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Federal Workers' Compensation: Better Data and Management Strategies Would Strengthen Efforts to Prevent and Address Improper Payments (open access)

Federal Workers' Compensation: Better Data and Management Strategies Would Strengthen Efforts to Prevent and Address Improper Payments

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2006, the Federal Employees' Compensation Act (FECA) program paid over $1.8 billion in wage loss compensation to federal employees who were unable to work after being injured on the job. Under the Comptroller General's authority to conduct evaluations on his own initiative, GAO examined (1) how effectively the Department of Labor's (Labor) Office of Workers' Compensation Programs (OWCP) manages the risk of improper FECA compensation payments; (2) what vulnerabilities to improper payments, if any, exist in OWCP's procedures for making FECA wage loss payments; and (3) how well OWCP ensures the recovery of identified FECA overpayments. To address these issues, GAO reviewed OWCP documents, analyzed data obtained from OWCP, reviewed a random and projectable sample of FECA claims files, visited five OWCP district offices, and interviewed OWCP headquarters and district officials."
Date: February 26, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Personnel Practices: Career and Other Appointments of Former Political Appointees, October 1998-April 2001 (open access)

Personnel Practices: Career and Other Appointments of Former Political Appointees, October 1998-April 2001

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Political appointees in the federal government sometimes seek appointments to career positions, which do not end with an administration. Although merit system principles require that selections be determined solely on the basis of merit after fair and open competition, questions have been raised about whether some individuals have received political favoritism or an unfair advantage, even the appearance of which could adversely compromise the integrity of the system. The 45 agencies GAO surveyed reported that 100 employees converted from political appointments and 11 converted from congressional staff positions from October 1998 through April 2001. All the conversions took place at 21 agencies. Ninety-five of the 111 conversions were to positions at the GS-12 level and above. GAO found that the 21 agencies used appropriate appointment authorities, such as civil service certificates from the competitive selection process, and generally followed merit system procedures. In 17 instances, however, the appointments could give the appearance that individuals had received political favoritism or preferences."
Date: February 26, 2002
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Missile Defense: Actions Being Taken to Address Testing Recommendations, but Updated Assessment Needed (open access)

Missile Defense: Actions Being Taken to Address Testing Recommendations, but Updated Assessment Needed

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In August 2000, the Defense Department's (DOD) Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E), made 50 recommendations on a test program for a system to defeat long-range ballistic missile threats against the United States. DOD's Missile Defense Agency (MDA) plans to begin fielding the system by September 2004. GAO examined (1) how MDA addressed DOT&E's recommendations and (2) what is known about the effectiveness of the system to be fielded by September 2004. GAO issued a classified report on this subject in June 2003. This unclassified, updated version reflects changes in MDA's test schedule."
Date: February 26, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Information Security: Advances and Remaining Challenges to Adoption of Public Key Infrastructure Technology (open access)

Information Security: Advances and Remaining Challenges to Adoption of Public Key Infrastructure Technology

A chapter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The federal government must overcome several major challenges before public key infrastructure (PKI) technology can be widely and effectively used. These challenges include providing interoperability among agency PKIs, ensuring that PKI implementations can support a potential large scale of users, reducing the cost of building PKI systems, setting policies to maintain trust levels among agencies, and establishing training programs for users at all levels. Although such challenges are difficult to overcome in the near term, the federal government can take steps to better assist agencies develop and implement PKIs that may eventually be interconnected into a federal governmentwide system. The recent effort to develop a Federal Bridge Certification Authority (FBCA) is an excellent first step in this direction, but this effort lacks the context of a well-defined program plan for the government as well as key policy and technical standards. Establishing a federal PKI management framework could facilitate and accelerate participation in the FBCA as well as overall federal adoption of key technology for enabling electronic government."
Date: February 26, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Options to Improve the Cost-Effectiveness of Filling the Reserve (open access)

Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Options to Improve the Cost-Effectiveness of Filling the Reserve

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) was created in 1975 to help insulate the U.S. economy from oil supply disruptions and currently holds about 700 million barrels of crude oil. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 directed the Department of Energy (DOE) to increase the SPR storage capacity from 727 million barrels to 1 billion barrels, which it plans to accomplish by 2018. Since 1999, oil for the SPR has generally been obtained through the royalty-in-kind program, whereby the government receives oil instead of cash for payment of royalties on leases of federal property. The Department of Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) collects the royalty oil and transfers it to DOE, which then trades it for oil suitable for the SPR. As DOE begins to expand the SPR, past experiences can help inform future efforts to fill the reserve in the most cost-effective manner. In that context, GAO's testimony today will focus on: (1) factors GAO recommends DOE consider when filling the SPR, and (2) the cost-effectiveness of using oil received through the royalty-in-kind program to fill the SPR. To address these issues, GAO relied on its 2006 report …
Date: February 26, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Distance Education: Improved Data on Program Costs and Guidelines on Quality Assessments Needed to Inform Federal Policy (open access)

