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GAP Facilities Report 



Question 1: The General Accounting Office recently released a 

 report on the need to repair and upgrade Federal research 

 laboratories. NOAA was listed as having a repair backlog of $38 

 million, with most maintenance and repair talcing place on an 

 emergency basis. What are NOAA's plans to address this problem? 



Answer: NOAA established the Capital Improvements Program in 

 1991 as a means of providing for major repairs, renovations and 

 alterations to its facilities. As a part of this, the 

 performance of complete facility condition surveys by teams of 

 engineers was initiated. The identification of $38 million of 

 projects is largely a result of these surveys. 



Based on an established priority ranking system, NOAA annually 

 performs the work required by these projects, to the extent 

 possible based on the funding received for that fiscal year. It 

 is NOAA's plan to continue to address the project backlog until 

 it is eliminated, and all NOAA facilities have been brought up to 

 the desired level of condition. 



Additionally, a long-range repair and maintenance program is 

 being developed to address future concerns and to keep NOAA's 

 facilities in good repair. 



Question 2: The report specifically identifies the sea turtle 

 and shrimp lab in an old army barracks in Galveston, Texas, as 

 being in very poor condition and not designed as science 

 laboratories. Is NOAA planning to relocate this lab? 



Answer: NOAA is developing a long-range plan for the repair and 

 renovation of the Galveston laboratory complex. As proposed, 

 design work will begin later this fiscal year and the total 

 project will take approximately three years to complete, giving 

 careful consideration not only to upgrading the facility but to 

 energy conservation and historical significance as well. There 

 are no plans to close this facility. 



General 



Question 1: Does NOAA have any views on length of 

 reauthorization which should be enacted? 



Answer: A three-year authorization would be the length of time 

 which would be most useful to us. 



