A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Act) contains provisions that address a variety of challenges that face the geothermal industry, including the high risk and uncertainty of developing geothermal power plants, lack of sufficient transmission capacity, and delays in federal leasing. Among the provisions are means to simplify federal royalties on geothermal resources while overall collecting the same level of royalty revenue. The Act also changes how these royalties are to be shared with local governments (disbursements). This report describes: (1) the current extent of and potential for geothermal development; (2) challenges faced by developers of geothermal resources; (3) federal, state, and local government actions to address these challenges; and (4) how provisions of the Act are likely to affect federal geothermal royalty disbursement and collections."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through its Section 232 program, the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insures approximately $12.5 billion in mortgages for residential care facilities. In response to a requirement in the 2005 Consolidated Appropriations Conference Report and a congressional request, GAO examined (1) HUD's management of the program, including loan underwriting and monitoring; (2) the extent to which HUD's oversight of insured facilities is coordinated with the states' oversight of quality of care; (3) the financial risks the program poses to HUD's General Insurance/Special Risk Insurance (GI/SRI) Fund; and (4) how HUD estimates the annual credit subsidy cost for the program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and foreign tax administrators face similar issues regardless of the particular provisions of their laws. These issues include, for example, helping taxpayers prepare and file returns, and assuring tax compliance. Understanding how other tax administrators have used certain practices to address common issues can provide insights to help inform deliberations about tax reform and about possible administrative changes in the U.S. existing system to improve compliance, better serve taxpayers, reduce burdens, and increase efficiencies. GAO was asked to describe (1) how foreign tax administrators have approached issues that are similar to those in the U.S. tax system and (2) whether and how the IRS identifies and adopts tax administration practices used elsewhere. To do this, GAO reviewed documents and interviewed six foreign tax administrators. In some cases, GAO also interviewed tax experts, tax practitioners, taxpayers, and trade-group representatives who were selected based on their expertise or involvement in developing or using the foreign systems. GAO also examined documents and met with IRS officials."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Advanced SEAL Delivery System (ASDS) is a hybrid combatant submersible providing clandestine delivery and extraction of Navy SEALs and equipment in high-threat environments. The first ASDS has had significant performance issues and has cost, to date, over $885 million. In May 2006, Congress requested that GAO review ASDS. This report examines (1) how the Navy managed ASDS risks through its contracts and (2) the status of major technical issues and program restructuring."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Congress is considering legislation to authorize IRS to contract with private collection agencies (PCA) and to pay them out of the tax revenue that they collect. Some have expressed concerns that this proposal might be unsuccessful, inefficient, or result in taxpayers being mistreated or having their private tax information compromised. This report discusses (1) the critical success factors for contracting with PCAs for tax debt collection; (2) IRS's actions to address these factors in developing the PCA program and actions left to be done; and (3) whether IRS, if it receives the authority to use PCAs, plans to do a study that will help policy makers judge whether PCAs are the best use of funds to meet IRS's collection objectives."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The United States is the largest global food aid donor, accounting for over half of all food aid supplies to alleviate hunger and support development. Since 2002, Congress has appropriated an average of $2 billion per year for U.S. food aid programs, which delivered an average of 4 million metric tons of food commodities per year. Despite growing demand for food aid, rising business and transportation costs have contributed to a 52 percent decline in average tonnage delivered between 2001 and 2006. These costs represent 65 percent of total emergency food aid, highlighting the need to maximize its efficiency and effectiveness. This testimony is based on a recent GAO report that examined some key challenges to the (1) efficiency of U.S. food aid programs and (2) effective use of U.S. food aid."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Due to concerns about domestic violence in the military and its adverse effect on mission readiness, Congress required the Department of Defense (DOD) to establish a task force to assess the services' response to domestic violence and recommend improvements. The task force issued three reports containing 194 recommendations. The Fiscal Year 2004 National Defense Authorization Act required GAO to review DOD's progress in implementing the recommendations. This report discusses (1) DOD's ability to report on domestic violence incidents and disciplinary actions, (2) the resources DOD has provided to implement the recommendations, and (3) DOD's specific actions to ensure victim confidentiality and the education of commanding officers, senior enlisted personnel, and chaplains. GAO also examined whether DOD has established an oversight framework to monitor implementation."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In 2002, Congress enacted the Jobs for Veterans Act (JVA), which modified two Department of Labor (Labor) programs that specifically target veteran job seekers: the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program (DVOP) and the Local Veterans' Employment Representative (LVER) program. However, questions have been raised about the adequacy of performance information on services to veterans by these and other employment programs. In this report, GAO examined (1) the extent to which DVOP and LVER performance information reflects services and outcomes for veterans; (2) the extent to which performance information on veterans paints a clear picture of their use of one-stop services; and (3) what Labor is doing to improve the quality of performance data and better understand program impact and outcomes for veterans."