Beautifying Federal Civic Architecture Act
This bill declares U.S. policy applicable to public buildings and establishes the President's Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture.
The policy includes that
The GSA must adhere to the policy. If the GSA proposes to approve a design for a new applicable federal public building that diverges from the preferred architecture, it must notify the Office of the Domestic Policy Advisor and Congress not later than 30 days before the date on which the GSA could reject the design without incurring substantial expenditures and describe the reasons for proposing to approve the design.
[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3627 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3627
To establish the President's Council on Improving Federal Civic
Architecture, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 24, 2023
Mr. Banks introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish the President's Council on Improving Federal Civic
Architecture, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Beautifying Federal Civic
Architecture Act''.
SEC. 2. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.
It is the policy of the United States that--
(1) applicable Federal public buildings should--
(A) uplift and beautify public spaces;
(B) inspire the human spirit;
(C) ennoble the United States;
(D) command respect from the general public;
(E) be visually identifiable as civic buildings;
and
(F) as appropriate, respect regional architectural
heritage;
(2) architecture, with particular regard for traditional
and classical architecture, that meets the criteria described
in paragraph (1) is the preferred architecture for applicable
Federal public buildings;
(3) in the District of Columbia, classical architecture is
the preferred and default architecture for Federal public
buildings absent exceptional factors necessitating another
style of architecture;
(4) where the architecture of applicable Federal public
buildings diverges from the preferred architecture, great care
and consideration shall be taken to choose a design that--
(A) commands respect from the general public; and
(B) clearly conveys to the general public the
dignity, enterprise, vigor, and stability of the system
of self-government of the United States;
(5) when renovating, reducing, or expanding applicable
Federal public buildings that do not meet the criteria
described in paragraph (1), the feasibility and potential
expense of building redesign to meet those criteria should be
examined;
(6) where feasible and economical, a redesign described in
paragraph (5) should be given substantial consideration,
especially with respect to the exterior of the applicable
Federal building; and
(7) the Administration should seek input from future users
of applicable Federal public buildings and the general public
in the community where those buildings will be located before
selecting an architectural firm or design style and give the
general public's input substantial consideration.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) 2023 dollars.--The term ``2023 dollars'' means dollars
adjusted for inflation using, with 2023 as the base year, the
Gross Domestic Product price deflator of the Bureau of Economic
Analysis.
(2) Administration.--The term ``Administration'' means the
General Services Administration.
(3) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of General Services.
(4) Applicable federal public building.--
(A) In general.--The term ``applicable Federal
public building'' means--
(i) any Federal courthouse;
(ii) any Federal agency headquarters;
(iii) any public building in the District
of Columbia; and
(iv) any other public building the cost or
expected cost to design, build, and finish of
which is more than $50,000,000 in 2023 dollars.
(B) Exclusions.--The term ``applicable Federal
public building'' does not include an infrastructure
project or land port of entry.
(5) Brutalist.--The term ``Brutalist'' means the style of
architecture that grew out of the early 20th-century modernist
movement that is characterized by a massive and block-like
appearance with a rigid geometric style and large-scale use of
exposed poured concrete.
(6) Classical architecture.--
(A) In general.--The term ``classical
architecture'' means the architectural tradition--
(i) derived from the forms, principles, and
vocabulary of the architecture of Greek and
Roman antiquity; and
(ii) later developed and expanded on by--
(I) Renaissance architects,
including Alberti, Brunelleschi,
Michelangelo, and Palladio;
(II) Enlightenment masters,
including Robert Adam, John Soane, and
Christopher Wren;
(III) 19th Century architects,
including Benjamin Henry Latrobe,
Robert Mills, Louise Blanchard Bethune,
and Thomas U. Walter; and
(IV) 20th Century practitioners,
including Julian Abele, Daniel Burnham,
Charles F. McKim, Robert Robinson
Taylor, John Russell Pope, Julia
Morgan, and the firm of Delano and
Aldrich.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``Classical
architecture'' includes styles such as Neoclassical,
Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Beaux-Arts, and Art
Deco.
(7) Council.--The term ``Council'' means the President's
Council on Improving Federal Civic Architecture established by
section 4(a).
(8) Deconstructivist.--The term ``Deconstructivist'' means
the style of architecture--
(A) generally known as ``deconstructivism''; and
(B) that emerged during the late 1980s that
subverts the traditional values of architecture through
features such as fragmentation, disorder,
discontinuity, distortion, skewed geometry, and the
appearance of instability.
(9) General public.--The term ``general public'' means
members of the public who are not--
(A) artists, architects, engineers, art or
architecture critics, instructors or professors of art
or architecture, or members of the building industry;
or
(B) affiliated with any interest group, trade
association, or any other organization whose membership
is financially affected by decisions involving the
design, construction, or remodeling of applicable
Federal public buildings.
(10) Officer.--The term ``officer'' has the meaning given
such term in section 2104 of title 5, United States Code.
(11) Preferred architecture.--The term ``preferred
architecture'' means the architecture described in section
2(2).
