hello -

this is the contents of the GAO report that lists all reports
published in November 1992.

i am looking for an ftp site for this information.

i am experimenting with format. comments on my choice of bib
format will be appreciated.

thanx -

[email protected]

BTW, GAO reports are free in single copies, that is it is
free to get as many reports as you want, as long as you
get one copy of each. to access the GAO's Document
Distribution Office, call 202-512-6000 from a touch-tone
phone.


Reports and Testimony: November 1992

%T Food Assistance: School Milk Contract Bid-Rigging
%G GAO/RCED-93-5
%D Oct. 16
%P 26
%X The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has declined to
suspend or exclude from participating in school milk contracts a
number of dairies and individuals convicted of bid-rigging because
the Food and Nutrition Service lacks investigators and lawyers with
expertise in such matters. Although both the Justice Department and
USDA oversee agricultural cooperatives, currently no formal process
is in place for sharing information on cooperatives' pricing. Instead,
officials have relied on an informal ad hoc method for sharing
information on bid-rigging. USDA has yet to suspend or disbar any of
the 16 dairies or the 35 individuals convicted of bid-rigging from
participating in federally funded child nutrition programs. Big-
rigging(sic) awareness training for contracting officials has proven
effective in deterring improper collusion. USDA has provided such
instruction for school procurement officials in areas in which bid-
rigging is known to have occurred and is expanding this training to
other jurisdictions.

%T USDA Revenues: A Descriptive Compendium
%G GAO/RCED-93-19FS
%D Nov. 27
%P 73
%X This fact sheet provides a compendium of the revenues that the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) collects from nonfederal
sources for its products and services. In summary, more than 99
percent of these funds come from the following six USDA agencies:
the Forest Service, the Agriculture Marketing Service, the Animal
and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Food Safety Inspection
Service, the Federal Grain Inspection Service, and the Soil
Conservation Service. In fiscal year 1992, USDA collected an
estimated $1.85 billion from nonfederal sources. The compendium
presents information in a common format for 58 revenue-producing
products and services administered by the six agencies.

%T Impoundments: Extended Availability for Fiscal Year 1992 Funds
for AID'S Housing Guarantee Subsidy Program
%G GAO/OGC-93-2
%D Nov. 3
%P three
%X On August 26, the President submitted to Congress his 104th
special impoundment message for fiscal year 1992. The message
reports one deferral of budget authority, which affects the Housing
Guarantee subsidy account for the Agency for International
Development. The Housing Guarantee program extends guarantees to
U.S. private investors that make loans to developing countries to help
them formulate and execute sound housing and community
development policies that meet the needs of the poor. GAO found the
deferral to be in accordance with the Impoundment Control Act.

%T Budget Issues: Compliance With. the Budget Enforcement Act of
1990
%G GAO/AFMD-93-38
%D Nov. 23
%P 23
%X In GAO's opinion, the reports issued by the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO)
complied with the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 except for OMB's
inflation adjustment to the fiscal year 1993 discretionary spending
limits. This was incomplete because it did not cover personnel costs.
Since OMB's judgments are binding, the spending limit for
discretionary budget authority was $2.5 billion higher than it should
have been. GAO also discusses some implementation issues related to
(l) classifying discretionary spending for domestic or defense
programs, (2) distinguishing between discretionary and mandatory
spending, and (3) making cost estimates. Categorizing spending by
such criteria is difficult and subject to interpretation. OMB's and
COB'S disagreement over how they classified parts of 16 programs
illustrates the difficulties in the formula approaches to budgeting
represented by the Budget Enforcement Act and Gramm-Rudman-
Hollings before it. In addition, OMB'S and COB'S cost estimates for
three programs differ significantly because of varying technical and
methodological assumptions.

%T AID Management: EEO Issues and Protected Group
Underrepresentation Require Management Attention
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-13
%D Nov. 23
%P 63
%X As of September 1991, women and minorities in the Agency for
International Development's (AID) civil and foreign services were
underrepresented in many professional and administrative jobs and
at more senior grade levels. In most cases, these groups were under-
represented by only a small number of individuals;
underrepresentation by white females, however, was significantly
higher. AID lacks a recruitment plan targeting specific areas of
underrepresentation. Although AID did not collect and analyze
hiring, assignment, and promotion data, the information available on
AID'S hiring practices reveals that minorities had been adversely
affected. AID has not determined the reasons for the disparities. GAO
found that white females were generally not adversely affected by
AID'S hiring, assignment, and promotion practices and that this group
often had the highest selection rate. AID'S Equal Employment
Opportunity Oversight Board has not met since June 1986, and AID
did not create two alternative review groups until 1990 and 1991.
Also, senior managers were not held accountable for accomplishing
action items listed in AID'S affirmative action plan, and AID lacked
an effective system to report progress in correcting
underrepresentation of women and minorities.

%T Student Loans: Direct Loans Could Save Billions in First Five Years
With Proper Implementation
%G GAO/HRD-93-27
%D Nov. 25
%P 32
%X A switch to direct student loans from guaranteed loans could save
the federal government about $4.8 billion within the first five years.
Adjusted to reflect loan repayments, direct loans could cost about
$9.7 billion as opposed to $14.6 billion for guaranteed loans over this
period. A direct loan program could achieve these savings by
enabling the government to partially offset program costs with
borrowers' interest payments, reducing the cost of the interest
benefit, and eliminating special allowance payments. GAO did focus
group interviews with financial aid administrators and school
business officers from postsecondary educational institutions. These
individuals had mixed views about their ability to run a direct loan
program but were clearly negative about the Department of
Education's ability to manage one.

%T Department of Education: The Eisenhower Math and Science State
Grant Program
%G GAO/HRD-93-25
%D Nov. 10
%P 30
%X GAO reviewed the Department of Education's Dwight D.
Eisenhower Mathematics and Science Education program, the largest
federal effort for training elementary and secondary teachers in
math and science. The ultimate goal is to make U.S. students first in
the world in math and science achievement by the year 2000. The
program is now authorized through fiscal year 1993. GAO discusses
(l) how state grant funds are spent, (2) how experts view proposed
improvements to the program, (3) how well Education collects and
analyzes data on the program, and (4) how well various federal
agencies sponsoring math and science education programs coordinate
their efforts.

%T Guaranty Agency Solvency: Can the Government Recover HEAF's
First-Year Liquidation Cost of $212 Million?
%G GAO/HRD-93-12BR
%D Nov. 13
%P 32
%X This briefing report provides information on the Department of
Education's agreement to liquidate the Higher Education Assistance
Foundation (HEAF), a national guarantor of student loans under the
Stafford Student Loan Program. HEAF was experiencing serious
financial difficulties and, in June 1990, announced that it might not
be able to pay promptly all its lenders' student loan default claimsQ
one of the main responsibilities of a guaranty agency. GAO discusses
the federal costs incurred in fiscal year 1991 due to the Department's
agreeing to this liquidation.