Distance Education: Improved Data on Program Costs and Guidelines on Quality Assessments Needed to Inform Federal Policy

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Distance education--that is, offering courses by Internet, video, or other forms outside the classroom--has changed considerably in recent years and is a growing force in postsecondary education. More than a decade ago, concerns about fraud and abuse by some correspondence schools led to federal restrictions on, among other things, the percentage of courses a school could provide by distance education and still qualify for federal student aid. Given the recent changes in distance education, GAO was asked to review the extent to which the restrictions affect schools' ability to offer federal student aid and the Department of Education's assessment of the continued appropriateness of the restrictions. Additionally, GAO was asked to look at the extent to which accrediting agencies evaluate distance education programs, including their approach for assessing student outcomes."
Date: February 26, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Federal Unemployment Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Federal Unemployment Taxes

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO performed procedures to determine whether the net federal unemployment tax revenue distributed to the Unemployment Trust Fund for fiscal year 2000 is supported by the underlying records. The procedures GAO agreed to perform include (1) detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to the UTF and (2) a review of key reconciliations of the Internal Revenue Service records to those of the Department of the Treasury."
Date: February 26, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nonprofit Sector: Significant Federal Funds Reach the Sector through Various Mechanisms, but More Complete and Reliable Funding Data Are Needed (open access)

Nonprofit Sector: Significant Federal Funds Reach the Sector through Various Mechanisms, but More Complete and Reliable Funding Data Are Needed

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Increasingly, the federal government relies on networks and partnerships to achieve its goals, and many of these involve nonprofit organizations. GAO was asked to assess (1) the mechanisms through which federal dollars flow to nonprofits and (2) what is known about federal dollars flowing through them to nonprofit organizations in fiscal year 2006. To address these objectives, GAO conducted a literature review of funding; analyzed data from several sources, including the Federal Procurement Data System--Next Generation (FPDS-NG) and the Federal Awards and Assistance Data System (FAADS); and analyzed nonprofit organizations' roles in 19 federal programs."
Date: February 26, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Defense Management: DLA Has Made Progress in Improving Prime Vendor Program, but Has Not Yet Completed All Corrective Actions (open access)

Defense Management: DLA Has Made Progress in Improving Prime Vendor Program, but Has Not Yet Completed All Corrective Actions

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) operates a worldwide supply system, with the vast majority of the items being managed by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA). Media reports in October 2005 raised concerns about the use of the prime vendor concept and the prices that DLA was paying for items acquired through a prime vendor, and the House Armed Services Committee held a hearing on the matter on November 9, 2005. As a result of the hearing, DLA officials recognized the need to improve management oversight and internal controls over the program, and they proposed a series of corrective actions. Under the prime vendor concept, DOD relies on a distributor of a commercial product line, who provides that product line and incidental services to customers in an assigned region or area of responsibility. Products or services are to be delivered within a specified period of time after order placement. The prime vendor provides the product either at the cost paid to obtain it or at a price agreed upon in advance with DLA plus a handling fee. The use of prime vendor contracts is governed by the Federal Acquisition …
Date: February 26, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Airport and Airway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO assisted the Department of Transportation determine whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF) for fiscal year 2000 was supported by the underlying records. GAO agreed to (1) perform detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to AATF, (2) review the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly AATF certifications, (3) review the Department of the Treasury Financial Management Service adjustments to AATF for FY 2000, (4) review the Office of Tax Analysis process for estimating amounts to be distributed to AATF for the fourth quarter of FY 2000, (5) compare net excise tax distributions to AATF during FY 2000 and amounts reported in the financial statements prepared by the Bureau of the Public Debt for AATF and the Federal Aviation Administration's consolidated financial statements, and (6) review key reconciliations of IRS records to Treasury records."
Date: February 26, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Homeland Security Advisory System: Preliminary Observations Regarding Threat Level Increases from Yellow to Orange (open access)

Homeland Security Advisory System: Preliminary Observations Regarding Threat Level Increases from Yellow to Orange

