Facilities Location: Progress and Barriers in Selecting Rural Areas and Using Telework
Published: 2003-09-04T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The location of an organization's facilities has far reaching and long-lasting impacts on its operational costs and ability to attract and retain workers. The Rural Development Act of 1972 has required federal agencies to give first priority to locating new offices and other facilities in rural areas. Rural areas generally have lower real estate and labor costs, but agency missions often require locations in urban areas. Telework, also called telecommunicating or flexiplace, is a tool that allows employees to work at home or another work location other than a traditional office. Benefits of telework include reducing traffic congestion, improving the recruitment and retention of workers, and reducing the need for office space. Telework could allow federal workers who live in rural areas to work in or near their homes, at least some of the time. This testimony summarizes and updates work GAO has previously done on the progress in and barriers to the federal government's efforts to locate its operations and workers, when possible, in rural areas.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: Even though federal agencies have been required since 1972 to develop policies and procedures to give priority to locating new offices and other facilities in rural areas, this requirement has not been an important factor in location decisions. In September 1990 we reported that there were multiple laws and regulations to guide federal agencies in selecting facility locations, but they did not always provide for consideration of the best financial interest of the government as a factor in the decision-making process. In July 2001 we reported that many agencies had not issued policies and procedures to give rural areas priority when considering the location of new facilities. Only about 12 percent of federal workers were located in nonmetropolitan statistical areas, a percentage that remained unchanged from 1989 to 2000. Agencies said the need to be near clients, primarily in urban areas, dictated the location of most operations in urban areas. In spite of not having policies to give priority to rural areas, agencies sometimes locate their operations in rural areas to serve clients in those areas. Also, some functions, such as research and development, supply and storage, automated data processing, and finance and accounting, can be located in rural areas. Rural areas can offer lower real estate costs, improved security, reduced parking and traffic congestion problems, and better access to major transportation arteries. Potential barriers to locating in rural areas include the lack of public transportation, lack of available labor, location far from some other agency facilities, and sometimes insufficient infrastructure for high-speed telecommunications. In our July 2001 report, we made several recommendations to the General Services Administration and Congress to improve location decisionmaking. Congress and the General Services Administration subsequently took action to stress the requirements of the Rural Development Act. Congress has promoted telework in several ways, including authorizing of telework centers in the Washington, D.C., area, requiring agencies to establish a policy under which employees may participate in telecommuting to the maximum extent possible, and encouraging the development of high-speed Internet access in rural areas. However, only about 5 percent of the federal workforce is currently teleworking. In our July 2003 report, we recommended that the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management improve their coordination and provide agencies with more consistent guidance on telework and assist agencies in implementing key practices we identified. The agencies generally agreed with our recommendations and committed to implement them. In addition, the Congressional Research Service reported in July 2003 that about 85 percent of U.S. households have broadband access, although rural, minority, low-income, inner city, tribal, and U.S. territory consumers are particularly vulnerable to not receiving this service. Technological barriers, such as the lack of access to high-speed Internet connections, could have a detrimental effect on the ability of some federal workers in rural areas to take advantage of telework.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: We are pleased to be here to testify on federal agencies’ efforts to consider  locating facilities in rural areas, as required by the Rural Development Act  of 1972 (RDA), and to use telework as a way of allowing workers to live in  rural areas. My testimony is based on our September 1990 and July 2001  reports on facilities location and subsequent actions by the General  Services Administration (GSA) to address our recommendations; selected  agencies’ responses to a requirement in a fiscal year 2002 appropriations  act directing Inspectors General to report on policies and procedures their  agencies have to give first priority to the location of facilities in rural  areas; and our July 2003 report on telework and other GSA, Office of  Personnel Management (OPM), and Congressional Research Service  (CRS) reports on telework. My testimony focuses on the progress federal  agencies have made and barriers they face in locating federal buildings,  when possible, in rural areas and making telework available to federal  workers who live in rural areas.
subsections: section_title: The Rural Development Act and Other Federal Location Policies
paragraphs: When considering areas in which to locate, RDA directs the heads of all  executive departments and agencies of the government to establish and  maintain departmental policies and procedures giving first priority to the  location of new offices and other facilities in rural areas. Any move by an  agency to new office space in another location would be considered a new  office or facility covered by RDA.
