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Requests for Federal Disaster Assistance Need Better Evaluation
"Since 1970 the President's Disaster Relief Fund has provided over $3.8 billion to individuals and State and local governments. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, in assessing eligibility for disaster assistance, has had difficulty in determining whether State and local governments are capable of handling their own disasters and whether they are committing a reasonable amount of their available funds for disaster relief. GAO [General Accounting Office] also found that the Agency has adopted a controversial costsharing policy and has funded other than natural disasters. GAO recommends that the Congress clarify the extent of supplemental Federal assistance to be given and (2) what kinds of disasters are eligible for Federal assistance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency should analyze the impact potential State inequities have on Federal disaster assistance and submit a detailed plan and legislative changes to the Congress to correct such weaknesses."
United States. General Accounting Office
1981-12-07
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Proposed Changes in Federal Matching And Maintenance of Effort Requirements for State and Local Governments
"Federal matching and maintenance of effort requirements do not often effectively promote the Federal interest of enhancing the fiscal and management commitments of State and local governments to Federal programs. While more stringent Federal requirements would promote these Federal fiscal and managerial objectives, they would screen out needy grantees from participating in the program, thus jeopardizing the ability of the intergovernmental grant system to provide services of national interest on a nationwide basis. Also, by encumbering State and local funds in a growing number of federally funded areas, the requirements induce distortion of State and local budget priorities and may promote fiscal stress as well. GAO recommends that matching requirements be strengthened but used more sparingly and only where a clearly articulated Federal interest does not conflict with the broader purposes of Federal programs themselves. Maintenance of effort requirements serve a clear, primary Federal interest, but should be changed to more effectively prevent fiscal substitution while not penalizing bona fide State and local spending reductions."
United States. General Accounting Office
1980-12-23
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Report To The Congress by the Comptroller General of United States: The Public Diplomacy of Other Countries: Implications for the United States
From the Government Accountability Office website description of this report: "Public diplomacy, the international communications, cultural, and educational activities in which the public is involved, has become a principal instrument of foreign policy for the United States and other nations. By comparison with both allies and adversaries, the U.S. Government investment in public diplomacy is low. In absolute terms, the United States is outspent by France and the Soviet Union and is nearly equalled by West Germany. Despite differences of formal structure, both American and the Western European organizational arrangements for conducting public diplomacy provide for active governmental participation in a manner generally assuring appropriate professional and operating independence for such activities as news broadcasting, education, and cultural relations. At the same time the arrangements maintain a degree of official oversight and control sufficient to satisfy the legislatures that such activites are being carried out within a broad framework of national interests and objectives. Both models also tend to confirm that the cultural function and the policy articulation function need not and should not be administratively insulated from each other. A far sighted case can be made that wherever and whenever allied nations have a common message to deliver to third countries, common sense would dictate the use of common media. With few exceptions, however, efforts at cooperative public diplomacy have made little headway. Many officers of the U.S. International Communication Agency continue to spend significant amounts of personal funds in fulfilling official representational duties overseas. The continued shortfall places a personal burden on the conscientious overseas officer and inhibits optimum cultivation of valuable personal contacts."
United States. General Accounting Office
1979-07-23
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Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing: Who Wins the Lottery? Report by the Comptroller General of the United States
"Presently, most of the 114,000 onshore oil and gas leases for over 93 million acres of Federal land are awarded under a lottery system. The Chairman, House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, requested that GAO review alleged irregularities in this leasing, administered by the Department of the Interior. GAO's review of drawings in New Mexico and Wyoming detected no indication of manipulation, but showed weaknesses in controls which allow the possibility for it. Basic changes, including possible alternatives to the system, are under study by the Interior."
United States. General Accounting Office
1979-04-13
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Need to Improve Regulatory Review Process for Liquefied Natural Gas Imports: Report to the Congress of the United States
"This report documents reasons for, and adverse impacts of, the lengthy regulatory review process involving liquefied natural gas import proposals. GAO [General Accounting Office] recommends that the Secretary of Energy analyze various alternative energy sources and natural gas substitutes. If it is determined that liquefied natural gas imports are necessary to supplement dwindling domestic gas supplies, the Secretary of Energy should streamline the existing regulatory review process."
