A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The virtual elimination of toxic pollutants in the Great Lakes is a goal shared by the United States and Canada. While some progress has been made, pollution levels remain unacceptably high. The Great Lakes Initiative (GLI) requires stringent water quality standards for many pollutants in discharges regulated by states administering National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit programs. As requested, this report examines the (1) GLI's focus and potential impact on water quality in the Great Lakes Basin, (2) status of GLI's adoption by the states and any challenges to achieving intended goals, and (3) steps taken by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for ensuring full and consistent implementation of GLI and for assessing progress toward achieving its goals."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Following the end of the Cold War, the Department of Defense (DOD) significantly reduced its purchases of small and medium caliber ammunition and reduced the number of government-owned plants that produce small and medium caliber ammunition. Since 2000, however, DOD's requirements for these types of ammunition have increased notably. Because the success of military operations depends in part on DOD having a sufficient national technology and industrial base to meet its ammunition needs, Congress asked GAO to review DOD's ability to assess if its supplier base can meet small and medium caliber ammunition needs. Specifically, we (1) identified changes over the past several years that have increased the requirement for small and medium caliber ammunition, (2) assessed the actions DOD has taken to address the increased requirement, and (3) determined how DOD plans to ensure that it can meet future small and medium caliber ammunition needs."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In May 2005, we issued our report expressing an opinion on the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) fiscal year 2004 financial statements and an opinion on SEC's internal controls as of September 30, 2004. We also reported on the results of our tests of SEC's compliance with selected provisions of laws and regulations during fiscal year 2004. Our report on SEC's fiscal year 2004 financial statements identified reportable conditions in the internal controls over financial reporting that we considered to be material weaknesses. These weaknesses related to SEC's controls over (1) recording and reporting disgorgements and penalties pertaining to those who violate securities laws, (2) preparing financial statements and related disclosures, and (3) information security. In March 2005, we reported on the information security weaknesses, making six recommendations to address those weaknesses. The purpose of this report is to provide SEC with 18 recommendations to addresses the remaining weaknesses concerning disgorgements and penalties, and financial statement preparation and reporting."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) provides health care through TRICARE--a regionally structured program that uses civilian contractors to maintain provider networks to complement health care provided at military treatment facilities (MTF). In 2004, DOD implemented extensive changes to its TRICARE contracts and regional structure. A committee report accompanying the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 directed GAO to provide information on implementation issues for (1) the new TRICARE contracts and (2) the new regional structure. This report also provides information on the new management tools used to assess (3) contractors' performance and (4) program performance at the MTF and regional levels."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "On June 21, 2005, we testified at the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure's oversight hearing on the judiciary's ability to pay for current and future space needs. This report responds to a June 23, 2005, request in which Congress asked additional questions about the Federal Buildings Fund (FBF) and the judiciary's efforts to manage its space needs. To respond to these questions, we primarily relied on our previous work and knowledge of these areas. We prepared this response during June and July 2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Because our response is primarily based on previously issued products, we did not seek agency comments on a draft of this report."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal regulation is a basic tool of government. Agencies issue thousands of rules and regulations each year to achieve goals such as ensuring that workplaces, air travel, and foods are safe; that the nation's air, water and land are not polluted; and that the appropriate amount of taxes are collected. The costs of these regulations are estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars, and the benefits estimates are even higher. Over the past 25 years, a variety of congressional and presidential regulatory reform initiatives have been instituted to refine the federal regulatory process. This testimony discusses findings from the large number of GAO reports and testimonies prepared at the request of Congress to review the implementation of regulatory reform initiatives. Specifically, GAO discusses common strengths and weaknesses of existing reform initiatives that its work has identified. GAO also addresses some general opportunities to reexamine and refine existing initiatives and the federal regulatory process to make them more effective. GAO's prior reports and testimonies contain a variety of recommendations to improve particular reform initiatives and aspects of the regulatory process."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Critical to the success of the federal government's transformation are its people--human capital. Yet the government has not transformed, in many cases, how it classifies, compensates, develops, and motivates its employees to achieve maximum results within available resources and existing authorities. One of the questions being addressed as the federal government transforms is how to update its compensation system to be more market based and performance oriented. To further the discussion of federal pay reform, GAO, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, the National Academy of Public Administration, and the Partnership for Public Service convened a symposium on March 9, 2005, to discuss organizations' experiences with market-based and more performance-oriented pay systems. Representatives from public, private, and nonprofit organizations made presentations on the successes and challenges they experienced in designing and managing their market-based and more performance-oriented pay systems. A cross section of human capital stakeholders was invited to further explore these successes and challenges and engage in open discussion. While participants were asked to review the overall substance and context of the draft summary, GAO did not seek consensus …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to the Accountability for Tax Dollars Act of 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is required to prepare and submit to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget audited financial statements. GAO agreed, under its audit authority, to perform the initial audit of SEC's financial statements. GAO's audit was done to determine whether, in all material respects, (1) SEC's fiscal year 2004 financial statements were reliable, (2) SEC's management maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and compliance with laws and regulations, and (3) SEC's management complied with applicable laws and regulations. Established in 1934 to enforce the securities laws and protect investors, the SEC plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of the U.S. securities markets. GAO was asked by the Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security, Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, to present the results of its May 26, 2005, report, Financial Audit: Securities and Exchange Commission's Financial Statements for Fiscal Year 2004 (GAO-05-244)."