Two primary executive orders on federal facility location decisions are  Executive Order 12072, Federal Space Management, dated August 16,  1978; and Executive Order 13006, Locating Federal Facilities on Historic  Properties, dated May 21, 1996. Executive Order 12072 specifies that when  the agency mission and program requirements call for federal facilities to  be located in urban areas, agencies must give first consideration to  locating in a central business area and adjacent areas of similar character.  Executive Order 13006 requires the federal government to utilize and  maintain, wherever operationally appropriate and economically prudent,  historic properties and districts, especially those located in the central  business area.
section_title: Agencies Generally Locate in Urban Areas and Lack Policies and Procedures for Considering RDA
paragraphs: In 1990, we reviewed whether federal agencies give rural areas first  priority in location decisions as required by RDA and whether any changes  in federal location policies were warranted. We reported that RDA had not  been an important factor in federal facility location decisions. In fiscal  year 1989, about 12 percent of federal civilian workers were located in  nonmetropolitan statistical areas. Agency officials attributed mission  requirements, the need to be in areas where the populations they serve are  located, political considerations, and budget pressures as reasons why  urban areas received more facilities than rural areas. Those agencies that  did locate in rural areas said it was more because they served rural  populations than because they were following the requirements of RDA.
We also reported that a growing number of private sector corporations  were moving to suburban and rural settings to take advantage of  incentives offered by localities to attract jobs and the ability to separate  functions resulting from changes in telecommunications technology. We  concluded that there were multiple laws and regulations guiding federal  agencies in selecting facility locations, but they do not always provide for  consideration of the best financial interest of the government as a factor in  the decision-making process. We recommended that GSA develop a more  consistent and cost-conscious governmentwide location policy that would  require agencies, in meeting their needs, to maximize competition and  select sites that offer the best overall value considering such factors as  real estate and labor costs.
In 2001, we performed follow-up work on our 1990 report including  identifying what functions lend themselves to being located in rural areas.  We reported that since our 1990 study, federal agencies continued to  locate for the most part in higher cost, urban areas. The percentage of  federal employees located in nonmetropolitan statistical areas in 2000  remained virtually unchanged from 1989, at about 12 percent. Eight of the  13 cabinet agencies we surveyed had no formal RDA policy, and there was  little evidence that agencies considered RDA’s requirements when locating  new federal facilities. Further, GSA had not developed a cost-conscious,  governmentwide location policy as we recommended in 1990 and the  definition of rural used in RDA was unclear.
We reported in 2001 that agencies chose urban areas for most (72 percent)  of the 115 federal sites acquired from fiscal year 1998 through fiscal year  2000. Agencies said they selected urban areas primarily because of the  need to be near agency clients and related government and private sector  facilities to accomplish their missions. The agencies that selected rural  areas said they did so because of lower real estate costs. Agencies that  relocated operations tended to relocate within the same areas where they  were originally located, which were mainly urban areas; newly established  locations were almost equally divided between urban and rural areas.  Private sector companies surveyed said they select urban areas over rural  areas largely because of the need to be near a skilled labor force.
Agencies said the benefits of locating in urban areas were efficiency in  agency performance as a result of the ability to share existing facilities,  close proximity to other agency facilities and employees, and accessibility  to public transportation. Agencies that chose rural sites said that benefits  included close proximity to agency support facilities, improved building  and data security, and better access to major transportation arteries, such  as interstate highways. Barriers reported for urban sites included the lack  of building security and expansion space. For rural areas, barriers  included the lack of public transportation, location far from other agency  facilities, and insufficient infrastructure for high-speed  telecommunications.
The functions that were located predominantly at urban sites during 1998  through 2000 were loans/grants/benefits administration processing,  inspection and auditing, and health and medical services. The functions  that were located predominantly in rural areas in that period were  research and development, supply and storage, automated data  processing, and finance and accounting. Some functions, such as law  enforcement, were placed in both urban and rural areas, although this  particular function was located more often at urban sites.
