33 



B-2M151 



sewerage systems. Laboratory facilities need to be properly maintained 

 and repaired to continue to work well. In addition, aging laboratorj' 

 facilities may need to be upgraded — either by renovating existing buildings 

 or constructing new ones — to iinpro\'e researchers' productivity or enable 

 them to conduct state-of-the-aut R4D. Federal laboratones also spend 

 facilities funds to improve (1) workers' health and safety by, for example, 

 removing asbestos or installing fire sprinklers and alarms; (2) access to 

 buildings for the handicapped; (3) the environment by, for example, 

 replacing chloro-fluoro-hydrocarbon refrigerants in air conditioning 

 systems, refrigerators, amd freezers, in compliance with the Clean Air Act 

 Amendment of 1990; and (4) non-research-related facilities such as roads 

 and parking lots. 



In a June 1990 report, the National Research Council's Building Research 

 Board found that underfunding is a widespread and persistent problem 

 that undermines the maintenance and repair of pubhc buildings.- In 

 concluding that procedures and allocations of resources must be changed 

 to recognize the full costs of ownership of these assets, the Board stated 

 that an appropriate budget allocation for routine maintenance and repair 

 for a substantial inventory of facilities will typically be in the range of 2 to 

 4 percent of the aggregate current replacement value of those facilities. 

 The Board further stated that where neglect of maintenance has caused a 

 backlog of needed repairs, spending must exceed this minimum level (2 to 

 4 percent) until the backlog has been eliminated. The General Services 

 Administration and other federjil agencies have begun to use the Board's 

 recommendations as a general guideUne for assessing maintenance and 

 repair funding for their buildings and other facilities. 



Aging Federal 

 Laboratories Need 

 Repairs and Upgrades 



Federal laboratory facilities grew rapidly between 1943 and 1972 as 

 agencies expanded their bad missions. By the early 1990s, these facilities 

 had aged — 31 percent of the eight federal agencies' laboratory space was 

 more than 40 years old, and 54 percent of the space was more than 30 

 years old. Only 24 percent of the eight agencies' laboratory space was less 

 than 20 years old. In addition, some federal laboratories are using 

 government facilities not designed for a&D. For example. Commerce's 

 National Oceaiuc and Atmospheric Administration (noaa) is using Fort 

 Crockett, an Army post built in the early 1900s in Galveston, Texas, as a 

 sea turtle and shnmp research laboratory. A soaa facilities manager told 

 us that about $4 million is needed to repair and renovate this laboratory 



^Buildirg ResMTCh Boird. Comnutong to tht Co«a of Qwrwrahip M»iinen»nc« md Bep«tf of Pubbc 

 Buildmgs I Jimf 1990) 



