PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.

Federal Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 249.

Official summary

Version 80 · Reported to Senate without amendment · Nov 19, 2013

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Federal Real Property Asset Management Reform Act of 2013 - Defines for purposes of this Act:

"excess property" as any real property under the control of a federal agency that the agency head determines is not required to meet the needs or responsibilities of the agency;

Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.

Read full official summaryShow less

"surplus property" as excess real property that is not required to meet the needs or responsibilities of any agency, other than: (1) any military installation; (2) property exempt under public building and property law, including the public domain, land reserved or dedicated for national forest or park purposes, minerals in land, naval vessels, and records of the government; (3) Indian and native Eskimo property held in trust by the federal government; (4) real property operated and maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA); (5) any real property the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) excludes for reasons of national security; (6) public lands administered by the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior; and (7) any property operated and maintained by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS); and

"underutilized property" as a portion or the entirety of any real property, including improvements, that is used irregularly or intermittently by the accountable agency for program purposes or that is used for program purposes that can be satisfied only with a portion of the property.

Requires each federal agency to:

maintain adequate inventory controls and accountability systems for real property under agency control;

develop current and future workforce projections to assess the needs of the federal workforce regarding the use of real property;

continuously survey real property to identify excess property, underutilized property, and other real property suitable for colocation or consolidation with other federal agencies and facilities;

promptly report excess property and underutilized property to the Administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA);

establish goals to reduce excess property and underutilized property;

submit to the Federal Real Property Council (Council), established by this Act, a report on all excess property and underutilized property in the agency inventory;

adopt workplace practices, configurations, and management techniques to increase productivity and decrease the need for federal real property assets;

identify leased space that is not fully used or occupied;

conduct an annual inventory of real property under agency control and make an assessment of such property using specified criteria; and

provide to the Council and the GSA Administrator information used to establish and maintain the database of federal real property assets established by this Act.

Authorizes the Postmaster General to identify annually a list of postal property with space available for use by federal agencies and submit such list to the Council. Requires the Council to provide such list to each federal agency.

Establishes a Federal Real Property Council to: (1) develop guidance and ensure implementation of an efficient and effective real property management strategy, (2) identify opportunities to better manage real property assets, and (3) reduce the costs of managing real property. Requires the Council to: (1) establish a real property management plan template, updated annually, to reduce surplus property; (2) develop standard use rates and a strategy to reduce reliance of agencies on leased space; (3) provide guidance on eliminating inefficiencies in the leasing process; (4) compile a list of field offices that are suitable for colocation with other federal real property; and (5) report to the OMB Director on a list of remaining excess, surplus, and underutilized property in each agency and on the progress of the Council and agencies in meeting the objectives of this Act.

Requires the GSA Administrator to establish and maintain a single, comprehensive, and descriptive database of real property under the custody and control of all federal agencies.

Requires agencies with independent leasing authority to submit to the Council a list of all agency leases, including operating leases, with specified information including the expiration dates of such leases and the annual rental rates.

Requires the OMB Director to establish a pilot program to dispose of, by sale, transfer, or other means of disposal, any surplus property. Authorizes the Director to authorize the disposal of not more than 200 surplus properties.

Authorizes the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make grants to private nonprofit organizations to purchase real property to assist the homeless.

Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to submit a draft and a final report on the expedited disposal pilot program established by this Act.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
PlainBill analysis is coming later. This page presents official source data. We have not yet published a PlainBill explanation for this bill.

Who introduced it

Sen. Carper, Thomas R. [D-DE] · D–DE

Committees

  • Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
6 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 249.

  2. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Carper without amendment. With written report No. 113-122.

  3. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Reported by Senator Carper without amendment. With written report No. 113-122.

  4. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.

  5. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

  6. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

Source last updated: Dec 5, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze S.1398 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine S.1398 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine S.1398 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine S.1398 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

View full prompt & sources