Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The three lead Air Force major commands—Air Mobility Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, and Air Combat Command—all utilize training requirements review boards composed of subject-matter experts to determine training requirements for specific aircraft. These boards determine which training requirements can be completed in live or virtual environments based upon factors such as specific combatant command mission requirements and the capabilities of fielded simulators and networks. All three commands use a combination of live and virtual approaches, but the mix varies by aircraft. For example, Air Combat Command specifies that approximately 25 percent of its training requirements could be met virtually. The other two commands conduct approximately 50 percent of their training virtually."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In summary, TSA has completed its initial testing of the CAT/BPSS technology and has begun operational testing at three airports. We found the project’s associated life cycle cost estimate to be reasonably comprehensive and well documented, although we are less confident in its accuracy due to questions about the assumed inflation rate. In addition, we could not evaluate its credibility because the current version does not include an independent cost estimate or an assessment of how changing key assumptions and other factors would affect the estimate. Our past work has identified three key challenges related to TSA’s efforts to acquire and deploy technologies to address homeland security needs: (1) developing and meeting technology program requirements, (2) overseeing and conducting testing of new screening technologies, and (3) developing acquisition program baselines to establish initial cost, schedule, and performance parameters."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The 1,002 exempt financial institutions make up a small percentage of the assets of the overall banking system—about 7 percent—and include industrial loan corporations (ILC), limited-purpose credit card banks, municipal deposit banks, trust banks with insured deposits, and savings and loans (S&L). Although exempt from the BHC Act, S&L holding companies are regulated by the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors (Federal Reserve) under the Home Owners’ Loan Act as amended. Excluding S&Ls, the number of exempt institutions drops to 57 that comprise less than 1 percent of banking system assets and there is a 3-year moratorium on the approval of federal deposit insurance on select exempt institutions that ends in 2013. These institutions vary by size, activities, and risks. Larger institutions such as ILCs provide banking services similar to those of commercial banks and carry many of the same risks. Other exempt institutions are smaller, provide only a few services such as credit card loans and related services, and thus have lower risk profiles."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As of the most recent agency data submitted in September 2011, 24 agencies identified almost 2,900 total centers, established plans to close 1,186 of them by 2015, and estimated they would realize over $2.4 billion in cost savings in doing so. However, while the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) required agencies to complete missing elements in their data center inventories and plans by the end of September 2011, only 3 agencies submitted complete inventories and only 1 agency submitted a complete plan. For example, in their inventories, 17 agencies do not provide full information on their information technology facilities and energy usage, and 8 provide only partial information on their servers. Further, in their consolidation plans, 13 agencies do not provide a full master program schedule and 21 agencies do not fully report their expected cost savings. Officials from several agencies reported that some of this information was unavailable at certain facilities or that the information was still being developed. In a prior report, GAO recommended that agencies complete the missing elements from their inventories and plans. Until these inventories and plans are complete, agencies …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Of the 71 nonmajor projects that the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) and National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) completed or had under way from fiscal years 2008 to 2012, 21 met or are expected to meet their performance targets for scope, cost, and completion date. These projects included a $22 million EM project to expand an existing waste disposal facility at the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee and a $199 million NNSA project to equip a radiological laboratory and office building at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Another 23 projects did not meet or were not expected to meet one or more of their three performance targets for scope, cost, and completion date. Among these, 13 projects met or are expected to meet two targets, including a $548 million NNSA project to shut down a nuclear reactor in Russia for nonproliferation purposes; 8 projects met or are expected to meet one target; 1 project did not meet any of its targets; and 1 project was cancelled. Of the remaining 27 projects, many had insufficiently documented performance targets for scope, …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Agency officials told us that enhanced use leases (EUL) help them utilize their underutilized property better; commonly cited benefits include enhanced mission activities, cash rent revenue, and value received through in-kind consideration. However, some agencies we reviewed do not include all costs associated with their EULs when they assess the performance of their EUL programs. Guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) does not specify what costs agencies should include in their EUL evaluations, resulting in variance among agencies. For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of State do not consistently attribute EUL-related costs of consultant staff who administer the leases, and VA does not attribute various administrative costs that offset EUL benefits. Without fully accounting for all EUL costs, agencies may overstate the net benefits of their EUL programs."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "To prepare for its reporting obligations under the Telework Enhancement Act of 2010, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) assembled the Interagency Telework Measurement Group, consisting of officials from several federal agencies, to assist in revising the telework data call—the survey OPM has used since 2002 to collect telework data from executive agencies. This group standardized key terms such as telework, employee, and eligibility to promote a common reporting methodology among the agencies. The revised telework data call also included changes to the time period for which OPM requested agencies report telework data, and included more extensive training for respondents."