Degree Department

Oil and Gas Leasing: Interior Could Do More to Encourage Diligent Development (open access)

Oil and Gas Leasing: Interior Could Do More to Encourage Diligent Development

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2007, the Department of the Interior (Interior) collected about $10.5 billion in revenues from companies that hold federal oil and gas leases. Interior's Minerals Management Service manages offshore leases, while its Bureau of Land Management manages onshore leases and leases in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. Acquiring a federal lease gives the lessee the rights to explore for and develop the oil and gas resources under the lease. Development entails many tasks, including drilling wells and building pipelines that may lead to oil and gas production. GAO agreed to (1)describe Interior's efforts to encourage development of federal oil and gas leases and compare them to states' and private landowners' efforts, (2)examine trends in leasing and factors that may affect development, and (3) describe development on a sample of leases. GAO reviewed data on about 55,000 leases and spoke to officials at Interior and in eight states with leasing experience, among others."
Date: October 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Highway Safety: Foresight Issues Challenge DOT's Efforts to Assess and Respond to New Technology-Based Trends (open access)

Highway Safety: Foresight Issues Challenge DOT's Efforts to Assess and Respond to New Technology-Based Trends

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Fatalities on U.S. roads now total over 40,000 each year. Future reductions may require the Department of Transportation (DOT) to address new trends such as evolving crash-avoidance technologies and rapidly changing electronic devices that may distract drivers who use them on the road. (See figure.) GAO was asked to examine how DOT is addressing fast-moving trends such as these. This report examines how DOT is (1) deciding on responses to the crash avoidance and electronic distractions trends--given available evidence and uncertainties; (2) developing new evidence on these trends' safety impacts; and (3) communicating with the Congress about these and other trends and related issues. To conduct this study, GAO analyzed DOT reports, peer-reviewed literature, and other documents; interviewed DOT officials and staff; and interviewed over 30 experts."
Date: October 3, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Questions for Competitive Sourcing Hearing Record (open access)

Questions for Competitive Sourcing Hearing Record

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs requested GAO's views on various competitive sourcing issies, including the recent revisions made by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to its Circular A-76. GAO answered questions on (1) making "best value" instead of "lowest cost" the factor that agencies must use in determining who will win a public-private competition; (2) agencies' capability to effectively manage public-private competitions and overseeing contracts; and (3) whether the 12-month time limit placed on competitions in the revised OMB Circular A-76 is appropriate and how much of the time taken to conduct competitions in the past was used to do things that could be handled before the competition begins."
Date: October 3, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Social Security Disability Programs: Clearer Guidance Could Help SSA Apply the Medical Improvement Standard More Consistently (open access)

Social Security Disability Programs: Clearer Guidance Could Help SSA Apply the Medical Improvement Standard More Consistently

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security Act requires that the Social Security Administration (SSA) find an improvement in a beneficiary's medical condition in order to remove him or her from either the Disability Insurance (DI) or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. GAO was asked to (1) examine the proportion of beneficiaries who have improved medically and (2) determine if factors associated with the standard pose challenges for SSA when determining whether beneficiaries continue to be eligible for benefits. To answer these questions, GAO surveyed all 55 Disability Determination Services (DDS) directors, interviewed SSA officials, and reviewed pertinent SSA data."
Date: October 3, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Center: Claims Payment Process Was Functioning Effectively, but Additional Controls Are Needed to Reduce the Risk of Improper Payments (open access)

U.S. Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Center: Claims Payment Process Was Functioning Effectively, but Additional Controls Are Needed to Reduce the Risk of Improper Payments

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (Fund) is a $1 billion fund authorized by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) to pay for (1) federal removal actions, (2) certain claims for uncompensated removal costs and damages,and (3) natural resource damage and restoration activities resulting from oil spills or the substantial threat of oil spills to the waters or shorelines of the United States. The Fund is administered by the National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC) of the U.S. Coast Guard. In May 2002, our Office of General Counsel reported on legal issues and limitations of the Fund and concluded that certain administrative costs were inappropriately being paid out of the Fund. In light of this conclusion, we reviewed the internal controls over disbursements from the Fund. Specifically, we reviewed the Fund to determine whether (1) the design of internal controls over the claims process provides reasonable assurance that improper payments will not occur or will be detected in the normal course of business and (2) internal controls over the claims process are operating as designed to help ensure proper payment of claims."
Date: October 3, 2003
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
ATF: Thefts of Explosives from State and Local Government Storage Facilities Are Few but May Be Underreported (open access)

ATF: Thefts of Explosives from State and Local Government Storage Facilities Are Few but May Be Underreported

