here we are
talking about lights--or in parts of the country where you
might heat with electricity, that will be sustainable, but
other places where you are using natural gas or heating oil or
whatever, those will be till 2035. OK, I get that. Well, I hope
you can meet those goals, and that will be great.
Do you know what the deferred maintenance backlog is on
our--I mentioned already that apparently there is $10 billion
in collected rent which is difficult to access. Do you know
what the deferred maintenance backlog is? Is it less than or
more than $10 billion?
Ms. Albert. Well, of the collected rent that we receive,
typically about half of that goes to pay for our lease
obligations. We collect approximately anywhere from between $10
billion and $11 billion in rent from our Federal agencies.
About half of that goes to pay back lease obligations, which
leaves approximately half to invest into our own facilities.
We have been awarded over the past 10 years, rather than
the $5 billion, closer to $3.5 billion to $4 billion. The
limitation on access to that remaining $1 billion has resulted
now in what we estimate to be close to $9.5 billion in deferred
maintenance and liabilities.
Mr. DeFazio. Well, this is interesting. This so much echoes
the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund, where we were collecting an
ad valorem tax, depositing it in a fund program created by
Ronald Reagan, and Congress underspent that money for years.
We finally last year resolved that. It only took me 25
years. I hope it doesn't take us 25 years to access more
sensibly your revenues and to keep up with your backlog. And we
would be very interested in specifics or ideas that the agency
could provide.
I guess I am not quite certain what the barrier is. I mean,
you are making requests that are just not met. Is that correct?
Ms. Carnahan. I will jump in here for a second.
Mr. DeFazio. Sure.
Ms. Carnahan. OK. So, we understand that there has been
traditionally a cap, a spending cap, that each of the
appropriation subcommittees has to deal with, and they are able
to do allocations within that subcommittee. And when those are
limited, if it is a choice between spending money on Head Start
or childcare or building deferred maintenance, the choice has
gone to investing in kids.
So, what we are asking for is that this be treated as it
should, which is a separate fund, that is used to maintain our
buildings.
As you alluded to, we have a lot of leases coming up in the
next few years. This is an opportunity to consolidate into more
cost-effective, federally owned space. That is only going to
happen if the space is maintained well, and agencies want to go
there, and is the type of space that meets their mission needs.
So, this is just a unique confluence of events where we
have deferred maintenance, we have leases coming up, we have
agencies rethinking how much space they need. This is a smart
time to invest. And if we do this, we are able to save $2
billion a year of tax money----
Mr. DeFazio. Great.
Ms. Carnahan [continuing]. In lower lease costs. So that
makes a lot of sense to me.
Mr. DeFazio. Sure. When do you expect--how many agencies
have provided their future projections for space needs post-
COVID? Well, we are still in COVID, I guess, but looking ahead
to post-COVID, have any agencies provided that data to you? Or
when would you expect to get some of that data so you can begin
to make those future plans?
Ms. Carnahan. Yes. Workplace 2030 is talking about this all
the time with agencies across the Government. I think Nina
might have, if you want to address this more specifically, but
these are ongoing conversations we are having with every
agency.
As can you imagine, all of them are rethinking how much
telework is going to impact their space needs. And this is not
going to be something that is resolved in the next few weeks
but definitely something over the next year or so.
Nina?
Ms. Albert. Absolutely.
Ms. Titus. You might want to wrap this up. We are way over
time.
Mr. DeFazio. OK. All right. Well, thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Titus. Well, I was going to let Nina finish. I am
sorry.
Mr. DeFazio. Oh, OK, good. All right.
Nina, please proceed.
Ms. Albert. Well, thank you so much. We have been already
engaging our customers. No one is prepared to make a hard-line
decision right now because many customers are waiting to get
back into full reentry mode, see how employees are starting to
use space, and what the hybridized model looks like for their
agency and for their people. But we are hearing back from
people, anywhere between 20 percent reductions all the way up
to 50 percent reductions, which is in line with what GSA's own
expectations are.
So, it will depend agency by agency. And as Administrator
Carnahan said, it is going to be an ongoing conversation, but
we do believe that overall for the Federal Government, we will
be able to reduce the footprint, and there is a great
opportunity to reposition our existing portfolio and reduce our
reliance on leases.
Mr. DeFazio. Excellent.
Thank you, Madam Chair. I thank the witnesses.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
I now recognize Mr. Webster.
Mr. Webster. Thank you, Madam Chair.
GSA has announced information on its implementation of the
Biden administration's vaccine mandate. Can you describe the
requirements for contractors and lessors of a public building
site?
Ms. Carnahan. I will speak generally to the vaccine
mandate, and, Commissioner Albert, if you would like to go into
any further details.
As you know, Congressman, we are working hard to ensure
that the pandemic is under control, that folks are able to get
safely back into their everyday lives and their work schedules
and higher vaccination rates. The higher they are, the faster
we are going to get there. So, every step we are taking is to
move forward that goal.
We are working closely with the contractors. The intent is
not to punish anyone but to make sure that folks get vaccinated
as soon as they possibly can. We understand that many of the
contractors are having to deal with unions and employees and
educating folks, and so, we are doing all we can to encourage
them to make progress on this by the deadlines that are set.
Mr. Webster. OK. And even the ones that rent the buildings,
those too, you are doing the same thing there?
Ms. Carnahan. Right. This would apply to Federal employees
and to Federal contractors.
Mr. Webster. Yes. Do these requirements cover existing
leases? If so, has there been any analysis on the impact of the
mandate on leasing costs and competition?
Ms. Carnahan. They do apply to existing leases. I don't
know about the second question.
Nina, do you have anything you want to add on that?
Ms. Albert. I don't. Right now, we have received a fair
number of contract modifications that have been approved, both
by contractors as well as lease amendments approved by our
lessors. We are not at the deadline yet for their response to
the lease amendments.
The concerns that have been raised to date have really just
been around the deadlines and how tight they are, and so we are
working with our contractors and lessors to make sure that they
have the time that they need to implement these mandates. And,
candidly, we are working with lessors and contractors as they
are sharing with us either their concerns around the deadlines
or any other questions that they might have about the guidance
that has been put out.
Mr. Webster. Could you commit to providing the committee
staff with some sort of briefing on this?
Ms. Albert. Absolutely.
Ms. Carnahan. Certainly. Yeah, certainly. Whatever would be
helpful for you, we are happy to visit with you about it.
Mr. Webster. OK. I had another thought as I was asking that
question is, I heard the word ``cleaning'' a lot in your two
presentations, about keeping the buildings clean. That is
laudable. But on the other hand, since cleaning became an issue
and now it is not as much because it has been determined, after
60 years, that the virus is an aerosol. It doesn't fall to the
ground even at a larger weight and so forth, or size. And so,
the real problem is in the air.
I talked to the building engineer here at the Capitol and
then another one who replaced him, gave them some information.
And then also, I talked to the Speaker and to the minority
leader about the issue and about what they needed to do as far
as aerosol versus things falling to the ground which I believed
over 2 years ago.
But my question would be, are you, in these new buildings,
making provisions for some sort of air cleaning? I mean, there
are ionizers, there are also UV lights. Are those being added
to buildings that are under construction or being designed and
so forth?
Ms. Carnahan. I am going to defer to the Commissioner on
this one.
Ms. Albert. Well, Congressman, thank you for that question.
I don't want to overlook how important cleaning in the case--
when there is a COVID case or a suspected COVID case comes up.
We are still poised to respond and make sure that the building
tenants are notified and that we are adequately and
appropriately cleaning where the suspected case is found in the
building and disinfecting high-touch surfaces. So, I just
wanted to put that on the radar and let you know that that is
still a high priority.
As it pertains to what we are learning now about how the
virus spreads, which is through airborne means, we have
surveyed all of the buildings--as you know, we have a very
large portfolio--to understand what type of ventilation systems
are in place, because one of the goals is to increase air
ventilation in spaces, and then the other is air filtration.
So, many of our newest buildings already have the best or
the recommended level of air filtration and options for
ventilation. Where we are really focused, and CARES Act funding
is going to allow us to implement this where we have--we have
already implemented some, but we are looking at implementing
more, which is to retrofit those older buildings, where
applicable, with appropriate ventilation mitigations as well as
air filtration mitigations.
So, I am hoping that that is answering your question. Like
I said, the most modern buildings have what is recommended by
the CDC for air filtration and ventilation. And where we are
really focusing is dealing with retrofitting our older
buildings.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
Mr. Webster. I yield back.
Ms. Titus. I will now recognize myself for 5 minutes.
Appreciate those detailed answers. But before we can very
effectively move forward, we need to address the three
elephants in the room.
The first is the Old Post Office. Now we know that that is
being leased again, we don't want to make the same mistakes we
made before, but GSA hasn't really complied with the inspector
general's directive to review the definition of ``Emoluments
Clause.''
Now, most of our buildings aren't 100 percent leased, we
just lease a little part of them, but we like to get that in
place and wonder what your plans are for that moving forward,
and what are the responsibilities left for the Trump