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In GAO’s opinion, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) fairly presented, in all material respects, the 2011 and 2010 financial statements for the two funds it administers—the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) and the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC) Resolution Fund (FRF). Also, in GAO’s opinion, although certain internal controls related to the DIF should be improved, FDIC maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting. Further, GAO did not find any reportable instances of noncompliance with provisions of the laws and regulations it tested."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "From August 2005 to September 2010, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) awarded five contracts to reconstruct a major coastal road in Aceh Province, Indonesia. Three of the contracts were for construction, one contract was for design and supervision, and one contract was for project management. Several factors delayed the road’s completion and increased costs. For example, according to USAID, when one contractor did not make acceptable progress, the agency reduced the scope of work, terminated construction of an 8-mile road section, and hired another contractor to complete the section. Other factors included the Indonesian government’s difficulty in acquiring land for the road and local opposition to the new road alignment."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Department of Energy (DOE) faces significant technical challenges in successfully constructing and operating the Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP) project that is to treat millions of gallons of highly radioactive liquid waste resulting from the production of nuclear weapons. DOE and Bechtel National, Inc. identified hundreds of technical challenges that vary in significance and potential negative impact and have resolved many of them. Remaining challenges include (1) developing a viable technology to keep the waste mixed uniformly in WTP mix tanks to both avoid explosions and so that it can be properly prepared for further processing; (2) ensuring that the erosion and corrosion of components, such as tanks and piping systems, is effectively mitigated; (3) preventing the buildup of flammable hydrogen gas in tanks, vessels, and piping systems; and (4) understanding better the waste that will be processed at the WTP. Until these and other technical challenges are resolved, DOE will continue to be uncertain whether the WTP can be completed on schedule and whether it will operate safely and effectively."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Several factors—including rising rents, declining household incomes, and decisions to expand the number of assisted households—were key drivers of the approximately 29 percent increase (before inflation) in housing agencies’ expenditures for the voucher program between 2003 and 2010. Congress and HUD have taken steps to limit cost increases while maintaining assistance for existing program participants. For example, Congress moved away from providing funding to housing agencies based on the number of voucher-assisted households they were authorized to subsidize and instead provided funding based on the generally lower number of voucher-assisted households housing agencies actually subsidized in the prior year. Further, HUD has proposed administrative relief and program flexibility for housing agencies, including streamlining program requirements and reducing subsidies paid."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "DOD's approach for determining its civilian senior leader workforce projections to meet future requirements incorporated the results of two separate assessments. In its 2010-2018 strategic workforce plan, DOD presented data that projected reductions of 178 civilian senior leader positions within its five career civilian senior leader workforces during fiscal years 2011 and 2012. To conduct its assessment for the strategic workforce plan, DOD used a computer modeling system that is managed by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and used by several agencies across the federal government. The system models significant career events, such as promotions, reassignments, and retirements, to produce projections. During this same time period, DOD also completed an efficiency initiative at the direction of the Secretary of Defense to, among other things, ensure that DOD's senior leader workforce is properly sized and aligned with DOD's mission and priorities. For its efficiency initiative, the department devised an internal DOD methodology in which it rank ordered positions in terms of higher and lower priority in order to identify reductions. This assessment identified a reduction of 178 civilian senior leader positions within DOD's civilian senior leader workforce for …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Since 2001, Congress, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), and executive branch agencies have taken action to address the government's human capital challenges. For example, in 2002, Congress passed legislation creating the CHCO Council, composed of the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) of 24 executive agencies and chaired by the Director of OPM. In 2004, through the Federal Workforce Flexibility Act, Congress provided agencies greater hiring flexibilities. OPM issued guidance on hiring reforms, developed the Hiring Toolkit, and launched an 80-day model to speed the hiring process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "As a component of the Department of Commerce, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) is organized into five primary offices that offer the public and federal agencies a variety of products and services. As of late October 2012, NTIS was supported by 181 staff, all except 6 of which held full-time positions. NTIS reports its progress toward agency goals to the Deputy Secretary of Commerce, and the Director of NTIS reports to the Director of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology. In addition, NTIS receives oversight of its functions and strategic direction from an advisory board with members appointed by the Secretary of Commerce. NTIS's product and service offerings include, among other things, subscription access to reports contained in its repository in both print and electronic formats, distribution of print-based informational materials to federal agencies' constituents, and digitization and scanning services."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins ""