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Established in March 2002, the Homeland Security Advisory System was designed to disseminate information regarding the risk of terrorist acts to federal, state, and local government agencies and the public. However, this system generated concern among federal, state, and local government agencies regarding whether they are receiving the necessary information to respond appropriately to heightened alerts and about the amount of additional costs protective measures entail. Congress requested that we review (1) the operations of the Homeland Security Advisory System, including the decision making process for changing the national threat level, notifications to federal, state, and local government agencies of changes in the threat level, and ongoing revisions to the system; (2) guidance and information that federal, state, and local government agencies reportedly used to determine any protective measures to implement when the threat level is raised to high--or code-orange--alert; (3) any protective measures these agencies implemented during code-orange alert periods; (4) any additional costs these agencies reported incurring to implement such measures; and (5) any threat advisory systems that federal, state, or local government agencies had in place before the creation of the Homeland Security Advisory System."
Date: February 26, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
U.S. International Broadcasting: Enhanced Measure of Local Media Conditions Would Facililate Decisions to Terminate Language Services (open access)

U.S. International Broadcasting: Enhanced Measure of Local Media Conditions Would Facililate Decisions to Terminate Language Services

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "In its fiscal year 2004 budget request to Congress, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (the Board) proposed the elimination of 17 Central and Eastern European language services managed by the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in order to free resources for higher-priority initiatives such as the war on terrorism. GAO was asked to examine (1) how the Board determines which language services should be proposed for reduction or termination and (2) the extent to which local media conditions are considered before a termination proposal is made. In addition, GAO's report provides summary analysis and conclusions relating to the media conditions in three countries impacted by the Board's language service termination decisions."
Date: February 26, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Securities and Exchange Commission: Oversight of U.S. Equities Market Clearing Agencies (open access)

Securities and Exchange Commission: Oversight of U.S. Equities Market Clearing Agencies

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "An effective clearance and settlement process is vital to the functioning of equities markets. When investors agree to trade an equity security, the purchaser promises to deliver cash to the seller and the seller promises to deliver the security to the purchaser. The process by which the seller receives payment and the buyer, the securities, is known as clearance and settlement. In the United States equities market, a centralized clearance and settlement system was established to reduce risks and increase efficiency in the market. As part of this system, trades in equities and other securities are typically cleared and settled through clearing agencies--self-regulatory organizations (SRO) that are required to register with and are subject to oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Virtually all equities securities trades in the United States are cleared and settled through the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) and the Depository Trust Company (DTC), clearing agency subsidiaries of the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). According to DTCC, 99.9 percent of daily transactions by dollar value clear and settle within the standard 3-day settlement period. In the remaining transactions, the seller failed to …
Date: February 26, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Influenza Pandemic: Sustaining Focus on the Nation's Planning and Preparedness Efforts (open access)

Influenza Pandemic: Sustaining Focus on the Nation's Planning and Preparedness Efforts

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO has conducted a body of work over the past several years to help the nation better prepare for, respond to, and recover from a possible influenza pandemic, which could result from a novel strain of influenza virus for which there is little resistance and which therefore is highly transmissible among humans. GAO's work has pointed out that while the previous administration had taken a number of actions to plan for a pandemic, including developing a national strategy and implementation plan, much more needs to be done. However, national priorities are shifting as a pandemic has yet to occur, and other national issues have become more immediate and pressing. Nevertheless, an influenza pandemic remains a real threat to our nation and the world. For this report, GAO synthesized the results of 11 reports and two testimonies issued over the past 3 years using six key thematic areas: (1) leadership, authority, and coordination; (2) detecting threats and managing risks; (3) planning, training, and exercising; (4) capacity to respond and recover; (5) information sharing and communication; and (6) performance and accountability. GAO also updated the status of recommendations …
Date: February 26, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes (open access)

Applying Agreed-Upon Procedures: Highway Trust Fund Excise Taxes

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO assisted the Department of Transportation determine whether the net excise tax revenue distributed to the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) for the fiscal year 2000 was supported by the underlying records. GAO agreed to (1) perform detailed tests of transactions that represent the underlying basis of amounts distributed to HTF, (2) review the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) quarterly HTF certifications, (3) review the Financial Management Service adjustments to HTF for FY 2000, (4) review the Office of Tax Analysis process for estimating amounts to be distributed to HTF for the fourth quarter of FY 2000, (5) compare net excise tax distributions to the HTF during FY 2000 and amounts reported in the financial statements prepared by the Bureau of Public Debt for HTF and HTF's financial statements, and (6) review key reconciliations of IRS records to Treasury records."
Date: February 26, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Overseas U.S. Government Personnel Involved in Efforts to Protect and Enforce Intellectual Property Rights (open access)

Overseas U.S. Government Personnel Involved in Efforts to Protect and Enforce Intellectual Property Rights

