A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) performs limited oversight of states' processes for verifying the accuracy of large industrial facilities' emissions reports. EPA's data show that most emissions determinations from large sources are based on generic emissions factors. Although EPA allows facilities to estimate their emissions in this manner, EPA officials generally consider direct methods to be more reliable. The accuracy of these reports is important because they influence (1) the financing of states' regulatory programs through fees and (2) the development of emissions inventories, which, in turn, help regulators to develop control strategies and establish permit limits. Furthermore, steps taken to assess the accuracy of these reports, such as more thoroughly reviewing the supporting information, could improve compliance with Clean Air Act requirements. For example, a more thorough review of the information underlying a facility's emission reports, or a more systematic comparison of these reports over time, could identify increased emissions. Such indications could, in turn, trigger a review of compliance with new source review requirements, an area in which EPA found widespread noncompliance in four industries. In the four states that GAO reviewed, the states …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the security of the nation's air transportation system, focusing on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) efforts to implement and improve security in two key areas: (1) air traffic control computer systems; and (2) airport passenger screening checkpoints."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the issues the two have in relation to the Shad-Johnson Jurisdictional Accord, focusing on: (1) the extent to which U.S. securities, foreign futures, and over-the-counter (OTC) markets trade stock-based derivatives that are economically similar to the futures prohibited from trading by the accord; (2) the potential effect of the accord trading prohibitions on derivatives market participants; (3) concerns about calls to repeal the accord trading prohibitions; and (4) jurisdictional and other approaches to addressing these concerns."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed federal efforts to combat terrorism, focusing on the: (1) need to link threats to strategies and resources in federal efforts to combat terrorism; (2) need to improve federal and state intergovernmental coordination and program issues; and (3) findings of a report from the Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Response Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction--better known as the Gilmore Panel."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Available information indicates that the Defense Department lacks an accurate inventory of historic properties. The inventory of historic military properties should include all properties that are listed on or eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. A complete inventory would ensure that the services are properly recording real property transactions, ensure the accuracy of reporting on real property required to be included in annual financial statements, and provide an improved basis for long-term planning for facility maintenance and repair. At the same time, composite data on the costs of maintaining historic structures are not readily available."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Defense Security Service's (DSS) personnel security investigation program, focusing on: (1) how decisions to grant or deny security clearances to Department of Defense (DOD) employees and contractors are made; (2) key findings from GAO's October 1999 report; and (3) DOD's actions on GAO's recommendations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides millions of dollars to grantees to conduct research, demonstrate pollution control techniques, and perform other activities. Oversight of this large pool of grantees has proven to be difficult. EPA's post-award grant management policy provides few guarantees that unallowable costs for nonprofit grantees will be identified. Identifying such costs is important for effective oversight of EPA's nonprofit grantees. EPA's on-site grantee visits could provide agency officials with a valuable opportunity to test for unallowable costs while they are testing the adequacy of the grantees' financial and administrative systems. Although more time may be required to test for unallowable costs and additional training may be required for regional personnel, the tests would provide greater assurance that grant funds are spent in accordance with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) requirements. The single audit is an important tool for ensuring that federal funds are properly spent. EPA has taken several steps to identify grantees that need a single audit, but it is difficult to identify them definitively because information on total federal expenditures by each grantee is unavailable. As a result, EPA is …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed health care costs at the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), focusing on: (1) trends in BOP health care costs from fiscal year (FY) 1990 through FY 1999; (2) BOP initiatives to contain rising medical costs; and (3) legislative and administrative options for helping to contain health care costs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the National Marine Fisheries Service's (NMFS) compliance with three provisions of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, focusing on the requirements for NMFS to: (1) use the best available scientific information for fishery management; (2) take into account the economic importance of fishery resources to fishing communities as it adopts measures to manage fishery resources; and (3) identify essential fish habitat, the adverse impacts on that habitat, and the actions needed to conserve and enhance that habitat and also develop a consultation process designed to protect that habitat from adverse impacts."