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "State and local governments currently use ITS technologies in various ways to monitor and control traffic and inform travelers. For example, transportation agencies use cameras to monitor traffic conditions, signal technologies to control traffic flow, and dynamic message signs to inform travelers about travel conditions. By interviewing experts, GAO identified several emerging uses of ITS that have significant potential to reduce traffic congestion. For example, integrating traffic and emergency services data can allow for enhanced detection of and response to roadway incidents. However, some cities use ITS and the emerging uses to a much greater extent than others."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "During our audit of the DIF’s 2011 and 2010 financial statements, we identified deficiencies in controls over FDIC’s process for deriving and reporting estimates of losses to the DIF from resolution transactions involving shared loss agreements. While these deficiencies, individually and collectively, did not constitute a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting, they nevertheless increased the risk of additional undetected errors or irregularities in the DIF’s financial statements. Thus, these control deficiencies collectively represented a significant deficiency in FDIC’s internal control over financial reporting for the DIF related to estimating losses from shared loss agreements."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO’s analysis of Marine Corps depot maintenance activity group (DMAG) reports showed that from fiscal years 2004 through 2011, reported actual carryover exceeded the allowable amounts in the most recent 6 years of the 8- year period, ranging from $59 million in fiscal year 2007 to $7 million in fiscal year 2011. GAO’s analysis also showed that the amounts of carryover exceeding the allowable amounts have declined in each of the past 4 years. These reductions could be attributed to DMAG actions, including implementing production efficiencies that reduced the time required to repair weapon systems."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Social Security Administration (SSA) has taken steps that hold promise for improving the process for updating its medical criteria, but continues to face challenges ensuring timely updates. SSA now uses a two-tiered system for ongoing revisions to its medical listings. First, it completes a comprehensive review of all medical conditions listed within each of 14 body systems, making needed revisions. For subsequent updates for a body system, the agency uses a targeted approach, selecting for review and revision only those medical conditions most in need of change. To date, SSA has completed comprehensive revisions for 8 of the 14 body systems and now is reviewing conditions under them to determine where targeted revisions are appropriate. However, some of these targeted revisions have experienced delays. Moreover, SSA has yet to complete comprehensive revisions for six body systems that have been ongoing for 19 to 33 years. SSA officials attributed delays to a lack of staff and expertise, along with the complexity and unpredictability of the regulatory process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Public housing agencies (PHA) that participate in the Moving to Work (MTW) program report annually on the performance of their activities, which include efforts to reduce administrative costs and encourage residents to work. But this performance information varies, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) guidance does not specify that it be quantifiable and outcome oriented. Further, HUD has not identified the performance data that would be needed to assess the results of similar MTW activities or the program as a whole and has not established performance indicators for the program. The shortage of such analyses and indicators has hindered comprehensive evaluation efforts, although such evaluations are key to determining the success of any demonstration program. Further, while HUD has identified some lessons learned from the program, it has no systematic process to identify them and thus has relied primarily on ad hoc information. The absence of a systematic process for identifying lessons learned limits HUD’s ability to promote useful practices that could be more broadly implemented to address the purposes of the program."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Market participants indicated that primary market disclosure for municipal securities—official statements—generally provides useful information, but investors and market participants cited a number of limitations to continuing disclosures. The most frequently cited limitations were timeliness, frequency, and completeness. For example, investors and other market participants said that issuers do not always provide all the financial information, event notices, or other information they pledged to provide for the lifetime of a security. While GAO's analysis of current regulatory requirements for municipal securities disclosure found that they largely reflected the seven principles of effective disclosure, regulators and market participants said that there are some limitations on the enforceability and efficiency of the regulations. However, the effect of these limitations on individual investors largely is unknown because limited information exists about the extent to which individual investors use disclosures to make investment decisions. Nevertheless, regulators remain concerned about this market, in part due to its size and the participation of individual investors. As discussed below, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) have been taking or plan to take actions to improve disclosure."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) 10 major spaceflight projects discussed in this report have not yet fully implemented earned value management (EVM). As a result, NASA is not taking full advantage of opportunities to use an important tool that could help reduce acquisition risk. GAO assessed the 10 projects against three fundamental EVM practices that, according to GAO's best practices cost guide, are necessary for maintaining a reliable EVM system. GAO found shortfalls in two of three fundamental practices. Specifically, we found that"

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "While the Department of the Navy (DON) has revised its acquisition approach for its new network system, the Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN), it still has not shown that it has selected the most cost-effective approach for acquiring NGEN capabilities. Cost effectiveness is shown by comparing life-cycle costs and quantifiable and nonquantifiable benefits among alternatives, which can be accomplished by conducting a thorough analysis of alternatives. GAO previously identified weaknesses with the NGEN analysis of alternatives related to cost estimates and analysis of operational effectiveness and made associated recommendations. However, DON did not revisit the analysis of alternatives to address the weaknesses previously identified, nor did it conduct any other analysis that would show whether its revised approach is the most cost effective. For example, while DON developed a draft economic analysis in February 2012, the analysis assessed only the status quo and revised approach, and not other alternatives. As a result, GAO remains concerned with the analysis measuring NGEN cost effectiveness and DON does not know whether its revised approach for acquiring NGEN is the most cost effective."