Specifically, executive agencies are required by law to: maintain adequate inventory controls and accountability systems for  property under their control;   continually survey property under their control to identify excess; promptly report excess property to GSA and dispose of it in  accordance with GSA regulations; and use existing agency property or obtain excess property from other  federal agencies before purchasing new property. OMB is responsible for establishing government-wide management  policies and requirements and provides guidance to agencies to  implement them. As federal agencies  continue to reduce office and warehouse space, they will also likely have  to manage or dispose of personal property, such as office furniture or  stored property, from these spaces. Federal internal  control standards require that agencies design and maintain internal  control activities—such as policies and procedures—to identify risks  arising from mission and mission-support operations, and to provide  reasonable assurance that agencies are operating in an efficient manner  that minimizes the waste of resources. Furthermore, previous work others have performed has shown that  inaction on unneeded or idle property can limit efficient use of the  government’s personal property, unnecessarily use an agency’s  resources, or miss opportunities for potential cost savings, for example:
The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General found that  the U.S. Coast Guard could not ensure that personal property was  efficiently reutilized or properly disposed of to prevent unauthorized  use or theft because the Coast Guard did not have adequate policies,  procedures, and processes to identify and screen, reutilize, and  dispose of excess personal property properly, including criteria for  identifying such property. Without a triggering event, agencies may not be seeking out or identifying  property that is no longer needed and declaring it excess as often as they  should. According to GSA OGP officials, GSA does not have the authority to promulgate regulations or  issue formal guidance on personal property that is in use by executive  agencies. Selected Agencies Used GSA’s Disposal Process to Dispose of Unneeded Property, Including Property from Space Reductions Selected Agencies Used a Structured Disposal Process for Personal Property

Officials from the five agencies we reviewed reported that they followed  GSA’s automated process to dispose of property once they had made the  determination it was no longer needed to support their agency’s mission. Officials from the five agencies we reviewed reported  no significant difficulties with entering information into GSAXcess;  collectively, these agencies reported over 37,000 items as excess  property from fiscal year 2012 through 2016. To meet space reduction goals, selected agencies are undertaking  projects at dozens of locations. In 2017, Housing and Urban Development  (HUD) reduced its Denver regional office  space by 30 percent. The Forest  Service and IRS also reported donating property, such as office furniture  and equipment, through the State Agencies for Surplus Property program. Two selected agencies said they delayed  projects because of a lack of funding. However, the agencies in  our review did not have policies and systematic processes for identifying  unneeded property. Recommendation for Executive Action

The Director of OMB should provide guidance to executive agencies on  managing their personal property, emphasizing that agencies’ policies or  processes should reflect the requirement to continuously review and  identify unneeded personal property. (Recommendation 1)

	Agency Comments

We provided a draft of this report to OMB, EPA, the Forest Service, GSA,  HUD, and IRS for comment. Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

The objectives of this report were to examine (1) how selected federal  agencies assess whether personal property is needed and (2) how  selected federal agencies dispose of unneeded personal property, and  how, if at all, space reduction efforts have affected disposals. We also interviewed staff from the  Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss regulations and  policies pertaining to personal property and OMB’s role in personal  property management. To determine how selected federal agencies dispose of excess and  surplus personal property and how space reduction efforts may have  affected disposals, in addition to the above, we obtained information from  each selected agency on its space reduction projects and interviewed  officials about their roles and responsibilities in the agency’s space  reduction planning efforts and personal property disposal process.
Why GAO Did This Study

The federal government owns billions of dollars of personal property—such as office furniture, scientific equipment, and industrial machinery. By law, each agency is required to follow GSA's disposal process so that an agency's unneeded property can be used by other agencies or certain non-federal entities. Since 2012, agencies have reduced their office and warehouse space due to government-wide initiatives, a reduction that in turn has required agencies to dispose of some affected personal property.
GAO was asked to review how federal agencies identify and dispose of unneeded personal property. This report examines (1) how selected agencies assess whether personal property is needed and (2) how these agencies dispose of unneeded property and how, if at all, space reduction efforts have affected disposals. GAO reviewed federal statutes and regulations, and selected five agencies—EPA, Forest Service, GSA, HUD, and IRS—mainly based on space reduction results and goals. GAO reviewed these agencies' property disposal data for 2012 through 2016 and interviewed headquarters and field staff about their property management and disposal processes.

What GAO Found

The five agencies GAO reviewed—the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Forest Service, General Services Administration (GSA), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS)—generally do not have policies or processes for identifying unneeded personal property, such as office furniture, on a proactive basis. Instead, officials from these agencies said they typically identified unneeded property as a result of a “triggering event,” such as an office space reduction. Executive agencies are required by law to continuously review property under their control to identify unneeded personal property and then dispose of it promptly. Without such policies or processes, agencies may not be routinely identifying unneeded property that could be used elsewhere, and efforts to maximize federal personal property use and minimize unnecessary storage costs may not be effective. GSA has issued regulations establishing a government-wide disposal process for unneeded personal property. However, according to GSA officials, the agency lacks the authority to promulgate regulations or formal guidance on management of in-use agency property, and there is no government-wide guidance to agencies on identifying unneeded personal property. Agencies are required to have internal control activities—such as policies and procedures—for reasonable assurance of efficient operations and minimal resource waste, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) provides guidance to agencies on implementing such activities. Guidance from OMB that emphasizes agencies' internal control responsibilities could help ensure that agencies are proactively and regularly identifying property that is no longer needed.
The selected agencies reported little difficulty in following GSA's personal property disposal process, reporting over 37,000 items as unneeded property in fiscal years 2012 through 2016. This property was disposed of through transfers to other agencies, donations to authorized recipients, sales, or discarding. When disposing of personal property from space reduction projects at locations GAO visited, agencies also reported using GSA's process (see figure). Overall, agencies said they have not experienced major challenges with disposing of personal property from space reduction efforts. This lack of challenges could be because projects are geographically dispersed and spread over several years.

What GAO Recommends

OMB should provide guidance to executive agencies on managing their personal property, emphasizing that agencies' policies or processes should reflect the requirement to continuously review and identify unneeded personal property. OMB did not comment on GAO's recommendation.