Organization, if it is leased, and how we ought to be handling
that new lease.
Second one, the chairman mentioned the FBI building. Are
they moving? Are they building? Are they staying? Tell us what
is happening there.
And then third, what about that misguided decision to send
the BLM out to Grand Junction? Some are coming back, some are
staying. How is that affecting your public building decisions
in the near term?
I would ask the Administrator and then Ms. Albert can weigh
in.
Ms. Carnahan. Thanks. I will address a few of those,
Congresswoman, and let Commissioner Albert respond to some of
the others.
With respect to the Old Post Office, as we have talked
about, I know that this is an important topic, I know that
there is a lot of history about this that long predates my
arrival 4 months ago at GSA, and I very much respect Congress'
oversight role in all of this.
I have instructed the team to ensure that the tenant is
fully compliant with all its lease obligations and that we at
GSA are being as transparent as we possibly can be with the
committee in its oversight request and always focused on doing
everything we can to protect the public's interest in every
way.
So, I cannot turn back the clock on things that have
happened in the past, but I can commit that going forward, I am
very interested in making sure we have the right procedures in
place for these kind of outleases and that Congress' role in
that is one that is appropriate. So, that is with respect to
the Old Post Office.
On FBI, that, again, is a topic I know that is of great
interest to the committee, and lots of Members that I talk to
bring up this topic. What I can tell you is that I have reached
out to Director Wray, that our teams are working closely
together to sort of better understand what their needs are in
light of the changed circumstances of the last few years, and
we will welcome any kind of direction or input from Congress as
we take this important project on.
I get that this is a matter of great urgency, but we also
have to make sure that we are responding to the needs of the
FBI and what they're looking for going forward, and that is
what we are working on.
Commissioner, do you have anything you want to add on
either of those or the BLM question?
Ms. Albert. I just wanted to make or ask a clarifying
question. Chairwoman Titus, did you mean the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, BLS, or BLM?
Ms. Titus. I thought it was BLM that moved some of its
folks out to the West and then had to move them back, and some
are still left out there. Was it an old lease, a new lease,
that sort of thing?
Ms. Albert. I am sorry, I don't have a lot of details about
that, but I will make sure to get information back to this
committee so I can appropriately answer that question.
Ms. Titus. OK. Well, I would appreciate that. And it is
Bureau of Land Management, not Labor Statistics.
Ms. Albert. Correct, right.
Ms. Titus. That would have been even a worse decision to
move them to Grand Junction. I can't imagine why that would
have happened.
Well, before you leave, let me just ask you about the
design of Federal buildings. Will you commit to working with me
so that we can put those in place so that we don't go back to
having every building follow the same pattern, but we can
improve the program for allowing local input and consideration
of the location of the building, whatever it may be, that we
decide to construct?
Ms. Carnahan. Certainly, Congresswoman.
I will take this, Commissioner.
This is a topic I know is of great interest to you and the
public. First, I just want to put out there that the President
has revoked the previous administration's Executive order on
the topic that you raised, so I think that should address
immediate concerns.
Second, I couldn't agree more that the design of our public
buildings should reflect the diversity of our communities. It
should fit into those communities; part of our job is to ensure
that that happens.
So, we are happy to work with you on whatever way you see
appropriate to move that forward so that you can be confident
that is happening going forward.
Ms. Titus. Well, thank you, Administrator. There is a
bipartisan bill that I introduced, H.R. 5291, that would do
this, it is called the Democracy in Design Act. If you would
take a look at that, I would appreciate it, give us any input
so we can try to work to move that forward. That would be
great.
Ms. Carnahan. Certainly will. Thanks, ma'am.
Ms. Titus. And now I recognize Mr. Massie.
Mr. Massie. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman.
Ms. Carnahan, can you tell us what the deadline is for the
vaccine mandate from the Biden administration for Federal
employees?
Ms. Carnahan. I can tell you that there is a target date of
December 8that they have put out there, that they want there to
be progress on vaccinations. So, that is the hard-and-fast date
that I know of.
Mr. Massie. What will happen to employees who refuse to
take the vaccine by December 8?
Ms. Carnahan. So, we are talking about contractors here?
Mr. Massie. Just Federal employees.
Ms. Carnahan. OK. So, the Federal employee date, I believe,
is different. That is sometime in November. I think it is the
22nd. So, my understanding is that for those who choose not to
be vaccinated, that is who you are speaking about----
Mr. Massie. Yes.
Ms. Carnahan [continuing]. There are going to be steps that
they can take for reasonable accommodation where that is
appropriate.
Mr. Massie. So, how many requests have you received for
religious accommodations, given that the deadline is coming
upon us, or medical accommodations or exemptions?
Ms. Carnahan. Yes. I don't have that number, Congressman,
but certainly I can check on that and see what it is. The
deadline is several weeks away. So, we can give you a rolling
number or we can give you the one----
Mr. Massie. Right. How long do you think it will take you
to process those requests for exemptions given that the
deadline is 3 weeks away?
Ms. Carnahan. You know what, I don't know the answer to
that question, Congressman. I know that is a thing that is
ongoing right now, and I can get back to you about that.
Mr. Massie. OK. How many have been granted or requested? Do
you know how many have been requested or granted at this point?
Ms. Carnahan. I do not.
Mr. Massie. Is there a form that Federal employees at the
GSA can fill out right now and apply for a religious exemption
or is that form not available yet?
Ms. Carnahan. So, my understanding is that folks have been
asked to say their vaccination status and provide proof of
their vaccination, that we have gotten very high-level number
of responses to that. I don't have the number off the top of my
head, but I can get that to you very quickly----
Mr. Massie. OK.
Ms. Carnahan [continuing]. And that a large number of those
have provided proof of vaccination. So, I don't know what the
number is. It is a relatively small number that we are going to
be considering for religious and other kinds of health
exemptions.
Mr. Massie. I hope you will consider them all, all of the
requests. Attorney General Garland testified to me last week in
the Judiciary Committee that the Religious Freedom Restoration
Act requires the consideration and granting of religious
accommodations in the context of vaccine mandates.
Have you received any guidance from the Biden
administration on how to process these requests, given that the
law requires that religious accommodations be made to the
vaccine mandate?
Ms. Carnahan. Yes, thanks, Congressman. The team is working
very hard on this. This is a matter of great interest to
everybody across the administration, and I think it is
important that there be as much consistency as possible so that
there is predictability in it. So, yes, the team is working
closely with the rest of the administration on this.
Mr. Massie. Can you provide us with the guidance that you
have been given from the Biden administration? And I am not
picking on the GSA. You just happen to be in this committee
today. This is a question that I asked the DOJ and other
departments.
Ms. Carnahan. Yes. Whatever we can provide, we will
provide. So, I will ask the team about that and to circle back
with you and your staff.
Mr. Massie. Ma'am, I am trying to determine what kind of
guidance has been given.
Ms. Albert, have you received any guidance or communication
from the Biden administration regarding the possible
implementation of vaccine passports or other proof of
vaccination to enter Federal facilities or for contractors or
the general public?
Ms. Albert. Well, as you probably are aware, GSA cochairs
and is part of the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, which is
a multiagency group working on the vaccination mandate as well
as others, and so making sure that the communications from the
Federal Government to our contractors is clear.
Please--you know, we are obviously receiving feedback from
contractors and questions, and we are processing those very
quickly and continuing to evolve our guidance as we learn more.
Mr. Massie. Have there been any discussion of vaccine
passports and requiring proof of vaccination to enter Federal
buildings?
Ms. Albert. I have not heard anything about vaccine
passports. In order to enter into a Federal building right now,
you need to--and this is the current state of what the guidance
says--is be able to provide either--you have to wear a mask if
the locality requires mask-wearing indoors, so compliance with
local guidance around mask-wearing, social distancing of
course, and then just a provision or an attestation about
vaccination status.
Mr. Massie. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. My time is
expired. I yield back.
Ms. Titus. All right. Thank you, Mr. Massie.
We will now go to Ms. Holmes Norton.
Ms. Norton. Thank you very much, Madam Chair, for this
important hearing.
I have a question for Administrator Carnahan. We have had a
running drama with the SEC building here in the Nation's
Capital. On September 30, the GSA entered into a lease on the
SEC's behalf for a new SEC headquarters building. I am pleased
that GSA has prioritized cost effectiveness in this procurement
process.
The SEC has wasted hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars
on leasing errors, including overestimating the amount of space
needed for its headquarters by 300 percent at a cost of $500
million. More recently, in 2019, the SEC effectively vetoed the
GSA's entire procurement process, allowing a multimillion-
dollar procurement funded by taxpayers simply to go to waste.
I introduced the Securities and Exchange Commission Real
Estate Leasing Authority Revocation Act, that is H.R. 1468, to
revoke the SEC's authority to independently lease general
purpose office space and instead to provide for the GSA to
lease such space for the SEC.
I am asking you, what is the administration's view of this
bill?
Ms. Carnahan. Well, thanks for the question, Congresswoman.
I am not familiar or have a position on the bill specifically.
I can address generally the situation at the SEC.
Ms. Norton. Please do that.
