For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
February 4, 2004
Executive Order Federal Real Property Asset Management
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and
the laws of the United States of America, including section 121(a) of
title 40, United States Code, and in order to promote the efficient and
economical use of Federal real property resources in accordance with
their value as national assets and in the best interests of the Nation,
it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to
promote the efficient and economical use of America's real property
assets and to assure management accountability for implementing Federal
real property management reforms. Based on this policy, executive
branch departments and agencies shall recognize the importance of real
property resources through increased management attention, the
establishment of clear goals and objectives, improved policies and
levels of accountability, and other appropriate action.
Sec. 2. Definition and Scope. (a) For the purpose of this
executive order, Federal real property is defined as any real property
owned, leased, or otherwise managed by the Federal Government, both
within and outside the United States, and improvements on Federal
lands. For the purpose of this order, Federal real property shall
exclude: interests in real property assets that have been disposed of
for public benefit purposes pursuant to section 484 of title 40, United
States Code, and are now held in private ownership; land easements or
rights-of-way held by the Federal Government; public domain land
(including lands withdrawn for military purposes) or land reserved or
dedicated for national forest, national park, or national wildlife
refuge purposes except for improvements on those lands; land held in
trust or restricted fee status for individual Indians or Indian tribes;
and land and interests in land that are withheld from the scope of this
order by agency heads for reasons of national security, foreign policy,
or public safety.
(b) This order shall not be interpreted to supersede any existing
authority under law or by executive order for real property asset
management, with the exception of the revocation of Executive Order
12512 of April 29, 1985, in section 8 of this order.
Sec. 3. Establishment and Responsibilities of Agency Senior Real
Property Officer. (a) The heads of all executive branch departments
and agencies cited in sections 901(b)(1) and (b)(2) of title 31, United
States Code, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, shall designate
among their senior management officials, a Senior Real Property
Officer. Such officer shall have the education, training, and
experience required to administer the necessary functions of the
position for the particular agency.
(b) The Senior Real Property Officer shall develop and implement
an agency asset management planning process that meets the form,
content, and other requirements established by the Federal Real
Property Council established in section 4 of this order. The initial
agency asset management plan will be submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget on a date determined by the Director of the
Office of Management and Budget. In developing this plan, the Senior
Real Property Officer shall:
(i) identify and categorize all real property owned, leased, or
otherwise managed by the agency, including, where applicable, those
properties outside the United States in which the lease agreements
and arrangements reflect the host country currency or involve
alternative lease plans or rental agreements;
(ii) prioritize actions to be taken to improve the operational and
financial management of the agency's real property inventory;
(iii) make life-cycle cost estimations associated with the
prioritized actions;
(iv) identify legislative authorities that are required to address
these priorities;
(v) identify and pursue goals, with appropriate deadlines,
consistent with and supportive of the agency's asset management
plan
and measure progress against such goals;
(vi) incorporate planning and management requirements for historic
property under Executive Order 13287 of March 3, 2003, and for
environmental management under Executive Order 13148 of April 21,
2000; and
(vii) identify any other information and pursue any other actions
necessary to the appropriate development and implementation of the
agency asset management plan.
(c) The Senior Real Property Officer shall be responsible, on an
ongoing basis, for monitoring the real property assets of the agency so
that agency assets are managed in a manner that is:
(i) consistent with, and supportive of, the goals and objectives
set
forth in the agency's overall strategic plan under section 306 of
title 5, United States Code;
(ii) consistent with the real property asset management principles
developed by the Federal Real Property Council established in
section
4 of this order; and
(iii) reflected in the agency asset management plan.
(d) The Senior Real Property Officer shall, on an annual basis,
provide to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the
Administrator of General Services:
(i) information that lists and describes real property assets
under
the jurisdiction, custody, or control of that agency, except for
classified information; and
(ii) any other relevant information the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget or the Administrator of General Services may
request for inclusion in the Government-wide listing of all Federal
real property assets and leased property.
(e) The designation of the Senior Real Property Officer shall be
made by agencies within 30 days after the date of this order.
Sec. 4. Establishment of a Federal Real Property Council. (a) A
Federal Real Property Council (Council) is established, within the
Office of Management and Budget for administrative purposes, to develop
guidance for, and facilitate the success of, each agency's asset
management plan. The Council shall be composed exclusively of all
agency Senior Real Property Officers, the Controller of the Office of
Management and Budget, the Administrator of General Services, and any
other full-time or permanent part-time Federal officials or employees
as deemed necessary by the Chairman of the Council. The Deputy
Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget shall
also be a member and shall chair the Council. The Office of Management
and Budget shall provide funding and administrative support for the
Council, as appropriate.
