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national plan. If we have a clear and coordinated roadmap for 

 this system, not only would we be able to develop a national plan 

 for the locating research facilities, we will also be able to 

 identify and close any facility that is off -course. 



THE STATE OF OUR FACILITIES 



How many facilities are there? 



Most of the federally-owned and operated agricultural 

 research facilities are under the Agricultural Research Service 

 (ARS) , the in-house research arm of USDA.* There were 139 ARS 

 research sites in 1981 when the UAB first reported its concern 

 about the distribution and number of research facilities. Now 

 there are 126 ARS laboratory sites. Approximately half of the 

 121 domestic sites are located in the same town or city as a 

 major agricultural university. Many of the sites consist of 

 several buildings and trailers, although the sites are referred 

 to as "one facility." 



The vast majority of new facilities built with Federal funds 

 are actually State university facilities. For example, the 

 federal government provides money to build a facility at a land 

 grant university, which is then handed over to the state to 

 maintain and operate as part of the state's agricultural 

 experiment station. Since fiscal year 1978 the federal 

 government has contributed close to $500 million for such 

 facilities. If the facilities in the "pipeline" are completed, 

 it is estimated that it will cost the federal government a 

 minimum of $1 billion. 



How old are the facilities? 



Many of the ARS facilities were built before or immediately 

 after World War II. For example, the four major regional 

 research centers, which are playing an increasingly important 

 role with renewed emphasis on new uses research, were authorized 

 in 1938 and constructed soon after. Many of these older 

 facilities are scheduled for major renovations to meet current 

 safety and health requirements. Many older facilities are not 

 suitable to conduct modern biotechnology and other advanced 

 research. 



* The 126 ARS laboratory sites include 121 domestic and 

 five foreign locations. Also, 15 of the 121 domestic sites are 

 not facilities, but rather consist of ARS scientists stationed at 

 universities (ARS still contributes to facilities repair, 

 maintenance, and renovation costs at these university sites) . 



