Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A total of 22 of the 39 former high-ranking officials (admiral-level and SES officials) who separated from the Coast Guard from 2006 through 2010 were compensated at some point from 2006 through 2011 by contractors that received obligations from the Coast Guard in calendar year 2011. We found that 12 of these former officials were compensated in calendar year 2011 by major Coast Guard contractors--those contractors receiving more than $10 million in obligations during that calendar year. The responsibilities of these officials vary, but 9 of these 12 officials were assigned by major contractors to positions involving the development of new business."

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "With the closing of Howard Air Force Base in Panama, the Department of Defense (DOD), the Coast Guard and the Customs Service began searching for alternate sites from which to conduct counterdrug operations close to drug producing zones. The United States has secured 10-year agreements for the use of four such sites. However, each site requires some construction to support a designated mix of aircraft. In response to concerns over the costs to develop and operate these four sites and whether these sites would meet the needs of interagency users, GAO briefed members of the Caucus on International Narcotics Control on (1) the process used to select these sites, (2) the estimated costs to develop and maintain these sites, and (3) issues that might affect operational capabilities at the sites. GAO found that the United States used a reasonable process to locate and secure four sites for its counterdrug efforts in foreign countries. DOD estimated that it would cost about $136.6 million to build airfields at these sites. Several issues might affect the capabilities of these sites, including (1) the unavailability of certain U.S. aircraft to …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "About 5,500 people die each year as a result of crashes involving large commercial trucks or buses, and about 160,000 more are injured. While the fatality rate for these crashes has generally decreased over the last 20 years, the decline has leveled off in the most recent years. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) within the U.S. Department of Transportation shoulders the primary federal responsibility for reducing these crashes, fatalities, and injuries and recognizes the need to make improvements if it is to achieve further substantial safety advancements. A key FMCSA effort to improve motor carrier safety is implementing the agency's Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) initiative. Through CSA 2010, FMCSA expects to reduce motor carrier crashes, fatalities, and injuries by using better ways to identify unsafe carriers and drivers; assessing a larger portion of the motor carrier industry and holding carriers and drivers accountable for sustained performance by regularly determining their safety fitness; and expanding the range of interventions to be used with carriers and drivers that fail to comply with safety requirements. Congress asked us to conduct a broad assessment of FMCSA's progress in …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To better understand how changes in domestic and international petroleum products markets have affected prices, GAO was asked to evaluate trends in (1) the international trade of petroleum products, (2) refining capacity and intensity of refining capacity use internationally and in the United States, (3) international and domestic crude oil and petroleum product inventories, and (4) domestic petroleum supply infrastructure. To address these objectives, we reviewed numerous studies, evaluated data, and spoke to many industry officials and experts and agency officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The radio-frequency spectrum is a natural resource used to provide an array of wireless communications services, such as television broadcasting, which are critical to the U.S. economy and national security. In 1993, the Congress gave the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) authority to use competitive bidding, or auctions, to assign spectrum licenses to commercial users. The Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act required GAO to examine FCC's commercial spectrum licensing process. Specifically, GAO examined the (1) characteristics of the current spectrum allocation process for commercial uses; (2) impact of the assignment process--specifically the adoption of auctions to assign spectrum licenses--on end-user prices, infrastructure deployment, competition, and entry and participation of small businesses; and (3) options for improving spectrum management."

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

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programs within the military departments use a variety of practices and tools to facilitate technology transition--the act of passing technologies developed in the science and technology environment on to users such as weapon system acquisition programs or warfighters in the field. GAO identified some common transition practices and tools across SBIR programs. For example, specific initiatives, such as the Commercialization Readiness Program, are used by each SBIR program and focus resources on enhancing technology transition opportunities. Transition facilitators are also used by each program to provide a network of personnel who manage SBIR activities that support technology transition. GAO also found some different practices and tools used to support technology transition efforts, such as the Navy Transition Assistance Program, which provides consulting services and helps showcase SBIR projects in an effort to improve small businesses' abilities to transition their projects. Transition facilitation efforts are supported by administrative funds provided through each program's SBIR budget and from other funds received from their respective military department. A recent increase in the amount of administrative funding that can come from SBIR budgets is …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since the early 1990s, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the federal judiciary have been carrying out a multibillion dollar courthouse construction initiative to address the judiciary's growing space needs. To plan for and make funding decisions on projects, Congress, the Office of Management and Budget, and GSA have relied on a rolling 5-year plan prepared annually by the judiciary that prioritizes new courthouse projects based on an urgency score. The urgency score is based on the year a courthouse runs out of space, the number of judges without courtrooms, security concerns, and operational inefficiencies. In recent years, the L.A. courthouse had the highest urgency score in the judiciary's 5-year plan. At a cost of approximately $400 million, the new courthouse is expected to be one of the most expensive projects in the federal government's courthouse construction program to date. In light of the project's significance, GAO was asked: (1) To what extent does GSA's current L.A. courthouse project proposal address the underlying conditions that led to Los Angeles's high urgency score and (2) what construction and other costs, if any, may be required to meet …

