Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the economic and compliance issues associated with two proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations to clean up polluted waters, focusing on: (1) the reasonableness of EPA's economic analyses for the two proposed regulations; and (2) whether EPA's determinations under the Unfunded Mandated Reform Act of 1995 and the Regulatory Flexibility Act were adequately supported."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Under the public benefit conveyance (PBC) program, state or local governments and certain nonprofits can obtain surplus real property for public uses. The General Services Administration (GSA) has responsibility for the program but has delegated authority to the Department of Defense (DOD) for properties disposed of as part of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process. Several "sponsoring agencies" ensure that properties are used as agreed to by grantees. GAO (1) determined the number, types, and locations of PBC properties disposed of in fiscal years 2000 through 2004, (2) assessed efforts to ensure that the properties are used as agreed to, and (3) identified any challenges facing agencies and grantees."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Major changes in the mailing industry have reinforced the need for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to reduce costs and increase efficiency. In its 2002 Transformation Plan, USPS proposed doing so by realigning its mail processing network. The objectives of this requested report are to (1) describe the status of the initiatives USPS has developed for realignment; (2) evaluate how the planning, impacts, and results of these initiatives align with realignment goals; and (3) evaluate USPS's communication practices with stakeholders in making realignment decisions."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the establishment and operation of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), focusing on: (1) system availability and responsiveness; (2) type of information available under NICS compared to that available to state and local law enforcement agencies prior to NICS; (3) advantages and disadvantages of NICS background checks being conducted by designated state agencies rather than the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); and (4) the extent to which transactions under NICS have resulted in firearms being sold to persons ineligible to possess a firearm."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Over the last 20 years, GAO has compiled a large body of work on courthouse construction and federal real property. The General Services Administration (GSA) owns federal courthouses and funds related expenses from its Federal Buildings Fund (FBF)--a revolving fund used to finance GSA real property services, including the construction and maintenance of federal facilities under GSA control. The judiciary pays rent to GSA for the use of these courthouses, and the proportion of the judiciary's budget that goes to rent has increased as its space requirements have grown. In December 2004, the judiciary requested a $483 million permanent, annual exemption from rent payments to GSA to address budget shortfalls. In this testimony, GAO (1) summarizes its previous work on courthouse construction and (2) provides information on FBF and GAO's ongoing work on the federal judiciary's request for a permanent, annual rent exemption of $483 million from rent to GSA."

A statement of record issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Terrorist attacks on U.S. chemical facilities could damage public health and the economy. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) coordinates federal efforts to protect these facilities from attacks. GAO was asked to provide a statement for the record based on its report Homeland Security: DHS Is Taking Steps to Enhance Security at Chemical Facilities, but Additional Authority Is Needed (GAO-06-150, January 27, 2006), GAO reviewed (1) DHS's actions to develop a strategy to protect chemical plants, assist with the industry's security efforts, and coordinate with other federal agencies, (2) industry security initiatives, (3) DHS's authorities and the need for additional security legislation, and (4) stakeholders' views on any requirements to use safer technologies."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on heroin production, focusing on: (1) the reason for the discrepancy between the published production estimates of Afghanistan's 1999 opium poppy crop by the U.S. government and the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP); (2) whether Afghanistan heroin is being shipped to the United States; and (3) whether the Netherlands is a transshipment site for drugs destined for the United States."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2005, federal and Native American lands supplied about 35 percent of the oil and 26 percent of the natural gas produced in the United States. Companies that lease these lands to produce oil and natural gas pay royalties to the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) based on a percentage (the royalty rate) of the cash value of the oil and natural gas produced and sold. As an alternative to collecting cash royalty payments, MMS has the option to take a percentage of the actual oil and natural gas produced (referred to as "taking royalties in kind") and selling it themselves or using it for other purposes, such as filling the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). MMS reported collecting $7.4 billion in fiscal year 2001 and $8 billion in fiscal year 2005 in cash royalty payments and in revenue from its own royalty-in-kind sales of oil and natural gas. While these total royalty revenues