Materials from an OTA Senior Management Retreat including memoranda, summaries, and discussion points for previous or upcoming studies and programs. The retreat was held from November 12-14, 1986.

This background paper was requested by the House Government Operations Committee and its Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations and Human Resources. In it, OTA describes policies issued by Federal agencies concerning the identification, assessment, and regulation of carcinogenic chemicals; the chemicals that have been regulated because of carcinogenic risk; the Federal Government’s carcinogenicity testing program; and the results of OTA’s analysis of the extent of agency action on chemicals determined to be carcinogenic.

This report discusses the development of telecommunications technologies and the study of distance learning. OTA was asked to analyze various technological options, examine current development, and identify how Federal, State and local policies could encourage more efficient and effective use.

This report provides an overview of progress made by nine compacts and the remaining unaffiliated States in developing disposal facilities. Disposal costs have more than tripled while LLW volumes have dropped by more than half over the last decade. Since many costs associated with developing and operating a disposal facility are fixed, unit disposal costs will increase substantially as new facilities open. This may lead States to consider the economics of cooperative arrangements, which would permit them to trade waste services and construct fewer full-service disposal facilities.

This report finds that many State EMS systems are fragmented and lacking resources to remedy EMS problems in rural areas. Many rural EMS programs lack specialized EMS providers, have inadequate EMS transportation and communications equipment, and are not part of a planned regional EMS system. The report describes the availability and distribution of emergency medical service (EMS) resources (e.g., personnel, transportation, facilities) and examines how limited Federal resources can be used to improve rural EMS. In addition, the report discusses how Federal EMS resources might be targeted to States’ rural areas.

This report discusses the history and function of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) as it stood in November 1989, focusing on the benefit of the OTA's function as a practical analysis tool concerning technological issues.

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at the international competitiveness of the electronics technology industry.

A technical memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "estimates plausible levels of world oil production to the year 2000 and assesses the factors likely to determine which levels are actually reached" (p. iii).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that is a "background to an analysis of Federal policies regarding the medical devices industry" (p. 4).

A technical memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at "issues directly related to the scientific validity of the polygraph" (p. iii).

A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "focuses on amputees and the social policies that bear on their use of the Boston Elbow" (p. 3).

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that covers "the essential technical issues surrounding the selection and acquisition of infrastructure in space" (p. iii).

A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that presents "what is currently known about ICUs in terms of the distribution of ICU beds, the costs of maintaining ICUs, the characteristics of ICU patients and the outcome of ICU care" (p. 3).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "focuses on how Federal Government policies affect innovations in wheelchair characteristics" (p. 3).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "examines both the demands that the information revolution will make on education and the opportunities afforded by the new information technologies to meet those demands" (p. iii).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "describes the drug approval process, the history and objectives of post-marketing surveillance, the methods employed to accomplish it, and current activities in postmarketing surveillance" (p. iii).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that specifies what a federal program that compensates "vaccinees injured as a result of being vaccinated in public immunization programs" might look like (p. iii).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that addresses "basic issues surrounding a degree-of-hazard classification approach" and "various methods for applying a degree-of-hazard classification system" (p. iii).

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA0 that "addresses in detail the significance of American petroleum equipment and technology to the U.S.S.R. and the resulting options for U.S. policy" (p. iii).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "reviews wood manufacturing technologies that might be used to extend the timber resource through improved utilization and explores the prospects for changes in the way wood products are manufactured and used" (Abstract).

This report discusses the rational for public access, approaches to public access, challenges and opportunities of new technology, and the potential impact on the government printing office.

This report discusses the national health insurance system in Canada. It describes the financing for health care, the costs of hospital and medical care.

This report of OTA has conducted a study of a wide range of topics, some of which have recently been receiving a great deal of scrutiny inside and outside the government. In order to derive information specific enough to guide possible congressional action and to be responsive to the requesting Committees, this examination of the issues is specifically tied to particular life-sustaining technologies and their use with patients who are elderly. At the same time, much of this information is applicable to life-sustaining technology in general and to citizens of all ages.

This report discusses the problem of decision-making for incompetent or questionably competent elderly people as one of the most serious issues facing Americans.