Public Buildings Cost Reduction Act of 2007

A bill to achieve emission reductions and cost savings through accelerated use of cost-effective lighting technologies in public buildings, and for other purposes.

5/3/2007--Reported to Senate amended. Public Buildings Cost Reduction Act of 2007 -
(Sec. 2) Requires the Administrator of General Services to establish a program to accelerate the use of more cost-effective technologies and practices at General Services Administration (GSA) facilities. Requires such program to:
(1) ensure centralized responsibility for the coordination of cost reduction recommendations, practices, and activities of all relevant federal agencies;
(2) provide technical assistance and operational guidance to tenants in order to achieve a 20% reduction in operational costs through the application of cost-effective technologies and practices from 2003 levels at GSA facilities by not later than five years after this Act's enactment; and
(3) establish methods to track the success of departments and agencies with respect to the reduction goal. Requires the Administrator, as part of such program, to:
(1) review the current use of cost-effective lighting technologies in GSA facilities and the availability to managers of GSA facilities of cost-effective lighting technologies; and
(2) establish a cost-effective lighting technology acceleration program to achieve maximum feasible replacement of existing lighting technologies with more cost-effective lighting technologies in each GSA facility using available appropriations.
Requires the Administrator to annually ensure that a manager responsible for accelerating the use of cost-effective technologies and practices is designated for each GSA facility. Requires the Administrator to annually submit to Congress a plan that:
(1) identifies the specific activities needed to achieve a 20% reduction in operational costs;
(2) describes activities required and carried out to estimate the funds necessary to achieve such reduction;
(3) describes the status of the implementation of cost-effective technologies and practices at GSA facilities;
(4) identifies within the planning, budgeting, and construction process all types of GSA facility-related procedures that inhibit new and existing GSA facilities from implementing cost-effective technology and practices;
(5) recommends language for uniform standards for use by federal agencies in implementing cost-effective technologies and practices;
(6) reviews the budget process for capital programs with respect to alternatives for permitting federal agencies to retain all identified savings accrued as a result of the use of cost-effective technologies and practices and identifying cost savings that accrue from cost-effective technologies and practices;
(7) achieves cost savings through the application of such technologies and practices sufficient to pay the incremental additional costs of installing them by not later than the five years after the date of installation; and
(8) includes recommendations to address each of the matters and a plan for implementation of each recommendation.

(Sec. 3) Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a demonstration program under which the Administrator shall provide competitive grants program to assist local governments with respect to local government buildings to:
(1) deploy cost-effective technologies and practices; and
(2) achieve operational cost savings, through the application of such technologies and practices.
Provides that the federal share of the cost of an activity carried out using a grant shall be 40%. Requires the Administrator to waive up to 100% of the local share of the cost of any grant under this Act if the community is economically distressed, pursuant to objective economic criteria established by the Administrator.
Requires the Administrator to issue guidelines to implement the grant program.
Authorizes appropriations to carry out this Act.
Requires the Administrator to report to Congress on the cost savings achieved, action taken, recommendations made under this Act, and any recommendations for further action.
Terminates the program on September 30, 2012.


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Sponsor

• Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA]
• and 11 Co-Sponsors
  • Sen. Lamar Alexander [R, TN]
  • Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D, MD]
  • Sen. Thomas Carper [D, DE]
  • Sen. Hillary Clinton [D, NY]
  • Sen. Larry Craig [R, ID]
  • Sen. Christopher Dodd [D, CT]
  • Sen. James Inhofe [R, OK]
  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D, MN]
  • Sen. Frank Lautenberg [D, NJ]
  • Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I, CT]
  • Sen. Craig Thomas [R, WY]
  close

Committees

• Senate Environment and Public Works

Amendments

This bill has no amendments.

Amendments to S.992

Number	Status	Purpose

Bill Status

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Introduced		Voted on by Senate		Voted on by House		Considered By President		Bill Becomes Law
March 27, 2007

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All Bill Actions

• Added to calendar on May 03, 2007: Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 131..
• May 03, 2007: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Reported by Senator Boxer with amendments. With written report No. 110-60.
• Mar 29, 2007: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Ordered to be reported with amendments favorably.
• Mar 29, 2007: Committee on Environment and Public Works. Date of scheduled consideration. S-211. 10:00 a.m.
• Mar 27, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
• Mar 27, 2007: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3840)
• Introduced on Mar 27, 2007.
• Mar 27, 2007: Introductory remarks on measure. (CR S3840)

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Related Bills:

• H.R.6
• S.1637

Related Issue Areas:

• Energy conservation
• Environmental protection
• Budgets
• Building construction
• 19 more
• Congress
• Congressional oversight
• Congressional reporting requirements
• Cost control
• Cost effectiveness
• Energy
• Energy conservation in buildings
• Energy efficiency
• Executive departments
• Federal installations
• Federal office buildings
• Finance
• Grants-in-aid
• Infrastructure
• Lighting
• Local government
• Public buildings
• Standards
• State and local government

Data from the Congressional Research Service

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Blog Coverage

April 26, 2007 Report: Budget Report for S. 992: A bill to achieve emission ...

Here is a summary: CBO estimates that implementing S. 992 would cost $10 million in 2008 and $85 million over the 2008-2012 period, assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts. Enacting S. 992 could affect direct spending by ...

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April 13, 2007 CLIMATE: Senate majority leader plans push for warming bill

S. 992 would accelerate the installation of energy-efficient lighting technologies in buildings managed by the General Services Administration and provide matching grants to cities and counties that take steps to slash energy use ...

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March 29, 2007 S. 992, The Public Buildings Cost Reduction Act of 2007 - Cost per ...

S. 992 would achieve emission reductions and cost savings through accelerated use of cost-effective lighting technologies in public buildings....

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