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "More than 5.5 billion pounds of explosives are used each year in the United States by private sector companies and government entities. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has authority to regulate explosives and to license privately owned explosives storage facilities. After the July 2004 theft of several hundred pounds of explosives from a state and local government storage facility, concerns arose about vulnerability to theft. GAO analyzed (1) the extent of explosives thefts from state and local government facilities, (2) ATF's authority to regulate and oversee state and local government explosives storage facilities, (3) the information ATF collects about state and local government storage facilities, and (4) security oversight measures in place at selected state and local government storage facilities."
Date: October 3, 2005
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Abstinence Education: Efforts to Assess the Accuracy and Effectiveness of Federally Funded Programs (open access)

Abstinence Education: Efforts to Assess the Accuracy and Effectiveness of Federally Funded Programs

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Reducing the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancies is one objective of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). HHS provides funding to states and organizations that provide abstinence-until-marriage education as one approach to address this objective. GAO was asked to describe the oversight of federally funded abstinence-until-marriage education programs. GAO is reporting on (1) efforts by HHS and states to assess the scientific accuracy of materials used in these programs and (2) efforts by HHS, states, and researchers to assess the effectiveness of these programs. GAO reviewed documents and interviewed HHS officials in the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) that award grants for these programs."
Date: October 3, 2006
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Environmental Information: EPA Needs Better Information to Manage Risks and Measure Results (open access)

Environmental Information: EPA Needs Better Information to Manage Risks and Measure Results

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs comprehensive and accurate data to manage its programs more effectively. In reports going back to 1988, GAO has identified many long-standing problems in the agency's efforts to collect and use environmental data. This report summarizes GAO's findings on: (1) EPA's need to set risk-based priorities for its programs, and (2) develop outcome-oriented measures of its programs' results. EPA's ability to assess risks and establish risk-based priorities has been hampered by data quality problems, including critical data gaps, databases that do not operate compatibly with one another, and persistent concerns about the accuracy of the data in many of EPA's data systems. To ensure future success in developing outcome measures, however, EPA will need to make a long-term commitment to overcome major challenges to obtaining the data needed to show the results of environmental programs."
Date: October 3, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Financial Management: Strategies to Address Improper Payments at HUD, Education, and Other Federal Agencies (open access)

Financial Management: Strategies to Address Improper Payments at HUD, Education, and Other Federal Agencies

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses (1) how internal control weaknesses make the departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Education vulnerable to, and in some cases have resulted in, improper and questionable payments and (2) strategies these and other federal agencies can use to better manage their improper payments. Despite a climate of increased scrutiny, most improper payments associated with federal programs continue to go unidentified as they drain taxpayer resources away from the missions and goals of our government. GAO found that both HUD and Education lacked fundamental internal controls over their purchase card programs that would have minimized the risk of improper purchases. Combined with a lack of monitoring, environments were created at HUD and Education where improper purchases could be made with little risk of detection. One of the most important internal controls in the purchase card process is the review of supporting documentation and approval of each purchase by the approving official. Another control that is effective in helping to prevent improper purchases is the blocking of certain merchant category codes. This control, available as part of the agencies' purchase card contracts with the card …
Date: October 3, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nuclear Energy: NRC Has Made Progress in Implementing Its Reactor Oversight and Licensing Processes but Continues to Face Challenges (open access)

Nuclear Energy: NRC Has Made Progress in Implementing Its Reactor Oversight and Licensing Processes but Continues to Face Challenges

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is responsible for overseeing the nation's 104 commercial nuclear power reactors to ensure they are operated safely. Since 2000, NRC has used a formal Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) to oversee safety. NRC is also responsible for licensing the construction and operation of new reactors. Electric power companies have announced plans to submit 20 applications in the next 18 months. This testimony is based on GAO reports that reviewed (1) how NRC implements the ROP, (2) the results of the ROP over several years, (3) the status of NRC's efforts to improve the ROP, (4) NRC's efforts to prepare its workforce and manage its workload for new reactor licensing, and (5) NRC's efforts to develop its regulatory framework and review processes for new reactor activities. In conducting this work, GAO analyzed programwide information and interviewed cognizant NRC managers and industry representatives."
Date: October 3, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Office of Workers' Compensation Programs: Goals and Monitoring Are Needed to Further Improve Customer Communications (open access)

Office of Workers' Compensation Programs: Goals and Monitoring Are Needed to Further Improve Customer Communications

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses the Department of Labor's Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP). GAO reviewed how OWCP communicates with injured federal workers, agencies who employ these persons, and medical and other service providers who treat them. To evaluate OWCP's system, GAO used criteria suggested by the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPR). This report summarizes GAO's findings on NPR's study of private sector practices for providing telephone customer service, which included: (1) setting challenging goals for meeting callers' needs for timely and accurate information; (2) collecting credible performance data to measure progress in attaining those goals; and (3) improving telephone service by using the performance data and results to periodic surveys of customers and stakeholders to determine levels of satisfaction. GAO found that OWCP provided consistent customer service regardless of where injured workers live. GAO made 2,400 telephone calls to OWCP's 12 district offices. To compare OWCP's goals and practices for telephone communication with those of model organizations, GAO surveyed three agencies that have won awards for their telephone communication practices: the Social Security Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs' Benefits Administration, and Ohio's Bureau of Workers' Compensation."
Date: October 3, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
District of Columbia Government: Progress and Challenges in Performance Management (open access)