United States. General Accounting Office
1978-07-14
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Evaluation of the National Energy Plan: Report to the Congress
"The President's National Energy Plan combines proposed legislative, administrative, and budgetary actions aimed at solving the Nation's energy problems. The Plan is an important first step toward developing a national energy policy. GAO [General Accounting Office] believes it is a good start. GAO agrees with many of the Plan's specific initiatives and offers recommendations to improve others. GAO believes that the Plan, even if approved in its entirety by the Congress, will, in some cases, fall short of its established goals. GAO calls for the Congress to adopt a set of National Energy Goals and design a program that meets these goals, establish a set of milestones to judge progress in meeting these goals, and establish a set of standby initiatives if satisfactory progress is not being made."
United States. General Accounting Office
1977-07-25
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Cost, Schedule, And Performance Problems Of The Lake Pontchartrain And Vicinity, Louisiana, Hurricane Protection Project
"The Lake Pontchartrain and Vicinity, Louisiana, Hurricane Protection plan--a series of control structures, concrete floodwalls, and levees--is intended to protect the lowlands in the Lake Pontchartrain tidal basin, lying within the greater New Orleans metropolitan area, from flooding by hurricane-induced sea surges and rainfall. Its estimated cost has risen from $85 million in 1965 to $352 million and its completion has been delayed 13 years. Almost two-thirds of this increase is due to inflation. In spite of this, the project retains a benefit-to-cost ratio of about 13 to 1. The Federal share of the project cost (70 percent) has increased from $66 million to $242 million. There is a possibility that the Federal share could increase by $85 million more should local jurisdictions be unable to pay their portions."
United States. Government Accountability Office
1976-08-31
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Stronger Federal Assistance to States Needed for Radiation Emergency Response Planning, Report to the Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is the lead Federal agency in assisting States to voluntarily develop plans to cope with emergency radiation incidents at nuclear facilities, particularly powerplants, and accidents involving transportation of radioactive materials. This interagency effort has resulted in published guidelines and free formal training courses for State and local government officials responsible for radiation emergency response planning. As of December 1975, however, the Commission did not consider any State plan adequate to support the radiation emergency response planning guidelines developed by the Commission. GAO offers recommendations by which States can improve their radiation emergency response plans and keep the Congress better informed. This report concerns the need for stronger Federal assistance to States for radiation emergency response planning. The report discusses the status of State radiation emergency response plans and needed improvements in the Federal interagency effort to get State and local governments to improve their plans."
United States. General Accounting Office
1976-03-18
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Export Controls: Export Controls: Inadequate Justification for Relaxation of Computer Controls Demonstrates Need for Comprehensive Study: Statement of Susan S. Westin, Managing Director, International Affairs and Trade before the Committee on Governmental Affairs
The President's January 2001 changes in the export control thresholds for high performance computer exports are not adequately justified. Although the President's report recognizes that high performance computing capabilities will become increasingly available to other countries through computer clustering, the report fails to address all military significant uses for computers at the new thresholds and assess the national security impact of such uses. The support for the President's policy proposal for relaxed U.S. computer controls also is not adequate. Although the new policy was based on the conclusion that computer hardware exports can no longer be controlled, the executive branch did not adequately assess alternative control options. GAO identified several implications of the changes to the control thresholds and the proposed change in U.S. computer export control policy related to increased risks for U.S. national security. For example, the inadequacies of the President's justifications demonstrate the need for a comprehensive study of the issues involved. Furthermore, the policy proposal would reduce information that might be useful in detecting patterns of exports to customers engaged in proliferation activities because it would eliminate an annual reporting requirement that provides information on end users.
