---
kind: "section"
citation: "40 U.S.C. § 3318"
title: "40"
title_heading: "Public Buildings, Property, and Works"
number: "3318"
heading: "Lactation room in public buildings"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/40/3318"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Public Buildings and Works"
  - "Part A — General"
  - "Chapter 33 — Acquisition, Construction, and Alteration"
---

# §3318. Lactation room in public buildings

- (a) **Definitions.—** In this section:
  - (1) **Appropriate authority.—** The term “appropriate authority” means the head of a [Federal agency](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-4), the Architect of the Capitol, or other official authority responsible for the operation of a [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5).
  - (2) **Covered public building.—** The term “covered [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5)” means a [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5) (as defined in [section 3301](/usc/40/3301.md)) that is open to the public and contains a public restroom, and includes a building listed in section [6301](/usc/40/6301.md) or 5101.
  - (3) **Lactation room.—** The term “lactation room” means a hygienic place, other than a bathroom, that—
    - (A) is shielded from view;
    - (B) is free from intrusion; and
    - (C) contains a chair, a working surface, and, if the [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5) is otherwise supplied with electricity, an electrical outlet.
- (b) **Lactation Room Required.—** Except as provided in [subsection (c)](#c), the appropriate authority of a covered [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5) shall ensure that the building contains a lactation room that is made available for use by members of the public to express breast milk.
- (c) **Exceptions.—** A covered [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5) may be excluded from the requirement in [subsection (b)](#b) at the discretion of the appropriate authority if—
  - (1) the [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5)—
    - (A) does not contain a lactation room for employees who work in the building; and
    - (B) does not have a room that could be repurposed as a lactation room or a space that could be made private using portable materials, at a reasonable cost; or
  - (2) new construction would be required to create a lactation room in the [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5) and the cost of such construction is unfeasible.
- (d) **No Unauthorized Entry.—** Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize an individual to enter a [public building](/usc/40/3301.md?p=a-5) or portion thereof that the individual is not otherwise authorized to enter.

## Footnotes

[^1]: Another section 3318 is set out after this section.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 116–30, § 2(a), July 25, 2019, 133 Stat. 1032.)

## Notes

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Pub. L. 116–30, § 2(c), July 25, 2019, 133 Stat. 1033, provided that: “The amendments made by this section [enacting this section] shall take effect 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act [July 25, 2019].”