For our 2001 study, we contracted with a private sector consultant, John  D. Dorchester, Jr., of The Dorchester Group, L.L.C., to assist us in a  number of tasks. One task was to identify functions the private sector  might locate in rural areas. The consultant identified the following  functions:    Accounting    Account representative    Appraisal/market research    Clerical/secretarial    Data processing    Distribution/warehousing    Education/training    Enforcement and quality control    Field service operations    Human resources and social services   Information technologies services    Legal support    Logistical support    Manufacturing and assembly offices    Operations centers    Printing and publishing    Records archiving    Repairs and servicing    Scientific studies and research and development    Technical functions and support    Telemarketing, order processing, and communications  We also asked our consultant to identify the benefits and challenges  associated with rural areas for selected functions. (See table 1.)
Our July 2001 report suggested that Congress consider enacting legislation  to (1) require agencies to consider real estate, labor, and other operational  costs and local incentives when making a location decision; and (2) clarify  the meaning of “rural area” in RDA. We also recommended that GSA revise  its guidance to agencies to require agencies making location decisions to  consider real estate, labor, and other costs and local incentives. In  addition, we recommended that GSA require agencies subject to its  authority to provide a written statement that they had given first priority to  locating in a rural area and to justify their decision if they did not select a  rural area. We also recommended that GSA define rural area until  Congress amended RDA to define the term. Subsequent to our report, GSA  took action on our recommendations; actions which are described in  greater detail below.
section_title: Policies to Consider RDA Have Been Strengthened but Procedures are Still Lacking
paragraphs: The Fiscal Year 2002 Treasury and General Government Appropriations  Act, Public Law 107-67, required the inspectors general (IG) of  departments and agencies to submit to the appropriations committees a  report detailing what policies and procedures are in place requiring them  to give first priority to the location of new offices and other facilities in  rural areas, as directed by RDA. These reports were due in May 2002. A  similar requirement was included in the Consolidated Appropriations  Resolution for Fiscal Year 2003, Public Law 108-7. However, because the  IGs had until August 20, 2003, to report on this, we did not have the  opportunity to review those reports required by Public Law 108-7 for this  testimony.
GSA’s May 2, 2002, response to the Public Law 107-67 requirement  described the policies that GSA had in place to give first priority to the  location of new offices and other facilities in rural areas, as well as what  actions GSA had taken in response to our July 2001 recommendations.  GSA took the following actions:    The Federal Management Regulation, section 102-83.30, was revised to  require federal agencies to also consider real estate, labor, and other  operational costs and applicable incentives in addition to mission and  program requirements when locating space, effective December 13, 2002.
The Public Buildings Service Customer Guide to Real Property was  revised to require agencies to provide GSA with a written statement  affirming that they have given first priority to locating in a rural area as  required by RDA when requesting space from GSA.
The Federal Management Regulation, section 102-83.55, effective  December 13, 2002, was revised to define “rural area” as a city, town, or  unincorporated area that has a population of 50,000 inhabitants or fewer,  other than an urban area immediately adjacent to a city, town, or  unincorporated area that has a population in excess of 50,000 inhabitants.
GSA published a recommendation in the Federal Register on January 21,  2003, that federal agencies with their own statutory authority to acquire  real property use the above definition of rural area and demonstrate  compliance with RDA by including a written statement in their files  affirming that they have given first priority to the location of new offices  and other federal facilities in rural areas.
These actions responded to all of our July 2001 recommendations with the  exception of one. We had recommended that GSA require agencies, when  selecting a new facility location, to provide a written statement that they  had given first priority to locating in a rural area. If a rural area was not  selected, agencies were to provide a justification for the decision. GSA’s  new guidance does not require agencies not selecting a rural area to justify  their decision.
We also reviewed the IG reports detailing the policies and procedures in  place regarding giving first priority to rural areas as required by Public  Law 107-67 for the Departments of Energy, the Interior, Justice,  Transportation, and Veterans Affairs. According to GSA data, these  agencies, along with the Department of Defense and the United States  Postal Service, have the largest amount of owned and leased building  square footage in the federal government. We excluded sites acquired by  the Defense Department because it has so much vacant space available at  its bases nationally that it has no choice but to give priority consideration  to its existing vacant space when locating new or existing operations. We  excluded Postal Service sites because the Postal Service advised us it had  little or no discretion in deciding where to locate most of its facilities in  that they needed to be in specific locations to serve customers or near  airports. In addition, the Postal Service is exempt from federal laws  relating to contracts and property and it has authority to acquire space  independently of GSA.
