Although most of the Department of Energy’s (DOE) real and personal property is under the control of its contractors, several DOE offices have the responsibility for managing this property. Overall, the office of Field Management is responsible for real property management and field oversight, and the office of Procurement and Assistance Management is responsible for personal property. In addition, the Office of Worker and Community Transition directs various efforts regarding the sale or disposition of surplus assets and compiles reports for the Congress on unneeded real and personal property and pilot projects relative to its overall responsibilities. In addition, DOE’s program offices, such as the office of Defense Programs, are responsible for declaring property excess to their missions’ needs. One program office, Environmental Management, is responsible for the cleanup of contaminated excess property before its disposal. DOE’s field offices oversee the contractors’ efforts to manage the property and maintain the property records. In its fiscal year 1997 financial statements, DOE reported that it held property, plant, and equipment valued at $20.8 billion—$12.0 billion of real property and $5.2 billion of personal property, with construction work in progress, natural resources, and software accounting for the remaining $3.6 billion. The property amounts include only those items costing $25,000 or more. Items that cost less than $25,000 are expensed for financial statement purposes; DOE contractors held an additional $3.4 billion of such personal property at the end of fiscal year 1997. In DOE’s fiscal year 1997 Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act report accompanying its financial statements, the Department indicated that it had extensive inventories of real and personal property that is no longer necessary and that disposal of this property could save future storage, security, and maintenance costs. In addition, DOE reported problems with the management of personal property. For example, the Rocky Flats Field Office in Colorado identified problems that included a contractor’s inadequate property records systems, incomplete inventory records, and requests made for new work space while comparable space at the site was being designated as excess. (See the bibliography for a list of GAO and Inspector General reports on DOE property management issues.) The federal property management regulations specify that executive agencies should dispose of real and personal property that is excess to their needs and include guidelines for determining when real property is unneeded or underutilized. However, neither the federal regulations nor DOE’s guidance includes similar specific guidelines for determining when personal property is excess. In the absence of criteria in the federal regulations, it is left up to each agency to develop guidelines. DOE implements the overall federal regulations for its real property and has issued supplemental regulations for managing personal property. However, DOE’s regulations for personal property include no criteria for determining when property is excess. The federal property management regulations for the utilization and disposal of real property state that each executive agency should survey the real property under its control at least annually to identify property that is not needed, is underutilized, or is not being put to optimum use. The regulations also include a list of 15 guidelines to be used by executive agencies in these annual reviews, including whether operating and maintenance costs are excessive compared with those of other similar facilities, whether all of the property is essential for program requirements, and whether federal use of the property would be justified if a rental charge equivalent to commercial rates were added to the program costs for the occupants. Federal agencies are to maintain their inventory of real property at the absolute minimum consistent with economical and efficient operations and promptly report to the General Services Administration any real property determined to be excess. The regulations then describe the disposal process to be used for any property determined to be excess. At many of DOE’s facilities, the excess property is contaminated by radiation or other hazardous waste and must be cleaned up before the disposal process can begin. In addition to the federal property management regulations, DOE’s guidance on life cycle asset management requires the Department to use formal planning methods for real property, including a method to declare property excess. The guidance further defines “excess” as physical assets that are not required for DOE’s needs and for carrying out its missions but does not include any additional criteria for making that determination. According to officials in DOE’s office of Field Management, the field and program offices are to use the guidelines in the federal property management regulations in their planning process and in determining when real property is excess to their needs. Unlike for real property, neither the federal property management regulations nor DOE’s regulations and guidance include specific criteria for determining when personal property is excess. The federal property management regulations define excess personal property as that which is not required for an agency’s needs and the discharge of its responsibilities. The regulations further state that when property is determined to no longer be required for the “purpose of the appropriation from which it was purchased or for the use to which it has been applied,” an executive agency should reassign the property within its activities. DOE’s supplemental property management regulations state that management practices are to ensure the best possible use of personal property and that supplies and equipment should generally be limited to those items essential for carrying out DOE’s programs efficiently. DOE’s regulations also state that DOE offices and designated contractors are responsible for continuously surveying property under their control to ensure maximum use and promptly identify property that is excess to their needs. In addition, for laboratory and research equipment, the regulations require a management walk-through of all operating and storage areas at least every 2 years to identify idle and unneeded personal property. Equipment identified as idle and unneeded is to be made available to others or listed as excess. However, there are no guidelines to be used in making these determinations. After property has been determined to be excess, the regulations state that the property must first be screened for reuse or transfer to others before offering it for sale to the public. Personal property is first screened for reuse within DOE, then for transfers to the Math and Science Education Gift Program (under Executive Order 12821) and to the Community Reuse Organizations/Economic Development program (under P.L. 103-160). Subsequent steps include making property available to educational institutions such as colleges and universities under the Used Energy Related Laboratory Equipment Grant Program (P.L. 101-510) and to other federal agencies and state donation programs. Personal property that remains after the screening process can be sold to the public or discarded. DOE’s recently revised guidance on property records requires contractors to record property already identified as excess. For real property, the information contained in the property records could be used to determine when additional real property may be excess. However, for personal property, without further guidance, these records will not provide information to help identify other personal property that is no longer needed. DOE currently maintains approximately 22,500 facilities, including buildings, production facilities, and other structures. Property records for these facilities are maintained in DOE’s Facilities Information Management System and contain detailed information on each facility. The field offices are responsible for entering all data into the system, which was implemented as DOE’s agencywide database. This database contains information such as the location, size, age, and acquisition cost of the property and the percentage of a facility being used. It also reflects building status as determined by the DOE field offices, such as operational, standby, or shutdown pending decontamination and decommissioning. In July 1998, DOE added a new requirement to its real property records system by adding an “excess indicator” to show whether a property has been determined to be excess. In addition, there is a new requirement to include “deferred maintenance” costs for each facility, which are those costs necessary to restore a facility to its operating condition. Employing the federal property management guidelines, DOE field offices and program managers can use information in the database, such as the percentage of a facility being used and its deferred maintenance costs, to identify other facilities that may be excess. DOE’s contractors hold approximately 95 percent of the Department’s personal property. Of the approximately 744,000 items of personal property held by the contractors, about 89,000 items cost $25,000 or more; the remaining 655,000 items cost less than $25,000 each and are expensed for the purposes of DOE’s financial statements. Contractors are required to maintain property control records for every accountable item of personal property and individual item records for each sensitive item (i.e., those items of personal property considered susceptible to being stolen, such as portable computers or portable power tools). A contractor’s property records system must be approved by a DOE contracting office. DOE’s May 1998 property management regulations specify the minimum requirements for a property records system. For example, the individual property record for each item should include such information as a description, acquisition cost, physical location, and the status of the item. Status is defined as “active, storage, excess, etc.,” but no further explanation of these terms is given. However, in the absence of criteria, the information in these records such as date of purchase and cost do not aid in determining what personal property is excess. According to DOE officials, the Department faces challenges in identifying and disposing of excess property. The challenges cited by DOE officials include a lack of funding for the decontamination and decommissioning of excess real property and the existence of few incentives for program and field offices to identify property as excess. Nevertheless, field and program offices have made some innovative efforts to dispose of excess real and personal property.