United States. General Accounting Office
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Low-Level Radioactive Wastes: Department of Energy Has Opportunities to Reduce Disposal Costs, Report to Congressional Requesters
"The limited availability of disposal alternatives is the principal factor influencing DOEs decisions about the treatment, storage, and disposal of its low-level and mixed wastes. Four of DOEs six disposal sites"the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory; Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico; Oak Ridge Reservation, Tennessee; and Savannah River Site, South Carolina"are restricted to disposing almost exclusively of their own wastes because of limits on their remaining disposal capacity and/or unfavorable site conditions, such as proximity to groundwater or relatively wet climates. The other two disposal sites"the Hanford Site in Washington State and the Nevada Test Site"have relatively dry climates and enough capacity to dispose of nearly all the low-level and mixed wastes generated at DOEs nuclear facilities nationwide. Access to the disposal facilities at these two sites has, however, been limited in three ways. First, DOE formerly directed most of its waste-generating sites to use one, but not both, of the two facilities. Second, some of DOEs waste-generating sites did not have access to either disposal facility because DOE stopped granting new access to the two facilities in 1990 pending the completion of an environmental review of its waste programs, which was recently completed. Third, neither the Hanford nor the Nevada facility currently disposes of mixed wastes generated at DOE sites in other states. Some waste-generating sites have been able to use a commercial disposal facility, but the only facility that is readily available can accept only wastes that are very lightly contaminated with radioactivity. With such limited access to disposal facilities, DOEs waste managers have had few opportunities to consider costs when making disposal decisions. On February 25, 2000, DOE adopted a new policy that will make the disposal facilities at the Nevada Test Site and the Hanford Site available to all of its wastegenerating sites, for both low-level and mixed wastes."
United States. Government Accountability Office
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Federal Workforce: Preliminary Observations on Strengthening Employee Engagement During Challenging Times, Statement of Robert Goldenkoff, Director of Strategic Issues, Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Government Operations, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, House of Representatives
"A growing body of research on both private-and public-sector organizations has found that increased levels of engagement-generally defined as the sense of purpose and commitment employees feel towards their employer and its mission-can lead to better organizational performance. This testimony is based on the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) ongoing work examining the federal government's efforts to improve employee engagement, including (1) trends in employee engagement from 2006 through 2014; (2) practices that could strengthen engagement levels based on the Employee Engagement Index (EEI) results and the experiences of selected agencies and GAO; and (3) certain limitations of the EEI that will be important for agency managers and leaders to consider as they use this metric to assess and improve engagement within their own organizations. To identify engagement trends, GAO analyzed responses to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Service (FEVS) questions from 2006 through 2014 from which the EEI is derived. To identify drivers of the EEI in 2014, GAO conducted a regression analysis. To identify practices that could strengthen engagement, GAO interviewed officials at OPM and three case study agencies (selected for sustained or increased EEI levels) that were responsible for engagement efforts."
United States. Government Accountability Office
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Uncertainties Remain Concerning the Airborne Laser's Cost and Military Utility
Letter to Senators Bill Nelson and Daniel Akaka: "In 1996, the Air Force launched an acquisition program to develop and produce a revolutionary laser weapon system, the Airborne Laser (ABL), capable of defeating an enemy ballistic missile during the boost phase of its flight. Over the last 8 years, the program's efforts to develop this technology have resulted in significant cost growth and schedule delays. These events led you to request that we answer the following questions: (1) How much and why has the ABL's cost increased since the program's inception? (2) What is the expected military utility of the initial ABL aircraft? (3) What support systems will be required when the ABL is fielded and what is the likely cost of those systems? (4) Have recent program changes resulted in a more cost effective strategy for developing the weapon? After we began our review, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) refocused the ABL program to pursue a more knowledge-based approach, where program knowledge is demonstrated at critical points in the development cycle. We examined the planned changes to determine whether they will result in a more cost-effective strategy for developing the ABL element. This report summarizes that information and transmits the briefing charts that have been revised to address program changes made by MDA after our presentation to your staff on March 4, 2004."