The IG reports for the five departments said that only two departments  had written policies regarding RDA, and only one of these two had issued  procedures. However, the departments said that in spite of not having  written policies or procedures, they had located many of their facilities in  rural areas.
The Energy IG reported that Energy had no specific policies or  procedures, but it reported that a preponderance of the department’s  activities are located in remote parts of the United States.
The Interior IG reported that Department of the Interior and the U.S.  Geological Survey, 1 of 35 bureaus and offices in the Department of the  Interior, had policies regarding RDA. However, neither the department nor  any of the bureaus and offices had procedures to ensure compliance with  the policies. The IG reported that of the 270 locations established in the  last 5 years, 197 (73 percent) were located in rural areas. The IG said that  the decision to place facilities in rural areas was influenced by Interior’s  mission rather than by the requirements of RDA.
The Justice IG said Justice had no specific policy or procedures on RDA,  but department bureaus, offices, boards, and divisions were instructed to  implement all applicable federal regulations. The Justice IG cited the GSA  regulation requiring agencies to give first priority to the location of new  offices and other facilities in rural areas. The IG said it relies upon GSA for  most of its space needs, and GSA is responsible for compliance with RDA.  Further, the IG said the locations of its facilities are ultimately determined  by mission and operational requirements, which predominantly require  locations in major metropolitan areas. For example, U.S. Attorneys Offices  and the U.S. Marshals Service need to be located near federal courthouses  to accomplish their missions. The Bureau of Prisons is located in rural  areas to decrease land costs and increase security. The Immigration and  Naturalization Service is stationed in both urban and rural areas along the  borders of the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the  Drug Enforcement Administration are law enforcement agencies, and their  missions and operational requirements determine the location of facilities.  The IG also pointed out that the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s data  center is located in a rural part of West Virginia.
The Department of Transportation policy on RDA was the most complete  of the agencies we reviewed in that Transportation has procedures that  require a discussion of the considerations given to rural areas and requires  an explanation if a rural location is not selected. However, the  Transportation IG said the department does not provide any guidance on  decision criteria or factors to be considered, such as cost-benefit analysis,  access to public transportation, or effects of relocation on the workforce.  Of 33 site location decisions made from October 1997 through February  2002, the Transportation IG found that 24 had no documentation in the  files to indicate compliance with RDA.
According to the Veterans Affairs IG, the department had no written policy  or procedures regarding RDA. The IG said priority is given to locating new  Veterans Health Administration medical care facilities in locations  convenient to veteran patients and to collocating Veterans Benefits  Administration regional offices on Veterans Affairs medical center  grounds.
section_title: Federal Telework Efforts are Improving but Limited
paragraphs: Telework could be used to allow federal workers who live in rural areas to  work in or near their homes, at least on a part-time basis. For over a  decade, telework, also called telecommuting or flexiplace, has gained  popularity because it offers the potential to benefit employers, including  the federal government, by reducing traffic congestion and pollution,  improving the recruitment and retention of employees, increasing  productivity, and reducing the need for office space. Employees can  benefit from reduced commuting time; lower costs for transportation,  parking, food, and clothing; and a better balance of work and family  demands, which could improve morale and quality of life. Other benefits  might include removing barriers for those with disabilities who want to be  part of the work force and helping agencies maintain continuity of  operations in emergency operations.
Congress has enacted legislation that has promoted the use of telework in  several ways, including authorizing GSA telework centers, requiring each  agency to consider using alternate workplace arrangements when  considering whether to acquire space for use by employees, requiring each  agency to establish a policy under which eligible employees may  participate in telecommuting to the maximum extent possible, and  encouraging the deployment of high-speed Internet access in rural areas.  Congress has provided both GSA and OPM with lead roles and shared  responsibilities for advancing telework in the federal government.
Under the telework centers program, GSA supports 15 centers located in  the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. These centers make alternative  office environments available to federal employees to perform their work  at a site closer to their homes.
