Facilities/Construction
-
GSA issued a RFQ that asks developers to restart the renovation of its stalled headquarters program and further DHS headquarters construction. The contractors wouldn't receive payment, but instead two buildings in Southwest Washington, D.C.
April 08, 2014 -
The Navy continues to change the way it thinks about energy consumption. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus recently outlined several energy goals for the next six years. They include reducing petroleum used afloat and increasing alternative energy use ashore. Much of the responsibility for that plan falls to Vice Admiral Philip Hart Cullom, the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Fleet Readiness and Logistics. He spoke with Federal Drive Host Emily Kopp at the Sea Air Space Exposition. View photos and listen to more of our interviews from the expo.
April 07, 2014 -
The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has covered hundreds of thousands miles of ocean, and the plane still hasn't turned up. But the search has highlighted a growing problem in the oceans: giant blobs of garbage. The Marine Debris Program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tracks the problem. The program's mission is to protect and conserve the marine environment and natural resources. Spokesperson Dianna Parker says trash often gets caught in gyres.
April 04, 2014 -
The Army is the first service to begin an analysis of its excess real estate after a Congressional prohibition against even studying the subject expired. Early results show up to a quarter of its stateside infrastructure isn't being used right now, and the Army will need even less as it shrinks in size.
March 31, 2014 -
Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the oversight committee, and John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the Government Operations subcommittee, want OMB to provide data to the committee on excess federal properties valued at $50 million or more. The committee has been seeking this information for more than two years, "yet these requests have consistently gone unfulfilled," Issa and Mica wrote in a March 24 letter to OMB Director Sylvia Burwell.
March 25, 2014 -
The Pentagon's 2015 budget request includes sharp cuts in funding for construction and maintenance on military bases, which congressional appropriators immediately denounced. But Defense officials say they could do a better job of maintaining military bases if they were allowed to close they ones they no longer need.
March 13, 2014 -
Former GSA Region 7 Public Buildings Service Commissioner James Weller has been put on paid administrative leave during an appeal by the agency, which could take as much as a year.
March 11, 2014 -
Defense Department officials said reducing and realigning bases and depots will help them achieve more savings that can be put toward readiness. Acting Defense Deputy Secretary Christine Fox said this round of BRAC would be different than in 2005.
February 26, 2014 -
The Pentagon says its spending plan acknowledges defense spending is on a downward trajectory, and reduces force structure in order to balance other priorities such as readiness. If sequestration stays in place, the calculus will change, Defense officials say.
February 25, 2014 -
Military bases are earning the "green" title for doing their part to preserve and protect the environment. The Secretary of the Army Environmental Awards recognize bases that balance Army mission with sustainable practices.
February 21, 2014 -
Dorothy Robyn, the commissioner of the General Services Administration's Public Buildings Service, will be leaving her post in March. GSA will name her replacement at a later date.
January 29, 2014 -
Barbara Humpton, senior vice president of Business Development for Siemens Government Technologies, will discuss where the federal market is headed and other issues. January 28, 2014
January 28, 2014 -
The U.S. Postal Service's financial woes are forcing the agency to put off vital maintenance and repair work of facilities across the country, according to a recent inspector general report. Between 2009 and 2012, the Postal Service's budget for capital improvements and facility repairs fell by $382 million, and some 19,000 planned repairs were left uncompleted.
January 21, 2014 -
The General Services Administration says it will finally be able to begin digging out of a backlog of deferred maintenance of federal buildings thanks to a boost in funding from the recently passed bipartisan spending bill. The spending bill, passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama last week, authorizes GSA to spend about $9.3 billion from the Federal Buildings Fund.
January 21, 2014 -
Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency, released a majority staff report that questioned the planning and future efficacy of the Homeland Security Department consolidating its headquarters at the St. Elizabeths campus in D.C.
January 14, 2014