increased by about 8 percent from 2001 to 2005, oil and natural gas prices rose substantially more--about 90 percent for oil and 30 percent for natural gas. Consequently, Congress …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Centennial of Flight Commission was created in November to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. The Commission is to provide recommendations and advice to the President, Congress, and federal agencies on the most effective ways to encourage and promote national and international participation and sponsorships in commemoration of the centennial of powered flight. All 156 of the Commission's recorded obligations and expenditures during fiscal year 2001 were supported by documentation that was approved by management. The Commission recorded no donations, user fees, or in-kind donations for fiscal year 2001. The Commission's financial records for fiscal year 2001 contained some minor errors that went unnoticed due to a lack of complete records being maintained by the Commission, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration which provide administrative support to the Commission."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) is home to the spot cheddar cheese market, which impacts the prices of virtually all cheese traded in the United States, producer milk prices, and milk futures contracts. The spot cheese market, formerly the National Cheese Exchange (NCE) in Wisconsin, has been and continues to be the subject of concerns about price manipulation. GAO was asked to examine (1) the market's structure and ongoing concerns about price manipulation; (2) market oversight and efforts to address potential manipulation; and (3) how the market impacts federal milk pricing. In response, GAO compared the markets at NCE and CME, analyzed trading data, collected information about the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) oversight, and met with industry participants, academics, and agency officials."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1982 the Supreme Court ruled that states and school districts cannot deny education to illegal alien children residing here. Issues in estimating the costs of providing education to them are of interest because (1) policy discussions concerning illegal immigration often focus on cost impacts; (2) potential costs are borne mostly at the state and local levels; and (3) the Congress could authorize federal reimbursement for benefits provided to illegal aliens, based on estimated state costs or numbers of illegal aliens. The foreign-born population is growing and is concentrated in certain states; the illegal immigrant component is thought to be substantial. Concerns about education costs may reflect "squeezed" state and local budgets, rising school enrollments, and overcrowded schools. To address the potential for estimating the costs of educating illegal alien schoolchildren, this report (1) identifies major government sources of relevant data, (2) describes a Census Bureau plan for developing new information, and (3) outlines costestimation approaches. GAO provided a draft of this report to the National Center for Education Statistics, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Census Bureau. The agencies informed GAO they had no …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began operations in March 2003, it has faced the daunting task of bringing together 22 diverse agencies and developing an integrated financial management system to provide timely, reliable, and useful financial information. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether DHS has fully developed plans for implementing and/or migrating to an integrated departmentwide financial management system, (2) the potential usefulness of the work products received for the funds spent on the financial modernization effort, and (3) going forward, how DHS can incorporate best practices into its plans for migrating to an integrated departmentwide financial management system. GAO interviewed key DHS officials, reviewed relevant DHS policy and procedure documents, and analyzed work products related to the financial modernization effort."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. forces are conducting more complex operations, requiring increased interoperability between the military commands, services, and other organizations. Department of Defense (DOD) planning guidance calls for transforming military training by increasing the jointness in training. The overall intent of DOD's Training Transformation Program is to assure commanders that forces deployed to their theater are not experiencing joint operations for the first time. Therefore, the program's strategic goals focus on providing joint training that meets commanders' needs and links to readiness assessments. Given the significant investment planned in the program and the impact it will have on the military, this report provides a program overview, including (1) DOD's overall management approach and status of key initiatives, and (2) some significant management challenges that have emerged early in the program's implementation."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a retirement savings and investment plan for federal workers, held approximately $210 billion in retirement assets for 3.7 million participants, as of February 2007. TSP is managed by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB). In light of questions about TSP oversight, we examined (1) the current structure for overseeing FRTIB, (2) how the statutorily defined fiduciary responsibilities of FRTIB compare to the responsibilities of private plan sponsors and how FRTIB fulfills its responsibilities, (3) how FRTIB's investment policies differ from those of private plan sponsors, and (4) FRTIB's statutory responsibilities to educate plan participants about TSP and other retirement issues and how these responsibilities compare with those of private and state and local government employee plan sponsors."