United States. General Accounting Office
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Information Sharing: Additional Actions Could Help Ensure That Efforts to Share Terrorism-Related Suspicious Activity Reports Are Effective, Report to Congressional Requesters [Reissued on March 26, 2013]
"This report was revised on March 26, 2013, to correct dates on pages 19 and 51 and correct an error on page 53. […] In 2007, DOJ [Department of Justice] and its federal partners developed the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative to establish a capability to gather and share terrorism-related suspicious activity reports. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to examine the initiative's progress and performance. This report addresses the extent to which (1) federal agencies have made progress in implementing the initiative, and what challenges, if any, remain; (2) the technical means used to collect and share reports overlap or duplicate each other; (3) training has met objectives and been completed; and (4) federal agencies are assessing the initiative's performance and results. GAO analyzed relevant documents and interviewed federal officials responsible for implementing the initiative and stakeholders from seven states (chosen based on their geographic location and other factors). The interviews are not generalizable but provided insight on progress and challenges. GAO recommends that DOJ implement formalized mechanisms to provide stakeholders feedback on the suspicious activity reports they submit, mitigate risks from supporting two systems to collect and share reports that may result in the FBI not receiving needed information, more fully assess if training for line officers meets their needs, and establish plans and time frames for implementing measures that assess the homeland security results the initiative has achieved. DOJ agreed with these recommendations and identified actions taken or planned to implement them."
United States. General Accounting Office
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Intermodal Transportation: Results of GAO's Survey on Air-Rail Connectivity (GAO-13-692SP, August 2013), an E-supplement to GAO-13-691
"This e-supplement presents the results of GAO's [Government Accountability Office] web-based survey on air and intercity passenger rail (air-rail) connectivity. The survey asks selected experts for their views on questions about (1) benefits of air-rail connectivity, (2) strategies that could improve air-rail connectivity, (3) factors that facilitate and hinder the development and use of air-rail connectivity, and (4) differences between air-rail connectivity in the United States and Europe."
United States. Government Accountability Office
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Terrorist Watchlist: Routinely Assessing Impacts of Agency Actions since the December 25, 2009, Attempted Attack Could Help Inform Future Efforts, Report to Congressional Requesters
"The December 25, 2009, attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 exposed weaknesses in how the federal government nominated individuals to the terrorist watchlist and gaps in how agencies used the list to screen individuals to determine if they posed a security threat. In response, the President tasked agencies to take corrective actions. GAO [Government Accountability Office] was asked to assess (1) government actions since the incident to strengthen the nominations process, (2) how the composition of the watchlist has changed based on these actions, and (3) how agencies are addressing gaps in screening processes. GAO analyzed government reports, the guidance used by agencies to nominate individuals to the watchlist, data on the volumes of nominations from January 2009 through May 2011, the composition of the list, and the outcomes of screening agency programs. GAO also interviewed officials from intelligence, law enforcement, and screening agencies to discuss changes to policies, guidance, and processes and related impacts on agency operations and the traveling public, among other things. This report is a public version of the classified report that GAO issued in December 2011 and omits certain information, such as details on the nominations guidance and the specific outcomes of screening processes. GAO recommends that the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism ensure that the outcomes and impacts of agencies' actions to strengthen nominations and screening processes are routinely assessed. Technical comments were provided and incorporated."
United States. Government Accountability Office
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State Department: Survey of Overseas Posts' Emergency Action Committees on Planning, Preparing for, and Conducting Evacuations (GAO-08-24SP), an E-Supplement to GAO-08-23
"This document presents selected results of GAO's survey of all 243 Emergency Action Committees (EAC) at State embassies and consulates (posts) worldwide. EACs are responsible for crisis management at post and are therefore best qualified to discuss crisis management activities, including preparing for and implementing evacuations. The survey consisted of 49 questions covering a range of topics on how posts plan, prepare for, and implement evacuations, as well as how lessons learned are reported. The survey was sent to the principal officer at each post (typically the deputy chief of mission or consul general). GAO requested that the survey be completed collectively by members of a post's EAC, and completed surveys were intended to reflect the views of the EAC as a whole. We received 210 completed surveys, for an overall response rate of 86 percent. We did not include responses for all survey questions; specifically, this document does not include narrative responses that we received. The percentages in each survey response may not sum to 100 in all cases, due to rounding."
United States. Government Accountability Office
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Science & Tech Spotlight: Genomic Sequencing of Infectious Pathogens
From the Document: "Genomic sequencing reveals the genetic code of an infectious disease pathogen, such as SARS-CoV-2 [severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2], the virus that causes COVID-19 [coronavirus disease 2019]. Newer, faster, and less costly sequencing can now be used to more quickly track transmission, detect new variants, and develop vaccines and other countermeasures. However, challenges such as high startup costs and privacy concerns remain."
United States. Government Accountability Office