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Intellectual property (IP) plays a significant role in the U.S. economy, and the United States is an acknowledged leader in its creation. IP is a category of legal rights that grant owners certain exclusive rights to intangible assets or products of the human intellect, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names, images, and designs. In its June 2008 testimony, GAO reported that U.S. intellectual property rights holders must compete with the global illicit market that is being spurred by economic incentives such as low barriers to entry into counterfeiting and piracy, high profits, and limited legal sanctions if caught. GAO further noted that technology has facilitated the reproduction and distribution of some IP-violating products. Moreover, intellectual property protection in parts of the world is inadequate. As a result, U.S. goods are subject to widespread piracy and counterfeiting in many countries, resulting in significant economic losses. In addition, many IP-violating products, such as counterfeit pharmaceuticals or auto parts, have the potential to threaten public health and safety in the United States and abroad. A wide range of federal agencies are involved in efforts to protect and …
Date: February 26, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Budget Issues: Incremental Funding of Capital Asset Acquisitions (open access)

Budget Issues: Incremental Funding of Capital Asset Acquisitions

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report identifies civilian nondefense agency capital projects with estimated costs of $175.6 billion, based on agency budget justifications and other data. Costs for incrementally funded and high technology civilian projects are estimated at $154.7 billion. Of this amount, $78.5 billion in budget authority has been provided through fiscal year 2000, leaving $76.2 billion of budget authority still required after fiscal year 2000 to complete these projects, a requirement that constitutes a claim on discretionary spending in future years. About half of the $154.7 billion is for high technology projects. Because some capital projects have unknown funding requirements beyond the fiscal year 2001 request, the remaining budget authority needed to complete all projects exceeds the $76.2 billion identified and assumes no further cost growth. This budget authority relates only to civilian projects. Department of Defense spending for capital acquisitions is generally fully funded; its fiscal year 1999 capital spending totaled almost $53 billion. If the Navy shipbuilding and conversion account were to be moved from full to incremental funding for a given period of time, this would not allow the Navy to procure more ships for a given …
Date: February 26, 2001
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation Study: Study Questionnaires, Responses, and Summary of Respondents' Comments (open access)

Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation Study: Study Questionnaires, Responses, and Summary of Respondents' Comments

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 required GAO to study the potential effects of requiring public companies registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to periodically rotate the public accounting firms that audit their financial statements. On November 21, 2003, GAO issued its report entitled Public Accounting Firms: Required Study on the Potential Effects of Mandatory Audit Firm Rotation (GAO-04-216). This supplemental report contains a copy of each questionnaire used in our study, annotated to show summary responses for each question and selected comments from respondents. GAO is issuing this supplemental report to provide additional detail on the responses to our surveys on the potential effects of mandatory audit firm rotation and to facilitate future research efforts in performing studies related to these matters."
Date: February 26, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Chemical Regulation: Options for Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Toxic Substances Control Act (open access)

Chemical Regulation: Options for Enhancing the Effectiveness of the Toxic Substances Control Act

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress passed the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) in 1976, authorizing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to obtain information on the risks of industrial chemicals and to control those that EPA determines pose an unreasonable risk. However, EPA does not have sufficient chemical assessment information to determine whether it should establish controls to limit public exposure to many chemicals that may pose substantial health risks. In reports on TSCA, GAO has recommended statutory changes to, among other things, provide EPA with additional authorities to obtain health and safety information from the chemical industry and to shift more of the burden to chemical companies for demonstrating the safety of their chemicals. The most important recommendations aimed at providing EPA with the information needed to support its assessments of industrial chemicals have not been implemented--a key factor leading GAO in January 2009 to add transforming EPA's process for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals to its list of high-risk areas warranting attention by Congress and the executive branch. This testimony, which is based on prior GAO work, addresses EPA's implementation of TSCA and options for (1) obtaining information on the risks …
Date: February 26, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Veterinarian Workforce: The Federal Government Lacks a Comprehensive Understanding of Its Capacity to Protect Animal and Public Health (open access)

Veterinarian Workforce: The Federal Government Lacks a Comprehensive Understanding of Its Capacity to Protect Animal and Public Health

