[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 6 (Monday, February 9, 2004)]
[Pages 192-195]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
<R04>
Executive Order 13327--Federal Real Property Asset Management
February 4, 2004
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by the Federal Government; public domain land (including lands withdrawn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
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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:
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(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
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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.
[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 9:19 a.m., February 5,
2004]
Note: This Executive order was published in the Federal Register on
February 6.