Ҥ 3318. Public buildings public-private partnership pilot program

“(a) Establishment.—The Administrator shall carry out a pilot program to enter into public-private partnerships to acquire public buildings pursuant to the requirements of this section.

“(b) Identification of projects.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall identify not less than 5 and not more than 10 projects for acquiring space for the purposes of public buildings using public-private partnerships.

“(c) Submission of plan and prospectuses.—Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this section, the Administrator shall submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate—

“(1) prospectuses, in accordance with section 3307 of title 40, United States Code, for each project identified under subsection (b); and

“(2) an execution and management plan detailing how each project will be managed, project team, timelines for each project, and, notwithstanding subsection (d), recommendations on commencement dates based on ensuring proper staffing, resources, and management.

“(d) Commencement.—Subject to the availability of appropriations, a project submitted under subsection (c) that is authorized pursuant to section 3307 shall commence not later than 1 year after the date on which such authorization occurs, unless otherwise indicated in the respective committee resolution authorizing the project.

“(e) Experts and consultants.—

“(1) GSA PERSONNEL.—In carrying out the pilot program the Administrator shall identify and use General Services Administration personnel with knowledge and experience in complex real estate transactions.

“(2) CONTRACTED SERVICES.—The Administrator shall, to the extent practicable and subject to appropriations Acts, use contracts, including nonappropriated contracts, for services necessary to carry out this section.

“(f) Compliance with budgetary rules.—For budgetary scorekeeping purposes, a project carried out under this section shall be treated in a manner consistent with the requirements for scoring a leaseback from a public-private partnership under Appendix B of Circular A–11 of the Office of Management and Budget, as of the date of enactment of this section.

“(g) GAO study.—Not later than 1 year after the occupancy of projects authorized under this section, the Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a review of such projects and submit to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the Senate a report that includes—

“(1) a review and evaluation of the public-private partnerships executed under this section and a comparison of such agreements to similar projects completed as Government construction, including a comparison of timetables and costs; and

“(2) any recommendations on the use of public-private partnerships as options for meeting Federal Government space needs.

“(h) Definitions.—In this section, the following definitions apply:

“(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘Administrator’ means the Administrator of General Services.

“(2) PUBLIC BUILDING.—The term ‘public building’ has the meaning given the term in section 3301.

“(3) PERFORMANCE-BASED MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS AGREEMENT.—The term ‘performance-based management and operations agreement’ means an agreement that—

“(A) reflects an obligation by the non-Federal entity to design, build, finance, deliver, operate and maintain an asset;

“(B) requires the non-Federal entity to provide the General Services Administration a single point of responsibility and obligation;

“(C) stipulates all requirements of the General Services Administration and contains the terms and conditions for annual performance-based availability payments in accordance with the non-Federal entity meeting or exceeding those requirements;

“(D) stipulates the terms and conditions for reductions of any or all availability payments to the non-Federal entity for any given period the asset is unavailable to the Government or otherwise not delivered, operated, or maintained in accordance with the requirements included in the agreement; and

“(E) stipulates the terms and conditions for termination and includes no obligation on the part of the Government to renew any successive leases that may be included in such project.

“(4) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.—The term ‘public-private partnership’ means a real property agreement for the purposes of providing office space for the Federal Government that meets the following criteria:

“(A) The agreement includes a ground-lease to a non-Federal party with a subsequent leaseback of the improvements.

“(B) The entity that is the lessor of the leaseback of improvements is entirely non-Federal.

“(C) The leaseback meets the criteria for an operating lease under Appendix B of Circular A–11 of the Office of Management and Budget, as of the date of enactment of this section.

“(D) The project shall, to the extent practicable, be operated and maintained by the non-Federal entity subject to a performance-based management and operations agreement entered into between the entity and the Administrator.”.