A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Congress is considering proposals for market-based programs to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Many proposals involve creating a cap-and-trade program, in which an overall emissions cap is set and entities covered by the program must hold tradable permits--or "allowances"-- to cover their emissions. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the value of these allowances could total $300 billion annually by 2020. The government could either sell the allowances, give them away for free, or some combination of the two. Some existing cap-and-trade programs have experience selling allowances. For example, member states participating in the European Union's (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) have sold up to about 9 percent of their allowances, and the amount of auctioning is expected to increase significantly starting in 2013. In the United States, the 10 northeastern states participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) have auctioned about 87 percent of their allowances. This report is part of GAO's response to a request to review climate change policy options. This report describes the implications of different methods for selling allowances, given available information and the experiences of selected programs. GAO reviewed …

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Science establishes research priorities within and across its six core interdisciplinary research programs, which include a wide variety of research ranging from biology to particle physics. However, Science does not explicitly rank these programs in terms of priority. The office currently prioritizes research that aligns with the Secretary of Energy’s interest in fostering the development of clean energy technologies. For example, Science supports research in materials sciences, which informs technology development of batteries and fuels cells. According to Science’s Deputy Director for Science Programs, the office remains committed to all of its research programs and, in the case of stable or declining budgets, does not intend to limit funding reductions to certain programs. Science formalizes priorities annually through the budget formulation process."

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "After studying the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) process since September 2010, the Joint Staff began initiating actions in October 2011 to better prioritize capability needs and align those needs with available budgetary resources. Specifically, according to Joint Staff officials, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC) has begun to consider the benefits and affordability of new capabilities within the context of joint capability areas and to evaluate possible duplication before validating new capability requirements. The Joint Staff has begun to implement a new approach to support JROC prioritization of capability needs, but the new approach is still evolving and has not been fully developed and clearly documented. New guidance does not clearly outline goals of the new approach, develop and communicate the analytic approach envisioned to support JROC decision making, or set out criteria and accompanying measures of progress. GAO previously reported that JCIDS’s ability to prioritize needs could be improved if it had an analytic approach to reviewing and validating proposals that would help ensure that the most important capability needs of the department are addressed. Until the Joint Staff takes steps to …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) has the broad purpose of stimulating the economy. It includes substantial appropriations for construction projects that, under the act's prevailing wage provision, are subject to Davis-Bacon Act requirements. That is, contractors must pay laborers and mechanics who work on those projects at least the prevailing wage rates set for their local area by the Secretary of Labor. In addition, contractors must submit certified payrolls and pay their workers weekly. Prior to the Recovery Act, some federal programs with construction projects were already subject to Davis-Bacon Act requirements. Others, however, are subject to the requirements for the first time because the Recovery Act extended the requirements to all construction projects supported by the act. GAO was asked to (1) identify the programs that are newly affected by the Recovery Act's prevailing wage provision and (2) examine the extent to which that provision is expected to affect each of those newly affected programs. GAO obtained data from 27 agencies and spoke with federal, state, and local officials as well as contractors involved with the newly affected programs. Although …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Office of Management and Budget (OMB), agencies, and interagency statistical committees have distinct roles in identifying opportunities to improve federal information collection efforts. OMB exercises several authorities that promote the system’s efficiency, including overseeing and approving agency information collections. The website Reginfo.gov provides the public with information, such as cost and burden, on collections that OMB reviews, though GAO’s review identified some discrepancies in selected items. OMB periodically issues guidance to agencies on complying with federal requirements for information collections, but this guidance generally does not prescribe specific actions to take. GAO’s analysis of agencies’ documentation of active surveys indicated that 77 percent included detailed descriptions of efforts to identify duplication, while those that did not tended to be for collections that are unlikely to duplicate existing information; and 75 percent reported actions beyond those required by statute to solicit external input. OMB, through enhanced guidance, could promote additional awareness of options agencies can take to identify duplication and solicit input. Interagency committees, which primarily draw members from the 13 agencies that have statistics as their primary focus, are particularly important in helping ensure collaboration. …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Concerns about the weak economy, congestion in the transportation system, and the potentially harmful effects of air emissions generated by the transportation sector have raised awareness of the potential benefits and costs of intercity passenger and freight rail relative to other transportation modes such as highways. GAO was asked to review (1) the extent to which transportation policy tools that provide incentives to shift passenger and freight traffic to rail may generate emissions, congestion, and economic development benefits and (2) how project benefits and costs are assessed for investment in intercity passenger and freight rail and how the strengths and limitations of these assessments impact federal decision making. GAO reviewed studies; interviewed federal, state, local, and other stakeholders regarding methods to assess benefit and cost information; assessed information on project benefits and costs included in rail grant applications; and conducted case studies of selected policies and programs in the United Kingdom and Germany to learn more about their policies designed to provide incentives to shift traffic to rail."

