GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
The General Services Administration (GSA) was established by section 101 of the Federal Property
and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40
U.S.C.A. § 751). The GSA sets policy for and
manages government property and records.More
specifically, GSA duties include the construction
and operation of buildings; procurement and dis-
tribution of supplies; utilization and disposal of
property; management of transportation, traffic,
and communications; and management of the
government’s automatic data processing resources
program. Like a large business conglomerate, the
GSA conducts business in many different areas
and operates on different levels of organization:
the central Washington, D.C., office, 11 regional
offices, and field activities.
The GSA is a large organization, the struc-
ture of which consists of several tiers of admin-
istrators, offices, bureaus, and support agencies.
The first level in the hierarchy of the GSA con-
sists of the administrator, the deputy adminis-
trator, and the chief of staff. The administrator is
the principal director for the entire organiza-
tion, assisted by a deputy and chief of staff.
The second tier in the GSA organization
consists of four main offices: the Federal Supply
Service, Federal Technology Service, Public
Buildings Service, and the Office of Government-
wide Policy. These four offices oversee the
majority of the agency’s work and collectively
form the public face of the GSA.
The Federal Supply Service (FSS) provides
low-price, quality goods and services to federal
departments and agencies. Its services include
governmentwide programs for the management
of transportation, mail, and travel; audits of
transportation; management of a federal fleet;
and management of aircraft owned or operated
by civilian agencies in support of government
missions.
The FSS provides over $25 billion annually
in common-use goods and services to federal
agencies. It emphasizes purchasing environmen-
tally safe products, and services and supplies
over 3,000 environmentally oriented products to
the federal government, such as retread tires,
shipping boxes made with recycled materials,
and water-saving devices.
The service also coordinates a worldwide
program for the management of government
property, through the Office of Property Dis-
posal, which is responsible for allocating excess
PERSONAL PROPERTY among the agencies and
donating or disposing of property through pub-
lic sales.
The FSS Interagency Fleet Management Pro-
gram controls approximately 185,000 vehicles,
purchasing over 58,000 new vehicles annually.
The FSS also acts as the government’s civilian
freight manager by providing rating and routing
services to customer agencies and overnight
delivery of small packages at reduced rates, and
managing the postpayment audit of freight and
passenger transportation bills.
Information Technology Service The Fed-
eral Technology Service (FTS) directs govern-
mentwide programs for automated data
processing and local TELECOMMUNICATIONS
equipment and services, coordinates programs
for federal records and information manage-
ment practices, and provides information to the