(b) The Council shall provide a venue for assisting the Senior
Real Property Officers in the development and implementation of the
agency asset management plans. The Council shall work with the
Administrator of General Services to establish appropriate performance
measures to determine the effectiveness of Federal real property
management. Such performance measures shall include, but are not
limited to, evaluating the costs and benefits involved with acquiring,
repairing, maintaining, operating, managing, and disposing of Federal
real properties at particular agencies. Specifically, the Council
shall consider, as appropriate, the following performance measures:
(i) life-cycle cost estimations associated with the agency's
prioritized actions;
(ii) the costs relating to the acquisition of real property assets
by purchase, condemnation, exchange, lease, or otherwise;
(iii) the cost and time required to dispose of Federal real
property
assets and the financial recovery of the Federal investment
resulting
from the disposal;
(iv) the operating, maintenance, and security costs at Federal
properties, including but not limited to the costs of utility
services at unoccupied properties;
(v) the environmental costs associated with ownership of property,
including the costs of environmental restoration and compliance
activities;
(vi) changes in the amounts of vacant Federal space;
(vii) the realization of equity value in Federal real property
assets;
(viii) opportunities for cooperative arrangements with the
commercial real estate community; and
(ix) the enhancement of Federal agency productivity through an
improved working environment.
The performance measures shall be designed to enable the heads of
executive branch agencies to track progress in the achievement of
Government-wide property management objectives, as well as allow for
comparing the performance of executive branch agencies against industry
and other public sector agencies.
(c) The Council shall serve as a clearinghouse for executive
agencies for best practices in evaluating actual progress in the
implementation of real property enhancements. The Council shall also
work in conjunction with the President's Management Council to assist
the efforts of the Senior Real Property Officials and the
implementation of agency asset management plans.
(d) The Council shall be organized and hold its first meeting
within 60 days of the date of this order. The Council shall hold
meetings not less often than once a quarter each fiscal year.
Sec. 5. Role of the General Services Administration. (a) The
Administrator of General Services shall, to the extent permitted by law
and in consultation with the Federal Real Property Council, provide
policy oversight and guidance for executive agencies for Federal real
property management; manage selected properties for an agency at the
request of that agency and with the consent of the Administrator;
delegate operational responsibilities to an agency where the
Administrator determines it will promote efficiency and economy, and
where the receiving agency has demonstrated the ability and willingness
to assume such responsibilities; and provide necessary leadership in
the development and maintenance of needed property management
information systems.
(b) The Administrator of General Services shall publish common
performance measures and standards adopted by the Council.
(c) The Administrator of General Services, in consultation with
the Federal Real Property Council, shall establish and maintain a
single, comprehensive, and descriptive database of all real property
under the custody and control of all executive branch agencies, except
when otherwise required for reasons of national security. The
Administrator shall collect from each executive branch agency such
descriptive information, except for classified information, as the
Administrator considers will best describe the nature, use, and extent
of the real property holdings of the Federal Government.
(d) The Administrator of General Services, in consultation with
the Federal Real Property Council, may establish data and other
information technology (IT) standards for use by Federal agencies in
developing or upgrading Federal agency real property information
systems in order to facilitate reporting on a uniform basis. Those
agencies with particular IT standards and systems in place and in use
shall be allowed to continue with such use to the extent that they are
compatible with the standards issued by the Administrator.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) The Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall review, through the management and budget
review processes, the efforts of departments and agencies in
implementing their asset management plans and achieving the
Government-wide property management policies established pursuant to
this order.
(b) The Office of Management and Budget and the General Services
Administration shall, in consultation with the landholding agencies,
develop legislative initiatives that seek to improve Federal real
property management through the adoption of appropriate industry
management techniques and the establishment of managerial
accountability for implementing effective and efficient real property
management practices.
(c) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or
otherwise affect the authority of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget with respect to budget, administrative, or
legislative proposals.
(d) Nothing in this order shall be construed to affect real
property for the use of the President, Vice President, or, for
protective purposes, the United States Secret Service.
Sec. 7. Public Lands. In order to ensure that Federally owned
lands, other than the real property covered by this order, are managed
in the most effective and economic manner, the Departments of
Agriculture and the Interior shall take such steps as are appropriate
to improve their management of public lands and National Forest System
lands and shall develop appropriate legislative proposals necessary to
facilitate that result.
Sec. 8. Executive Order 12512 of April 29, 1985, is hereby
revoked.
Sec. 9. Judicial Review. This order is intended only to improve
the internal management of the executive branch and is not intended to,
and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity, against the United States, its
departments, agencies, or other entities, its officers or employees, or
any other person.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
February 4, 2004.
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