A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Estimates of the size of shale oil and gas resources in the United States by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the Potential Gas Committee--three organizations that estimate the size of these resources--have increased over the last 5 years, which could mean an increase in the nation's energy portfolio. For example, in 2012, EIA estimated that the amount of technically recoverable shale gas in the United States was 482 trillion cubic feet--an increase of 280 percent from EIA's 2008 estimate. However, according to EIA and USGS officials, estimates of the size of shale oil and gas resources in the United States are highly dependent on the data, methodologies, model structures, and assumptions used to develop them. In addition, less is known about the amount of technically recoverable shale oil than shale gas, in part because large-scale production of shale oil has been under way for only the past few years. Estimates are based on data available at a given point in time and will change as additional information becomes available. In addition, domestic shale oil and gas production has experienced substantial growth; …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Navy faces technical, design, and construction challenges to completing Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) that have led to significant cost increases and reduced the likelihood that a fully functional ship will be delivered on time. The Navy has achieved mixed progress to date developing CVN 78's critical technologies, such as a system intended to more effectively launch aircraft from the ship. In an effort to meet required installation dates aboard CVN 78, the Navy has elected to produce some of these systems prior to demonstrating their maturity--a strategy that GAO's previous work has shown introduces risk of late and costly design changes and rework, and leaves little margin to incorporate additional weight growth in the ship. In addition, progress in constructing CVN 78 has been overshadowed by inefficient out-of-sequence work, driven largely by material shortfalls, engineering challenges, and delays developing and installing critical technology systems. These events are occurring in a constrained budget environment, even as lead ship costs have increased by over 22 percent since construction authorization in fiscal year 2008--to $12.8 billion. Additional increases could follow due to uncertainties facing critical technology systems …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO estimates, on the basis of recent U.S. Census Bureau data, that most American Indians and Alaska Natives will be potentially eligible for either expanded or new coverage options created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). These options include expanded eligibility for Medicaid--the federal-state program for certain low-income individuals--and eligibility for the Health Insurance Exchanges (Exchanges), which are marketplaces where health insurance plans can be compared and purchased. While it is still unclear which states will opt to expand Medicaid, their decisions may affect a large proportion of American Indians and Alaska Natives, as GAO estimates that potential new enrollment could include about a quarter of this population. For example, in the Oklahoma City area--one of the Indian Health Service's (IHS) 12 federally designated service areas--tens of thousands of American Indians and Alaska Natives could be affected by the state of Oklahoma's decision not to expand its Medicaid program. For the Exchanges, GAO found that more than one-third of American Indians and Alaska Natives are potentially eligible for premium tax credits in the Exchanges--which help offset the cost of premiums for low-income individuals--and …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As with conventional oil and gas development, requirements from eight federal environmental and public health laws apply to unconventional oil and gas development. For example, the Clean Water Act (CWA) regulates discharges of pollutants into surface waters. Among other things, CWA requires oil and gas well site operators to obtain permits for discharges of produced water—which includes fluids used for hydraulic fracturing, as well as water that occurs naturally in oil- or gas-bearing formations—to surface waters. In addition, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) governs the management and disposal of hazardous wastes, among other things. However, key exemptions or limitations in regulatory coverage affect the applicability of six of these environmental and public health laws. For example, CWA also generally regulates stormwater discharges by requiring that facilities associated with industrial and construction activities get permits, but the law and its regulations largely exempt oil and gas well sites. In addition, oil and gas exploration and production wastes are exempt from RCRA hazardous waste requirements based on a regulatory determination made by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1988. EPA generally retains its authorities under federal …