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

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The 1997 peer review of the Department of Defense (DOD) Inspector General (IG) done by the Environmental Protection Agency IG resulted in a qualified opinion. The peer review report questioned the quality assurance system used by the DOD IG and said that the reviewed audits did not fully comply with Government Auditing Standards. The 2000 peer review done by the Department of the Treasury IG for Tax Administration (TIGTA) also resulted in a unqualified opinion. Although TIGTA cited several problems, the peer review report concluded that the quality assurance system used by the DOD IG reasonably ensured compliance with auditing standards. However, after the peer review had been completed, a letter was sent to Congress, the press, and others questioning the integrity of the documentation that the DOD IG provided to the TIGTA peer review staff. A DOD IG internal investigation later confirmed that the work papers for one of the audits chosen for peer review had been altered and destroyed. The report concluded that these actions violated Government Auditing Standards, internal DOD IG audit policies, and the expectations of the external peer review staff. TIGTA then withdrew …

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 "The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has broad authority to identify, assess, and address product risks, but faces some challenges in identifying and responding to new risks in a timely manner. CPSC uses various means to stay informed about risks that may be associated with new or existing products. These methods include (1) market surveillance activities for imported products, retail stores, and Internet sales; and (2) formal agreements and various activities with other agencies. However, certain legal restrictions may hamper CPSC's ability to stay informed about new product hazards to public health and safety. Specifically, because of certain restrictions in the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), CPSC cannot agree to allow foreign agencies to disclose nonpublic information they receive from CPSC. While the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) allows CPSC greater freedom to disclose information to U.S. courts, Congress, and state and local agencies, CPSC has been unable to complete information-sharing agreements with foreign counterparts as envisioned because it cannot offer its counterparts reciprocal terms on disclosure of nonpublic information. Due to the growing number of imported consumer products, this restriction on sharing information may …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Agencies did not publish a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM), enabling the public to comment on a proposed rule, for about 35 percent of major rules and about 44 percent of nonmajor rules published during 2003 through 2010. A major rule has significant economic impact and may, for example, have an annual effect on the economy of $100 million or more. Agencies published a total of 568 major rules from 2003 through 2010. Agencies also published about 30,000 nonmajor rules during this period, which have less economic significance and can involve routine administrative issues."

Other written product issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In this document, GAO provides guidance on complying with government auditing standards reporting requirements for the report on internal control for audits of certain entities subject to the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Government Auditing Standards."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Securing the nation's borders has taken on added importance since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. For years, millions of citizens of the United States, Canada, and Bermuda could enter the United States from certain parts of the Western Hemisphere using a wide variety of documents, including a driver's license issued by a state motor vehicle administration or a birth certificate, or in some cases for U.S. and Canadian citizens, without showing any documents. In the heightened national security environment following September 11, we have previously reported that documents like driver's licenses and birth certificates can easily be obtained, altered, or counterfeited and used by terrorists to travel into and out of the country. To help provide better assurance that border officials have the tools and resources to establish that people are who they say they are, as called for in the 9/11 Commission report, section 7209 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, as amended, requires the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, to develop and implement a plan that requires a passport or other document or combination …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The majority of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' (Corps) flood control projects budgeted for construction from fiscal years 2004 to 2012 experienced cost increases, including inflation. Specifically, 59 of 87 flood control projects during this period experienced increases from their original authorized cost to their current estimated project cost or their total expenditures at closeout, according to information provided by Corps officials. However, according to a Corps official, as of September 2013, no projects had cost increases that exceeded their maximum allowable cost as defined by law. Various factors other than inflation contributed to cost increases among the 8 projects GAO selected for further review. Factors included design changes, less than optimal federal funding, underestimated costs, and contract cost changes. For example, 6 of the 8 projects had design changes due to unforeseen site conditions and changes in design criteria following Hurricane Katrina. According to Corps officials, receiving less than optimal federal funding increased the costs of 3 of the 8 projects GAO reviewed. Corps officials also said that receiving less than optimal federal funding meant that 2 projects had to break up their work …

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 "The cruise industry and federal agencies have implemented 11 of 15 Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) provisions, but implementation of 4 provisions requires the development of regulations and policy, and is underway. Officials from all five cruise lines GAO met with said most required measures were in place when the CVSSA was enacted. According to U.S. Coast Guard officials, a notice of proposed rulemaking is in development to address 3 of the 4 remaining provisions. The 3 provisions relate to technologies to (1) detect a person going overboard, (2) maintain a video surveillance system to assist in documenting crimes on the vessel, and (3) transmit communications and warnings from the ship to anyone in surrounding waters. A policy linked to the fourth provision on the certification of trainers who provide the CVSSA course on crime scene preservation to cruise line personnel, is, as of December 2013, undergoing review at the Department of Transportation. With respect to CVSSA crime-reporting requirements, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Coast Guard have implemented these provisions as required. Accordingly, the agencies publish on a website information on …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2006, the United States Postal Service (USPS) was responsible for discarding about 6.1 billion pieces of undeliverable-as-addressed Standard Mail (a class of bulk advertising mail that includes catalogs and circulars). Some of this mail was recycled, but a large quantity of it was treated as waste and simply thrown away. Standard Mail is increasing in prominence due, in part, to its importance to businesses, nonprofits, and others as an effective way for (1) providing consumers with information on their products and services and (2) soliciting contributions from mail recipients. Some mail recipients, however, view Standard Mail as an annoyance that also poses privacy and environmental concerns. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Standard Mail accounted for about 5.8 million tons, or 2.4 percent, of municipal solid waste (otherwise known as trash or garbage) in 2005. Of this amount, 64 percent was placed in a landfill or incinerated, and 36 percent was recycled. The 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act required GAO to report--by December 20, 2007--on, among other matters, USPS mail-related recycling accomplishments and additional recycling opportunities. For mail-related recycling accomplishments (initiatives), we expanded our …