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recommended in 1997 that IRS simplify the tax law. The Commission reported a connection between the complexity of the Internal Revenue Code and the difficulty of administering it and taxpayer frustration with the tax system. It reported that such complexity can lead to inadvertent noncompliance, increase costs to taxpayers, and complicate tax collection. The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 requires the Joint Committee on Taxation to report to Congress on the overall state of the federal tax system and on proposals to simplify it. This report provides information to help the Joint Committee with its study. Specifically, GAO provides information on (1) the scope and size of the code, the number of Congressionally-mandated studies of the tax system, and the amount of tax guidance and regulations issued by IRS; (2) the number and scope of IRS forms, schedules, publications, and worksheets; (3) the number of tax returns filed and people claimed on these returns, by various characteristics for selected years; and (4) the number of assistance provided to taxpayers by IRS, return preparers, and computerized software …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must significantly improve telephone assistance if it is to meet its long-term goal of providing world-class customer service to the tens of millions of taxpayers who call. Although IRS has tried to analyze its performance and identify ways to improve, these efforts have been incomplete. IRS' analyses did not cover all of the key management decisions and other key factors that affect telephone performance. Designing and conducting a comprehensive analysis of the key management decisions and other key factors that affect telephone performance in each filing season will be difficult because the factors that affect performance are multiple and interrelated. However, without a more comprehensive analysis of the factors that affect performance, IRS lacks the information it needs to make decisions to improve performance."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report reviews the Department of Justice's Antitrust Division's overall policies and procedures for carrying out its statutory responsibilities, particularly as they apply to the agriculture industry. GAO describes (1) the Division's interaction with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) with regard to antitrust matters in the agriculture industry, (2) the number of complaints and leads in the agriculture industry received by the Division for fiscal years 1997 through 1999, and (3) the number and types of closed matters in the agriculture industry for fiscal years 1997 through 1999. GAO also describes the Division's policies for and procedures for investigating potential anti-trust violations. GAO found that the Division (1) maintains a cooperative working relationship with regard to anticompetitive matters in the agriculture industry with FTC and USDA, (2) received an estimated 165 complaints and leads related to the agriculture industry in fiscal years 1997 through 1999, (3) closed 1,050 matters during that period."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Health and Human Services issued a final regulation in December 2000 that established rights for patients with respect to the use of their medical records. The regulation requires that most providers obtain patient consent to use or disclose health information before engaging in treatment, payment, or health care operations. The privacy regulation's consent requirement will be more of a departure from current practice for some providers than for others. Most health care providers, with the exception of pharmacists, obtain some type of consent from patients to release information to insurers for payment purposes. The new requirement obligates most providers to obtain consent before they can use and disclose patient information. It also broadens the scope of consent to include treatment and a range of health care management activities. Supporters of the requirement believe that the process of signing a consent form provides an opportunity to inform and focus patients on their privacy rights. Others, however, are skeptical and assert that most patients will simply sign the form with little thought. In addition, provider and other organizations interviewed are concerned that the new consent …

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the effectiveness of the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) efforts to prevent fraud by third-party billing companies that submit claims to Medicare on behalf of providers."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the results of its investigation of the Behavioral Medical Systems' (BMS) Medicare billing practices, focusing on: (1) BMS and how it conducted business; (2) its improper billing of Medicare; and (3) GAO's belief that BMS violated the U.S. Code."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Fair Labor Standards Act allows disabled individuals to be paid at special minimum wage rates that are lower than the federal minimum wage. This correspondence examines form WH-226, "Application for Authority to Employ Workers with Disabilities at Special Minimum Wages." This form provides the Department of Labor with data on employers and workers covered under the Act. However, GAO found that Labor may not be collecting accurate information on the number of (1) employers because information in one of the items on form WH-226, is incomplete and may be confusing to employers and (2) disabled workers employed under the Act because the time periods specified in two of the items on the form are inconsistent and the instructions may be confusing to employers. Labor could eliminate this confusion by providing clearer instructions for filling out the form as well as eliminating confusing and contradictory language."