A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) round is the biggest, most complex, and costliest ever. DOD viewed this round as a unique opportunity to reshape its installations, realign forces to meet its needs for the next 20 years, and achieve savings. To realize savings, DOD must first invest billions of dollars in facility construction, renovation, and other up-front expenses to implement the BRAC recommendations. However, recent increases in estimated cost have become a concern to some members of Congress. Under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, GAO (1) compared the BRAC Commission's cost and savings estimates to DOD's current estimates, (2) assessed potential for change in DOD's current estimates, and (3) identified broad implementation challenges. GAO compared the BRAC Commission's estimates, which were the closest estimates available associated with final BRAC recommendations, to DOD's current estimates. GAO also visited 25 installations and major commands, and interviewed DOD officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Federal agencies conducted the required regulatory analyses for all rules issued pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) that GAO identified and reviewed. However, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), in coordination with the agencies, may not be consistently determining which rules are considered major rules under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). Under the act, Congress is allowed to review major rules before they become effective. The act outlines criteria for determining whether a rule is major, such as whether it will result in an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more. OMB is responsible for determining which rules are major under CRA but relies on agency analyses to help make the determination. OMB guidance does not address whether independent agencies should submit all rules for review or how they should apply major rule criteria. GAO found that some independent agencies submitted all their rules to OMB, but others did not. GAO also found inconsistencies in how these agencies applied the CRA criteria. For example, GAO found rules issued by different agencies that had similar economic …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Labor's (Labor) Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) process for accrediting Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratories (NRTL) is lengthy due to the scope of staff members' responsibilities and unclear application procedures for accreditation. Among the 13 recently approved applications, OSHA took between 1 and 5 years to make accreditation decisions. All of these applications took much longer to approve than OSHA's desired time frames, and in some cases, years longer. In addition, 12 of the 29 applications that were awaiting final decisions by OSHA as of June 2012 had been under review longer than the 5-year period for which the accreditation decision would be valid. This lengthy process has potentially negative economic consequences for laboratories and requires OSHA staff to divert their time from other oversight activities. Two key factors led to the long time frames:"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The General Services Administration (GSA), the National Park Service (NPS), and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have undertaken portfolio-wide efforts in recent years to identify historic buildings they hold, nominate some of those buildings to the National Register of Historic Places, and manage their historic buildings in an effort to comply with the requirements in the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and relevant executive orders. While these agencies use and preserve some of their historic buildings to meet mission needs, others are excess or unsuited for current mission needs. GAO found several instances in which these agencies leased part or all of some historic buildings to non-federal entities that could use and preserve the buildings. GAO also found that these agencies had implemented projects in some of their historic buildings to improve their sustainable performance, such as installing green roofs and energy-efficient heating and cooling systems."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found (1) the Office of Financial Stability (OFS) financial statements for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) as of and for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2013, and 2012, are presented fairly, in all material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles; (2) OFS maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting for TARP as of September 30, 2013; and (3) no reportable noncompliance for fiscal year 2013 with provisions of applicable laws, regulations, contracts, and grant agreements GAO tested. In commenting on a draft of this report, the Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability stated that OFS is proud to receive unmodified opinions on its financial statements and its internal control over financial reporting. He also stated that OFS is committed to maintaining the high standards and transparency reflected in these audit results."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For Census 2010, automation and information technology (IT) are expected to play a critical role. The Census Bureau plans to spend about $3 billion on automation and technology that are to improve the accuracy and efficiency of census collection, processing, and dissemination. From February 2006 through June 2009, the Bureau is holding a ''Dress Rehearsal'' during which it plans to conduct operational testing that includes decennial systems acquisitions. In October 2007, GAO reported on its review of four key 2010 Census IT acquisitions to (1) determine the status and plans, including schedule and cost, and (2) assess whether the Bureau is adequately managing associated risks. This testimony summarizes GAO's report on these key acquisitions and describes GAO's preliminary observations on the performance of handheld mobile computing devices used during the Dress Rehearsal."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "For Indian Health Service (IHS) contract health services (CHS) delivered in fiscal year 2011, a majority of claims were paid within 6 months of the service delivery date, but some took much longer. Specifically, about 73 percent of claims were paid within 6 months of service delivery, while about 8 percent took more than 1 year. The CHS payment process consists of three main steps: (1) the local CHS program issues a purchase order to the provider authorizing payment (either before service delivery, or after, such as in emergency situations), (2) the provider submits a claim for payment, and (3) IHS pays the provider. GAO found that the first step took the longest--often taking more than 2 months."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO found that government agencies were increasingly using reverse auctions as a means to drive down prices but without adequate guidance to ensure that the potential benefits were maximized. GAO's analysis of the data also identified some common characteristics among contract awards resulting from reverse auctions."