I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1500
To require the priority and consideration of using native plants in Federal
projects, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY21, 2025
Ms. S
HERRILL(for herself and Mr. JOYCEof Ohio) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government
Reform
A BILL
To require the priority and consideration of using native
plants in Federal projects, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Building Native Habi-4
tats at Federal Facilities Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. PRIORITY AND CONSIDERATION OF THE USE OF NA-6
TIVE PLANTS IN FEDERAL PROJECTS. 7
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 8
(1) F
EDERAL AGENCY .—The term ‘‘Federal 9
agency’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘Executive 10
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agency’’ in section 105 of title 5, United States 1
Code. 2
(2) F
EDERAL PROJECT .—The term ‘‘Federal 3
project’’ means a construction or maintenance activ-4
ity that— 5
(A) is carried out— 6
(i) by a Federal agency; and 7
(ii) at a Federal facility (as defined in 8
section 930(g) of title 18, United States 9
Code); 10
(B) involves landscape planting improve-11
ments; and 12
(C) is located in a State of the United 13
States, the District of Columbia, or a common-14
wealth, territory, or possession of the United 15
States. 16
(3) N
ATIVE PLANT.—The term ‘‘native plant’’ 17
has the meaning given the term ‘‘native plant spe-18
cies’’ in section 101(a) of title I of division DD of 19
the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (43 20
U.S.C. 1732 note; Public Law 117–328). 21
(b) F
EDERALPROJECTREQUIREMENTS.— 22
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Except as provided in para-23
graph (2), not later than 270 days after the date of 24
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enactment of this Act, any Federal agency that car-1
ries out a Federal project shall— 2
(A) prioritize, as feasible with respect to 3
cost, schedule, and product supply or a sci-4
entific, historical, or educational purpose, the 5
use of native plants over non-native plants; and 6
(B) consider the benefits, such as habitat 7
creation, supporting native pollinators, pro-8
viding food and shelter to insect and wildlife 9
populations, decreasing soil erosion and land-10
scape water usage, increasing sediment control, 11
and controlling stormwater runoff, of using na-12
tive plants over the life of the Federal project 13
when deciding whether to use native plants. 14
(2) T
URFGRASS AND LAWNS .—A Federal agen-15
cy— 16
(A) is not required to prioritize and con-17
sider turfgrass and lawn plantings as required 18
by paragraph (1); but 19
(B) is encouraged to consider, with respect 20
to cost, schedule, product supply, overall main-21
tenance requirements, and property usage, the 22
planting of native plants on appropriate areas 23
of existing or planned turfgrass and lawns, par-24
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ticularly unused areas, while carrying out a 1
Federal project. 2
(c) C
ONTRACTORREQUIREMENTS.—In entering into 3
a Federal contract, the head of a Federal agency shall— 4
(1) include the priority and consideration re-5
quirements described in subsection (b) in the con-6
tract, to the maximum extent practicable; and 7
(2) require that any subcontract (at any tier) of 8
that contract include those priority and consider-9
ation requirements. 10
(d) U
PDATE TOAGENCY-SPECIFICDESIGNSTAND-11
ARDS.—Not later than 270 days after the date of enact-12
ment of this Act, a Federal agency that maintains agency- 13
specific facility design standards or that has landscape 14
and maintenance development requirements or standards 15
shall update those requirements and standards in accord-16
ance with subsections (b) and (c). 17
(e) CEQ G
UIDANCE.—Not later than 180 days after 18
the date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there-19
after, the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality 20
shall distribute to Federal agencies guidance on— 21
(1) the use of native plants in Federal projects; 22
and 23
(2) implementing the requirements of this sec-24
tion. 25
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(f) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 1
of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, 2
the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality shall 3
make publicly available on the website of the Council on 4
Environmental Quality a report on the use of native plants 5
in Federal projects for at least the previous 2 years that 6
includes, at a minimum, the following: 7
(1) Case studies on best practices used in var-8
ious Federal projects. 9
(2) A general analysis of scientific or environ-10
mental findings relating to selected Federal projects, 11
the types of plants used, and any quantifiable im-12
pacts of native plant usage in the Federal projects. 13
(3) A description of how the Federal Govern-14
ment is promoting native habitats and native plant 15
usage. 16
Æ
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