Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses bank regulators' evaluation of electronic signature systems. Financial institutions use signature systems to verify or authenticate the identity of customers conducting financial and nonfinancial transactions over the Internet and other open electronic networks. Officials at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Reserve told GAO that they are developing an examination strategy for Identrus LLC, which is an entity that provides services to financial institutions to authenticate electronic signatures. OCCofficials have not determined what role they will play in assessing Identrus' operations, but they believe that financial institutions should take an active role in assessing the risks associated with electronic signatures."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Forest Service consolidated its Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station with its Intermountain Research Station. The resulting consolidated station was renamed the Rocky Mountain Research Station and was relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado. The Forest Service originally proposed consolidating the two stations in 1992 but delayed taking any action until it completed its reorganizational assessment in May 1997. The Forest Service cut 18 managerial and administrative staff positions during the consolidation. The positions that were eliminated were either transferred to other Forest Service units or were vacated through retirement or employee buyouts. Since 1992, the research funding available to the merged station has remained relatively constant, about 15 percent of the Forest Service's budget for research stations, and the number of employees has remained relatively stable."

Guidance issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This publication has been superseded by GAO-04-310G, GAO's Congressional Protocols, July 2004. This report has been superseded by GAO-04-310G, GAO's Congressional Protocols July 2004. This document contains the protocols governing GAO's work for Congress. These protocols are intended to provide (1) clearly defined and transparent policies and practices relating to GAO's work and (2) a means of holding GAO accountable for commitments made to Congress and ensuring that GAO is consistent in dealing with all committees and members."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "As required by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Act of 1986, GAO must periodically determine whether the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) uses fair practices in determining which vendors win contracts. This correspondence provides information on MWAA's uses contracting practices between 1992 and 1999. GAO found that 2,843 contracts for supplies and services were awarded during this period. The initial award of these contracts was $1.43 billion. Between 1998 and 1999, GAO found that 95 out of 124 large contracts had been awarded using full and open competition. The remaining contracts were awarded on a sole-source basis or by using limited competition."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) subsidiary, NASD Dispute Resolution (DR), failed to update its arbitrator disclosure system in a timely manner. As a result, several parties in an arbitration did not receive timely information on their arbitrator. To reduce the potential for further errors, NASD-DRplans to: (1) introduce a form that will allow arbitrators to submit updated information electronically, and (2) centralize processing of the information in itsDepartment of Neutral Management. In 1992 and 1998, NASD-DR also used other measures to ensure that arbitrator background information was current. Because NASD-DR has made these changes and plans to make additional improvements to its procedures for updating arbitrator disclosure information, GAO is not making any further recommendations at this time."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This document reviews the Department of Veterans Affairs' oversight of laundry services at its Medical Center in Albany, New York. GAO found inadequate management and oversight of the contract for operating the laundry facility. There was no separation of duties between the quality assurance evaluator and the contracting officer's technical representative. This individual allowed the contractor to deviate from the contract's terms. As a result, it appears that the contractor was overpaid for the services provided."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit resulted in the Forest Service's suspending or maintaining the suspension of 49 projects within Georgia's Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests--11 for contracted timber sales and 27 for vegetative management actions. The decision did not result in the suspension of projects in other national forests in Alabama and Florida. According to Forest Service officials and other stakeholders, the decision has had various consequences for timber sales and vegetative management projects in the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests. In some cases, such as the suspended timber sale projects, the consequences could be quantified in terms of monetary claims against the Forest Service and reduced receipts to local communities. In other cases, such as the suspended vegetative management projects, the consequences are more qualitative. According to Forest Service officials, the suspensions affected the Forest Service's ability to control for wildfires, sedimentation, and southern pine beetle infestations; to protect endangered species; and to ensure habitat diversity. Although the environmental group that filed the lawsuit against the Forest Service could not provide any data on the consequences of the suspended timber sales and vegetative …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Humana, Inc., a large Medicare Choice Plan, provided a prescription drug benefit with a coverage limit that was below the amount listed in its 1998 Florida Medicare Choice contract. Ernst and Young, the contractor hired by the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to review Humana's contract submission, did not detect the discrepancies because it failed to follow HCFA's review procedures. HCFA has revised its processes and procedures for monitoring the accuracy of the information in Medicare Choice plans' contracts. The Humana case shows that the agency did not follow procedures that could have revealed the contract discrepancies that caused some beneficiaries to receive less coverage for brand name prescription drugs than the amount specified in their plan's basic package. Unless HCFA adheres to its revised monitoring procedures, beneficiaries will have few guarantees that they will receive the prescription drug benefits for which the government contracted and paid."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "One of the first defenses against improper Medicare billings is the screening of applications from providers seeking to participate in the program. The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) operates and manages the Medicare program and, with help from insurance companies, reviews provider applications to determine whether providers meet Medicare requirements and if there is a reason to suspect that providers' future Medicare billings would be improper. GAO found that HCFA's current provider enrollment process does not completely ensure that dishonest and unqualified providers are prevented from obtaining Medicare billing privileges. GAO suggests consolidating provider enrollment tasks with fewer contractors to strengthen HCFA's ability to oversee these contractors and enhance the efficiency of the enrollment process. HCFA is implementing several changes to its provider enrollment processes that may make it more difficult for dishonest providers to enroll in Medicare; however, delays in implementing these initiatives will also postpone their benefits."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report focuses on GAO's review of the South Boston Piers Transitway Finance Plan. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is building a 1.5 mile underground transitway to connect its existing transit system with the South Boston Piers area, which is undergoing significant economic development. The project is experiencing cost increases and schedule delays, which have led to concerns over funding. GAO notes that although MBTA has shown that it has the financial capacity to complete the project, it has not yet clearly demonstrated to the Federal Transit Administration's financial management oversight contractor that funding the transitway project will not impair its ability to operate and maintain its overall transit system."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO published a performance and accountability challenge report on government programs and functions that GAO has identified as "high risk" because of their greater vulnerabilities to waste, abuse, and mismanagement."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Forest Service canceled or suspended several timber sales contracts to protect endangered or threatened species. From October 1992 through June 1996, the Forest Service paid $6.5 million to settle claims on 48 canceled or suspended contracts. Currently, there are pending claims of about $51 million for canceled or suspended contracts. To minimize its financial liability in the future, the Forest Service is developing cancellation regulations and a new standard timber sales contract. Progress in finalizing these new regulations has been slow because of the Forest Service's need to conduct a more detailed economic analysis. The proposed rules have also undergone several changes since the Forest Service began working on them in the late 1980s to settle some of the timber companies' claims. The Forest Service has sometimes used replacement timber; however, the timber replacement program has had limited success because the timber was either unavailable within the sale area or was in such poor condition that many companies would not accept it."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Mitchell & Titus, LLP issued its Independent Auditors' Reports on the general purpose financial statements included in the District of Columbia's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) the fiscal year 1999. GAO reviewed the auditors' report in order to answer several congressional questions about to the CAFR. The independent auditors used generally accepted auditing procedures to ensure that the expenditures, revenues, and assets were properly stated in the CAFR. However, the auditors did not, when assessing the District's property, plant, and equipment, include in their risk analysis two issues that could affect the accuracy of the data reported. Accounting errors explained why the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority's actual expenditures were different on the CAFR and its own audited financial statements. The auditors' report notes that the District's Chief Financial Officer did not use proper procedures in performing reversal of accruals in the Advisory Neighborhood Commission's (ANC) account. By not following the stated procedures, ANC's expenditures were understated by about $277,000."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Because of the serious concern for health care workers in the United States, GAO examined the benefit and cost implications of purchasing needlestick prevention devices for hospitals. GAO estimates about 69,000 needlesticks in hospitals can be prevented in 1 year through the use of needles with safety features. Eliminating these needlesticks could reduce the number of health care workers who become infected with the hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) after sustaining a needlestick injury. GAO's analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that reducing needlesticks may prevent at least 25 cases of HBV and at least 16 cases of HCV infection per year. The reduction in the number of HIV infections cannot be estimated. GAO estimates that the cost to purchase needles with safety features would be between $70 million and $352 million per year. The exact cost to adopt these needles is difficult to determine because several factors must be considered, including the cost to train workers to use the devices and the extent to which the needles reduce injuries."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO provided information on the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's current financial management initiatives, activities, and practices."

