A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on airport-related noise, focusing on the: (1) types of projects that are eligible for federally authorized funding to reduce airport-related noise or mitigate its effects; (2) differences in the major methods for measuring the impact of airport-related noise; (3) Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) noise standards for civil subsonic turbojets and the reasons some of those aircraft are not required to comply with these or earlier standards; and (4) status of FAA's Land Use Planning Initiative and the major issues the initiative has raised about how best to address airport-related noise."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed efforts to reduce the threat of biological weapons proliferation from the former Soviet Union, focusing on: (1) the potential threats that the former Soviet biological weapons institutes could pose to the United States; (2) current and future U.S. efforts to address these threats; and (3) risks associated with the expanded U.S. effort and executive branch plans to mitigate them."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the Postal Service's Breast Cancer Research Stamp, focusing on: (1) how the Service went about identifying and allocating the costs it incurred in developing and marketing the Breast Cancer Research Semipostal (BCRS) and the issues associated with effectiveness; (2) the statutory authorities and constraints associated with the Service's issuance of semipostals, in general, as a means of fund-raising; and (3) the appropriateness of using the BCRS as a means of fund-raising."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO updated its 1994 report federally funded programs that provide or support education or child care for children under age 5, focusing on: (1) what portion of the budget authority for these programs was used for education and care for children under age 5 and how many children in this age group participated in the programs; (2) what types of children these programs target and what services are provided to these children; and (3) what information is needed to assess whether the current array of federal programs is duplicative and what issues should be considered to improve overall efficiency of early childhood education and care programs."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) inventory management activities, focusing on the: (1) reliability of using DOD's database systems to determine whether activity codes are authorized to obtain excess DOD property; and (2) adequacy of oversight of the management and use of excess DOD property provided to selected universities and a Florida Army National Guard unit where ownership of the property remains with DOD."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) performance goals and measures, focusing on: (1) the extent to which EPA's fiscal year (FY) 2000 performance goals and measures focus on end outcomes, intermediate outcomes, or outputs; (2) any challenges the agency faces in developing additional performance goals and measures that focus on end outcomes; and (3) the initiatives the agency is taking to address any identified challenges."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the process for phasing out single-hull oil vessels and replacing them with double-hull vessels, focusing on: (1) how the Coast Guard implemented the Oil Pollution Act's phase-out requirements for U.S.-built single-hull vessels larger than 5,000 gross tons; (2) the extent to which owners have received extensions or waivers that extend the phase-out deadlines for their single-hull vessels; and (3) the extent to which owners are replacing or planning to replace or convert their single-hull vessels, and what effect their plans would have on the ability to provide sufficient oil-carrying shipping capacity in the future."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO provided information on the implementation of the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) New Starts program's evaluation process and fiscal year (FY) 2001 funding proposals, focusing on the: (1) refinements made to FTA's evaluation and rating process since 1999; (2) means by which New Starts projects were selected for FTA's FY 2001 New Starts report and budget request; and (3) impact of FTA's recommendations on its New Starts commitment authority."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Health Care Financing Administration's (HCFA) oversight of the amounts of overpayments home health agencies (HHA) owe Medicare, focusing on: (1) whether HCFA quickly identifies and collects overpayments from closed HHAs; (2) the accuracy of the overpayment amounts HCFA reported for closed Texas HHAs; and (3) whether HCFA can effectively record and track overpayments due from closed agencies."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the behavior of gasoline prices in California, focusing on: (1) the extent to which retail gasoline prices spike more frequently and higher in California than they do in the rest of the United States; (2) why gasoline prices in California rise faster than they fall in response to increases and decreases in the wholesale price of gasoline; and (3) the factors that account for differences in the retail prices of gasoline between San Francisco and Los Angeles."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) Paducah plant cleanup plan, focusing on: (1) the planned activities, cost, and schedule DOE has for cleaning up the site; (2) the challenges that exist in accomplishing the current cleanup plan; and (3) whether the cleanup plan includes all areas at the site requiring cleanup."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the Department of Energy's (DOE) Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project's status and potential uncertainties with regard to: (1) successfully treating mixed waste; (2) meeting the project's deadlines; and (3) minimizing increases in the contract price."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) oversight of lenders participating in its Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) mortgage insurance programs for single-family homes, focusing on: (1) how HUD ensures that lenders granted direct endorsement authority by FHA are qualified to receive such authority; (2) the extent to which HUD focuses on high-risk lenders in monitoring the lenders participating in FHA's mortgage insurance programs; and (3) the extent to which HUD holding lenders are accountable for poor performance."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Russian compliance with space station safety requirements, focusing on whether: (1) the Russian-built Zarya and the Service Module comply with safety requirements; (2) the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has approved any waivers of safety requirements; and (3) NASA was due any compensation from the Zarya contractor for items that did not meet safety requirements or had performance problems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Restructuring and Reform Act's personnel flexibility provisions, focusing on: (1) IRS' implementation of these provisions; and (2) any tax administration concerns that may have arisen in relation to implementation."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed whether the Russian government has taxed assistance provided by programs that were designed to fund former Soviet weapons scientists, focusing on two programs: (1) the Department of Energy's (DOE) Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention; and (2) International Science and Technology Center in Moscow."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Defense's (DOD) operational support airlift aircraft requirement, focusing on: (1) whether the existing requirement for operational support airlift aircraft is linked to wartime needs; and (2) the process DOD used to determine its requirements for these aircraft."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the National Gambling Impact Study Commission's (NGISC) case study on gambling, focusing on: (1) the economic effects of gambling, particularly on employment, bankruptcy, and tax revenues and community investment; (2) the social effects of gambling; (3) the prevalence of pathological gambling; and (4) whether communities offer incentives to attract gambling establishments."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed states' efforts to meet the information needs associated with welfare reform, with a focus on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), focusing on the: (1) extent to which automated systems in selected states meet key information needs of programs that help low-income individuals with children obtain employment and become economically independent; (2) approaches states are using to develop or modify their automated systems to better meet these information needs; and (3) major obstacles states have encountered in working to improve their automated systems as well as the potential role of the federal government in helping overcome these obstacles."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed issues the Department of Defense (DOD) faces in its acquisition of weapon systems."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Air Force's and the Navy's development of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the recent extension of the program's development schedule, focusing on: (1) what the program's status is and what the causes of the schedule slip and cost increase were; and (2) whether the Air Force is following the most effective acquisition strategy to reduce the risk of cost growth and schedule delays."

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) proposed rule on the confidentiality of patient health care information, focusing on: (1) the authoritative basis in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) statute for some of the approaches taken by HHS in the proposed rule; (2) the overall pattern of public responses to the rule among a selected group of 40 organizations representing different constituencies affected by the rule; (3) the views expressed by those organizations with respect to sections of the rule that prompted an especially large volume of comments; and (4) concerns that would require legislative action to address."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Department of Energy's (DOE) merit review practices, focusing on: (1) what procedures DOE has established for performing merit reviews; and (2) whether DOE could document that it has followed the merit review procedures it has established."

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on Soviet-designed nuclear power reactors, focusing on: (1) how much money has been spent by the United States and other countries for assistance to improve the safety of Soviet-designed nuclear power reactors--and the types of assistance being provided--as well as planned U.S. expenditures; (2) experts' views on the impact of the assistance; (3) the status of efforts to close high-risk Soviet-designed reactors; and (4) the management of the Department of Energy's (DOE) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) safety assistance activities."