%T Department of Energy: Project Management at the Rocky Flats
Plant Needs Improvement
%G GAO/RCED-93-32
%D Oct. 16
%P 17
%X Various studies of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Rocky Flats
Plant in Colorado have highlighted numerous management
weaknesses that have affected some projects at the plant. GAO
identified two ongoing projectsQthe supercompactor and upgrades to
the plant's low-level waste transfer systemQthat have experienced
massive cost growth during the past four years. In both cases, project
managers did not properly oversee the early stages of the projects'
development. Both the plant contractor and DOE have taken steps to
address some of these weaknesses, but GAO is concerned that these
actions may not be comprehensive enough to resolve all the
problems. Although the plant contractor has developed corrective
action plans and has made progress implementing them, the plans
were based only on the contractor's business management review
study and may not include some urgently needed corrective actions.
DOE officials have said that they have addressed the problems cited
in previous management studies but have not yet developed a
comprehensive corrective action plan with detailed tasks and
completion milestone dates. DOE officials believe that such a plan is
necessary and have designated someone to draft one. The agency,
however, still needs to define the plan's scope and set a date when
the plan should be finished.

%T Nuclear Weapons Complex: Weaknesses in DOE'S Nonnuclear
Consolidation Plan
%G GAO/RCED-93-56
%D Nov. 19
%P 27
%X The end of the cold war and expected reductions in the nation's
nuclear weapons arsenal has prompted the Department of Energy
(DOE) to study ways to consolidate the agency's nuclear weapons
complex. The agency's first choice is to centralize most of its
nonnuclear operations, which produce nonnuclear components for
weapons, in Kansas City, Missouri. A number of other nonnuclear
activities would move to other DOE facilities or be privatized. GAO is
concerned because the costs associated with this plan are uncertain
and the technical risks of consolidation have not been thoroughly
explored. DOE recognizes some of these weaknesses and is looking
into other options, such as moving specific operations to the national
laboratories. It is also doing more detailed cost estimates on other
options. Some weaknesses, however, continue to receive little
attention. Further analysis of additional policy options and technical
risks is needed to assure Congress and the public that all reasonable
options have been explored and that DOE'S approach will minimize
risks. Moreover, a specific size for the complex has yet to be decided.
GAO believes that the selection of the complex's size and capabilities
sets a critical baseline for consolidation planning. Once parameters
are placed on the future production capability of the complex,
consolidation planning to establish that capability can go forward.

%T Drinking Water: Projects That May Damage Sole Source Aquifer
Are Not Always Identified
%G GAO/RCED-93-4
%D Oct. 13
%P 22
%X At least 22 million Americans rely on groundwater as their main
source of drinking water. The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) is authorized to deny federal financial assistance to projects
that could contaminate "sole source aquifers"Qthe only source of
drinking water for certain communities. As of June 1992, EPA had
designated 56 sole source aquifers across the country that serve
more than 22 million people. This report discusses whether the
Federal Highway Administration followed established procedures for
referring two highway projects located over the Edwards Aquifer in
Texas to EPA for review. It also examines whether there are
potential nationwide weaknesses in the mechanisms that trigger
reviews of federal financially assisted projects that may contaminate
sole source aquifers.

%T EPA's Superfund TAG Program: Grants Benefit Citizens But
Administrative Barriers Remain
%A Richard L. Hembra, Director of Environmental Protection Issues
%I Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight, House Committee
on Public Works and Transportation.
%G GAO/T-RCED-93-1
%D Nov. 10
%P 29
%X The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Technical
Assistance Grant Program provides local communities with up to
$50,000 to hire advisers to help them understand the technical
aspects of hazardous waste site cleanups. Although the program
appears to be helping foster public understanding of and
involvement in cleanups of local Superfund sites, problems with
public outreach, grants management, and administration may be
hampering public participation in the program. To its credit, EPA's
recent efforts to streamline the procurement procedures appear to
be a step in the right direction. These actions alone, however, are not
enough. Limited public outreach efforts and administration barriers
continue to dog the program. Moreover, with program
reauthorization imminent, clarifying how program recipients may
use the grant moneys and how the Superfund Accelerated Cleanup
Model may affect the program could minimize additional concerns in
the future.

%T Financial Management: Serious Deficiencies in State's Financial
Systems Require Sustained Attention
%G GAO/AFMD-93-9
%D Nov. 13
%P 40
%X The State Department's financial operations and systems, which
account for more than $5 billion in annual appropriations, are weak
and have been for many years. Responsibility for financial
management remains fragmented. State's financial operations
continue to be hampered by inexperienced and inadequately trained
financial management staff. Also, domestic and overseas financial
systems are incompatible, have been allowed to deteriorate, are out-
of-date, and cannot meet managers' needs. The Department
acknowledges the seriousness of its problems. To meet the
requirements of the Chief Financial Officers Act and conform its
financial systems to federal accounting requirements, the
Department has begun strengthening its Chief Financial Officer
structure, addressing the problem of fragmented responsibilities, and
developing an overall strategy for resolving its long-standing
financial management weaknesses. A financial systems
improvement plan is critical to guiding the Department's efforts to
standardize and integrate financial systems, and the financial
information needs of managers and others will have to be identified
and documented.

%T Rural Telephone Bank: Review of Fiscal Year 1992 Interest Rates
on Rural Telephone Bank Loans
%G GAO/AFMD-93-337
%D Nov. 19
%P 10
%X GAO is required to review each year the interest rate charged to
borrowers, referred to as the cost of money rates, as set by the Rural
Telephone Bank for the preceding fiscal year. The Rural Telephone
Bank now calculates the following two rates: (l) the interest rate used
for advances made during fiscal year 1992 on loans approved before
that year (referred to as loans from the liquidating account) and (2)
the interest rate used for advances made during fiscal year 1992 on
loans approved on or after October 1, 1991 (referred to as loans from
the financing account). The Rural Telephone Bank's fiscal year 1992
cost of money rates were pegged at 6.14 percent and 7.38 percent
for advances from the liquidating account and financing account,
respectively. GAO found these rate determinations to be in
accordance with the law.

%T Asbestos in Federal Buildings: Federal Efforts to Protect
Employees From Potential Exposure
%G GAO/RCED-93-9
%D Oct. 6
%P 41
%X Before the health risks were recognized, thousands of buildings
were constructed with materials containing asbestos. The full extent
of the problem in federal buildings is unknown because no single
agency has assumed responsibility for collecting information on this
situation. Furthermore, the agencies GAO reviewed lack complete
and accurate inventories of the buildings containing asbestos. The
most comprehensive data available, dating from a 1984 EPA survey,
suggest that nearly 40 percent of federal buildings contain asbestos
that is loose to the touch. GAO discovered asbestos materials at all 14
federal worksites it visited; at 11 of these sites some of the materials
were damaged or were deteriorating. The worksites visited were not
fully implementing Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) requirements and the Environmental Protection Agency's
recommendations for managing asbestos. Of the five agencies
reviewed, only the General Services Administration (GSA) and the
Forest Service had issued policies informing worksite managers
about how to manage asbestos. In addition, only GSA routinely
monitored the effectiveness of the asbestos programs at the
worksites. Officials responsible for asbestos management at these
agencies were either unaware of OSHA's asbestos requirements or
believed that the requirements applied only under limited
circumstances, such as when asbestos might be disturbed during
renovations or repairs.