Ms. Carnahan. As you know, the facility that was delivered
to the SEC was based on the needs and requirements that they
laid out and that Congress approved. So that is what was done,
that is the work GSA did.
You probably also are well aware that there has been a
protest of the award by one of the losing bidders, which limits
what I can go into in terms of the specifics.
The broader question that you raise, which is one about
agencies and how much space they are going to need in the
future, as we have been talking about, all of the agencies in
this post-COVID environment are looking to what their space
needs are going to be. And GSA is very focused on how we can
consolidate and be good stewards of tax money by consolidating
agencies into existing space. So that just--know that that is
what we are thinking about all the time when it comes to these
projects.
Ms. Norton. You don't think that an agency should have
independent authority to go out and lease whatever building it
feels like leasing?
Ms. Carnahan. Well, I know different agencies have
different authorities--and, Nina, I don't know if you can speak
to any of that--but that is an issue that is better addressed
by Congress than by GSA.
Ms. Albert. Just speak to and reaffirm what the
Administrator just said. I mean, obviously, GSA has the
authority to lease space. Some other agencies also have such
authorities. In certain cases, we are able to delegate our
authority to others, and we evaluate whether or not that is
appropriate, as well as are a partner with that delegated
agency when they do receive authority from us, to ensure that
the leases that they enter into have oversight and have the
benefit of GSA's expertise.
In all cases, when we are going through these consolidation
opportunities or headquarters moves, GSA is in partnership with
the organization and the agency it's looking to move. We are
the ones with the authority and the real estate expertise to
help them conceive and design their new space. But, ultimately,
they are the end user, and they are a very, very important part
of the discussion and the conception of what their needs are.
Ms. Norton. OK. They are important--but I wanted to
establish, in fact, agencies can independently go out and lease
for themselves.
Final question to Commissioner Albert. What steps, if any,
has GSA taken to jump-start the Southwest Ecodistrict,
including selling the Department of Energy's four-star
building?
Ms. Albert. Well, this is a personal area of interest of
mine, being from Washington, DC. It is a great opportunity. I
will look into that and have been interested in that. I don't
have specific plans to share at this moment, but that is
something that I would really look forward to working with you
on.
Ms. Norton. Madam Chair, I would like to, as you can see,
get the answer on that question.
Ms. Titus. OK. We will be sure to follow up with Ms.
Albert. Thank you.
I now recognize Ms. Van Duyne for 5 minutes.
Ms. Van Duyne. Thank you very much.
Administrator Carnahan, thank you for testifying today. As
you know, outside of the DC region, the largest cluster of
federally owned and operated real estate is the 47 land ports
of entry along the southern border with Mexico. The vast
majority of these ports are owned or leased by the GSA or with
CBP involvement and are in dire need of modernization. These
ports have a real impact on economic activity in border States.
In each State, thousands of Americans and Mexicans pass
legally through the checkpoints to work, shop, or go to school.
President Biden is finally allowing nonessential travel to
resume between the U.S. and Mexico----
[Audio interruption.]
Ms. Van Duyne [continuing]. Not sure whose mic is on, but--
--
Ms. Titus. Ms. Norton, I think your mic is on. Thank you.
Ms. Van Duyne [continuing]. So, you have been in office
since July. Have you visited the southern border yet?
Ms. Carnahan. No, ma'am. I have not yet visited the
southern border. I did visit a land port of entry in Vermont a
month ago, and----
Ms. Van Duyne. Yes, that is definitely not on the southern
border. And Texas is not as much interested in Vermont as we
are about the ports along the Texas-Mexican border.
So, will you commit to visiting the ports of entry along
the Texas-Mexican border soon?
Ms. Carnahan. I am very interested in getting to the
southern border. I will tell you, I haven't been traveling that
much in light of COVID but am very interested in getting out to
all the places that we serve.
Ms. Van Duyne. Well, I would hope that this would be a
priority, especially with all that is going on in our southern
border, getting down there and seeing for yourself what needs
to happen.
As we face critical supply chain crisis, combined with
historic levels of illegal immigration, what is the impact of
allowing land port of entries to deteriorate?
Ms. Carnahan. As you have already pointed out, these land
ports of entry have all kinds of maintenance needs. It is about
having security at our borders, but also about having openness
for business and other kinds of transport. And so, this is the
first entryway into the United States. We ought to be making
those ones that are welcoming, secure, and appropriate for the
services they provide.
Ms. Van Duyne. So, again, I would ask that you commit to
actually going down there and visiting it firsthand.
Last month, you made comments on reimagining how people
work and make sure that Federal Government employees have
everything that they need to work, whether they are remote, in
the office, or using a hybrid model. Unfortunately, what my
constituents and I have seen is a nonresponsive Federal
workforce. Wait times are out of control, and it is clear that
agencies such as the IRS, Social Security, USCIS are not being
effective while working remotely.
So, have you had conversations with agencies to see what is
needed to get agencies back up and running so that the
Government can be responsible for its constituents?
Ms. Carnahan. Yes, thanks for that question. This is a
topic of great interest to me is how Government can work better
for the people it serves and save money doing it. We have seen,
certainly through the pandemic, over and over again, the
failure of Government websites to be able to deliver for people
at a really urgent time of need.
And so, while GSA is not in charge of every Government
website, we do have the ability to help support agencies with
what are called shared services. What I mean by that are things
that every interaction with Government has to have. Right? So,
there are login services, for example, that need to be secure.
There are identity verification services that every----
Ms. Van Duyne. But my question----
Ms. Carnahan [continuing]. Agency would need.
Mr. Van Duyne. And I am sorry, but I have a very limited
time. My question had to do with making sure that we are having
our employees get back to work in their offices. So, have you
had conversations with those agencies that I mentioned,
specifically the ones that are not working well remotely? Have
you had conversations with them to make sure that we are doing
everything that we can to get those employees back in the
office?
Ms. Carnahan. So, GSA has had people in offices across the
country throughout the pandemic. We will continue to do that.
We are ready to serve and stand up with any other of our agency
partners who want to have their people come back to work. We
are interested in supporting that, but we don't make the
decision ultimately about when they are returning to their
offices.
Ms. Van Duyne. OK. Well, I appreciate that.
One final quick question. I understand the GSA announced
that there is a new diversity initiative. When the President
announced the initiative, GSA said that ``when we make policy,
build buildings, buy supplies, and deploy technology, we will
keep diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility at the top
of the list.'' The mission of the GSA is to provide Federal
agencies with buildings, leased office space, services,
supplies, things like that.
So does the DEIA, which is what I just read, as President
Biden defines it, trump GSA's main mission of providing office
Government services?
Ms. Carnahan. Look, GSA's mission, as I have said from the
outset, is to make Government work better for the people it
serves and to save money doing it. That is going to continue to
be our mission. That may change over time, how we deliver on
that mission. And ensuring that we give access to everyone is
an appropriate thing for Government to do. So, we will be
focused on that, as well as looking out for taxpayer money.
Ms. Van Duyne. I appreciate that. Thank you.
I yield.
Ms. Titus. Thank you. And I might just remind Ms. Van
Duyne, since she is interested in the difficulties at the land
ports of entry, there is $3.4 billion in the Senate
transportation bill. She might want to use some of that money
for helping with those ports. And since the IRS is a concern
not being able to help the people of this country, there is $2
billion for taxpayer services in the reconciliation bill. So,
she might want----
Ms. Van Duyne. I appreciate that, but we all know throwing
money at something----
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
We will now recognize Ms. Davids.
Ms. Davids of Kansas. Thank you. Thank you, Chairwoman.
And thank you, Administrator Carnahan and Commissioner
Albert, for taking the time to testify here today.
I represent the Kansas Third Congressional District, which
is in the Kansas City metro area and is an area that has
absolutely been impacted by some of the increasing severe
effects of climate change and severe weather events.
I am curious about, though, the ways that GSA has taken a
look at building codes and reviewing building codes and the
ways that that cannot only help us better prepare for severe
weather events, but also to actually make a dent in some of the
climate change impacts that we are having. I am very curious if
you could tell us a little bit about what you are doing. And
either of you can speak to that.
Ms. Carnahan. Let me just say a few things at the outset
and then defer to Commissioner Albert on this.
Look, the impacts of climate change are real. They are ones
that present a risk to our portfolio. And we are spending time
thinking about that, both the existing portfolio and what we
need to do and what the major risks are and how we can mitigate
those. But we are also thinking about how these changes should
impact how we think about locating future Government
facilities.
So that is really about doing better with data,
understanding all of our portfolio, and doing the evaluations
to figure out certainly things in flood zones or other kinds of
climate risks to our systems, and then putting a price tag on
what it would cost to do that mitigation.
So, Commissioner, do you have anything you want to add to
that?
Ms. Albert. Yes. I would just like to respond to the
specific question about building codes. As you know, building
codes are set and which codes are used are set by the locality.
We comply with all local codes. But in terms of what the
Federal Government's own standards are, as the GSA sets them,
