GSA maintains information on the investment needs for public buildings and the Army Corps maintains information on the investment needs for water resources (inland and deep draft navigation, flood control, and shore protection), hydropower, water supply and wastewater treatment. Some estimates—for water resources, hydropower, and public buildings—are developed for federal spending; the other estimates are developed for spending from federal, state, and local sources. Agencies Have Identified Vast Amounts of Investment Estimates

The seven agencies identified investment amounts that vary from GSA’s estimate of $4.58 billion over 1 to 5 years to repair public buildings to FHWA’s estimate of $83.4 billion each year over 20 years to preserve and improve the nation’s highways. The investment estimates cannot be easily compared or simply “added up” to produce a national estimate of all infrastructure investment needs because of differences in the methods used, time periods covered, and funding sources. Estimates Used Data From Local, State, or Regional Sources

Each of the seven agencies used data from various localities, states, or agency regional offices and aggregated those data to produce a national estimate for infrastructure investment. None of the agencies we reviewed had procedures for all eight of the leading practices. Key contacts and major contributors to this report are listed in appendix V.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

Our report focuses on infrastructure investment estimates compiled by six federal agencies—the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and General Services Administration (GSA)—and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). (2) To what extent do the agencies’ procedures for developing the estimates embody practices of leading government and private-sector organizations? FTA estimated that the average cost for these four scenarios ranged from $10.8 billion to $16.0 billion per year (in constant 1997 dollars).
Why GAO Did This Study

A sound public infrastructure plays a vital role in encouraging a more productive and competitive national economy and meeting public demands for safety, health, and improved quality of life. The federal government has spent an average of $149 billion (in constant 1998 dollars) annually since the late 1980s on the nation's infrastructure. Little is known, however, about the comparability and reasonableness of individual agencies' estimates for infrastructure needs. This report discusses infrastructure investment or "needs" estimates compiled by seven agencies--the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). GAO focuses on the following infrastructure areas: water resources (inland and deep draft navigation, flood control, and shore protection), hydropower, water supply, wastewater treatment, airports, highways, mass transit, and public buildings.

What GAO Found

GAO found that the agencies' estimates for infrastructure investments ranged from GSA's calculation of $4.58 billion (in current dollars) over one to five years to repair public buildings to FHWA's estimate of $83.4 billion (in constant 1997 dollars) per year over 20 years to improve highways. The estimates prepared by the Army Corps (for water resources and hydropower) and GSA are for federal spending; the other estimates are for spending from federal, state, and local sources. Each of the seven agencies developed their investment estimate using data from localities, states, or agency regional offices. The estimates, however, were developed using different analytical procedures. The investment estimates cannot be easily compared or simply "added up" to produce a national estimate of infrastructure investment needs because of differences in the methods used, time periods covered, and spending sources. Each of the seven agencies has procedures for developing infrastructure investment estimates that reflect eight practices used by leading government and private sector organizations. No agency has procedures for all eight leading practices.