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) wants to create a networked force where soldiers and systems are able to operate together seamlessly. To help facilitate this transformation, DOD began the Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) program in January 2004. We reported in 2003 that TSAT was about to begin without sufficiently mature technology. In this report, at your request, we followed up with an assessment of (1) how the TSAT program is progressing, and (2) whether the program is using an acquisition approach that will provide the knowledge needed to enter product development."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As discussed in our report, OMB and key federal agencies have made progress on selected action items identified in the IT Reform Plan, but there are several areas where more remains to be done. Of the 10 key action items we reviewed, 3 were completed and the other 7 were partially completed by December 2011. The action items that are behind schedule share a common reason for the delays: the complexity of the initiatives. In all seven of the cases, OMB and the federal agencies are still working on the initiatives. However, OMB and federal agencies have established time frames for completing only two of these initiatives."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Clean Water Act regulations generally prohibit boats from discharging untreated sewage but allow the discharge of treated sewage using certified marine sanitation devices. The act allows states to designate "no-discharge zones"--areas in which vessels are prohibited from discharging any sewage--if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finds that adequate facilities exist in such zones for the removal and treatment of sewage from vessels. In some cases, such as for drinking water intake zones, EPA makes the designation. As requested, this report assesses (1) EPA's process for determining the adequacy of facilities to remove and treat sewage in proposed no-discharge zones; (2) the extent to which EPA and the states ensure that adequate facilities remain available after designation; (3) the extent to which the Coast Guard and the states enforce discharge prohibitions; and (4) various effects of no-discharge zones, as identified by EPA, states, and localities."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Defense (DOD) relies on a network of DOD and non-DOD infrastructure assets in the United States and abroad so critical that its unavailability could hinder DOD's ability to project, support, and sustain its forces and operations worldwide. DOD established the Defense Critical Infrastructure Program (DCIP) to identify and assure the availability of mission-critical infrastructure. GAO was asked to evaluate the extent to which DOD has (1) developed a comprehensive management plan to implement DCIP and (2) identified, prioritized, and assessed its critical infrastructure. GAO analyzed relevant DCIP documents and guidance and met with officials from more than 30 DOD organizations that have DCIP responsibilities, and with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials involved in protecting critical infrastructure."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO responded to congressional concerns regarding the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) efforts to address the year 2000 computer problem, focusing on: (1) VA's ability to achieve year 2000 compliance; (2) VA's work to date on the year 2000 challenge; (3) what areas VA should concentrate on over the next six months to ensure that its highest risks areas are addressed prior to January 1, 2000; (4) identifying any areas where VA has misdirected its efforts; and (5) VA's greatest strengths in the effort to surmount the year 2000 challenge."

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Between fiscal years 1996 and 2001, the United States provided $3.45 billion in direct contributions and $24.2 billion in voluntary or indirect contributions to 33 U.N. peacekeeping operations in such areas as the Congo, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Bosnia, and, most recently, Afghanistan. The prospects for implementing peace agreements are enhanced if all major parties to the conflict participate in negotiating the agreements and if these agreements include specific authority and mechanisms for their enforcement. Peace operations are more likely to succeed if the military forces carrying out the operations have clear objectives, sufficient resources, and the authority to carry out their tasks. Military forces can help create a secure environment for civilian work to proceed. Moreover, the slow or late deployment of a peace operation's civil administrators might impede efforts to establish good governance. Finally, peace operations tend to be more successful when locals participate at every reasonable opportunity."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During our fiscal year 2011 audit, we identified eight new general information systems control deficiencies related to access controls, configuration management, and segregation of duties. We made nine recommendations to address these control deficiencies. In a separately issued Limited Official Use Only report, we communicated to BPD management detailed information regarding our findings and related recommendations."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Success in the war against terrorism requires the United States to effectively research, develop, and deploy technologies to detect and respond to the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) the ability to use laboratories owned by the Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct research and development (R&D) of these advanced technologies. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether DHS has completed a strategic R&D plan and coordinated its efforts with other federal agencies, (2) how DHS plans to use DOE's laboratories to carry out its R&D, and (3) what controls DHS is establishing to monitor projects at DOE's laboratories."