we really incorporate into our design specifications and lease
guidelines what codes are required for Federal buildings or for
the Federal Government to lease space from other landlords.
And so, that is really how we set the standard for things
like building resilience. It is really in how buildings are
designed and the design standard that we bring it to, which in
many cases is above what local codes mandate.
Ms. Davids of Kansas. Yes. And I think, in all the research
that I have seen, if we really took a strong, hard look at
improving building codes, we could actually really make a dent
on things like carbon emissions and that sort of thing. So, I
appreciate the work you guys are doing over there to address
that.
And then I think, since I just have like a short amount of
time here, but I do think that, piggybacking off of the
previous questions that we had, I know there is the--you know,
the Federal Buildings Personnel Training Act of 2010, which
actually coincidentally enough was brought up by Congressman
Russ Carnahan, our Administrator's brother. The Federal
workforce is, of course, becoming more complex. The buildings,
the systems, they are becoming more sophisticated. And the
technology is progressing at a very quick pace.
I know that you all are working on smart buildings and
trying to make sure that our smart employees are trained up in
the way that they need to be. If you want to take this last
minute or so to kind of talk about where you are at on
implementing that plan and piece of legislation.
Ms. Carnahan. That is great. Thanks for the question. You
are right, smart buildings and technologies make--they are just
wise investments. They improve health. They improve energy
efficiency. They save us money. And so, that is all good, but
it does require training facility managers to be able to do all
of those things.
We have identified a couple of courses, one in the
cybersecurity area, which is particularly relevant for any kind
of smart buildings, as well as public health. And so, we are
doing trainings. And we are working with agency partners,
including the State Department and the Corps of Engineers on
doing this as well.
One of the consistent things we hear, frankly, from our
partners is that training is really useful, but when push comes
to shove, training budgets are often things that get cut. So
just know that is something that is a challenge but something
we think is a worthy investment.
Nina, do you have anything you want to add on that?
Ms. Albert. I will just add that smart buildings are part
of the ecosystem of sustainable building design, and that is
absolutely the direction that GSA is going in. We are really
focused on upskilling our workforce. We have the fortunate
position of not only having the Green Proving Ground which can
test certain types of building, smart building technologies,
but we are also putting into place and have evaluated what
specific skills we need to concentrate on to upskill our
workforce, to be able to respond to, manage, as well as analyze
data that we are getting back as a result of the smart building
system.
So, this is an area of focus. As we further green our
buildings, make them more sustainable, this is a crucial aspect
of being able to manage smart buildings, high-performance
buildings into the future. And so, we are not taking our eye
off of this ball.
Ms. Davids of Kansas. Thank you so much. Appreciate you.
And thank you, Chairwoman. I yield back.
Ms. Titus. Thank you. Maybe you will keep us updated as you
move to more and more smart buildings. Thank you.
We now go to Mr. Gimenez.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, Madam Chair.
I have got a couple of questions for Ms. Carnahan. Have you
started a process to begin the consolidation of Federal
properties in order to reduce the amount of money that we spent
as a Federal Government on all of our agencies? Have we started
the process on that?
Ms. Carnahan. Well, we think about it all the time,
Congressman. Leases come up on different cadences. That is why,
as I mentioned before, the fact that we have got about over 40
percent of our leases coming up in the next 4 years. That is
the moment we should be investing in our own property so that
the transitions can be easily made by agencies out of that
leased space and into owned space. It will save $2 billion a
year in lease payments which, to me, is a very smart investment
and payback of the American people.
Mr. Gimenez. I would probably think you would probably save
a heck of a lot more.
Do you find in the Federal Government that agencies seem to
silo themselves, that they consider themselves somewhat like
independent of the Federal Government? Not really, but do they
really think of themselves kind of as independent?
Ms. Carnahan. Well, look, I think that a lot of what drives
agencies' decisionmaking when it comes to space is financial
incentives. Right? And one of the challenges that we see over
and over again is they are--because agencies are not able to
have the proceeds of the money if they dispose of something,
right, and they have to then come to get extra money to build
out new space, there is just not a lot of incentive for them to
make that change, because the budget process is set up in a way
that sort of encourages the status quo.
So, I would be really interested in working with you and
the committee on ways to create smart incentives to encourage
these agencies to consolidate, and that means giving them the
funds to do the build-outs to make that happen.
Mr. Gimenez. I doubt that is going to work. I was the mayor
of Miami-Dade County, and I also was a department director. I
know that when I was a department director, I wanted to get
bigger. All right? And that I felt as, you know, my agency was
the most important agency in the agency that I was working for,
the city of Miami at the time when I was a director. And so,
when I became the mayor, I said, no, we are going to centralize
this thing, and we are going to make smart decisions based on
what the greater good of the county is, not the agency,
although--and they are not mutually exclusive.
So, have you talked to the President or somebody in charge
and said, look, we need to do some kind of an Executive order
that kind of forces agencies to work with GSA in order to start
to consolidate a lot of these properties and to have a more
holistic strategy of--it is what you need; it is not what you
want. OK?
And so, I know with agencies, if you ask them what they
want, they will ask for three times the number of square feet
that they actually need, et cetera, et cetera. And so, have you
thought about asking the President to issue some kind of an
order that says, look, we need to start consolidating to save
some real dollars here?
Ms. Carnahan. So, I have, Congressman, been talking to
everyone I can talk to. I have not spoken to the President
about this topic directly. But I have spoken to lots of people
about the need to be able to take this unique moment where
agencies are rethinking what their space needs are, because
they have just spent 20 months with people teleworking, and
they know that this is going to change going forward.
So, there are not a lot of times in Government, certainly,
that there is a seismic shift in how people are thinking about
how they deliver service, and we are at that moment. So, the
question is whether we are going to be smart and take advantage
of it. The way we do that is we create incentives for people to
move into shared space. The only way that happens----
Mr. Gimenez. Ma'am, but the only person that----
Ms. Carnahan [continuing]. Is if we invest in that.
Mr. Gimenez. Sorry. Sorry to interrupt you. But the only
person that they all work for is the President. OK? So that is
the one person that everybody--that is the head. That is the
head. That is the top of the pyramid here. And so, the
President is the one that has to issue the order to do that to
get it moving along.
Incentives may work or they may not work. It is actually
going to take some action and orders from the President to say,
this is what we are going to do as a country. This is the way
that we are moving forward.
Also, the other thing that I want to talk about is, I know
the Federal Government has extensive properties all over the
place. Some are being used, some are not. And some--the ones
that are not being used are not productive. They are actually
costing us money to maintain.
Do you have a plan to put forward so that we can start to
release some of this unused, unnecessary Federal lands and make
them productive instead of being an expense on the Federal
Government?
Ms. Carnahan. Yes, it is a great question. I share your
urgency about this. There is no reason why it should take such
a long time to dispose of properties that folks have decided
they don't need to use anymore, but it is a longer process than
I like. In my home State in Missouri, I have learned about one
in St. Louis that has taken many, many years. Everybody knows
it needs to be disposed of, but it still hasn't been. There are
often issues with getting that done. Sometimes those are
environmental issues. Sometimes those are other, kind of,
community issues.
The main thing we have got to sort of balance against speed
is the impact on the community. Because you can imagine, if you
are giving up a big Federal tenant in a space, that is going to
have an impact on a community. And so, we don't want to make
those decisions lightly, and we want to be in close
consultation with the communities where they are located.
Mr. Gimenez. Thank you, ma'am. My time is up, and I yield
back.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
I now recognize Miss Gonzalez-Colon.
Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And thank you, Administrator, for being with us today. My
question will be: Given the significant seismic activity impact
in the island of Puerto Rico, how confident are you that the
Degetau Federal Building remains structurally sound, and what
efforts is the GSA taking while working toward the immediate
seismic reinforcement to ensure my constituents that the
facility is safe for occupancy?
Ms. Carnahan. Well, thanks for the question, Congresswoman.
I know that this is a topic of great concern to you and your
constituents. I have been only marginally briefed on this
topic, but I believe Commissioner Albert can speak more
specifically to that building.
Ms. Albert. Thank you so much.
This is a priority for us. We have already obligated $48
million in repairs and improvements to facilities in Puerto
Rico following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. We are also
continuing our work in various campuses that are ongoing right
now. So, we are very pleased with the progress that we have
made in the Build Back Better proposal. We can use about $500-
plus million to complete the projects of the Federal facilities
that are in Puerto Rico, and in that design and construction
work, seismic protections, as well as other protections, for
other climate change events are being incorporated.
So, thank you for that question.
Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you, Commissioner, as well, and
Administrator.
And the reason I make this question is that you already
know that last week this committee passed a resolution for $22
million for the phase of design and the construction of the new
annex to the building, and I am happy with that. But I know as
well that this is just the first phase of a long project.
And when do you think my constituents can see the whole
project being built? I know the different phases are going up
to--this phase is 2022 to 2024. And the construction for
seismic retrofit is back in 2028 to the fiscal year 2031. So,
do you say--how committed is the administration in terms of
having the funds for all the phases in the future?
Ms. Albert. Well, this is part of--these projects will be
part of the Build Back Better program for us. So, if that
funding is approved, then we are well positioned and do have
these projects in our priority list for completion.
As you know, the $22 million that kicks off the design, we
are absolutely prepared to execute on that as soon as the
fiscal year 2022 budget is approved. And that is really what
gets the entire process moving, and we are anxious to get
started and to be able to deliver those projects for you.
Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you.
And my question, Administrator, right now will be: How will
GSA use the lessons learned throughout the 2010 ARRA project in
San Juan to ensure a high level of management, coordination,
and oversight is provided to ensure the successful completion
of this complex project can be done? We got a lot of experience
with that project in the past, and I just want to know if GSA
is taking into account all the mistakes and situations that
happened during that process in 2010.
Ms. Carnahan. So, I appreciate your question. As you know,
I was not around in 2010, so not familiar with all of the
history, certainly not as much as you are.
Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Me neither.
Ms. Carnahan. But I will say that our teams are committed
to doing all they can to deliver these things on time, on
budget, and meeting the mission needs of the team. That takes a
lot of close collaboration with people that are on the ground,
certainly with people in your office. And so, we will look
forward to collaborating going forward.
Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you, Administrator.
My last question will be just to let you know that Puerto
Rico has an agency dedicated to the promotion and use of
public-private partnerships to the benefit of the Government
and to save taxpayers money for my constituents. And I think it
will be beneficial for GSA to have the ability to use P3
partnerships.
My question to you is: Do you believe in P3 projects, and
are you committed to work with my office and this committee to
come up with solutions to ensure GSA can utilize P3
partnerships in the future?
Ms. Carnahan. Yes, thanks. I am a big fan of public-private
partnerships. In fact, whenever we can do anything that is a
smart, quicker way to speed up projects and also save money, it
makes sense. But what we need to make sure of is those are set
up in ways that do make sense and don't mean the Government is
overpaying for something. So, they need to be financially
appropriate and looking out for taxpayers.
One of the things that we have done a lot of when it comes
to P3s is energy savings performance contracts. So that is one
where we have a lot of experience where, as you know, that is
where we enter into long-term contracts with companies that
upgrade and improve the energy efficiency of facilities, and
then they are paid back sort of over time as we pay for those
utility costs.
There are plenty of ways we can expand those, and we would
really look forward to working with you on how to do that.
Miss Gonzalez-Colon. Thank you, Administrator. My time has
expired. But I want to say thank you for coming today, and I
invite you to come to the island whenever you are ready.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
We will now recognize Mr. Guest for 5 minutes.
Mr. Guest. Thank you, Madam Chairman.
Commissioner Albert, I want to speak with you a few minutes
on flexible coworking space. We know, prior to the pandemic,
that the GSA was reducing our real estate footprint because of
excess capacity. We know because of COVID we have seen more
individuals now teleworking, and that has created uncertainty
about the amount of space that we need going forward in the
future.
I know several weeks ago, there was a news release report
by the Federal News Network, and it said: ``The General
Services Administration, building on lessons on workplace
flexibility learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, is giving the
Federal workforce new opportunities to keep working outside of
their traditional offices.''
It goes on to say: ``GSA last week took the first major
step in implementing its long-term future of work strategy by
awarding a first-of-its-kind contract to provide flexible
coworking spaces for Federal employees nationwide. The
contract, whose total GSA estimates is $50 million, harkens
back to a similar concept the agency experimented with more
than a decade ago.''
And so, two things. First, I ask if you could kind of
expand upon the flexible coworking spaces, how you see that
going forward as we are looking to retool coming out of COVID-
19? And then, also, when can we expect to see task orders
issued for competition under this contract?
Ms. Albert. Well, thank you so much for that question,
Congressman Guest.
We have actually just last week hosted a virtual event with
I think it was 40 different agency customers that were really
interested in learning more about the coworking task, or IDIQ.
So, we answered questions about the contract and what it allows
them to do. This is the first-of-its-kind contract that the
Federal Government has done.
Why we decided to offer it was just to give more
opportunity and more options for agencies. And it is
particularly well-suited to address short-term space needs.
When you are entering into a longer term or a larger size
lease, there is a process affiliated with that. And the
flexible coworking contract allows us to offer space as a
service.
So, it is a little bit more off the shelf. If an agency
needs space for a month or up to a year, they can go ahead and
get access to this space. And there is a whole variety of
different spaces that most of these landlords or service
providers offer, from conference room space to individual
offices and everything in between.
So, it has been met with a lot of interest. We believe it
gives us additional flexibility and broadens the services that
we are able to provide to customers.
Ultimately, we will see, just like we are doing as--I mean,
this is the great experiment, candidly, for both the private
sector and the public sector. Everyone understands that the
future of work will be more designed with flexibility and
mobility in mind where different people are going to need
different spaces but what they value when they come to an
office is collaboration and other kinds of spaces.
So, we are going to have to evolve our own spaces, and
having access to coworking space allows agencies to decide what
kinds of spaces they think they need without the Federal
Government making an upfront capital investment in delivering
that kind of space. So, we can use this as an opportunity for
agencies to come back to us, say, hey, I have been using a lot
of this kind of space over that kind of space and that is what
I want in the future.
So, we see a great advantage to it. There is a lot of
interest from our agencies, and we look forward in the next
year to learning more about how the space is going to be used.
Mr. Guest. Thank you.
And kind of an unrelated question, Commissioner, while I
have got you, is on page 7 of the written testimony, it talks
about the proposed $5 million investment in Federal buildings.
Going on over onto page 8, it talks about some of the potential
savings. And then it says: ``We can leverage these funds to buy
lower carbon materials as we work to modernize our existing
facilities.''
And just curious, as it relates to low-carbon materials,
what type of materials would you be referring to there?
Ms. Albert. Well, there is a variety, but the most common
example is really embedded carbon in concrete. And so, we would
be working with concrete manufacturers, for example, doing
direct outreach with industry and industry groups to understand
where they see the opportunity. Carbon is also embedded in the
production of a lot of different types of materials, steel
among them, equipment, others.
This is going to be a long-term partnership with industry
and equipment manufacturers, as well as material manufacturers,
to figure out how we are going to reduce carbon in the
production of these materials.
Mr. Guest. And I know my time is up, but would mass timber
products also be included in something that you would be
looking at as far as a lower carbon material?
Ms. Albert. That is absolutely an option, yes. There is
nothing that we have that precludes the use of that.
Mr. Guest. Thank you. Madam Chairman, I am out of time, so
I yield back.
Ms. Titus. Thank you.
Well, that concludes the Members we have for questions.
Mr. Webster, do you have any closing comments before we
adjourn?
Mr. Webster. No. I just want to follow up on some of the
things I was talking about, but I am going to do that in
writing. Thank you, Chair.
Ms. Titus. Well, thank you.
And thank you, Administrator and Commissioner. We really
appreciate your commitment to transparency and cooperation. You
can tell by the questions that there is a lot of interest from
the Members on what you are doing and what you are planning to
do.
I also appreciate your working with us, with the
appropriators to get some of the money that you collect, that
you need to then reinvest in our buildings to make them safer,
make them healthier, make them greener. So, we want to work
with you to do that.
You set the market in many places where you are located for
commercial real estate, so we want you doing it the most
efficient way possible. Always keep the taxpayer in mind but
not building to look like the Parthenon.
So, thank you. Thank you very much. And we will appreciate
you getting back with some of those questions. And I know that
we will be in touch moving forward. We welcome your wise
counsel on these issues.
So, that concludes our hearing. Your comments will go into
the record. As I said, they have been very helpful.
I ask unanimous consent that the record of today's hearing
remain open until such time as our witnesses have provided
answers to any questions that may be submitted to them in
writing.
I also ask unanimous consent that the record remain open
for 15 days for any additional comments and information
submitted by Members or the witnesses to be included in the
record of today's hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
The subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 11:34 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]