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina caused more damage than any other single natural disaster in U.S. history, with Hurricane Rita adding to the devastation. The hurricanes hit some of the most distressed areas in the country. Louisiana and Mississippi had the highest poverty rates in the United States, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. Hurricane Katrina destroyed or made uninhabitable an estimated 300,000 homes, many of which had families with children. In response to this destruction, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided many affected households with trailers for temporary housing in Louisiana and Mississippi. Those trailers not placed on homeowners' property were located in group sites. Although FEMA's guidance suggests that group sites should be located near existing supermarkets, public transportation, schools, and health care facilities, FEMA officials said the agency was not always able to locate temporary housing in these settings because of the level of destruction and, sometimes, opposition from communities. As of May 2008, several thousand households remained in group sites. Given the number of people who remained in group sites more than 2 years after Hurricane Katrina, GAO was asked to …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Agriculture's (USDA) progress in streamlining its administrative operations, focusing on USDA's efforts to: (1) reduce the number of administrative staff departmentwide; (2) consolidate and streamline administrative support structures for seven field-based agencies, particularly at the state office level; and (3) measure the savings and efficiencies realized as a result of its departmentwide reorganization and streamlining efforts."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The estimated $6.5 billion full-cycle cost of the 2000 decennial census is nearly double that of the 1990 census. When the full-cycle cost is divided by the number of American households, the cost per housing unit of the 2000 census was $56 compared to $32 per housing unit for the 1990 census. The primary reasons for the cost increases include the following: (1) in the 1990 census, field data collection cost was $16 per housing unit, while in the 2000 census it was $32 per housing unit; (2) in the 1990 census, technology costs were $5 per housing unit compared to $8 per housing unit for the 2000 census; and (3) the data content and products activity cost $3 per housing unit in 1990 and $5 per housing unit in 2000."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Army announced in October 2000 that personnel would begin wearing berets eight months later. To meet the tight deadline for the production of 5 million berets at a cost of about $30 million, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) shortcut normal contracting procedures and waived restrictions that limit military purchases of some items, including clothing, to those produced in the United States or its possessions. Despite these efforts, DLA was unable to meet the Army's deadline, and it terminated three contracts because the contractors did not meet delivery requirements. So far, the Defense Department (DOD) has received about 2.1 million berets--less than 1 million of which were distributed to Army personnel. DOD still expects another 1.6 million berets to be delivered by September 2002. DOD has taken steps to ensure that proposed waivers are considered at an appropriate management level. DOD no longer allows the Under Secretary of Defense or the service secretaries to delegate their authority to approve waivers. Requests for waivers must also be supported by analyses of why alternatives that would not require a waiver were unacceptable."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In 1998, Congress amended the Higher Education Act (HEA) to enhance the quality of teaching in the classroom by improving training programs for prospective teachers and the qualifications of current teachers. This report focuses on two components of the legislation: one that provides grants and another, called the "accountability provisions," that requires collecting and reporting information on the quality of all teacher training programs and qualifications of current teachers."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) total budget estimates for modernizing the nuclear security enterprise for fiscal years 2014 through 2031 have increased by about $19 billion overall when compared with the estimates in the agency's fiscal year 2012 budget materials, with most of the increase occurring in fiscal year 2019 and beyond. Factors such as sequestration, the achievability of planned cost savings, and pension liabilities could affect the accuracy of future budget estimates as presented."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Section 402 of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2009 required us to report to the appropriate congressional committees by the end of the 110th Congress regarding the Department of Defense's (DOD) progress in implementing GAO's recommendations over the last 7 years. During this period of time, we issued 637 reports to DOD or its components that included 2,726 recommendations. By law, agencies, including DOD, are required to submit written statements to Congress explaining actions taken in response to recommendations we have made. We follow up on the implementation status of each recommendation at least annually to determine whether DOD has instituted sufficient corrective actions. This report, which responds to this mandate, contains the results of our analysis on the implementation status of the 2,726 recommendations we made to DOD or its components in reports issued during fiscal years 2001 through 2007. Based on discussion with congressional staff, we are also providing examples of related financial accomplishments3 reported for the period, based on DOD-related work."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government is in a period of profound transition and faces an array of challenges and opportunities to enhance performance, ensure accountability, and position the nation for the future. Effective results-oriented management of the government's most valued resource--its people--is at the heart of this transition. This report is part of a large body of GAO work examining issues in strategic human capital management. Based on GAO's reports and testimonies, review of studies by leading workforce planning organizations, and interviews with officials from the Office of Personnel Management and other federal agencies, this report describes the key principles of strategic workforce planning and provides illustrative examples of these principles drawn from selected agencies' strategic workforce planning experiences."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "More than 17 million working-age individuals have a self-reported disability that limits work. Their unemployment rate is also twice as high as for those without a work disability, according to recent Census data. In the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999, the Congress mandated that GAO study and report on existing tax incentives to encourage businesses to employ and accommodate workers with disabilities. This report provides information on (1) the current usage of the tax incentives, (2) the incentives' ability to encourage the hiring and retention of workers with disabilities, and (3) options to enhance awareness and usage of the incentives."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "To assist in deliberations on individual fishing quota (IFQ) programs, GAO determined (1) the extent of consolidation of quota holdings in three IFQ programs (Alaskan halibut and sablefish, wreckfish, and surfclam/ocean quahog); (2) the extent of foreign holdings of quota in these programs; and (3) the economic effect of the IFQ program on Alaskan halibut and sablefish processors."