According to a recent OPM report, federal agencies reported in November  2002 that about 90,000 employees, or about 5 percent of the workforce,  were teleworking, compared with about 74,500, or 4.2 percent, reported in  2001. OPM reported that about 625,300 employees, or 35 percent of the  federal workforce, were eligible to telework in 2002, and 68.5 percent of  the total eligible federal workforce had been offered the opportunity to  telework. In 2002, 14.4 percent of eligible employees teleworked. OPM  reported that the rise in the number of teleworkers was due to a number  of factors, including intensified efforts by agencies to encourage telework  and a decline in management resistance to telework after training and  education efforts. OPM did not report on the number of federal workers  who resided in rural areas who were able to telework. We did not verify  the accuracy of the OPM data.
OPM reported a change in the ranking of major barriers to telework from  an April 2001 survey of agencies to the November 2002 survey. As shown  in table 2, security became the main barrier in 2002, replacing management  resistance, which had been the main barrier in 2001.
In July 2003 we reported on the federal government’s progress in  implementing telework programs. We found that although OPM and GSA  offer services and resources to encourage telework in the government,  they have not fully coordinated their efforts and have had difficulty in  resolving their conflicting views on telework-related matters. As a result,  agencies have not always received consistent, inclusive, unambiguous  support and guidance related to telework. We recommended that OPM and  GSA improve the coordination of their efforts to provide federal agencies  with enhanced support and guidance related to telework and to assist  agencies in implementing 25 key practices we identified. After we  discussed the issues created by the lack of coordination between GSA and  OPM, a GSA official indicated that GSA and OPM would commit to  improved coordination. The 25 key practices we identified by reviewing  telework-related literature and guidelines that federal agencies should  implement in developing telework programs are listed in table 3.
We found that the four agencies we reviewed for that report, the  Departments of Education and Veterans Affairs, GSA, and OPM, had  implemented 7 of the 25 practices and had generally implemented the 5  practices relating to technology. Nevertheless, technological issues, such  as not being able to access to high-speed Internet connections, could have  a detrimental effect on the ability of some federal workers in rural areas to  take advantage of telework.
CRS reported this year on the ability of users to take advantage of high- speed, or broadband, Internet access. CRS reported that although many,  but not all, offices and businesses now have Internet broadband access, a  remaining challenge is providing broadband over “the last mile” to  consumers in their homes. Congress has required the Federal  Communications Commission (FCC) to determine whether advanced  telecommunications capability is being deployed to all Americans in a  reasonable and timely fashion and, if not, to take immediate action to  accelerate deployment by removing barriers to infrastructure investment  and by promoting competition in the telecommunications market.
In August 2000, FCC concluded that advanced telecommunications  capability was being deployed in a reasonable and timely fashion overall,  although rural, minority, low-income, inner city, tribal, and U.S. territory  consumers were particularly vulnerable to not receiving service in a timely  fashion. In February 2002, FCC concluded that the deployment of  advanced telecommunications capability to all Americans was reasonable  and timely and investment in infrastructure for most markets remained  strong, even though the pace of investment trends had slowed. According  to CRS, about 85 percent of households have access to broadband.
CRS also reported that the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and  Technology concluded in December 2002 that although government  should not intervene in the telecommunications marketplace, it should  apply existing policies and promote government broadband applications  and telework, among other actions. CRS also noted that much broadband  legislation introduced in the 107th Congress sought to provide tax credits,  grants, and/or loans for broadband deployment, primarily in rural and/or  low income areas. It also noted that Public Law 107-171, the Farm Security  and Rural Investment Act of 2002, authorized a loan and loan guarantee  program to entities for facilities and equipment providing broadband  service in eligible rural communities. The purpose of this legislation is to  accelerate broadband deployment in rural areas.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy to  respond to any questions you or other Members of the Committee may  have at this time.
section_title: Contacts and Acknowledgments
paragraphs: For further information on this testimony, please contact Bernard L. Ungar  on (202) 512-2834 or at ungarb@gao.gov. Key contributions to this  testimony were made by John Baldwin, Frederick Lyles, Susan Michal- Smith, and Bill Dowdal.
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