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Air Force expects to invest over $230 billion to operate, maintain, modernize, and recapitalize its tactical air forces during fiscal years 2011 through 2015. This makes up nearly 70 percent of the Department of Defense's (DOD) total expected tactical aircraft investment over that time. Despite this large investment, the Air Force continues to project that its inventory of fighter and attack aircraft will drop below required levels and that those shortfalls will persist through at least 2030. However, the timing and magnitude of projected shortfalls continue to fluctuate. In April 2008, senior Air Force leaders testified before Congress that they expected the Air Force fighter shortfall to peak at about 800 aircraft in the mid-2020s. Since that time the Air Force has reduced its overall requirement and adjusted its assumptions about Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) procurement and the viability of legacy aircraft. As a result, the Air Force now expects its shortfall to peak at about 200 aircraft. Still, this poses a challenge as the Air Force must effectively balance its investments between the JSF program and efforts to keep legacy aircraft viable for longer periods than …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Ice formation on aircraft can disrupt the smooth flow of air over the wings and prevent the aircraft from taking off or decrease the pilot's ability to maintain control of the aircraft. Taxi and landing operations can also be risky in winter weather. Despite a variety of technologies designed to prevent ice from forming on planes, as well as persistent efforts by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other stakeholders to mitigate icing risks, icing remains a serious concern. As part of an ongoing review, this statement provides preliminary information on (1) the extent to which large commercial airplanes have experienced accidents and incidents related to icing and contaminated runways, (2) the efforts of FAA and aviation stakeholders to improve safety in icing and winter weather operating conditions, and (3) the challenges that continue to affect aviation safety in icing and winter weather operating conditions. GAO analyzed data obtained from FAA, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and others. GAO conducted data reliability testing and determined that the data used in this report were sufficiently reliable for our purposes. Further, GAO …

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Through the Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) collaborates with the Department of Defense (DOD) to streamline access to veterans' disability benefits by allowing some servicemembers to file a claim and undergo a single collaborative exam process prior to discharge. BDD is designed for servicemembers with conditions that, while disabling, do not generally prevent them from performing their military duties. This program can shorten the time it takes for veterans to receive benefits by several months. GAO was asked to discuss issues surrounding VA's and DOD's BDD program and related Quick Start program, and identify ways VA and DOD could improve these programs for transitioning servicemembers. This statement is based on GAO's September 2008 report (GAO-08-901) that examined (1) VA efforts to manage the BDD program and (2) how VA and DOD are addressing challenges servicemembers face in accessing the BDD program. GAO updated some information to reflect the current status of claims processing and improvement initiatives in the BDD program."

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "This report discusses our efforts to evaluate the Department of Defense's (DOD) and the U.S. Coast Guard's oversight and implementation of their respective sexual assault prevention and response programs. Our findings build upon our previous work related to sexual assault in the military services. DOD and the Coast Guard have taken a number of positive steps to increase program awareness and to improve their prevention and response to occurrences of sexual assault, but additional actions are needed to strengthen their respective programs. As we have previously reported, sexual assault is a crime with a far-reaching negative impact on the military services in that it undermines core values, degrades mission readiness and esprit de corps, subverts strategic goodwill, and raises financial costs. Since we reported on these implications in 2008, incidents of sexual assault have continued to occur; in fiscal year 2008, DOD reported nearly 3,000 alleged sexual assault cases, and the Coast Guard reported about 80. However, it remains impossible to accurately analyze trends or draw conclusions from these data because DOD and the Coast Guard have not yet standardized their respective reporting requirements."