District of Columbia Government: Progress and Challenges in Performance Management

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony focuses on the District of Columbia's progress and challenges in performance management. GAO discusses whether the District: (1) met the 29 performance goals that it scheduled for completion by the end of fiscal year 2000 that Congress chose from the more than 400 performance measures contained in the Mayor's fiscal year 2001 budget request, and (2) provided evidence that the performance data are sufficiently reliable for measuring progress toward goals. Mayor Williams' performance management system contains many--but not all--of the elements used successfully by leading organizations. The District could improve the usefulness of its mandated annual performance plans and reports by ensuring that the District government's most significant performance goals are included in both the annual performance plan and the annual performance report that federal law requires the Mayor to send to Congress every year."
Date: October 3, 2000
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Program: Management Problems May Increase Vulnerability of U.S. Agriculture to Foreign Pests and Diseases (open access)

Agricultural Quarantine Inspection Program: Management Problems May Increase Vulnerability of U.S. Agriculture to Foreign Pests and Diseases

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "U.S. agriculture generates over $1 trillion in economic activity annually, but concerns exist about its vulnerability to foreign pests and diseases. Under the agricultural quarantine inspection (AQI) program, passengers and cargo are inspected at U.S. ports of entry to intercept prohibited material and pests. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 transferred responsibility for inspections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP). APHIS retained some AQI-related responsibilities, such as policy setting and training. This testimony is based on issued GAO reports and discusses (1) steps DHS and USDA took that were intended to strengthen the AQI program, (2) views of agriculture specialists of their work experiences since the transfer, and (3) management problems. As part of these reports, GAO surveyed a representative sample of agriculture specialists on their work experiences, analyzed inspection and interception data, and interviewed agency officials."
Date: October 3, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Executive Correspondence - Letter dtd 09/19/05 from Chairman Principi to Iowa Senator Charles Grassley (open access)

Executive Correspondence - Letter dtd 09/19/05 from Chairman Principi to Iowa Senator Charles Grassley

Executive Correspondence - Letter dtd 09/19/05 from Chairman Principi to Iowa Senator Charles Grassley in reply to his letter of 09/12/05. The Chairman provides answers to the Senator's questions regarding Rock Island Arsenal, Illinois.
Date: October 3, 2005
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Letter
System: The UNT Digital Library
BRAC Early Bird 03 October, 2005 (open access)

BRAC Early Bird 03 October, 2005

BRAC Early Bird 03 October, 2005
Date: October 3, 2005
Creator: United States. Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Greensheet (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 410, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 3, 2006 (open access)

Greensheet (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 37, No. 410, Ed. 1 Tuesday, October 3, 2006

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.
Date: October 3, 2006
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Greensheet (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 418, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 2008 (open access)

Greensheet (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 418, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 2008

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.
Date: October 3, 2008
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Greensheet (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 414, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 3, 2007 (open access)

Greensheet (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 38, No. 414, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.
Date: October 3, 2007
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Greensheet (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 420, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 2008 (open access)

Greensheet (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 39, No. 420, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 2008

Free weekly newspaper that includes business and classified advertising.
Date: October 3, 2008
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 3, 2001 (open access)

University Press (Beaumont, Tex.), Vol. 78, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 3, 2001

Semiweekly newspaper from Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas that includes local, national, and campus news along with advertising.
Date: October 3, 2001
Creator: Jordan, Kasey A.
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 2008 (open access)

The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 13, Ed. 1 Friday, October 3, 2008

Bi-weekly student newspaper from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.
Date: October 3, 2008
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
WASP Timeline (open access)

WASP Timeline

A timeline of major event involving the creation and existence of the Women Air force Service Pilots organization, printed from www.wasp-wwii.org.
Date: October 3, 2000
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Pamphlet
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 158, No. 32, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 3, 2007 (open access)

Cherokeean Herald (Rusk, Tex.), Vol. 158, No. 32, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Weekly newspaper from Rusk, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with extensive advertising.
Date: October 3, 2007
Creator: Whitehead, Marie
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History
North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 3, 2007 (open access)

North Texas Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 91, No. 20, Ed. 1 Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Daily student newspaper from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas that includes local, state and campus news along with advertising.
Date: October 3, 2007
Creator: unknown
Object Type: Newspaper
System: The Portal to Texas History