A statement of record issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This testimony discusses GAO's need to access to records concerning the administration's process for approving United Nations (U.N.) peacekeeping operations. To complete this study, GAO needs (1) access to all records at the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Council that are considered to be relevant to GAO's study, and (2) independent access to these agencies' records for the U.N. peacekeeping operations covered by this study. The copies of the requested documents that GAO received were so heavily redacted that they did not provide any useful information. GAO believes the process used by State and DOD threatens its independent access to records as well as the quality and validity of the study. GAO also believes that the existing process of allowing federal agencies to collect the relevant documents and edit their contents before releasing them to GAO is unacceptable and must change."

According the preface, this report represents the scientific understanding of salmon and salmon declines in the year 2000. The report provides an overview of salmon population trends, and ways to aid in and measure recovery.

This report describes and recommends ways to improve alert systems in order to reduce loss of lives, property, and economic activity caused by natural and man-made disasters.

This law was passed by the Republic of China (Taiwan) in order to control marine pollution, protect public health, and sustainably use marine resources.

Minutes from a meeting of the TXSSAR Board of Managers, held on November 12, 2000 at 8:45 a.m., including a summary of activities and business discussed. The meeting was called to order by President Elect Nathan White with compatriot Harper delivering the invocation.

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Validity of section 661.063, Government Code, with regard to payment for vacation balances accrued prior September 1, 1997 (RQ-0246-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification; Whether, under section 10 of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Contractor License Law, Tex. Re. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 8861 (Vernon Supp. 2000), a manufacturer, retailer, rebuilder, or installer of manufactured homes must be licensed or regsitered in order to purchase refrigerants (RQ-0252-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Texas Board of Medical Examiners may certify a foreign nonprofit corporation, organized under the laws of a jurisdiction other than Texas, as a nonprofit health organization under section 162.001(b) of the Occupations Code (RQ-0250-JC)

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, John Cornyn, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: Whether the Comptroller must continue to pay monthly installment payments to a county that has stopped, midyear, collecting the fee authorized by section 51.702 of the Government Code, and related question (RQ-0251-JC)