This report includes statements by the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the board, TAAC Chairman, and the director of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA). The report discusses the year in review regarding the work in progress, organization and operations of OTA.

The report includes discussions of political, economic, environmental, and energy-related factors that affected both the 1968 leasing attempt and its successor—the current Prototype Program. The Program’s goals are identified, and its progress and status are examined to determine if those goals have been met or are likely to be met in the foreseeable future.

A catalog of Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) documents published through 1980.

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at the potential for biomass resources, which includes plant species and different types of human waste. This volume gives a technical and environmental analysis on the topic that complements the first volume.

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines the U.S. steel industry, specifically the "nontechnological factors that shape the environment in which new technology is created and adopted" (p. iii).

An background paper for an assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "emphasizes methodological issues related to the assessment of psychotherapy and the use of cost-effectiveness/cost-benefit analysis (CEA/CBA) to evaluate psychotherapy's worth" (Summary).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at the "general and specific public public policies that affect the development and diffusion of medical technologies" of nine industrialized countries, which are then compared to those of the U.S. (p. 5).

A background paper prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at the "relationship between disasters in the developing countries and natural hazards in the United States" (p. iii).

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 study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines "the economic, environmental, energy, societal, and safety impacts of advances in the technology of high-speed aircraft, commuter, aircraft, and air cargo" (p. iii).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "addresses whether or not additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports should be encouraged or restricted in the context of future national energy requirements and supply alternatives" (p. 3).

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment that examines the oil shale resources of the Western United States that could contribute to the liquid fuel supply of the United States.

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).

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "evaluates the progress and direction of a number of conservation and solar energy programs, in order to provide an overview of the balance and long-range contribution of these efforts, and to discover if the programs are coherently linked to goals set by Congress and the administration" (p. iii).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 and "identifies 14 basic issues or conflicts with which th [sic] implementation plan must cope in order to achieve its objectives" (Introduction).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment that examines the "energy potential of various sources of plant and animal matter (biomass)," giving an analysis of "prominent biomass issues, summaries of four biomass fuel cycles, a description of biomass' place in two plausible energy futures, and discussions of policy options for promoting energy from biomass" (p. iii).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "evaluates the assumptions, methods, and results of the two current models used to forecast the number and kinds of physicians the country is likely to need and have" in order to aid Congress in creating policies of health services and health resources (p. iii).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of advanced group rapid transit (AGRT) that looks at possibilities for "further advances in automated guideway transit (AGT) technology, and evaluates their potential impacts on various stakeholder groups" (p. iii).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that analyzes the "feasibility, implications, and usefulness of cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis in health care decisionmaking" (p. iii).

An analysis by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that identifies "information and knowledge gaps in the management of flood hazards" and proposes "policy options for further consideration that could beneficially affect such management" (p. 1).

A background paper for an assessment for the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that closely looks at methodology and cost-effectiveness in the health care industry.

A technical memorandum prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that reviews "the present plan for the Ocean Margin Drilling program and addresses questions on the merits of the program and alternatives to it" and discusses "the institutional capability of the Federal agencies which are to manage this program; the technology development aspects, and the problems and opportunities associated with industry participation" (p. 3).

The proceedings of a seminar that discussed the "impacts on the aviation system of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) proposed implementation of the Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS) and the Automatic Traffic Advisory and Resolution Service (ATARS)" (p. iii).

A memorandum prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that updates the status of the study of Ocean Thermal Conversion.