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have restructured electricity markets by shifting from service provided through a regulated monopoly to service provided through open competition among the local utilities and their competitors. The restructuring was intended to boost competition and expand consumer choice, increase efficiency, and lower prices. Of the three states GAO studied, Texas had the greatest need for additional electric power, and it added the most new capacity from 1995 through 2001. In contrast, California added 25 percent of the forecasted need for capacity over this period. Although Pennsylvania added less than half of its forecasted need for capacity, the state continues to be a net exporter of electricity to nearby states. The three states have similar processes for approving applications to build and operate new power plants. In all three states, state and local agencies must review the applications to ensure that the developer complies with environmental, land use, and other requirements before issuing the permits necessary to build and operate a power plant. California also has a state energy commission that reviews each power plant application to determine whether the benefits …

A letter report issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) second Information Technology Investment Account (ITIA) expenditure plan, focusing on: (1) the progress IRS has made in meeting the commitments in its first expenditure plan; (2) whether the plan satisfies the conditions specified in the Department of the Treasury's fiscal year 1998 and 1999 appropriations acts; (3) whether the plan is consistent with GAO's open recommendations on IRS' systems modernization; and (4) whether GAO have any other observations about IRS' systems modernization efforts."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Authoritative bodies have promulgated laws, accounting standards, information system requirements, and related guidance emphasizing the need for accurate and reliable cost information in the federal government. For example, the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act of 1990 contains several provisions related to managerial cost accounting (MCA), one of which provides that an agency's CFO should develop and maintain an integrated accounting and financial management system that provides for the development and reporting of cost information. Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards (SFFAS) No. 4, Managerial Cost Accounting Concepts and Standards for the Federal Government, and the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program's (JFMIP) Framework for Federal Financial Management Systems established accounting standards and system requirements for MCA information at federal agencies. In addition, the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act of 1996 required, among other things, that CFO Act agencies' systems comply substantially with federal accounting standards and federal financial management systems requirements. In light of the provision related to MCA information in federal agencies, we were asked to review the status of MCA in 10 of the largest civilian agencies. Our objectives were to determine how (1) federal agencies generate …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD officials are seeking to approach strategic communication as a process that leaders, planners, and operators should follow to integrate foreign audience perceptions into policy making, planning, and operations at every level. However, descriptions of strategic communication in several key documents—including the Quadrennial Defense Review and the National Framework for Strategic Communication—characterize it differently. For example, the Quadrennial Defense Review describes strategic communication as the coordination of activities such as information operations and public affairs, among other things. According to DOD officials, these varying descriptions of strategic communication have created confusion within the department. To address this confusion, DOD is drafting an instruction to clarify the steps of the strategic communication process, which DOD officials expect to be completed in late spring or early summer 2012."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 1995, GAO has designated the Department of Defense's (DOD) multibillion dollar business systems modernization program as high risk, and it continues to do so today. To assist in addressing DOD's modernization challenges, the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (the act) requires the department to, among other things, report specific information about business system investments, including (1) milestones and actual performance against specified measures and any revisions and (2) actions taken to certify that a modernization investment involving more than $1 million meets defined conditions before obligating funds. The act also directs GAO to review each report. As agreed, GAO focused on the fiscal year 2010 report's compliance with, among other things, these provisions of the act. To do so, GAO compared DOD's report to the act's reporting requirements, interviewed DOD officials, analyzed relevant documentation, and leveraged prior GAO reports."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) National Research Program (NRP) has helped test or develop practices that have been used in operational examinations of individual tax returns, according to IRS officials. These practices include, for example, helping test IRS's remote learning system and helping IRS adopt new examination support software."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Alien smuggling along the southwest border is a threat to the security of the United States and Mexico. Within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Office of Investigations (OI)--part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)--is the primary federal agency responsible for investigating alien smuggling along the southwest border. As requested, this report addresses, for the southwest border, (1) OI's efforts to counter alien smuggling since 2005, and opportunities, if any, for ICE to use its resources more effectively; (2) the progress DHS has made in seizing alien smugglers' assets since fiscal year 2005 and any promising techniques that could be applied to seize smugglers' assets; and (3) the extent to which ICE has objectives related to alien smuggling and measures to assess progress. GAO interviewed officials in all four OI offices along the southwest border and analyzed data on OI's cases and seizures, from fiscal years 2005 through 2009."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In January 2003, GAO designated federal real property as a high-risk area due to long-standing problems with excess and underutilized property, deteriorating facilities, unreliable real property data, and costly space challenges. Federal agencies were also facing many challenges protecting their facilities due to the threat of terrorism. This testimony is based largely on GAO's April 2007 report on real property high-risk issues (GAO-07-349). The objectives of that report were to determine (1) what progress the administration and major real property-holding agencies had made in strategically managing real property and addressing long-standing problems and (2) what problems and obstacles, if any, remained to be addressed."