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) management of health care assets that are operated by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), focusing on: (1) VHA's progress to date; (2) concerns regarding VHA's realignment process; and (3) the potential effects of VHA's actions on VA's capital budgeting process."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the World Bank's management controls."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 requires individuals to receive credit counseling before filing for bankruptcy and to take a debtor education course before having debts discharged. Concerns were raised that the new requirements could expose consumers to abusive practices by credit counseling agencies or become barriers to filing for bankruptcy. GAO was asked to examine (1) the process of approving counseling and education providers, (2) the content and results of the counseling and education sessions, (3) the fees charged, and (4) the availability of and challenges to accessing services. To address these issues, GAO reviewed Trustee Program data and application case files, and interviewed a wide range of individuals and groups involved in the bankruptcy process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Currently there are more than 1,260 species listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. While few species have gone extinct since 1973, only 9 have been "recovered" or removed from the list because they no longer need the act's protection. This has raised questions about how the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) allocates its recovery funds. Proponents of the act believe that the Service's recovery funds are only a small fraction of what is needed to make greater recovery progress. The act and agency guidelines require the Service to prioritize species to guide recovery fund allocation. In fiscal year 2000 through 2003, the Service spent $127 million dollars in recovery funds attributable to individual species. In this report, GAO analyzed (1) the extent to which the Service's allocation of recovery funds compares with its recovery priority guidelines and (2) what factors influence the Service's recovery allocation decisions."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Endangered Species Act of 1973 protects species facing extinction (endangered species) or likely to face extinction (threatened species) and the ecosystems upon which they depend. The act has long been a lightning rod for political debate about the extent to which the nation's natural resources should be protected and how best to protect them. Implementation of the act has also been the subject of numerous lawsuits that have consumed significant program resources. Since the act's inception, about 1,300 domestic species have been placed on the list of threatened and endangered species. Supporters of the act claim it is an indication of the act's success that only 9 of these species have gone extinct; particularly, since by the time they are listed species, they are often in critical condition. Critics, on the other hand, counter that it is an indication of the act's failure that only 17 of these species have "recovered," or improved to the point that they no longer need the act's protection. However, we believe that these numbers, by themselves, are not a good gauge of the act's success or failure; additional information on when, …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Waste Treatment Plant Project at the Department of Energy's (DOE) Hanford site in southeastern Washington state is a massive effort to stabilize and prepare for disposal 55 million gallons of radioactive and hazardous wastes currently held in underground tanks. In 2000, DOE awarded an 11-year, $4.3 billion contract project to Bechtel National, Inc. (Bechtel) to design and construct the plant. Since then, numerous problems and changes have occurred that will significantly increase the project's final cost and completion date. This testimony discusses (1) how and why the project's cost and schedule have changed since 2000; (2) the status of DOE and Bechtel efforts to address these problems and improve project management; and (3) our observations on issues that need to be addressed in going forward. It is based on previous GAO reports and ongoing work."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to Hurricane Katrina, countries and organizations donated to the United States government cash and in-kind donations, including foreign military assistance. The National Response Plan establishes that the Department of State (DOS) is the coordinator of all offers of international assistance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for accepting the assistance and coordinating its distribution. In light of widespread congressional and public interest in U.S. agencies' accountability in receiving and distributing assistance to hurricane victims, this report is one of several initiated under the authority of the Comptroller General to review the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. It examines (1) the amount and use of internationally donated cash, and (2) the extent to which federal agencies have adequate policies and procedures to ensure proper accountability for the acceptance and distribution of that assistance."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In response to Hurricane Katrina, countries and organizations donated to the United States government cash and in-kind donations, including foreign military assistance. The National Response Plan establishes that the Department of State (DOS) is the coordinator of all offers of international assistance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is responsible for accepting the assistance and coordinating its distribution. GAO's testimony covers (1) the amount and use of internationally donated cash and (2) the extent to which federal agencies with responsibilities for international in-kind assistance offered to the United States had policies and procedures to ensure the appropriate accountability for the acceptance and distribution of that assistance."