70 



Appendix III 



S«vermJ Agencies Are Aa«easijig R&D 



Fmcilitiea' Funding Needs mud Musiona 



the fiscal year 1997 budget. Assuniing that phase 3 is approved, 

 construction of the Avionics laboratory addition will be completed about 

 20 years after it was initially proposed. 



Alternative Actions to 

 Address Aging Federal 

 Laboratory Facilities 



Federal agencies are confronted with aging laboratory facilities that have a 

 substantial backlog of repairs and, in some cases, limited research 

 capabilities. Several federal agencies are assessing options for improving 

 the effectiveness and efficiency of their laboratories in response to the end 

 of the Cold Weir and/or funding constraints because of the budget deficit 



Realigning, Consolidating, 

 And/or Closing 

 Laboratories 



In response to budget constraints and/or changing mission needs, several 

 federal agencies have examined options for realigning, consohdating, 

 smd/or closing some of their laboratory facilities. Important considerations 

 include (1) any changes to an agency's mission and the r&d capabilities 

 needed to fulfill that mission; (2) the adequacy of funding to maintain, 

 repair, and upgrade these laboratory facilities; and (3) potential budget 

 savings achieved by consohdating laboratories that are not essential for 

 fulfilling the agency's mission and/or closing inefficient older laboratories. 



DOD, DOE, and usda have taken steps to reevaluate their laboratories' 

 missions and r&d capabilities. In response to the end of the Cold War, the 

 Army, Navy, Air Force, and Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute 

 (AiTiRi) are reducing their combined laboratories from 76 to 31, according 

 to DOD research managers. Similarly, earlier this year, doe initiated a 

 review of the roles, missions, and core competencies of its principal 

 laboratories, including a review of whether to realign the mission of one of 

 its three nuclear weapons laboratories, which together spend almost half 

 of doe's R&D funds. In addition, usda is studying whether to close or 

 consolidate some of ars' 111 laboratories. Most of these laboratories spend 

 less than $5 milUon on rad each year, about half are colocated with 

 university laboratories. 



House bill 1432, introduced in March 1993, proposes to establish a Federal 

 Laboratory Mission Evaluation and Coordination Committee, which in part 

 would make recommendations on the advisability of establishing a 

 commission to determine whether specific federal laboratories should be 

 realigned, consolidated, or closed. One cntenon that the Comnuttee would 

 be directed to consider is improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the 

 overall federal laboratory system. 