Submissions for the Record

----------

Prepared Statement of Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on
Transportation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Titus, and thank you to our witnesses for being
here today.
This Subcommittee has a long, bipartisan history of taking a
leading role in reforming federal real estate.
From pressing agencies to reduce their space footprint, to changing
how we dispose of unneeded real estate, we have saved the taxpayer
billions of dollars.
Now we are faced with a potential opportunity to realize more
savings.
Understanding GSA's priorities, particularly in the public building
space, is important to help the Committee work with GSA to continue to
improve management of federal real estate.
I look forward to hearing from the GSA Administrator and Public
Buildings Commissioner today and welcome them.
Thank you, Chair Titus. I yield back.

Appendix

----------

Questions from Hon. Peter A. DeFazio to the U.S. General Services
Administration

Sustainability:
Question 1. Does PBS know how many of its owned and leased spaces
have sustained damage from weather-related natural disasters?
Answer. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) establishes
priority codes for tracking projects resulting from natural disasters.
These codes track damage to buildings from major weather events such as
Hurricanes Irma, Harvey, Maria, and Florence. In addition, GSA has
submitted emergency reprogramming requests to Congress for isolated
weather events, such as a 2020 derecho in Cedar Rapids, IA and a hail
storm in 2017 that damaged several buildings at the Denver Federal
Center. Since 2017, GSA has tracked 59 buildings in GSA's inventory
that have sustained damage due to weather-related natural disasters.

Question 2. Does GSA tally the cost of repairs needed due to
weather related natural disasters?
Answer. Yes. As mentioned above, GSA establishes priority codes for
tracking project costs and other financial activity resulting from
natural disasters. This process allows GSA to tally the costs
associated with these types of repairs.

Question 3. How has the COVID-19 pandemic's reduced building
occupancy and utilization impacted GSA's energy consumption?
Answer. The average energy usage per gross square foot (BTU/GSF)
across the portfolio at the onset of the pandemic (trailing 12-months
through Feb. 2020) was about 54,120 BTU/GSF. Since having 12-full
months of pandemic operations, energy usage has averaged about 49,760
BTU/GSF, or an -8.1% change, which is a significant decrease,
particularly given the steps GSA has taken to increase ventilation and
improve air filtration in its facilities consistent with guidelines
promulgated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
However, the changes weren't uniform throughout the portfolio. For
example, land ports of entry--which have critical national security
functions and 24/7 operations and implemented no telework--saw almost
no change in energy usage during this time. Additionally, GSA
facilities with very dense tenant populations (higher numbers of
tenants per square foot) tended to reduce energy use more than
buildings with lower tenant population densities.

Question 4. What does GSA need to transform its owned portfolio to
healthier, sustainable, well-designed buildings that are smaller and
more cost-effective?
Answer. GSA has one of the largest Federal sustainable building
portfolios in the country. In FY 2020, GSA had 269 federally owned
buildings that were identified as sustainable per the Guiding
Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings [https://
www.sustainability.gov/pdfs/guiding_principles_for_sustainable_federal_
buildings.pdf]. Those buildings comprise approximately 40% of GSA's
federally owned square footage. We know how to design, build, and
operate sustainable Federal buildings and are a recognized leader in
the real property industry.
To transform to a climate resilient, more sustainable, and cost-
effective portfolio, GSA needs sustained reinvestment to modernize and
maintain efficient and high-performing buildings. With full access to
the future annual revenues and collections deposited in the Federal
Buildings Fund (FBF), GSA could convert more existing federally owned
facilities to become sustainable, reducing their carbon impact; create
and sustain thousands of good-paying jobs; and ensure newly constructed
facilities are designed and built both in a sustainable, resilient and
efficient manner.
While investments from appropriations such as the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) modernize and improve
portions of GSA's portfolio, these types of appropriations are targeted
to specific facilities (Land Ports of Entry for this law) and not the
entire GSA real estate portfolio. Access to all of the future annual
revenues deposited into the FBF would have an even greater impact on
the portfolio since it would provide a consistent source of funding to
modernize, transform and maintain the entire inventory.
Repair Backlog:
Question 5. What is the current level of deferred maintenance on
the Government's owned portfolio?
Answer. GSA does not track deferred maintenance needs for the
entire owned Government portfolio, only those buildings under GSA's
custody and control. Since 2010, GSA has received approximately 60%
less than the requested funding to address repair and alteration needs
for GSA-controlled federally owned facilities. The reduction in funding
has led to an increase in both GSA's deferred maintenance and repair
needs and the overall outyear liabilities within the owned portfolio.
GSA's immediate deferred maintenance need has grown every year for the
last 6 years and is now estimated to be approximately $2.59 billion at
the end of FY 2021. This deferred maintenance is categorized as work
needing to be performed immediately or the next fiscal year to restore
or maintain acceptable conditions within the building inventory.

