Federal Building Threat Notification Act
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Would require the General Services Administration and the Federal Protective Service to create emergency communication guidance for notifying occupants of federal buildings during threats such as active shooters or natural disasters.
The guidance would set standard procedures for warning tenants and instructing them on safety practices, with building security officials responsible for putting it into practice and a report due to Congress on how it worked.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would direct the Administrator of General Services and the Director of the Federal Protective Service to develop and distribute, within one year of enactment, emergency communication guidance for facility security committees to use when "life safety events" — situations requiring first responders like law enforcement, fire, rescue, or natural disaster experts — threaten federal buildings owned and operated by the General Services Administration and protected by the Federal Protective Service.
The guidance must include best practices for notifying building tenants of threats and for instructing them on safety practices during heightened risk. Each building's facility security committee official would be responsible for implementing the guidance locally, and the General Services Administration would have to submit a report to Congress within 18 months on the best practices and protocols carried out under the Act.
Key provisions
- 1Would require GSA and the Federal Protective Service to develop and disseminate emergency communication guidance within one year of enactment for use during life safety events threatening federal buildings.
- 2Would require the guidance to include best practices for informing building tenants of threats and instructing them on safety practices during heightened risk.
- 3Would make the designated official of each building's facility security committee responsible for implementing the guidance at that building.
- 4Would require GSA to submit a report to Congress within 18 months of enactment on the best practices and protocols implemented.
Who would be affected
Federal employees and visitors who work in or use buildings owned and operated by the General Services Administration and protected by the Federal Protective Service, along with the facility security committees and designated officials at those buildings responsible for implementing the new communication guidance.
Why it matters
Occupants of federal buildings would gain standardized procedures for being warned about active threats or emergencies and instructed on how to respond, rather than relying on ad hoc building-by-building practices. Facility security officials would face a new implementation responsibility, and Congress would receive a report on how the guidance performed in practice.
What would change
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- Deadline for GSA and the Federal Protective Service to develop and disseminate the emergency communication guidance
- Deadline for GSA to submit report to Congress on implemented best practices and protocols
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates that implementing the Federal Building Threat Notification Act would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026–2031 period, subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
CBO estimates the bill would cost less than $500,000 over the 2026–2031 period; any spending would be discretionary (i.e., dependent on future congressional appropriations) and thus would not directly affect the federal deficit. The bill directs the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Federal Protective Service to develop emergency communication protocols for public federal buildings within one year of enactment, and requires GSA to report to Congress on those protocols within 18 months. CBO identified no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates in the bill.
How implementation would work
GSA and the Federal Protective Service would jointly draft emergency communication guidance within one year of enactment, covering notification procedures and safety instructions for federal building occupants during threats. Facility security committees at each covered building would designate an official responsible for putting the guidance into practice locally. Eighteen months after enactment, GSA would electronically submit a report to Congress describing the best practices and protocols actually implemented under the guidance, giving lawmakers a way to check on compliance and effectiveness.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS summary
This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Federal Protective Service (FPS) to develop and disseminate emergency communication guidance for building facility security committees to use in life safety events that threaten federal buildings owned and operated by GSA under the protection of FPS. (Life safety events are events to which first responders deploy.)
The guidance must include best practices and protocols relating to (1) procedures to inform building tenants of threats to the building or its occupants, and (2) instructions for safety practices in response to threats or heightened risk to the building or its occupants.
Legislative subjects
Congressional oversight; Emergency communications systems; Emergency planning and evacuation; Government Operations and Politics; Government buildings, facilities, and property
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-553