%T National Science Foundation: Better Guidance on Employee Book
Writing Could Help Avoid Ethics Problem
%G GAO/GGD-93-8
%D Oct. 9
%P 30
%X Two National Science Foundation (NSF) employees coauthored and
arranged for the publication of 'Rush to Policy' in 1988 and 'The
Practice of Policy Analysis' in 1991. The employees prepared the
books, in part, during official work hours, using government
secretarial support and computers. Even so, NSF allowed the
employees to publish the books as private individuals through
commercial publishers. Had NSF determined that the books were
being prepared as outside activities, the employees would not have
been allowed to use those government resources. Or had NSF
determined that the books were being done as part of the employees'
official duties, it should have reviewed the content of the books and
arranged for their publication according to federal laws and
regulations. GAO concludes that NSF ethics officials did not clearly
determine whether the book projects were official NSF
responsibilities or outside activities. As a result, NSF did not ensure
that the books were produced in accordance with federal
requirements, thereby  exposing the agency and its employees to
possible statutory and regulatory violations. NSF needs policies and
procedures for systematically advising employees on book-writing
and publishing activities relating to NSF's responsibilities.

%T Private Attorneys: Information on the Federal Government's Use
of Private Attorneys
%G GAO/GGD-93-17FS
%D Oct. 20
%P 95
%X Overall, the federal government paid more than $600 million
during fiscal year 1991 for both contracted legal services and
attorneys'' fees awarded to prevailing parties. Fifty-nine agencies
reported awarding about 4,500 contracts and paying $587 million for
legal services that year. This report discusses in detail the number of
contracts awarded and the amounts paid by each agency. The largest
users of contracted legal services were the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation and the Resolution Trust Corporation, followed by the
Administrative Office of the United States Courts' appointments of
private attorneys under the Criminal Justice Act.

%T Whistleblower Protection: Determining Whether Reprisal Occurred
Remains Difficult
%G GAO/GGD-93-3
%D Oct. 27
%P 21
%X Even though the Whistleblower Protection Act of 1989 was
intended to bolster protections for whistleblowers, employees
claiming reprisals for whistleblowing at the Office of Special Counsel
are finding that proving their cases is as difficult now as it was
before the law was passed. The main reason remains the lack of
enough evidence linking the employee's whistleblowing and the
reprisal. GAO also found that federal employees do not know where
to report misconduct or what their whistleblower rights to protection
are. In addition, agencies are not required to tell employees about
whistleblower rights and procedures.

%T Appraisal Reform: Implementation Status and Unresolved Issues
%G GAO/GGD-93-19
%D Oct. 30
%P 16
%X Title XI of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and
Enforcement Act of 1989 requires that real estate appraisals for
transactions involving the federal government be written reports
that conform to uniform standards and be completed by certified
professionals. Overall, positive strides have been made at the federal
and state levels to implement Title XI by the December 31, 1992,
deadline. For example, all 50 states and the District of Columbia and
most U.S. territories have come up with programs for licensing and
certifying appraisers. Moreover, as of September 1992, nearly
60,000 appraisers nationwide had been state licensed or certified.
Similarly, each of the federal financial institutions regulatory
agencies and the Resolution Trust Corporation have issued appraisal
regulations. These changes have been accompanied by controversy,
however, and several issues remain unresolved, including appraiser
availability and appraisal cost, the appropriate de minimus
threshold, standards for evaluating real-estate-related financial
transactions under the de minimus threshold, and state enforcement
of appraisal standards.

%T Postage Stamp Production: Private Sector Can Be a Lower Cost
Optional Source
%G GAO/GGD-93-18
%D Oct. 30
%P 49
%X Producing postage stamps is big business. In fiscal year 1991, the
U.S. Postal Service spent $124 million for about 54 billion stamps.
Concerns have been raised about the Postal Service's efforts to
acquire stamps from private sector suppliers. Even though private
industry can produce most stamps for less cost than the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing, the Postal Service should maintain the
Bureau's role as a major stamp producer because it is immune to
union strikes, bankruptcies, and other problems that beset the
private sector. GAO compared costs on pairs of comparable stamps
produced by the Bureau and the private sector and found that for
seven of eight selected pairs, the costs of private sector products
were lower. Although the Postal Service monitors the quality of
private sector and Bureau products differently, quality deficiencies
have been discovered in stamps produced by both groups. The
relationship between the Bureau and the Postal Service has greatly
improved since the late 1980s, mainly because of a formal
interagency agreement that put the relationship between the Postal
Service and the Bureau on a businesslike basis. The Postal Service
now expects the Bureau to remain the main source of postage
stamps.

%T U.S. Postal Service: Tracking Customer Satisfaction in a
Competitive Environment
%G GAO/GGD-9
%D 4, Nov.
%P 2
%X The Consumer Satisfaction Index is an independently run,
statistically valid survey of residential customer satisfaction with the
quality of service provided by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS).
Extensive research and development went into designing the user-
friendly questionnaire; the sampling methodology used is sound; and
enough controls are in place to ensure the integrity of the results.
The publicly released survey results, however, do not necessarily
reflect how satisfied household customers are with specific services.
GAO found that survey respondents generally rated USPS' overall
performance higher than they rated specific performance
dimensions, such as length of lines for window service or consistent
delivery of local mail. USPS uses the survey to evaluate management
performance and to identify areas needing improvement. USPS'
practice of publicly reporting the national and local overall
performance ratings, but not the ratings on specific service
dimensions, conforms with laws allowing USPS to retain information
that it considers to be of a commercial nature. USPS competitors, such
as Federal Express and United Parcel Service, also do not disclose
detailed information that they collect from their customers on their
performance.

%T Revised Delivery Standards: Postal Delivery Scores Improved but
Service Is Slower
%G GAO/GGD-93-12
%D Nov. 25
%P 60
%X Claiming that its customers valued consistency over promptness
in mail delivery, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) revised its first-class
mail service standards in 1990. The new standards were intended to
set more realistic goals for the time a letter should take to travel
between two points and thus to allow the goals to be met more
consistently. About eight percent of overnight mail became two-day
mail, and about 22 percent of two-day mail became three-day mail.
After the standards were relaxed, delivery service for stamped mail
more often met the new standardsQdriving up the percentage of mail
delivered on time. But no improvement occurred in actual delivery
service. This report discusses the (l) volume of first-class mail
subject to the new standards; (2) effect of the standards' changes on
the speed and consistency of delivery service and on postal
operations; (3) savings from operational changes; and (4) views of
postal management, customers, and unions on the revised standards.

%T District's Pensions: Billions of Dollars in Liability Not Funded
%G GAO/HRD-93-32
%D Nov. 30
%P 30
%X Pension obligations owed to current D.C. employees and retirees
exceed the District's pension fund assets by nearly $5 billion. Further,
the percentage of pension obligations covered by assets is lower than
that reported by most of the comparable plans GAO examined. This
inadequate funding results primarily from the federal government's
transferring a $2 billion unfunded liability for pension benefits to the
D.C. government more than a decade ago. There is no legal
requirement to amortize this unfunded liability. Mandated federal
and District contributions to the retirement funds, through 2004, will
not stop the unfunded liability from increasing. It will reach an
estimated $7.7 billion by that year. Under the D.C. Retirement Reform
Act, the unfunded liability will never be eliminated, although the
formula for determining District contributions will change beginning
in 2005 and the liability should stop increasing, assuming the District
makes the required contributions. In 2005, under the changed
formula, the District's annual contribution could represent about 15
percent of the revenue collected by the District, compared with about
eight percent in 1991.

%T Bone Marrow Transplants: National Program Has Greatly
Increased Pool of Potential Donors
%G GAO/HRD-93-11
%D Nov. 4
%P 76
%X Each year, thousands of people diagnosed with leukemia and
other fatal blood diseases discover that a bone marrow transplant
may be their only hope for long-term survival. About two-thirds of
all patients who might benefit from this procedure, however, have no
related donor with compatible tissues and are compelled to seek out
marrow donations from unrelated volunteers. The National Marrow
Donor Program, established by Congress in the mid-1980s, has
expanded its bone marrow registry from nearly 73,000 donors at the
end of 1989 to about 561,000 donors in April 1992. The proportion
of minorities more than doubled during this period, from about 5.8
percent to about 14.2 percent. This larger and more diverse pool of
donors has improved the odds of finding matching donors for
patients with rarer tissue types. Yet the proportion of blacks and
Hispanics on the registry remains considerably less than their
proportion of the U.S. population as indicated by the 1990 census.
Although the number of transplants increased, the proportion of
searches that culminated in a bone marrow transplant did not change
markedly from 1987 to mid-l991. As of July 1991, only 13 percent
of the patients searching for a donor actually obtained a marrow
transplant. This paucity of results occurred for many reasonsQ
financial, genetic, medical, and personal. Research on the matching of
blood cell proteins, known as human leukocyte antigens, and other
factors affecting the patients' search, such as difficulties in finding a
suitable donor, may help improve the outcomes of donor searches
and of marrow transplants using unrelated donors.

%T Home Health Care: HCFA Properly Evaluated JCAHO's Ability to
Survey Home Health Agencies
%G GAO/HRD-93-33
%D Oct. 26
%P eight
%X The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare
Organizations (JCAHO) is a nonprofit organization that evaluates and
accredits both hospital-based and freestanding home health agencies.
GAO found that the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA)
properly evaluated the commission's ability to ensure that home
health agencies meet Medicare conditions of approval. Further,
HCFA's evaluation was done in accordance with the proposed
regulation governing the granting of deeming authority to accrediting
organizations. As a result of its review, HCFA believed that some
issues needed to be resolved before it could approve deeming
authority for JCAHO. These issues were discussed with JCAHO and
have been resolved to the satisfaction of both organizations.

%T Health Care: Reduction in Resident Physician Work Hours Will Not
Be Easy to Attain
%G GAO/HRD-93-24BR
%D Nov. 20
%P 50
%X Patients being treated by sleep-deprived resident physicians may
be at high risk for medical errors. The Accreditation Council for
Graduate Medical Education recognizes this problem but has yet to
set a work-hour limit for all its 24 specialty residency programs,
mainly because council members disagree about setting limits on
resident work hours. Instead, the council adopted compromise
guidelines in February 1992 that encourage limiting on-call duty to
one night out of three and giving residents at least one day off
during a seven-day workweek. Even under these guidelines,
however, it is still possible for a resident to work 96 hours or more
per week. New York is the only state that now limits the number of
hours a resident may work in a weekQno more than an average of 80
hours per week during a four-week period. But implementation of
the New York regulations has been costly because more staff are
needed to take the residents' place, and several private hospitals and
other facilities have yet to fully comply with the regulations.
Resident reforms have already been made in England, New Zealand,
Canada, and Australia.

%T Utilization Review: Information on External Review Organizations
%G GAO/HRD-93-22FS
%D Nov. 24
%P 96
%X Utilization review organizations (URO) significantly influence the
provision of and payment for health care in this country. Because
recommendations made by these organizations can impact the care
approved for payment, a URO might affect a patient's access to health
care. As a result, there is considerable interest in the health care
community about who makes utilization decisions, their professional
experience, and the review criteria they use. This fact sheet provides
information on (l) the size and ownership of UROs, (2) the
professional qualifications of the staff involved in utilization review
decisions, (3) the complexity of decisions made by various types of
staff, (4) appeal procedures, (5) clinical review criteria used by UROs,
and (6) quality assurance procedures implemented to ensure
adherence to company directives. In short, GAO discovered the
following: that UROs often employ physicians on a part-time basis or
as consultants; registered nurses are heavily involved in first-level
review decisions but doctors become more involved during the
second-level review and appeals process; UROs generally use
commercially developed review criteria when making their
recommendations; most UROs have established appeal procedures; of
the few utilization decisions that are appealed, many are successful;
and UROs have implemented quality assurance procedures to ensure
adherence to company directives.

%T Health Reports: October 1990 Through October 1992
%G GAO/HRD-93-38
%D Nov. 1992
%P 39
%X This publication lists GAO health reports and testimony issued
during the past two years, including titles, report numbers, and issue
dates. Recent documents are accompanied by summaries. Order
forms at the end of this publication can be used to request GAO
products or to add a person's name to GAO's mailing list for health
reports.

%T North American Free Trade Agreement: U.S.-Mexican Trade and
Investment Data
%G GAO/GGD-92-131
%D Sept. 25
%P 119
%X This report provides information on the prospective North
American Free Trade Agreement, negotiated between the United
States, Mexico, and Canada. GAO discusses (l) Mexico's trade flows
with the United States and its worldwide and selected bilateral trade
flows for 1980-91; (2) foreign direct investment between Mexico and
the United States and selected countries' direct investment in Mexico
for 1980-91; (3) maquiladora operations in Mexico for 1980-91; and
(4) the top 50 companies, importers, exporters, and maquiladoras
operating in Mexico in 1990.

%T Foreign Disaster Assistance: AID Has Been Responsive but
Improvements Can Be Made
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-21
%D Oct. 26
%P 65
%X When disasters strike other countries, the United States
traditionally provides most of its assistance through the Agency for
International Development's (AID) Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster
Assistance (OFDA). This report (l) assesses OFDA's responsiveness to
overseas disasters, including the agency's interaction with the United
Nations and other nongovernmental organizations; (2) evaluates
AID's budget procedures for disaster assistance from 1981 to 1990;
(3) reviews AID's policy on responding to long-term or ongoing
disasters; and (4) evaluates whether OFDA provides even-handed
disaster assistance.

%T International Trade: Restrictions on U.S. Racehorses in Foreign
Country Races
%G GAO/GGD-93-15
%D Oct. 30
%P 13
%X The transporting of racehorses between continents has increased
significantly during the past 50 years, spurred by a series of
lucrative international races that first appeared before World War II.
In the course of this international traffic, racehorses have
encountered various barriers in the form of tariffs, races that are
closed to foreign-bred animals, customs delays at border crossings,
and health quarantines. This report examines the barriers that limit
participation by U.S. thoroughbred racehorses in races overseas.
Although GAO focused primarily on Japan, which has the highest
purses worldwide, as well as one of the most stringent set of
restrictions, GAO also reviewed the horse race restrictions in Hong
Kong, European Community member nations, European Free Trade
Association member countries, Australia, Thailand, and New Zealand.

