Federal Land Asset Inventory Reform (FLAIR) Act of 2015

S. 1225 creates a single inventory of federal property.

Background

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has determined that the federal government wastes about $2 billion a year maintaining some 77,000 unneeded federal buildings. Another GAO study estimated that the Bureau of Land Management is holding 3.4 million acres that have been identified for disposal through the agency’s land use planning process – mostly because the government inventories buildings and land parcels though a host of inaccurate, out-of-date tracking systems. The Department of the Interior uses 26 different financial systems and more than 100 different property tracking systems. The Department of Defense maintains more than 300 property management systems. And the General Services Administration’s system, which is used by 30 different agencies, has been called “unreliable and of limited usefulness” by GAO.

Key Provisions

• Creates a single, multipurpose, and uniform computer database at the federal level.
• Seeks an “inventory of inventories,” so that duplicate and wasteful activities can be identified and eliminated.
• Provides all agencies owning federal real property an improved accounting of their land assets to help with environmental cleanups, land utilization, and the disposal of property that is no longer needed.
• Proposes to allow states to use the federal system on a 50 percent cost-share basis.
• Requires that the new database be searchable on the Internet, but prevents the disclosure of parcels or buildings that would impair national security or homeland defense.