A briefing report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Labor market information is used to help make and assess social and monetary policies, tax and budget projections, and private investment decisions. Produced under cooperative agreements between states and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), labor market information helps provide an up-to-date picture of the U.S. economy and generate closely watched economic indicators, such as unemployment rates and the Gross Domestic Product. In addition, decisions about the distribution of billions of federal dollars to states and local governments depends, in part, on labor market information. In summary, GAO found that (1) funding for the Covered Employment and Wages (ES-202) and Current Employment Statistics (CES) programs declined in real terms over the past 7 years; (2) BLS estimates the funding needs of states by adjusting prior year funding and uses formulas to allocate funds to states; and (3) workload and cost increases outpaced funding increases in the ES-202 program, which could result in data quality problems, according to state Labor Market Information (LMI) officials. BLS estimates LMI budget needs for states by making adjustments to the past year's funding and allocates appropriated funds to states by using …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Despite periodic price shocks and related energy crises, the United States is even more dependent on crude oil and natural gas than it was almost 30 years ago. And, without dramatic change, the nation will become ever more reliant on imported oil and natural gas with attendant threats to national security. The nation has also become concerned about global warming, which has been linked to carbon dioxide emissions from burning coal and oil. To address these concerns, the Department of Energy (DOE) has funded research and development (R&D) on advanced renewable, fossil, and nuclear energy technologies. GAO examined the (1) R&D funding trends and strategies for developing advanced energy technologies, (2) key barriers to developing and deploying advanced energy technologies, and (3) efforts of the states and six selected countries to develop and deploy advanced energy technologies. GAO reviewed DOE R&D budget data and strategic plans and interviewed DOE officials and scientists, U.S. industry executives, independent experts, and state and foreign government officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "A growing portion of federal spending is related to buying services such as administrative, management, and information technology support. Services accounted for about 60 percent of total fiscal year 2006 procurement dollars. The Services Acquisition Reform Act (SARA) of 2003 established a Services Acquisition Advisory Panel to make recommendations for improving acquisition practices. In January 2007, the panel proposed 89 recommendations to improve federal acquisition practices. GAO was asked to determine how the panel recommendations compare to GAO's past work and identify how the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) expects the recommendations to be addressed. To do this, GAO analyzed the panel report and compared its findings and recommendations to GAO's past work and recommendations, obtained OFPP's views on how it expected the recommendations to be implemented, and reviewed proposed legislation in Congress to determine if legislative provisions had the potential to address some recommendations."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In the 2004 Defense Appropriations Act, Congress mandated that GAO examine and report on the oversight of prime contractors by the Department of Defense (DOD) and the oversight of subcontractors by the prime contractors. Contract quality assurance oversight is intended to assess whether contractors are capable of and are providing supplies or services that meet contract quality and technical requirements. Providing effective oversight is challenging. DCMA recognizes that the risk of nonconforming parts reaching end users exists, given the diversity of contracts, parts, and products used to meet weapon systems requirements and uses a risk management process to guide its efforts. For fiscal year 2003, government quality assurance oversight was required for approximately 273,000 contracts. GAO determined (1) whether DOD provided quality assurance oversight and enforcement over its spare parts prime contractors, (2) if prime contractors provided quality assurance oversight over their subcontractors, and (3) how DOD held prime contractors accountable for overseeing the subcontractors' work. To address these objectives, GAO judgmentally selected and reviewed 15 contracts awarded to 11 prime contractors by the services and the Defense Logistics Agency. In commenting on a draft of …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Each year, billions of dollars in dual-use items--items that have both commercial and military applications--as well as defense items are exported from the United States. To protect U.S. interests, the U.S. government controls the export of these items. A key function in the U.S. export control system is enforcement, which aims to prevent or deter the illegal export of controlled items. This report describes the roles, responsibilities, and authorities of export control enforcement agencies, identifies the challenges these agencies face, and determines if information on enforcement outcomes is provided to the export control agencies. GAO's findings are based on an examination of statutes, interagency agreements, and procedures; interviews with enforcement officials at selected field locations and headquarters; and an assessment of enforcement information."