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Veterinarians play an essential role in the defense against animal diseases, some of which can have serious repercussions for the health of animals, humans, and the economy. More than half of the federal veterinarians work in the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Health and Human Services (HHS). However, there is a growing national shortage of veterinarians. This testimony focuses primarily on two key points as addressed in GAO's recently released report, Veterinarian Workforce: Actions Are Needed to Ensure Sufficient Capacity for Protecting Public and Animal Health (GAO-09-178, February 4, 2009). First, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has not conducted a governmentwide effort to address current and future shortages of federal veterinarians; and, second, USDA and HHS have not assessed the sufficiency of their veterinarian workforces departmentwide. For the report, GAO, among other things, surveyed 24 federal component agencies about their veterinarian workforces. GAO also determined the extent to which the departments that employ about 96 percent of federal veterinarians, including USDA and HHS, have assessed the sufficiency of their veterinarian workforce. In addition, GAO interviewed officials of OPM to identify any initiatives it has conducted to address …
Date: February 26, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Aviation Weather: Services at Key Aviation Facilities Lack Performance Measures, but Improvement Efforts Are Under Way (open access)

Aviation Weather: Services at Key Aviation Facilities Lack Performance Measures, but Improvement Efforts Are Under Way

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Weather Service (NWS), an agency under the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), provides staff on-site at each of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) en route centers--the facilities that control high-altitude flight outside the airport tower and terminal areas. This group of NWS meteorologists provides air traffic managers with forecasts and briefings on regional conditions such as turbulence and icing. Over the last few years, FAA has been exploring options for enhancing the efficiency of the aviation weather services provided by these NWS meteorologists. In late December 2007, FAA delivered revised requirements and associated performance measures to NWS to improve these services. GAO was asked to summarize key segments of its report being released today, including its assessment of NWS and FAA efforts to ensure the quality of aviation weather services at en route centers, and its recommendations to improve these efforts. In addition, GAO was asked to provide an update on FAA's recent efforts to establish aviation weather requirements and performance measures, and NWS's plans for responding to these requirements. To do so, GAO summarized segments of its report, reviewed FAA's recently …
Date: February 26, 2008
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Telecommunications: GSA Faces Challenges in Planning for New Governmentwide Program (open access)

Telecommunications: GSA Faces Challenges in Planning for New Governmentwide Program

Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Genera1 Services Administration (GSA) has initiated planning for its next-generation telecommunications acquisition program, known as Networx, which will replace the current Federal Telecommunications System (FTS) 2001 for longdistance and international services. It will also replace contracts for wireless and satellite communications products and services. Planning for this acquisition is occurring within an environment of tremendous change--in the industry, in underlying services and technology, and potentially in the regulatory environment. In this context, Networx can offer a significant opportunity for the federal government to flexibly acquire telecommunications services at competitive rates and apply innovative solutions to improving agency operations. At the request of the Chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, GAO is providing an overview of acquisition planning steps completed to date, along with its assessment of challenges facing GSA and federal agencies as this acquisition proceeds."
Date: February 26, 2004
Creator: United States. General Accounting Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Excluded Parties List System: Suspended and Debarred Businesses and Individuals Improperly Receive Federal Funds (open access)

Excluded Parties List System: Suspended and Debarred Businesses and Individuals Improperly Receive Federal Funds

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In July 2005, GAO reported that the data in EPLS were insufficient to enable agencies to determine with confidence that a prospective vendor was not currently excluded. In response, GSA agreed to modify EPLS's data requirements to include a mandatory provision that agencies enter a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number to facilitate the identification of excluded parties. Despite such modifications, recent allegations indicate that businesses or individuals that have been excluded for egregious offenses have been able to "resurface" under the same or a different business name or identity in order to continue to receive federal contracts and other funds. We described the results of our investigation confirming these allegations in our recently issued report. This testimony will summarize our overall findings and will also describe the key causes of the improper awards and other payments we detected."
Date: February 26, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hardrock Mining: Information on Types of State Royalties, Number of Abandoned Mines, and Financial Assurances on BLM Land (open access)

Hardrock Mining: Information on Types of State Royalties, Number of Abandoned Mines, and Financial Assurances on BLM Land

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The General Mining Act of 1872 helped open the West by allowing individuals to obtain exclusive rights to mine billions of dollars worth of gold, silver, and other hardrock (locatable) minerals from federal lands without having to pay a federal royalty. However, western states charge royalties so that they share in the proceeds from various hardrock minerals extracted from their lands. For years, some mining operators did not reclaim land used in their mining operations, creating environmental and physical safety hazards. To curb further growth in the number of abandoned hardrock mines on federal lands, in 1981, the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) began requiring mining operators to reclaim BLM land disturbed by these operations, and in 2001 began requiring operators to provide financial assurances to cover reclamation costs before they began exploration or mining operations. This testimony focuses on the (1) royalties states charge, (2) number of abandoned hardrock mine sites and hazards, and (3) value and coverage of financial assurances operators use to guarantee reclamation costs. It is based on two GAO reports: Hardrock Mining: Information on Abandoned Mines and Value and …
Date: February 26, 2009
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library