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The opportunity for employment is one of the most important magnets attracting illegal aliens to the United States. The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 established an employment eligibility verification process and a sanctions program for fining employers for noncompliance. Few modifications have been made to the verification process and sanctions program since 1986, and immigration experts state that a more reliable verification process and a strengthened worksite enforcement capacity are needed to help deter illegal immigration. In this testimony, GAO provides preliminary observations from its ongoing assessment of (1) the current employment verification process and (2) U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) priorities and resources for the worksite enforcement program and the challenges it faces in implementing that program."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) effort to modernize the nation's air traffic control (ATC) system has been listed by GAO as a high risk program for more than a decade now, due to systemic management and acquisition problems. Two relatively new organizations housed within FAA--the Air Traffic Organization (ATO) and the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO)--have been given the bulk of the responsibility for planning and implementing these modernization efforts. Congress created ATO to be a performance-based organization that would improve the culture, structure, and processes and improve accountability in the ATC modernization program. Congress created JPDO, made up of seven partner agencies, to coordinate the federal and nonfederal stakeholders necessary to plan a transition from the current air transportation system to the "next generation air transportation system" (NGATS). This testimony is based on GAO's recently completed and ongoing studies of the ATC modernization program. GAO provides information on (1) the status of ATO's efforts to implement processes and other initiatives aimed at efficiently managing and modernizing the current ATC system and (2) the status of JPDO's planning efforts and the key challenges that JPDO faces in …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) assists nearly 30,000 privately owned and operated multifamily properties to provide affordable housing for low and moderate income persons. HUD is responsible for ensuring that the owners of HUD-assisted properties provide housing that is decent, safe, sanitary, and in good repair. HUD began its Real Estate Assessment Center (REAC) in 1998 to inspect multifamily properties, and rate their condition. This report addresses whether: (1) HUD field offices are complying with the procedures HUD established to ensure that the physical deficiencies at these properties are corrected, (2) all physical deficiencies have been corrected at properties that HUD classified as repaired, and (3) HUD staff and property owners are meeting the Department's timeliness goals and requirements for addressing physical deficiencies. GAO found that HUD's field offices often did not follow the Department's procedures for ensuring that property owners are correcting all physical deficiencies. GAO visited properties that HUD said had been repaired and found that about half of them had not been corrected. Furthermore, HUD's staff and property owners are not meeting timeliness goals and requirements for addressing physical deficiencies."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) new rule on fee recovery. GAO noted that: (1) the final rule would implement for fiscal year (FY) 2000 section 6101 of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990; (2) it requires NRC to recover from its applicants and licensees approximately 100 percent of its budget authority, less amounts appropriated from the Nuclear Waste Fund; (3) for FY 2000, NRC must collect approximately $447 million through these fees; (4) two types of fees are assessed: (a) applicants and licensees are charged for specific services, such as inspections and licensing reviews, that are provided by the NRC; and (b) NRC assesses an annual fee to its licensees to recover generic costs that cannot be attributed to specific licensees; and (5) NRC complied with applicable requirements in promulgating the rule."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2002, the Coast Guard began a multiyear, $19 billion to $24 billion acquisition program to replace or modernize its fleet of deepwater aircraft and cutters, so called because they are capable of operating many miles off the coast. For several years now, the Coast Guard has been warning that the existing fleet--especially cutters--was failing at an unsustainable rate, and it began studying options for replacing or modernizing the fleet more rapidly. Faster replacement is designed to avoid some of the costs that might be involved in keeping aging assets running for longer periods. This testimony, which is based both on current and past GAO work, addresses several issues related to these considerations: (1) changes in the condition of deepwater legacy assets during fiscal years 2000 through 2004; (2) actions the Coast Guard has taken to maintain and upgrade deepwater legacy assets; and (3) management challenges the Coast Guard faces in acquiring new assets, especially if a more aggressive schedule is adopted."