%T El Salvador: Role of Nongovernment Organizations in Postwar
Reconstruction
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-20BR
%D Nov. 16
%P 21
%X GAO reviewed the role of nongovernment organizations in the
economic and social reconstruction of El Salvador following 12 years
of civil war. This report discusses (l) the experiences these
organizations have had, especially as they relate to administering
and accounting for program funds in line with U.S. standards; (2)
what mechanisms are available to help the organizations that want to
participate in the reconstruction program to strengthen their
administrative capabilities; (3) whether the Salvadoran government
has procedures that impede greater participation by the
organizations; and (4) the extent to which the organizations,
particularly the five primary ones affiliated with the Farabundo
Marti National Liberation Front, are participating in the
reconstruction efforts.

%T Foreign Assistance: Cost Reductions From Improved Cash Transfer
Management
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-68
%D Nov. 18
%P 20
%X Some countries have earned and kept millions of dollars in
interest on cash grants from the United States, despite guidelines for
managing foreign aid grants that call for retaining funds in the U.S.
Treasury as long as possible to minimize federal borrowing costs or
returning the interest earnings to the Treasury to offset these costs.
GAO's review of assistance to 22 countries revealed that nearly $230
million in interest had been earned by recipient governments on
about $6.6 billion in cash grants between October 1988 and May
1992. Israel, the single largest recipient, receives its cash grants
within 30 days of appropriation and has earned about $163 million
in interest on $3.6 billion in grants. Poland, another special case,
earned about $31 million on a $200 million U.S. contribution to a
currency stabilization fund. Options for improving the Agency for
International Development's (AID) cash management practices
without detracting from foreign assistance objectives include (l)
direct payment by AID for official debts and for reimbursements for
imports and (2) retaining the current practice of depositing funds
into separate accounts but with the interest accruing to the United
States.

%T Money Laundering: State Efforts to Fight It Are Increasing but
More Federal Help Is Needed
%G GAO/GGD-93-1
%D Oct. 15
%P 47
%X Although more and more states recognize that attacking money
laundering can take the profit out of crime, only a few states use
both legislation and financial transaction reports as federal law
enforcement agencies do. Almost half the states have statutes on
money laundering, but the laws differ vastly as to the elements of
the offense and the penalties provided for. Most states are making
only limited use of the Bank Secrecy Act data available from the
Treasury Department. Six states receive information directly from
the Treasury already on magnetic tape, enabling them to process and
analyze it the same way federal agencies do. Other states rely on a
more cumbersome process of writing to Treasury and asking for
information on individual suspects on a case-by-case basis. Although
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 8300 provides the same basic
information as the Bank Secrecy Act reports, the IRS code does not
allow disclosure of the data to other than federal agencies for law
enforcement purposes. In an effort to obtain the data, several states
require that copies of the form also be filed with the state.
Compliance with such requirements, however, has been very low and
has limited the data's usefulness.

Firearms License Applications: Processing Improvements Made but
Applicant Qualification Checks Limited

GAO/GGD-93-20BR, Nov. 2 (48 pages).

This briefing report reviews how efficiently the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) processes firearms license applications.
GAO found that 10 percent of the applications submitted during its
survey week in November 1991 were not approved by ATF within
the statutorily mandated 45-day period, instead taking up to 71 days
to be processed. In addition, ATF's method of tracking and reporting
late applications was inaccurate. GAO believes that the licensing
process could be made more efficient and that most license issuances
could be accelerated. Finally, because of (l) weaknesses in the
completeness and the currency of state and federal criminal history
record systems and (2) difficulty in verifying other applicant
qualifiers, ATF could not guarantee that firearms applicants met all
qualifications.

%T POW/MIA Affairs: Issues Related to the Identification of Human
Remains From the Vietnam Conflict
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-7
%D Oct. 14
%P 72
%X In the mid 1980s, critics alleged that the Army had inaccurately
identified the remains of personnel found in Southeast Asia who had
been listed as killed or missing in action during the Vietnam War. In
particular, the Army's Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii
was criticized for using identification techniques that were not
accepted by the scientific community and for lacking adequate staff,
facilities, equipment, and review procedures. Since then, the
laboratory has revised its practices and procedures to ensure that
only scientifically accepted techniques and methodologies are used to
identify remains; appointed a world-renowned board-certified
forensic anthropologist as the laboratory's first scientific director and
hired qualified staff to do the identifications; and established an
extensive review process to minimize the possibility of
misidentifications. Despite these improvements, the laboratory still
lacks internal controls needed to manage an efficient identification
operation. GAO found instances when the laboratory (l) could not
readily locate case files and remains and (2) did not properly
document requests for antemortem records to outside agencies.
These weaknesses could delay the identification process. GAO also
found that the services' absence of physical control over the remains
leaving the laboratory had led either to some remains disappearing
or unacceptable risks of such loss.

%T Defense Logistics Agency:  Why Retention of Unneeded Supplies
Persists
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-29
%D Nov. 4
%P 19
%X According to its own records, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)
had nearly 500,000 different items on hand as of March 1991 that
had not been requisitioned for at least three years. These items
accounted for $980 million of DLA's entire $11.7 billion inventory.
Although DLA created programs to reduce the number of national
stock numbers managed and to remove the unneeded assets from its
inventory, not all items are covered by these programs. Many item
managers are unfamiliar with inactive items they are responsible for.
Data files contain inaccurate data that may cause managers to make
incorrect decisions on retaining or deleting stock. GAO found assets
for locally purchased items that had been returned to warehouses
with no established means to use them. Also, national stock numbers
sponsored by nondefense agencies are not covered by DLA's
programs. GAO found assets for nondefense users that were left
sitting in warehouses. Since GAO's review, the Defense Department
has told DLA to take corrective actions on these problems.

%T Army Training: Replacement Brigades Were More Proficient Than
Guard Roundout Brigades
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-4
%D Nov. 4
%P 39
%X In this report on the active Army brigades that replaced the
National Guard's combat roundout brigades for Operations Desert
Shield and Desert Storm, GAO compares the two groups in terms of
officer and noncommissioned officer leadership training completed,
military occupational specialty qualification rates, gunnery
qualification rates, and collective training events completed. The
replacement brigades showed a higher level of proficiency at the
time of their deployment to the Persian Gulf for almost every
objective measure of individual and unit proficiency than did the
roundout brigades. GAO's analysis of the training done by the
replacement and roundout brigades the year before Operation Desert
Storm showed that replacement brigade soldiers had many more
opportunities to develop proficiency in the key building blocks of
Army training: leadership, individual, and crew skills. The new
equipment received by the replacement brigades did not pose
operating difficulties; rather in all cases, it enhanced their capability.
Equipment shortages were similar for both groups and generally
reflected Army-wide conditions.

