Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Army's current accounting practices and manual procedures for calculating operating materials and supplies (OM&S) balances caused accounting errors that understated the Army's fiscal year 1999 OM&S balance by at least $1.5 billion. In addition, ammunition held at retail-level installations for training purposes was excluded from the financial reports."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the financial statement audit reports for the Women's Army Corps Veterans' Association for fiscal year 1999. GAO found no reportable instances of noncompliance with the requirements of the law, and the audit report included the auditor's opinion that the financial statements of the corporation were presented fairly in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has decided to move its technical training center from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to near its headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. The relocation is intended to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the agency's operations. The center provides diverse training curricula on such topics as nuclear power plant technology augmented by training on simulators, risk assessment, radiation protection, and regulatory skills. NRC used a reasonable methodology to determine the costs of relocating its facility. It considered costs related to staff salaries, travel costs for center participants, and lease payments. However, NRC used several assumptions that, if changed, would affect the cost of the move. For example, a change in the number of staff who would relocate would have an impact on costs. According to NRC, the objective of the move was not to minimize the cost of operating the center but rather to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the agency's operations. NRC believes that the move would yield many benefits, including greater access to training facilities by its headquarters staff and frequent use of simulators in investigations. NRC needs to resolve several issues …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report focuses on school and community collaborations for improving student outcomes for at-risk youth. To better provide the support needed for these students to succeed in school and beyond, some schools and school districts have intensified their collaboration with businesses, community agencies, and other neighborhood organizations. These efforts, which go substantially beyond the usual links between schools and other agencies or organizations, go by such names as "extended-service schools," "full- service schools," "community schools," or, more generally, "school-community initiatives." The federal government plays a role in these initiatives because of the funding and support it provides through various programs serving youths who are disadvantaged or at risk of school failure. Schools with a large number of disadvantaged students often struggle to both educate their students and prepare them for further education or a career. The goals of the school-community initiatives GAO reviewed center on helping students achieve in school and readying them for life after graduation. Several officials GAO spoke with said that it is difficult to measure the success of these programs for at-risk youth. Officials cited the lack of funds and the complex …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed several amendments to its 1993 Corrective Action Management Unit (CAMU) rule. The CAMU rule currently allows agencies to set aside part of their hazardous waste site to deposit wastes without triggering the requirements of the Recovery Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). EPA's action is in response to a lawsuit alleging that the CAMU rule would allow for the management of wastes in violation of RCRA's land disposal restrictions. The 1993 rule and recently proposed rules governing the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste onsite in CAMUs differ primarily in the requirements for waste treatment and facility design. According to EPA, the proposed rules will increase the time and the costs of site cleanups using CAMUs because it is less flexible than the 1993 rule and adds technical and process requirements. Several state representatives expressed concern that the proposed requirements could be applied to cleanups done under their programs, regardless of whether they were using CAMUs, thereby deterring the progress states have been making in cleaning up sites."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The number of Tuberculosis (TB) and multidrug-resistant TB cases in the United States has declined steadily since 1992. However, continued vigilance is needed to further reduce TB rates. A resurgence of the disease in the late 1980s and early 1990s was linked to a relaxation of TB control efforts. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization suggest that the presence of TB as a major public health problem in other countries has likely been a key contributor to the number of new cases in the United States. As a result, the United States has undertaken several initiatives to control global TB, including providing funding and technical assistance for TB control programs."

Other written product issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "GAO reviewed the Farm Credit Administration's (FCA) National Charter Initiative to determine whether the charter is a rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). FCA contends that its initiative is not a rule because it does not set out any rules or requirements for FCA institutions, but merely states how FCA will proceed with future chartering actions. FCA further contends that its accompanying booklet is exempt from CRA and APA regulations because the guidelines it outlines for national charter applications does not bind the agency nor is it enforceable against FCA institutions. A review of the actions of FCA and the contents of its booklet finds that FCA's booklet meets the requirements of a legislative rule and should be published for comment and submitted to Congress and GAO for review."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The degree of consumer choice among Internet providers has emerged as a key public policy issue. Because laws and regulations governing these different networks were generally tailored to the specific services each network originally supported, different types of communications providers are held to different rules when providing physical transport to the Internet. As a result of both technology and regulation, consumers using the telephone network as a way to access the Internet may have a choice of transport provider and generally have significant choice of Internet service provider (ISP). Consumers generally have broad access to Internet portals, applications, and content, either from their ISP or directly from the Internet itself, regardless of the transport provider or ISP they have chosen."