Federal Bird Safe Buildings Act of 2025
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Federal Bird Safe Buildings Act of 2025 amends title 40 to require the General Services Administration to incorporate, to the extent practicable, features, practices, and strategies to reduce bird fatalities from collisions with public buildings. The requirement applies to each public building constructed, acquired, or substantially altered when more than 50 percent of the facade is altered in the opinion of the Commissioner of Public Buildings.
GSA must develop a design guide covering construction-phase features, operation and maintenance strategies, lighting methods, and best practices. The Administrator may draw on best practices from federal bird-conservation agencies, nongovernmental bird-conservation organizations, and green building certification representatives. GSA must disseminate the design guide to federal agencies, subagencies, and departments with independent leasing authority, update it regularly, gather compliance information, certify guide use to Congress annually, and submit annual reports with collision assessments and recommendations. Historic properties, the White House, the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and their grounds are exempt.
Who Benefits and How
Bird conservation agencies and organizations benefit because GSA may use their expertise in federal design guidance. Federal agencies occupying public buildings benefit from clearer design and maintenance standards for reducing bird collisions. Green building certification representatives benefit from a role in identifying best practices. The public benefits from federal buildings that incorporate conservation-oriented design and lighting practices.
Who Bears the Burden and How
GSA, the Commissioner of Public Buildings, and federal building project teams must incorporate bird-safe features where practicable, develop and update the design guide, gather compliance information, and report annually. Federal agencies and departments with independent leasing authority must receive and use the guide in relevant building decisions. Building designers, contractors, and facility managers may need to adjust facade, lighting, operation, and maintenance practices.
Key Provisions
- Requires GSA to incorporate bird-safe features, practices, and strategies in covered public building construction, acquisition, and major facade alterations.
- Requires a design guide covering construction features, operation and maintenance strategies, lighting methods, and best practices.
- Authorizes GSA to identify best practices recommended by federal conservation agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and green building certification representatives.
- Exempts historic properties, the White House, the Supreme Court, the Capitol, and their grounds.
- Requires annual compliance certification and congressional reports with collision assessments and recommendations.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Requires GSA to incorporate bird-safe features, practices, and strategies into covered federal public building construction, acquisition, and major facade alterations; develop and update a design guide; disseminate it to agencies; and report annually to Congress.
Key Policy Areas
Federal Buildings, Conservation, Procurement, Reporting
Primary Purpose
Requires GSA to incorporate bird-safe features, practices, and strategies into covered federal public building construction, acquisition, and major facade alterations; develop and update a design guide; disseminate it to agencies; and report annually to Congress.
Policy Domains
Bird-safe design and reporting for federal public buildings
Identified Gains
- Federal bird conservation agencies
- Nongovernmental bird conservation organizations
- Green building certification representatives
- Federal building occupants
Identified Costs
- General Services Administration building staff
- Commissioner of Public Buildings
- Federal agencies with leasing authority
- Federal building designers
- Federal facility managers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMr. Griffith (for himself and Mr. Quigley) introduced the following …
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and …
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Introduced in House
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Commissioner of Public Buildings, Federal agencies with leasing authority, Federal bird conservation agencies
Positive-direction: Federal bird conservation agencies, Federal building occupants
Negative-direction: Commissioner of Public Buildings, Federal agencies with leasing authority, General Services Administration building staff
Federal building designers, Green building certification representatives
Positive-direction: Green building certification representatives
Negative-direction: Federal building designers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "agency"
- → Federal agency with public building or leasing authority
- "commissioner"
- → Commissioner of Public Buildings
- "administrator"
- → Administrator of General Services
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Construction, acquisition, or substantial alteration of more than 50 percent of the facade of a public building, subject to listed exemptions.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology