**GAO-07-579**                      Published: Apr 16, 2007. Publicly Released: May 16, 2007.                  

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## Highlights

On June 25, 2006, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters building suffered flooding during a period of record rainfall and sustained extensive damage to its infrastructure. IRS officials ordered the closure of the building until December 2006 to allow for repairs to be completed. IRS headquarters officials reported activating several of the agency's emergency operations plans. Within 1 month of the flood, over 2,000 employees normally assigned to the headquarters building were relocated to other facilities throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. GAO was asked to report on (1) how IRS emergency operations plans address federal guidance related to continuity planning and (2) the extent to which IRS emergency operations plans contributed to the actions taken by IRS officials in response to the flood. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed federal continuity guidance, reviewed IRS emergency plans, and interviewed IRS officials.

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## Topics

Tax Policy and Administration

Continuity of operations planDisaster planningDisaster recovery plansEmergency preparednessFederal facilitiesFederal facility relocationFloodsInternal controlsPolicy evaluationRisk assessmentPolicies and procedures