%T Communications Acquisition: Army Still Needs to Determine
Battlefield Communications Capability
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-33
%D Nov. 4
%P 28
%X In two analyses completed in 1991, the Army concluded that
three planned communications systems would handle the work load
generated by the Army Tactical Command and Control System
(ATCCS), a collection of automated systems handling battlefield
information. The analyses, however, are fraught with deficiencies
that bring into question whether the communications systems will
adequately support ATCCS. For example, the Army (l) did not use an
appropriate threat scenario, (2) did not verify or accredit the model
used to do the analyses, (3) used data information on users'
communications requirements, and (4) included limitations that
weakened the analyses. The Army is trying to correct some of these
limitations. In response to the reduced Soviet threat, the downsizing
of the U.S. military, and the ongoing changes in war-fighting doctrine,
the Army is reviewing ATCCS to see whether its system
requirements need revising. Any revisions could affect the
communications support needed for ATCCS.

%T Military Afloat Prepositioning: Wartime Use and Issues for the
Future
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-39
%D Nov. 4
%P 41
%X A key part of U.S. mobility strategy, known as afloat
prepositioning, is keeping ships continuously loaded with combat
equipment and support items. These ships are anchored near
potential trouble spots so that they can quickly respond to
developments during wartime. This report discusses (l) how afloat
prepositioning was used during the Persian Gulf war, (2) the Defense
Department's (DOD) postwar initiatives to improve afloat
prepositioning, and (3) issues related to DOD's expansion of afloat
prepositioning.

%T Army Acquisition: Contract for the Reserve Component
Automation System
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-5
%D Nov. 5
%P 24
%X GAO found no reason to object to the Army's decision to award
the Reserve Component Automation System contract. Applicable laws
and regulations were followed; a proper cost and technical analysis
was done; and the Source Selection Authority fully documented the
rationale for the decision not to make the award to the lowest bidder.
The request for proposals clearly stated that technical capability
would be considered more important than cost. The source selection
authority concluded that the technical capability of Boeing Computer
Services' proposed system more than offset the difference in cost,
although cost was considered in this decision. This process fully
conformed to the source selection plan and the information provided
to all prospective offerers in the request for proposals.

%T Property Management: DOD Can Increase Savings by Reusing
Industrial Plant Equipment
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-8
%D Nov. 6
%P 19
%X Because the military's industrial plant divestiture practice allows
the sale of government-owned, contractor-run plants containing
equipment that may be needed elsewhere in the Defense
Department, the government may end up having to buy replacement
equipment at higher cost. For example, in 1989 the Air Force sold an
industrial plant, including land, buildings, and 513 pieces of
industrial plant equipment, to the contractorQGeneral ElectricQfor
$18.1 million. At the time, other military locations needed 174 pieces
of the plant equipment with an estimated replacement value of $26
million. Within a few months after purchasing the plant, General
Electric sold several pieces of plant equipment to third parties.
Selling the plant to General Electric was contrary to the Pentagon's
industrial policy, which encourages the reuse of existing idle or
excess plant equipment to minimize new procurements.

%T Officer Commissioning Programs: More Oversight and Coordination
Needed
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-37
%D Nov. 6
%P 111
%X In fiscal year 1990, the Pentagon spent more than $1.5 billion to
train newly commissioned officers. This report reviews the three
main officer-commissioning training programs in each service - the
academies, the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, and the Officer
Candidate Schools. GAO discusses the cost of training an officer, the
quality of officers trained by the various commissioning sources, the
effectiveness of management oversight of officer training, and the
immediate opportunities to cut costs.

%T Depot Maintenance: Planned Transfer of Industrial Plant
Equipment From Seneca Army Depot
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-51
%D Nov. 6
%P 19
%X The Pentagon, citing insufficient work load, plans to transfer
industrial plant equipment maintenance and special weapons storage
missions from the Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, New York, to a
facility in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. The Defense Department
(DOD) believes that the costs for maintaining and rebuilding
industrial plant equipment will be lower at the Mechanicsburg site.
GAO's analysis shows that DOD's cost comparison was incomplete and
inaccurate and that rebuilding costs at both facilities were actually
very close, although GAO cites several factors that support
consolidation at the Mechanicsburg facility.

%T Military Communications: Joint Tactical Information Distribution
System Issues
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-16
%D Nov. 12
%P 23
%X The program to develop the Joint Tactical Information
Distribution SystemQintended to display tactical information, such as
the position of enemy targets, on terminals in fighter aircraft and
ground-based command centersQhas experienced fluctuations in the
number of terminals needed, reflecting uncertainty about the
Pentagon's joint system needs and priority. Specifically, the Air force
revised its plan to equip F-15 aircraft with the terminals and the
Army virtually eliminated its involvement in the program, then later
reversed its position. In 1989 the Defense Department (DOD) decided
to begin low-rate initial production of the system despite
unsatisfactory test results and recommendations that production be
delayed. A Navy-Air Force decision in 1991 to continue low-rate
production for a second year was not based on adequate testing.
Although testing in 1992 revealed alarming system deficiencies,
production continued. The two criteria essential for justifying system
productionQoperational effectiveness and suitabilityQhave yet to be
satisfactorily demonstrated. In addition, the system's cost-
effectiveness is questionable because of (l) the uncertainty associated
with DOD's joint system needs and priority; (2) unsatisfactory test
results; and (3) plans for the smaller, lighter weight, and less costly
Multifunctional Information Distribution System.

%T Operation Desert Shield: Problems in Deploying by Rail Need
Attention
%G GAO.NSIAD-93-30
%D Nov. 13
%P 70
%X To rapidly deploy its forces in wartime, the Army depends on the
rail system to transport its equipment from installations to ports of
embarkation. The rail facilities and loading operations at Army
mobilization stations are therefore focal points for deployment, and
they are expected to become increasingly critical as Army units in
Germany, Korea, and other locations return to the United States. At
the six mobilization stations GAO visited, the Army transported unit
equipment to ports as scheduled during the six-month period
covered by Operation Desert Shield, but deteriorated rail facilities at
some mobilization stations constrained loading operations. Future
conflicts could easily require the deployment of even great numbers
of U.S. forces during shorter periods of time. The Army began a
program in fiscal year 1986 to repair rail facilities, but the effort's
effectiveness has been severely hampered by program management
problems. Also, the Pentagon and the Army have not corrected many
deployment problems that GAO identified in 1987.

%T DOD Service Academies: More Changes Needed to Eliminate Hazing
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-36
%D Nov. 16,
%P 115
%X Hazing, outlawed for more than a century, has not disappeared
from the service academies. At all three service academies, hazing
occurs more often than official records would suggest, although the
academies rarely charge anyone with hazing, preferring to pursue
discipline under a lesser charge. The distinction between hazing and
legitimate fourth class indoctrination, which typically includes
harassment by upperclass students, can be murky. Recent changes to
the fourth class systems at the Military and Naval academies appear
to have successfully reduced the extent of hazing, although some
kinds of hazing, such as verbal harassment and ridicule, persist. The
Air Force Academy has not done an in-depth review of its fourth
class system similar to those conducted at the other academies and
has shown no recent reduction in the level of hazing. The harmful
effects of hazing on cadets and midshipmen include higher levels of
stress, lower grade point averages, attrition from the academies, and
reduced career motivation.

