General Services Administration Prospectus Thresholds for Owned and Leased Federal Facilities

Publication Date: August 2008

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Economics

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Abstract:

The General Services Administration (GSA) is the federal government's primary federal real property and asset management agency, with 11 regional offices that oversee GSA owned and leased federal buildings and courthouses. As part of the funding authorization process for new construction or leasing proposals valued at more than $2.47 million (in FY2006), GSA is required to submit a prospectus containing project and cost specifications to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, and the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for approval. Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf coast on August 29, 2005, causing significant property and infrastructure damage to GSA owned and leased federal buildings and courthouses in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. Under current law, the GSA Administrator is authorized to obtain emergency 180-day leases to provide temporary office space to displaced federal tenants, without prior congressional approval of a lease prospectus. S. 1708, the Emergency Lease Requirements Act of 2005, would authorize the GSA Administrator to enter into emergency lease agreements for up to five years during a major disaster, without prior congressional approval of a lease prospectus. This report will be updated as additional information becomes available.