Federal Real Property: Improved Data Needed to Strategically Manage Historic Buildings, Address Multiple Challenges (open access)

Federal Real Property: Improved Data Needed to Strategically Manage Historic Buildings, Address Multiple Challenges

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration (GSA), the National Park Service (NPS), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have undertaken portfolio-wide efforts in recent years to identify historic buildings they hold, nominate some of those buildings to the National Register of Historic Places, and manage their historic buildings in an effort to comply with the requirements in the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and relevant executive orders. While these agencies use and preserve some of their historic buildings to meet mission needs, others are excess or unsuited for current mission needs. GAO found several instances in which these agencies leased part or all of some historic buildings to non-federal entities that could use and preserve the buildings. GAO also found that these agencies had implemented projects in some of their historic buildings to improve their sustainable performance, such as installing green roofs and energy-efficient heating and cooling systems."
Date: December 11, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Product Safety Laboratories: OSHA's Accreditation Process Needs Reexamination (open access)

Product Safety Laboratories: OSHA's Accreditation Process Needs Reexamination

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Labor's (Labor) Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) process for accrediting Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTL) is lengthy due to the scope of staff members' responsibilities and unclear application procedures for accreditation. Among the 13 recently approved applications, OSHA took between 1 and 5 years to make accreditation decisions. All of these applications took much longer to approve than OSHA's desired time frames, and in some cases, years longer. In addition, 12 of the 29 applications that were awaiting final decisions by OSHA as of June 2012 had been under review longer than the 5-year period for which the accreditation decision would be valid. This lengthy process has potentially negative economic consequences for laboratories and requires OSHA staff to divert their time from other oversight activities. Two key factors led to the long time frames:"
Date: December 11, 2012
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
System: The UNT Digital Library