%T Navy Maintenance: Overseas Ship Repair and Associated Costs
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-61
%D Nov. 13
%P 40
%X The Navy spent $1.3 billion on overseas ship maintenance in
fiscal years 1987-91. Almost 85 percent of all repairs were done at
three Navy-run facilities. Overseas ship maintenance costs are
declining, and the Navy projects that overseas costs will total $1.1
billion in fiscal years 1992-98. If the Japan-based ships were
returned to U.S. shipyards for long-term planned maintenance, the
ships could not meet existing operational requirements because Navy
policies require ships to stay in their homeports twice as long as they
have been deployed. In addition, the cost for long-term planned
maintenance for the Yokosuka-based ships at U.S. shipyards would
range from $211.7 million to $741.6 million more for fiscal years
1992-98. Japan's labor-cost-sharing agreement with the United
States significantly lowers costs in Japan. Japan will fund 100 percent
of the labor costs for U.S. ship repairs by 1996. The Navy lacks
enough controls to ensure that its overseas maintenance process
complies with statutory limitations on overseas maintenance of U.S.
homeported ships. Further, the Navy has not incorporated the
legislative limitations on overseas ship repairs into Navy policy and
procedures.

%T Navy Maintenance: Fewer Shipyards May Be Needed as Ship
Repair Requirements Decline
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-23
%D Nov. 18
%P 36
%X Recognizing that fewer ship repairs will be needed in the future,
the Navy plans to cut the size of the public shipyard work force by
about one-third by fiscal year 1995. The shipyards, however, have
been told to continue to base their mobilization planning on an
outdated model, that of a protracted global war, because the
Pentagon has yet to issue new planning guidance on the regional
conflicts that are more likely in the l990s and beyond. Given the
sweeping changes in the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe, the
Navy should consider downsizing ship repair operations to a cost-
effective level that will meet future peacetime needs while also
allowing the Navy to meet reasonable contingency requirements. The
Navy should use more realistic planning estimates and the
reassessment of requirements as a basis for considering whether to
recommend closing more public shipyards.

%T Navy Ships: Status of SSN-21 Design and Lead Ship Construction
Program
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-34
%D Nov. 17
%P 52
%X This is the unclassified version of a May 1992 GAO report on the
Navy's Seawolf Nuclear Attack Submarine (SSN-21) construction
program. GAO found that the SSN-21 program is experiencing cost
overruns and schedule delays. As of the end of 1991, design costs
were estimated to more than double by the time the design contract
is completed and total construction costs were estimated to rise by
about 45 percent over the original target costs. Welding cracks
discovered during the lead ship's construction caused a one-year
delay. As a result, the potential construction schedule impact of the
Newport News Shipbuilding's and Electric Boat's late delivery of
design data has been reduced. Two weapons systems that were
planned for use on the SSN-21 experienced development and funding
problems and were canceled. Because of this, the SSN-21 will be less
capable than planned.

%T Air Force Depot Maintenance: Improved Pricing and Financial
Management Practices Needed
%G GAO/AFMD-93-5
%D Nov. 17
%P 47
%X The Air Force's Depot Maintenance Industrial Fund, which
provided about $3.6 billion worth of maintenance services to its
customers during fiscal year 1991, was supposed to break even on
these sales. The fund, however, has suffered losses and has
experienced a steady increase in its backlog of work mainly because
managers repeatedly based the fund's prices and the size of its work
force on productivity estimates that were not attained. To eliminate
the losses and achieve profits, the fund has resorted to improper or
questionable practices, such as charging customers for work that was
not done. These practices (l) cause financial reports and budget
documents to provide a misleading picture of the fund's performance
and (2) make it hard for the Defense Department and Congress to
oversee the fund and the appropriation requests of fund customers.
GAO's analysis of the fund's projected work loads and capabilities for
fiscal years 1992 and 1993 shows that customers' fiscal year 1993
budget requests include at least $365 million for work that is
unlikely to be started before fiscal year 1994. Its analysis of the Air
Force's plan for reducing the fund's fiscal year 1991-95 costs by $1.1
billion shows that the Air Force is unlikely to succeed mainly because
(l) fund managers lack the information needed to manage effectively
and (2) the Air Force's plan makes unrealistic assumptions about the
savings that can be achieved through competition.

%T Air Force Requirements: Cost of Buying Aircraft Consumable
Items Can Be Reduced by Millions
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-38
%D Nov. 18
%P 10
%X Contrary to Congress' expectations, the Air Force did not make the
changes GAO recommended in a July 1991 report (GAO/NSIAD-91-
201) concerning its consumable item requirement computation
system. The changes would have ensured that (l) recurring demand
back orders were not counted twice in requirement computations
and (2) on-hand assets available to satisfy depot maintenance
requirements were considered in the computations. Had the Air
Force made the recommended changes, it could have reduced fiscal
year 1993 requirements by $508 million and related procurements
by $203 million. This estimate is based on budget data showing
procurements to be about 40 percent of requirements.

%T Wildlife Management: Many Issues Unresolved in Yellowstone
Bison-Cattle Brucellosis Conflict
%G GAO/RCED-93-2
%D Oct. 21
%P 35
%X Montana succeeded in eradicating brucellosis from its cattle herds
in 1985, allowing Montana ranchers to ship their cattle to other
states without first testing them for the disease. Cattlemen are
concerned about the possibility that brucellosis, a contagious disease
that can cause abortions and infertility in domestic cattle, may be
spread from Yellowstone Park's free-roaming bison and elk herds to
livestock grazing along the park borders, thereby jeopardizing
Montana's ability to freely transport cattle across state lines.
Although its policy is not to restrict the movement of the park's
bison and elk, the National Park Service has, in an attempt to reduce
the risk of brucellosis transmission, killed more than 10,000 bison
that have wandered out of the park in recent years. This report
provides information on the (l) scientific evidence that brucellosis
can be transmitted from bison and elk to domestic cattle, (2)
economic damage that might arise from such transmission, and (3)
management alternatives for preventing or reducing the likelihood of
such transmission.

%T Royalty Compliance: Improvements Made in Interior's Audit
Strategy, but More Are Needed
%G GAO/RCED-93-3
%D Oct. 29
%P 24
%X During the past several years, the Department of the Interior has
been collecting about $4 billion in royalties each year from oil and
gas companies that hold mineral leases on federal or Indian lands.
Although the Minerals Management Service (MMS) has substantially
improved its strategy for auditing royalty payers, these audits still
do not provide reasonable assurances that such royalty payments
comply with applicable laws, rules, and regulations. The amount of
royalties actually audited or verified is very small, increasing the
likelihood that noncompliance will go undetected. In addition, the
judgmental samples are not representative of all payers and leases;
consequently, MMS cannot determine with any degree of confidence
such things as the level of compliance by payers or the magnitude of
underpaymentQthat is, the royalties at risk. MMS can, however,
require payers to do the additional work needed to correct the
system problems found by audits and to compute any additional
royalties due. An MMS task force issued a report in June 1991
recommending major changes to improve MMS' strategy for auditing
royalty payers, including the use of statistical sampling, a measure
GAO supports.