(12) Public building.--The term ``public building'' has the
meaning given such term in section 3301(a) of title 40, United
States Code.
(13) Traditional architecture.--The term ``traditional
architecture'' includes--
(A) classical architecture; and
(B) the historic humanistic architecture, including
Gothic, Romanesque, Pueblo Revival, Spanish Colonial,
and other Mediterranean styles of architecture
historically rooted in various regions of America.
SEC. 4. PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ON IMPROVING FEDERAL CIVIC ARCHITECTURE.
(a) Establishment.--There is established the President's Council on
Improving Federal Civic Architecture.
(b) Membership.--
(1) In general.--The Council shall be composed of--
(A) the chair of the Commission of Fine Arts;
(B) all prior living chairs of the Commission of
Fine Arts who elect to serve;
(C) the Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts;
(D) the Architect of the Capitol;
(E) the Commissioner of the Public Building Service
of the Administration; and
(F) the Chief Architect of the Administration.
(2) Chair.--
(A) In general.--The Council shall be chaired by an
individual described in paragraph (1)(A), who shall be
designated by the President.
(B) Vice chair; subcommittees.--The Chair of the
Council may--
(i) designate a Vice Chair; and
(ii) establish subcommittees.
(3) Compensation.--
(A) No compensation.--Except as provided in
subparagraph (B), a member of the Council shall receive
no compensation as a result of serving on the Council.
(B) Travel expenses.--A member of the Council shall
be allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu
of subsistence, at rates authorized for employees of
agencies under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5,
United States Code, while away from their homes or
regular places of business in the performance of
services for the Council.
(c) Duties of the Council.--The Council shall--
(1) not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of
this Act, submit to the Administrator a report recommending
updates to policies and procedures of the Administration that--
(A) incorporates the policy of the United States
described in section 2, including how the recommended
updates to policies and procedures will accomplish such
policy; and
(B) advances the purposes of this Act, including
how those recommendations accomplish those purposes;
and
(2) recommend to the Administrator changes to
Administration policies for situations in which the
Administration participates in a design selection pursuant to
chapter 89 of title 40, United States Code (commonly known as
the ``Commemorative Works Act''), in furtherance of the
purposes of this Act and consistent with applicable law.
(d) Administrative Support; Staff.--
(1) Administrative support.--On request of the Council, the
Administrator shall provide funding and administrative and
technical support to the Council.
(2) Staff.--The Administrator--
(A) shall direct employees of the Administration to
provide any relevant information the Council requests;
and
(B) may detail those employees to aid in the work
of the Council, on request of the Council.
(e) Faca Functions.--Any functions of the President under chapter
10 of title 5, United States Code, except for the reporting to Congress
under section 1005(b) of that title, shall be performed by the
Administrator in accordance with guidelines and procedures established
by the Administrator.
(f) Termination.--The Council shall terminate on the date that is 5
years after the date on which the Council first meets.
SEC. 5. GSA REQUIREMENTS.
(a) In General.--The Administrator shall adhere to the policy of
the United States described in section 2.
(b) Notification.--
(1) In general.--If the Administrator proposes to approve a
design for a new applicable Federal public building that
diverges from the preferred architecture, including Brutalist
or Deconstructivist architecture or any design derived from or
related to those styles of architecture, the Administrator
shall submit to the Assistant to the President for Domestic
Policy, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs of the Senate, and the Committee on Oversight and
Accountability of the House of Representatives not later than
30 days before the date on which the Administrator could reject
the design without incurring substantial expenditures a
notification in accordance with paragraph (2).
(2) Requirements.--A notification submitted under paragraph
(1) shall describe the reasons the Administrator proposes to
approve a design described in that paragraph, including--
(A) a detailed explanation of why the Administrator
believes selecting the design is justified, with
particular focus on whether the design is as beautiful
and reflective of the dignity, enterprise, vigor, and
stability of the system of self-government in the
United States as alternative designs of comparable cost
using preferred architecture;
(B) the total expected cost of adopting the
proposed design, including estimated maintenance and
replacement costs throughout the expected lifecycle of
the design; and
(C)(i) a description of the designs using preferred
architecture seriously considered for the project; and
(ii) the total expected cost of adopting those
designs, including estimated maintenance and
replacement costs throughout the expected lifecycles of
those designs.
SEC. 6. SAVINGS PROVISION.
Nothing in this Act--
(1) impairs or otherwise affects--
(A) the authority granted by law to an executive
department or agency, or the head thereof; or
(B) the functions of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget relating to budgetary,
administrative, or legislative proposals; or
(2) creates any right or benefit, substantive or
procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party
against--
(A) the United States, including--
(i) any department, agency, or entity of
the United States; or
(ii) any officer, employee, or agent of the
United States; or
(B) any other person.
SEC. 7. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
On an annual basis, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee
on Oversight and Accountability of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs a report about
the promulgation of this Act, detailing adherence to the policy of the
United States described in section 2.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management.
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