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Alaska Native corporations (ANC) were created to settle land claims with Alaska Natives and foster economic development. In 1986, legislation passed that allowed ANCs to participate in the Small Business Administration's (SBA) 8(a) program. Since then, Congress has extended special procurement advantages to 8(a) ANC firms, such as the ability to receive sole-source contracts for any dollar amount and to own multiple subsidiaries in the 8(a) program. We were asked to testify on an earlier report where we identified (1) trends in the government's 8(a) contracting with ANC firms, (2) the reasons agencies have awarded 8(a) solesource contracts to ANC firms and the facts and circumstances behind some of these contracts, and (3) how ANCs are using the 8(a) program. GAO also evaluated SBA's oversight of 8(a) ANC firms. GAO made recommendations aimed at improving SBA's oversight of 8(a) ANC contracting activity and ensuring that procuring agencies properly oversee 8(a) contracts they award to ANC firms. The procuring agencies generally agreed with our recommendation. SBA expressed concern with aspects of the report and disagreed with several of our recommendations. We believe implementation of our recommendations would provide better …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Historically, utility monopolies have generated electricity and sold it to customers at prices set by state regulators. Today, private companies in 24 states compete to sell electricity at market prices determined by supply and demand. California is part of a broader western market in which electricity is routinely bought and sold across state and national boundaries. GAO found evidence that wholesale electricity suppliers exercised market power by raising prices above competitive levels during the summer of 2000 and at other times after the restructuring. Neither GAO's analysis nor other studies addressed whether market power exercised in California violated federal or other laws. The design of California's electricity market enabled individual wholesale electricity suppliers to exercise market power. Once prices rose, the design was ineffective in returning prices to competitive levels. Prominent experts on market design and industry experts generally agree that two principal market designs flaws increased wholesale suppliers' incentive and ability to raise prices above competitive levels: (1) retail prices were frozen and (2) the California Public Utilities Commission generally prohibited or discouraged long-term contracts between utilities and wholesale suppliers."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) Defense Working Capital Fund was used to buy $70 billion in commodities in fiscal year 2001. This amount is estimated to grow to $75 billion for fiscal year 2003. The department's financial management regulation states that fund activities will operate in a business-like fashion and incorporate full costs in determining the pricing of their products. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal year 2001 requires that GAO review the working capital fund activities to identify any potential changes in current management processes or policies that would result in a more efficient and economical operation. The act also requires that GAO review the Defense Logistics Agency's (DLA) efficiency, effectiveness, and flexibility of operational practices and identify ways to improve services. One such DLA activity, the Defense Energy Support Center, sold $4.7 billion of various petroleum-related products to the military services in fiscal year 2001. DOD's fuel prices have not reflected the full cost of fuel as envisioned in the working capital fund concept because cash movements to the fund balance and surcharge inaccuracies have affected the stabilized annual fuel prices. Over $4 …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) estimates that 168,000 military family housing units are inadequate, lack modern amenities, and are in need of major renovation and replacement. According to DOD, completing this work using traditional military construction methods would take more than 20 years and cost $16 billion. To improve housing faster and more economically, Congress authorized the Military Housing Privatization Initiative in 1996. Although DOD has awarded contracts to construct or improve 16,000 units and has plans to privatize an additional 96,000 units by the end of fiscal year 2006, privatization projects are not supported by reliable or consistent needs assessments, and the overall requirement for military housing is not well-defined. The department has achieved two key financial goals for the privatization program--leveraging of government funds and lower project life-cycle costs. Although DOD has included provisions designed to protect the government's interests, GAO found areas where DOD could further enhance protections to the government. First, some contracts did not fully anticipate the increased rent to be paid to project developers as a result of a DOD initiative to increase housing allowances for service members. Second, although …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Wildland fires can burn or threaten both federal and nonfederal lands and resources, including homes in or near wildlands, an area commonly called the wildland-urban interface. Agreements between federal and nonfederal firefighting entities provide the framework for working together and sharing the costs of fire suppression efforts. GAO was asked to (1) review how federal and nonfederal entities share the costs of suppressing fires that burn or threaten both of their lands and resources and (2) identify any concerns that these entities may have with the existing cost-sharing framework. This testimony is based on GAO's May 2006 report Wildland Fire Suppression: Lack of Clear Guidance Raises Concerns about Cost Sharing between Federal and Nonfederal Entities (GAO-06-570)."