35 



B-U41S1 



instances. Typical problems reported included (1) ventilating systems that 

 do not meet industry standards for circulating air through laboratories — in 

 three laboratory buildings we visited, inadequate ventilatirig systems have 

 caused respiratory problems among researchers and/or contaminated 

 laboratory samples; (2) electrical power outages and other systems' 

 malfunctions that ruined long-term experiments; and (3) delays and 

 disruptions in making repairs, limiting researchers' access to equipment or 

 laboratory facilities needed to perform rad. For example, inadequate 

 ventilation in a 20-year-old laboratory building at ars' laboratory in 

 Beltsville, Maryland, has caused respiratory problems among researchers 

 and specifically led to the relocation of five researchers from the building. 

 In addition, researchers in one laboratory building at epa's Gulf Breeze, 

 Florida, facility were relocated to temporary space for 9 months because a 

 newly renovated ventilating system had inadequate air-handling capacity, 

 enabling mold and fungus to grow in the duct work. 



NiH has proposed to construct a new $1.6 billion clinical center to replace 

 its existing 38-year-old cliiucal center, which is at the end of its useful life 

 and does not meet current fire safety requirements, nih officials stated that 

 the proposed center, which would provide advanced research hospital 

 facilities, is essential for fulfilling nih's mission because clinical research is 

 fundamental to its biomedical research program. The U.S. Army Corps of 

 Elngineers, in a November 1991 report that validated nih's need, 

 recommended the construction of a new center because the existing 

 clinical center's physical constraints greatly hinder nth's ability to provide 

 a modem, flexible facility for biomedicEd research and patient care. 



Several Agencies Are 

 Assessing R&D 

 Facility Funding 

 Needs and Missions 



Each of the eight federal agencies has taken actions to better identify its 

 laboratories' needs for maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. For example, 

 ARS (in 1985) and noaa (in 1991) initiated surveys on the condition of their 

 laboratory facilities to identify maintenance and repair needs at their 

 primary laboratories. Similarly, nih and epa are updating their laboratories' 

 master site plans for the first time since about 1972 and 1985, respectively. 



Funding to maintain laboratory facilities was moderately adequate, 

 according to facilities managers at most of the eight agencies. However, 

 funding constraints limit some agencies' ability to repair and upgrade their 

 laboratory facilities. In fiscal year 1992, only ars and nasa met the Building 

 Research Board's minimum guideline that 2 percent of a facility's current 

 replacement value be spent for routine maintenance and repair. The eight 

 agencies also reported a total backlog of more than $3.8 billion in needed 