Question 6. What plan is in place to address this backlog?
Answer. GSA is pursuing a multi-pronged approach to address our
mounting deferred maintenance backlog. First and foremost, GSA hopes to
work with Congress to restore the previous practice, maintained until
2010, of providing full authority to GSA to invest the annual revenues
it collects from its agency tenants for facilities maintenance, rent
payments and operations. In addition, GSA seeks to increase the
pipeline for disposition of under-utilized real properties and to
strategically prioritize investments in those buildings that will
remain long-term holds for the Government.
COVID-19:
Question 7. How has the COVID-19 pandemic changed GSA's Public
Buildings Service? What has PBS learned in the year and a half when so
many federal employees have not been in their offices?
Answer. GSA continues to engage with its customer agencies to
identify what their needs will be going forward. During the COVID-19
pandemic, the Public Buildings Service (PBS) has been working with its
customer agencies to define what the future of work might look like for
the Federal Government. Many agencies have seen the value in telework
and are making plans to expand those programs. While our clients are
awaiting the outcome of returning to facilities, they are indicating an
initial desire, and capacity, to reduce their space needs.

Question 8. How is PBS determining how much real estate each tenant
needs?
Answer. GSA is engaging with customer agencies to assess their
future office space needs and reflect the changing needs of the post-
pandemic Federal workforce. GSA is using this information to develop
workspace strategies tailored to each customer agency. GSA uses a data-
driven approach to gain insight into agencies' future operating
postures and real estate needs, recognizing that each customer will
have different requirements. As part of this effort, GSA will be
engaging 24 CFO Act agencies to develop individual National Workspace
Portfolio Plans that reflect the agencies Future of Work. These plans
will define the customer's desired future real estate footprint, the
steps necessary to reach that footprint, and strategies for supporting
the customer's evolving workstyle needs through technology and services
solutions. These efforts will help GSA and the agencies develop a more
optimized, sustainable, and efficient real estate portfolio.

Question 9a. Looking at pre-Covid utilization data and agency
requirements, what was PBS consuming and how will that change in the
next five years and ten years?
Answer. Based on limited real-time building utilization data, pre-
COVID GSA-controlled office buildings (32 owned and 3 GSA Regional
Office Leased buildings) averaged a 69% utilization rate and decreased
to an average of 29% utilization during the first year of COVID. Given
that many agencies have not fully returned to GSA-controlled facilities
and that the Future of Work is still being defined, it is difficult to
exactly predict the rate of occupancy post-COVID. However, PBS is
anticipating, based both on utilization trends and on anecdotal
feedback, that there will be reduced office space demand in the next 5
to 10 years. Note: See Q3 for Average energy usage/Gross Square foot.

Question 9b. How much space will you need and for how long do you
want to control it?
Answer. It is too early to provide an answer to this question. GSA
is in the midst of customer engagements, as outlined in the answer to
Q8.

Questions from Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton to the U.S. General Services
Administration

Question 1. The General Services Administration (GSA) is
administering public building contracts that were awarded before the
COVID-19 pandemic but performed after its onset. Contractors and
subcontractors performing these contracts subsequently implemented
worker safety protocols issued by the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
which impacted costs and productivity in the performance of the
contracts.
Is GSA allowing equitable adjustments for COVID-19-related direct
and indirect costs, which could not have been anticipated at the time
the parties entered into the contracts? If not, please explain why not.
Answer. Whenever a contract is modified, whether unilaterally or
bilaterally, the contractor has an opportunity to seek an equitable
adjustment. During the onset of the pandemic, GSA unilaterally amended
leases and bilaterally modified contracts to require lessors and
contractors to perform daily disinfection cleaning of high-contact
surface areas. As this was a change to the lease and contract vehicles,
GSA allowed lessors and contractors to seek an equitable adjustment so
long as they were able to demonstrate an impact due to the requirements
resulting in a price increase.

Question 2. If GSA is allowing equitable adjustments for COVID-19
related direct and indirect costs, is it dosing so for all project
types, such as buildings in large urban areas and buildings outside of
large urban areas?
Answer. GSA considers each request for equitable adjustment based
on the terms and conditions of the contract, regardless of the project
type or geographic location. GSA allows equitable adjustments where a
contractor demonstrates how the requirement has increased costs and why
the costs are allocable to the contract, and then determined fair and
reasonable by a Contracting Officer.

Question 3. Please provide examples of GSA's evidence with Small
Business Administration 8(a) firms, Minority Business Enterprises and
Women Business Enterprises on the projects described in Question 2.
Answer. Equitable adjustments have been considered from all
contractors, regardless of business size/socio-economic status. As an
example, here is a listing of six equitable adjustments approved by PBS
for small business contractors:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Type of Work
Modification (Custodial, Equitable Socioeconomic
Contract Number Number Construction, Adjustment Vendor Name Categories
Etc.) Amount
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47PB0017D0008................ PS0012.......... Custodial....... $18,349 ACT SERVICES 8(a), WOSB.
CORP.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-P-04-15-EW-5089........... PS0027.......... Custodial....... $21,060 DAE SUNG, LLC... Minority Owned
Business.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GS-05P-15-SV-D-0072.......... PS0019.......... Custodial....... $20,381 AMERICLEAN Minority Owned
JANITORIAL Business,
SERVICES CORP. 8(a).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47PM0919C0009................ PS0009.......... Custodial....... $15,010 TILT UP Minority Owned
CONSTRUCTION, Business,
INC. WOSB.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47PK0220F0045................ Order for COVID Custodial....... $15,527 M&M MANAGEMENT Minority Owned
scope. SERVICES, INC. Business,
8(a).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
47PJ0019F0188................ PA0013.......... Custodial....... $4,745 Integrity Minority Owned
National Business.
Corporation.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most of GSA's janitorial services contracts are awarded to Non-
Profit Agencies in the Ability-One Program. GSA has modified all 458
janitorial contracts; these contracts are comprised of 208 small
business contractors and 241 Ability-One Non-Profit Agencies. Overall,
98% of all janitorial contractors have a socioeconomic designation.
GSA has approved 275 contract modifications for equitable
adjustments in response to the 458 COVID-19 cleaning modifications. Of
the contractors that received equitable adjustments, 113 were small
businesses and 155 were Ability One Non-Profit Agencies. Overall, 97%
of the contractors that received equitable adjustments have a
socioeconomic designation.