%T Mineral Resources: Meeting Federal Needs for Helium
%G GAO/RCED-93-1
%D Oct. 30
%P 34
%X Federal agencies use helium in everything from space programs
to superconductivity research. The Helium Act of 1960, which seeks
to conserve and provide a steady supply of this inert gas for
essential government activities, requires federal agencies to buy
most of their helium from the Department of the Interior's Bureau of
Mines. The act further provides that Interior price federal helium so
that revenues from sales cover all program costs. This report
discusses (l) actions that the Bureau has taken to meet the objectives
of the 1960 act; (2) issues that should be considered when Congress
decides how to meet current and foreseeable federal needs for
helium, including whether the program debt in the Helium Fund
should be canceled or repaid; and (3) three alternatives for meeting
federal needs for heliumQcontinue the Bureau's existing program,
require that all federal needs be met by the private sector, or allow
federal agencies to choose to buy helium from either the Bureau or
private industry.

%T High-Technology Competitiveness: Trends in U.S. and Foreign
Performance
%G GAO/NSIAD-92-236
%D Sept. 16
%P 74
%X Debates about U.S. policy on everything from trade to education
have increasingly focused on the ability of American producers to
compete successfully in global markets. High-technology products
have received considerable attention because their strong
performance has been linked to increases in overall economic
performance and growth. This report assesses U.S. competitiveness in
high-technology areas, considering, in particular, trends in U.S.
performance over the last decade and comparisons with Japan. GAO
considers several basic questions. First, what is the significance of
high-technology performance and how well can it be measured?
Second, what do measures of overall U.S. performance in high-
technology areas suggest? And third, for 11 industriesQ
pharmaceuticals, civilian aircraft, telecommunications equipment,
fiber optics, semiconductors, semiconductor equipment and
materials, robotics, flexible manufacturing systems, supercomputers,
advanced materials, and consumer electronicsQwhat has been the
relative performance of U.S. producers and U.S. research efforts
during the past decade?

%T Space Programs: NASA's Independent Cost Estimating Capability
Needs Improvement
%G GAO/NSIAD-93-73
%D Nov. 5
%P eight
%X The Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program
recommended in December 1990 that NASA establish an
independent cost analysis group to advise on cost estimates provided
to Congress and the Office of Management and Budget. NASA's efforts
to date have not met the committee's intent, although the agency
recently announced plans that may be more responsive. NASA's
initial actions were deficient because (l) results of formal cost review
were reported to program officials rather than directly to the head of
NASA; (2) advice provided to the head of NASA on cost estimates
was informal and undocumented; (3) cost estimates were reviewed
only at the start of new initiatives, not at all major decision points
over a program's life; and (4) the cost analysis group did not have
adequate staff to do independent estimates at all major decision
points. NASA recently announced plans to establish a new
independent cost assessment group to be staffed with enough
resources to function as envisioned by the committee.

%T Welfare to Work: States Serve Least Job-Ready While Meeting
JOBS Participation Rates
%G GAO/HRD-93-2
%D Nov. 12
%P 16
%X Concerns have arisen that JOBS-participation-rate requirements
may be discouraging states from serving the least job-ready welfare
recipients, including educating and training them. GAO discovered,
however, that these concerns are unsupported by data that states
reported to the Department of Health and Human Services during
fiscal year 1991. All but one state met the seven percent
participation rate for fiscal year 1991, and all spent at least 55
percent of their JOBS budgets on target group members. Of those
welfare recipients serviced by states participating in JOBS during this
period, 62 percent were target group members. These target group
members were most often placed in education and training activities,
with no more than 12 percent placed in job search activities. In
addition, one in three target placements, compared with one in four
nontarget placements, was in secondary and remedial educational
activities.

%T Mass Transit: Information on Federal Participation in Transit
Benefit Programs
%G GAO/RCED-93-25
%D Nov. 13
%P 28
%X Recent legislation allows federal agencies to promote the use of
public transportation by their employees through the use of
discounted passes or other public transportation subsidies. This
report assesses (l) the extent of federal agency and employee
participation in state or local transit benefit programs, including the
factors influencing participation, and the rates of pay of participating
employees; (2) the costs of federal agency and employee
participation in state or local programs and how this participation is
being managed and implemented; and (3) the extent to which the
legislation has successfully encouraged the use of public
transportation. GAO concludes that it is to soon to know whether
providing transit benefits results in greater use of public
transportation among federal employees or, alternatively, whether
the population of federal employees using public transportation will
remain roughly the same. This impact will be a key consideration
when Congress considers extending agencies' authority to offer
transit benefits beyond 1993.

%T Airspace System: Emerging Technologies May Offer Alternatives
to the Instrument Landing System
%G GAO/RCED-93-33
%D Nov. 13
%P 39
%X Precision landing systems, which allow aircraft to land and depart
under poor weather conditions, improve airline safety and increase
runway capacity. During the 1970s, the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) began developing the microwave landing
system to replace the current instrument landing system, which has
been in use for more than 50 years. FAA expects the microwave
landing system to be ready by the mid-l990s. In the years since the
decision was made to develop the microwave landing system,
however, other technologies for precision landing systems have
emerged, and FAA is now supporting the development of a satellite-
based system, as well as an instrument landing system enhanced
with a computer-based flight management system. This report
reviews these systems. GAO (1) describes the capabilities and costs of
these precision landing systems and (2) identifies some potential
consequences of FAA's approach to developing them.

%T Mass Transit Grants: If Properly Implemented, FTA Initiatives
Should Improve Oversight
%G GAO/RCED-93-8
%D Nov. 19
%P 64
%X The $35 billion grants program at the Federal Transit
Administration (FTA), which helps state and local authorities build or
upgrade mass transit systems, is one of 16 areas in the federal
government that GAO has flagged as highly vulnerable to fraud,
waste, and abuse. In a series of reports, GAO has examined grant
oversight in four FTA regions that receive about 60 percent of FTA's
grant funds. This report (l) builds on GAO's earlier work to
demonstrate the systemic effect of FTA's weak oversight, (2) assesses
recent FTA and legislative initiatives designed to correct oversight
problems, and (3) examines the mix of staff between FTA regional
offices and headquarters and the agency's use of contractors to
conduct oversight activities.

%T Veterans' Benefits: Availability of Benefits in American Samoa
%G GAO/HRD-93-16
%D Nov. 18
%P 21
%X Although citizens of American Samoa, including veterans, are
eligible for essentially free medical care, the medical facilities in
American Samoa are limited and financial problems have disrupted
care at the only hospital. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
sends doctors to American Samoa on a quarterly basis, but their
main purpose is to do examinations for benefit claims, not to treat
patients. Under this arrangement, the psychiatric needs of veterans
with posttraumatic stress disorder are not being met, some veterans
claim that it is hard to obtain needed medical referrals, and veterans
who need drug and alcohol treatment or readjustment counseling are
not being served. A greater percentage of veterans in American
Samoa (20 percent) receive VA compensation or pension benefits
than do veterans in the rest of the nation (10 percent). VA home
loans, however, are unavailable to veterans in American Samoa due
to problems in administering the program on communally owned
lands.

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