Reminder concerning FEDS and update on SAVES EHB Online Screening of Available/Excess Property

In Reply Refer To:
Mail Stop 210

MEMORANDUM
September 13, 2000

To:    All U.S. Geological Survey Employees

From:  Melissa Courtney
       Property Management Officer

Subject:  Reminder concerning FEDS  and update on SAVES EHB Online 
Screening of Available/Excess Property
 
On April 4, 2000, a memorandum was transmitted to all U.S. Geological 
Survey (USGS) employees who then had access to e-mail providing 
information on the Department's Screen Available and Exchange Sale 
Electronic Handbook (SAVES EHB) and the General Services Administration's (GSA's) 
Governmentwide Federal Disposal System (FEDS) on-line available and excess 
property applications.

Our memorandum included a reminder that intradepartmental available and 
Federal excess property must be the first sources of supply in accordance 
with Departmental and Federal regulations and Federal law.  To comply with 
these requirements within the USGS, all requisitions for procurement 
action are now being reviewed by Property Management offices at 
Headquarters, Denver, and Menlo Park.  However, we indicated that as part 
of the ongoing effort to streamline administrative processes, we would 
soon be eliminating the Property Management requisition review requirement 
due to the recent availability of these two easy-to-use web-based 
available and excess property applications.  After COB November 17, 2000, 
requisitions should no longer be sent to 
Property Management offices.

So that the benefits of SAVES EHB and of FEDS (described below) will be 
available to the maximum number of USGS employees, at least one primary 
and one alternate screener should be registered in FEDS with "screen and 
freeze" rights at each USGS district, subdistrict, science center, 
observatory, and field location as soon as possible.  If you have 
responsibility for supervising or managing a district, subdistrict, 
science center, observatory, and/or field location, please take immediate 
steps to register a primary and alternate FEDS 
screener if this has not already been accomplished!  Pre-registration is 
not 
required for screening available property on SAVES EHB .

FEDS is maintained by GSA and enables registered users either to just 
screen or to both screen and freeze excess property government-wide; a 
profile is set up for each registered FEDS user which controls whether 
that user has "screen only" or "screen and freeze" rights.  With FEDS, 
registered users can also track the excess property reported for 
disposition by their own offices as those reports proceed through the 
disposition process.  Until now, most USGS activities could only view 
property available from other USGS and Department of the Interior (DOI) 
activities or track their own excess reports during the first month of the 
disposition process while they were still being screened exclusively 
within DOI. 

To register for FEDS, open and print the "FEDS FORM" Program Support page: 
http://www.usgs.gov:8888/ops/oms/fedregfm.html or the attached file:  
fedregfm.htm.  Type or carefully print all 
required information.  Be sure to check whether you require "SEARCH" 
(only) or "SEARCH/FREEZE" rights in FEDS.  Due to a change in procedures 
since our memorandum of April 2, 2000, FEDS passwords are now posted by 
each user on-line so you should NOT include your password with your FEDS 
application.  Instructions on how to 
post your FEDS password on-line can be found in the correspondence from 
GSA, Revised logon instructions from the General Services Administration (GSA) 
affecting new and changed passwords for the Federal Disposal System (FEDS) 
effective and mandatory as of Monday, July 24, 2000, 
http://www.usgs.gov:8888/ops/oms/fedsonin.doc.

Mail the FEDS application form to the Bureau Level National Utilization 
Officer (NUO), Daniel M. Weiss:
Daniel M. Weiss
U.S. Geological Survey
Branch of Property Management
MS 210 National Center
12201 Sunrise Valley Drive
Reston, VA  20192

Step by step instructions for screening records in FEDS and additional 
important information relating to FEDS are detailed in the "Acquisition 
from Available and Excess Sources" Program Support Intranet page:  
http://www.usgs.gov:8888/ops/oms/pxsacq.html.

As many of you are aware, SAVES EHB was taken off line for reprogramming. 
It is scheduled to be brought on-line by COB, Friday, September 15, 2000. 
USGS employees will not have to pre-register to screen records in SAVES 
EHB.  Detailed information and instructions on using SAVES EHB are on the 
"Acquisition from Available and Excess Sources" Program Support Intranet 
page: http://www.usgs.gov:8888/ops/oms/pxsacq.html.

SAVES EHB is still in a developmental stage.  Daniel M. Weiss, of the 
Property Management Branch, is a member of the Department's SAVES EHB User 
Group which will be preparing the specifications for future releases.  If 
you have any comments or suggestions or experience any difficulties either 
with FEDS or SAVES EHB, please contact Dan by E-Mail {dweiss@usgs.gov}, 
by VoiceMail {(703)648-7325}, or by FAX {(703)648-7527}.




Melissa Courtney
Property Management Branch
USGS National Center, MS 210
Reston, VA  20192
(703) 648-7322; FAX (703) 648-7527