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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 124 / Thursday, July 1, 2021 / Rules and Regulations Community
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FR Doc. 202113565 Filed 63021; 8:45 am BILLING CODE 671201P

GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
48 CFR Parts 501, 552 and 570
GSAR Case 2021G527; Docket No. GSA
GSAR20210014; Sequence No. 1
RIN 3090AK44

General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation; Immediate and Highest Level Owner for High-Security Leased Space Office of Acquisition Policy, General Services Administration GSA.
ACTION: Interim rule.
AGENCY:

GSA is amending the General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation GSAR to implement Section 3 and Section 5 requirements of the Secure Federal Leases from Espionage and Suspicious Entanglement Act the Act or Secure Federal LEASEs Act. The Act addresses the risks of foreign ownership of Governmentleased real estate and requires the disclosure of ownership information for high-security space leased to accommodate a Federal agency.
DATES: Effective: June 30, 2021.
Applicability: This interim rule applies to new lease awards, the exercise of options for current leases, lease extensions, and ownership changes for high-security leased space.
Except where otherwise provided, the Acts disclosure requirements shall apply with respect to any lease or novation agreement entered into on or after June 30, 2021, involving highsecurity leased space. That includes new, renewal, succeeding, expansion, superseding, extension, and replacing leases and novations.
Comment Date: Interested parties should submit written comments to the Regulatory Secretariat Division at the address shown below on or before August 30, 2021 to be considered in the formation of the final rule.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments in response to GSAR Case 2021G527 to the Federal eRulemaking portal at https www.regulations.gov by searching for GSAR Case 2021G527.
Select the link Comment Now that
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SUMMARY:

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corresponds with GSAR Case 2021
G527. Follow the instructions provided at the Comment Now screen. Please include your name, company name if any, and GSAR Case 2021G527 on your attached document. If your comment cannot be submitted using https www.regulations.gov, call or email the points of contact in the FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document for alternate instructions.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite GSAR Case 2021G527
in all correspondence related to this case. Comments received generally will be posted without change to https
www.regulations.gov, including any personal and/or business confidential information provided. To confirm receipt of your comments, please check https www.regulations.gov, approximately two to three days after submission to verify posting.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr.
Stephen Carroll, Procurement Analyst, at 8172537858 or GSARPolicy@
gsa.gov, for clarification of content. For information pertaining to status or publication schedules, contact the Regulatory Secretariat Division at 202
5014755 or GSARegSec@gsa.gov.
Please cite GSAR Case 2021G527.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background On Dec. 31, 2020, the then president signed into law the Secure Federal Leases from Espionage and Suspicious Entanglements Act Secure Federal LEASEs Act, Pub. L. 116276, 134
Stat. 3362. The Act imposes disclosure requirements regarding the foreign ownership, particularly beneficial ownership, of prospective lessors of high-security leased space i.e., property leased to the Federal government having a security level of III
or higher. Section 3 and Section 5 of the Act regarding immediate and highest-level ownership applies to a lease or lease novation for high-security leased space entered into six months after the date of the enactment of the Act. GSA will modify existing leases to reflect the requirements of the Act when any of the various actions highlighted in the Applicability section arise.
These requirements of the statute are applicable to leases by the U.S. General Services Administration GSA, the Architect of the Capitol, or the head of any Federal agency, other than the Department of Defense DOD, that has independent statutory leasing authority Federal lessees. The Act is not applicable to DOD or to the intelligence community. In that regard, Section 2876 of the FY 2018 National
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Defense Authorization Act NDAA
Pub. L. 11591 already provides DOD
similar authority to obtain ownership information with respect to its highsecurity leased space. GSAs regulatory action applies to GSA and to agencies relying upon GSAs leasing authority.
The Act addresses national security risks identified in the Government Accountability Office GAO report, GSA Should Inform Tenant Agencies When Leasing High-Security Space from Foreign Owners, dated January 2017
GAO17195. This report found certain high-security Federal agencies were in buildings owned or controlled by foreign entities. According to the report, most Federal tenants were unaware the spaces GAO identified were subject to foreign ownership or control, exposing these agencies to the heightened risk of surreptitious physical or cyber espionage by foreign actors.
The report also noted GAO could not identify the owners of approximately one-third of the Federal governments high-security leases because such ownership information was unavailable for those buildings.
As the US Governments landlord, GSA serves as the central leasing agent for Federal leases and is responsible for managing and obtaining space on behalf of multiple Federal agencies. When GSA
enters into a leasing agreement, the agency becomes the tenant of GSA, with GSA acting as the lessee of the property. GSA currently uses information contained in the System for Award Management SAM to collect foreign ownership information for potential lessors, including immediate or highest-level owners. However, as Congress recognized in the Act, SAM
does not capture more nuanced forms of foreign control such as entities involved in financing properties or beneficial ownership.
GSA is currently reviewing and investigating potential future implementation steps and potential updates through electronic means to implement the requirements of the Act, including externally System for Award Management or internally GSAs Lease Offer Platform. As these alternatives are not yet available, this interim rule will require reporting on an action-by-action basis.
What is high-security leased space?
The statute defines high security leased space as space leased by a Federal lessee thatA will be occupied by Federal employees for nonmilitary activities; and B has a facility security level of III, IV or V, as
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