Question 4. Does GSA plan to include pandemic cost contingency
recovery clauses in future contracts, similar to the labor, material
and price escalation contingency clauses currently in the Federal
Acquisition Regulations?
Answer. GSA will implement additional clauses as published and
required in the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

Questions from Hon. Sharice Davids to Hon. Robin Carnahan,
Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration

Question 1. I appreciate that the Biden-Harris Administration is
currently engaged in a whole-of-government review and update of U.S.
national biopreparedness policies as directed by the President in
Executive Order 13987 and National Security Memorandum-1.
As the President's American Jobs Plan stated, the United States has
the opportunity and need to fundamentally transform our capabilities to
protect the nation. I am pleased that the President is directing
Executive Branch agencies to lead the way in this regard to protect the
hundreds of thousands of Americans employed by the Federal Government.
In Section 8.2 (Pathogen protection within the built environment)
of the American Pandemic Preparedness: Transforming Our Capabilities
report issued on September 21, 2021 (WH Pandemic Preparedness Plan: p.
14), Assistant to the President for Science and Technology Eric S.
Lander and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Jacob J. Sullivan state that efforts will be made to ``develop and
deploy new technologies to improve indoor air quality, surface
materials, and related aspects of transportation, buildings, and other
infrastructure to suppress pathogen transmission among people.''
Would you please provide to my office a detailed description of how
the General Services Administration will implement this plan to protect
those employed by the Federal Government by making Federal Government
buildings, transportation, and infrastructure safer regarding improved
indoor air quality? Thank you.
Answer. GSA has taken numerous steps to improve indoor air quality
in its federally owned facilities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
These steps have helped to mitigate risk for Federal employees,
contractors, and visitors accessing GSA-controlled facilities.
In the ``P100, Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings
Service,'' the latest revision in 2021 added heating, ventilation, and
air conditioning (HVAC) requirements to include a minimum of Minimum
Efficiency Reporting Value-13 (MERV-13) filtration, and Ultraviolet-C
(UV-C) for coil disinfection. The MERV-13 filtration in all air
handlers will provide a significant improvement with respect to disease
transmission.
Operationally, GSA has made the following changes to mitigate the
risk of COVID-19 transmission, all of which comply with CDC
recommendations:
Increased ventilation rates, where feasible.
Confirmed ventilation systems operate properly and
provide acceptable indoor air quality for each space's current
occupancy level.
Increased outdoor air ventilation while using caution in
highly polluted areas.
Opened outdoor air dampers and windows as feasible,
considering outdoor weather conditions.
Improved central air filtration to MERV-13 or the highest
compatible with the filter rack, and sealed edges of the filter to
limit air bypass.
Ran HVAC systems longer to increase air exchanges.

Additionally, GSA is working on the acquisition of Smart Sensor
Technologies for installation/deployment of sensors. The national Smart
Sensor technology contract would allow for deployment of occupancy
sensors, indoor air quality (IAQ) and indoor environmental quality
(IEQ) sensors for GSA-managed, federally owned facilities.

Questions from Hon. Daniel Webster to Hon. Robin Carnahan,
Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration

Question 1. Despite early confusion, since the Summer of 2020 we
have known that SARS-CoV-2 spreads via airborne transmission,
especially in indoor environments. Indeed, a major awaking occurred
within the scientific community when the long-accepted ``fact'', that
virus particles larger than 5-microns could not be aerosolized, was
upended thanks to research and persistence of a few diligent
physicists.
Given that building environmental systems can play a significant
role in reducing the risk of viral airborne transmission, has GSA made
any changes in building systems designs or operations to mitigate the
risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission?
a. If so, please describe some of the operational and/or design
modifications that have been made.
Answer. In the ``P100, Facilities Standards for the Public
Buildings Service,'' the latest revision in 2021 added HVAC
requirements for a minimum of Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value-13
(MERV-13) filtration, and Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) for coil disinfection.
The MERV-13 filtration in all air handlers will provide a significant
improvement with respect to disease transmission.
Operationally, GSA has made the following changes to mitigate the
risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, in compliance with CDC
recommendations.
Increased ventilation rates, where feasible.
Confirmed ventilation systems operate properly and
provide acceptable indoor air quality for each space's current
occupancy level.
Increased outdoor air ventilation and using caution in
highly polluted areas. With fewer people in the building, these
measures increased the effective dilution ventilation per person even
further.
Opened outdoor air dampers/windows as feasible,
considering outdoor weather conditions.
Improved central air filtration to MERV-13 or the highest
compatible with the filter rack, and sealed edges of the filter to
limit air bypass.
Kept systems running longer hours to increase air
exchanges.

b. If not, does GSA plan to incorporate these changes in future
designs to allow greater flexibility in increasing fresh air supply or
retrofitting systems with equipment that can neutralize or trap viral
threats?
Answer. GSA is incorporating changes to operations and future
designs, per Q1a.

c. Additionally, what steps has GSA taken to provide information
to, and ensure lessors are implementing best practices with regards to
modification of operations or retrofit of existing systems to improve
indoor air quality and reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission?
Answer. On July 8-9, 2021, the PBS Office of Leasing issued letters
to all lessors recommending that they follow ``current industry
practices by considering the application of the latest Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance with respect to building
ventilation and water systems'' as set forth in the Interim Guidance
for Businesses and Employers Responding to Coronavirus Disease 2019
(COVID-19), May 2020, under sections ``Consider improving the
engineering controls using the building ventilation system'' and
``Ensure the safety of your building water system and devices after a
prolonged shutdown.'' In addition, the PBS Office of Leasing and PBS
Office of Facilities Management (OFM) partner to enforce lease contract
terms. Lease Administration Managers (LAMs) from OFM act as contracting
officer representatives and perform annual and ad hoc lease inspections
and respond to customer concerns at leased locations. They work with
the Lease Contracting Officer to address any deficiencies and take any
necessary corrective action.

Question 2. This Committee led the work in passing the Federal
Assets Sale and Transfer Act (FASTA). The intent of this legislation
was to cut red tape that plagued the federal government for decades in
getting rid of unneeded properties. This law was intended to realize
untapped value in federal real estate through leveraging the value in
property to provide new space to address space needs. However, based on
how GSA decided to implement the FASTA board's first round of
recommendations, it seems GSA is treating FASTA as simply a streamlined
disposal process. Could you elaborate on the process that GSA engages
with the FASTA board and OMB? Further, will you commit to working with
us to ensure FASTA's intent is carried out?
Answer. In accordance with FASTA, the Public Buildings Reform Board
(PBRB) directed GSA to sell the final approved list of twelve (12)
properties identified as the High Value Assets (HVA) (after one
additional property was removed from the list). All the properties that
were ready for conveyance have either been sold or are currently being
actively marketed to be sold via competitive auction. As of January 20,
2022, GSA has sold six (6) properties for a total of $65.5M; five (5)
of which have closed with the 1 remaining property to close, and
proceeds will be collected, by the end of January.
GSA meets with the PBRB staff weekly to coordinate FASTA
implementation responsibilities. In addition, GSA has periodic meetings
with the PBRB members to review progress on the HVA sales as well as
potential future recommendations. GSA has also coordinated with OMB
throughout this process.
GSA is committed to working with the Committee to ensure the intent
of FASTA is carried out and exploring strategies to meet the objectives
of the legislation based on agency experience and lessons learned
through the implementation of FASTA thus far.

Question 3. In the past, the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
and the Committee have found that often federal courthouses are
overbuilt costing the taxpayer billions. Recently, the Judiciary
updated the courthouse design guide.
a. Please confirm if GSA consulted during this process, and if so
how (meeting, call, email) and whether GSA provided feedback?
Answer. GSA was provided a draft of the U.S. Courts Design Guide
(USCDG) in November 2019 and provided comments and feedback to the
Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts (AOUSC). GSA partnered with
the AOUSC throughout the review and comment period and conveyed several
impacts to the cost of new courthouses as a result of the proposed
revisions. The Judicial Conference approved the USCDG in March 2021,
and a copy was provided to GSA.

b. Additionally, with the new guide in place, what is GSA doing to
ensure new courthouse projects are not overbuilt and how does GSA track
this?
Answer. GSA is committed to delivering its capital construction
projects within the size and scope authorized by Congress. New
courthouse projects are based on the courthouse benchmark formula that
creates consistent budget formulation. The benchmark is based on past
completed projects, and GSA and occupant agency design guide
requirements. GSA has policies and procedures in place to review
projects for conformance with the approved prospectus. GSA is required
to report to Congressional authorizing committees when the design of a
new courthouse exceeds the authorized size by more than 10%. In
addition, GSA must notify Congress if project costs exceed 10% of
congressionally authorized appropriations.

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