Support for the Deferred Maintenance and Capital Improvement Budget Initiative Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 09:49:33 -0500 To: "A - Division Chief and Staff", "B - Branch Chiefs and Offices", "DC - All District Chiefs" From: "Robert M. Hirsch, Chief Hydrologist, USGS" (by way of Joanne C. Taylor) Subject: Support for the Deferred Maintenance and Capital Improvement Budget Initiative Cc: " , WRD Archive File, Reston, VA" , "Carlyn V West, Program Analyst, Reston, VA" In Reply Refer To: Mail Stop 405 MEMORANDUM June 3, 1998 To: District Chiefs Chief, Branch of Regional Research - ER, CR, WR Chief, Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility Chief, National Water Quality Laboratory Chief, Yucca Mountain Project Chief, Research Hydrologist, CVO From: Robert M. Hirsch (signed) Chief Hydrologist Subject: Support for the Deferred Maintenance and Capital Improvement Budget Initiative The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been given the opportunity to participate in the Department of the Interior's (DOI) Federal Budget requests for maintenance and capital improvements. I want to strongly encourage you to actively participate in our efforts to gather the data that will allow us to be a major player in the upcoming budget cycles. The DOI budget for maintenance has been a major source of funding for many of the other bureaus. Beginning in Fiscal Year 2000, the Assistant Secretary, Policy, Management, and Budget, has requested that the USGS paticipate in the maintenance initiative. In fact, for the first time, DOI guidance specifically recognizes maintenance needs in its guidance document. References are made to "stream and flood forecast gauges, mercury manometers... and observation wells." With the Department, Office of Management and Budget, and the Congress looking with favor on efforts to address maintenance and improvement of government facilities, the time is right for us to identify our requirements. If our future budget efforts are to be successful, we need to create a complete inventory of outstanding deferred maintenance and capital improvements. Collection of this data will be through a web page that will be made available to your office beginning June 19. In preparation for the data entry phase, I want to encourage you and your staffs to take the time to identify as many opportunities as possible for submitting projects that will improve your district or office's infrastructure. We appreciate that the budget climate over the past 10 years has provided little funding for maintenance or facility improvements. This DOI initiative, however, offers a potential solution to past funding shortfalls if we make the effort now to develop a comprehensive project base. The information you submit will be entered into the DOI's 5-Year Plan for Maintenance, and will form the base for future budget requests. To strengthen our position, we are attempting to identify and estimate the cost of as much of Water Resources Division's (WRD) backlog of deferred maintenance and capital improvement as possible for all sites (USGS data collection stations or facilities) regardless of funding sources. Major additions to the list in future years may be very difficult to justify. To permit the participation and review of this office, regional offices and the discipline offices, I have requested summary reports on the project submittals beginning June 23. I appreciate that we have not been given much time to complete this task, and I would like to thank you in advance for your efforts in helping WRD identify its deferred maintenance and capital improvements needs. More detailed information on WRD's plans to collect deferred maintenance and capital improvement project data can be found in an email memorandum to you from the Assistant Chief Hydrologist for Operations, dated May 27, 1998, subject the same as above. If you have any questions, please contact William Shope at (703) 648-5364 or send email to . cc: Distribution A Data Chiefs Chief, BOS Robert Mason Cheryl Nelson Carlyn West WRD Chron BOS Chron *************************************************************** * Robert M. Hirsch rhirsch@usgs.gov * * 409 National Center 703-648-5215 * * U.S. Geological Survey fax 703-648-5002 * * Reston, VA 20192 * ***************************************************************