Reports and Testimony: January 1996 (Other Written Prod., 02/01/96,
GAO/OPA-96-4).

GAO published its monthly digest of reports and testimonies issued in
January 1996.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  OPA-96-4
     TITLE:  Reports and Testimony: January 1996
      DATE:  02/01/96
   SUBJECT:  Nuclear waste management
             Safety regulation
             Environmental monitoring
             Federal procurement policies
             Financial management
             International economic relations
             Research and development costs
             Air transportation operations
             Health care cost control
IDENTIFIER:  California
             Hawaii
             North Carolina
             Washington
             Small Business Innovation Research Program
             Small Business Technology Transfer Pilot Program
             DOD Corporate Information Management Initiative
             USDA Cotton Check-Off Program
             Medicaid Program
             Australia
             Canada
             France
             Germany
             Netherlands
             New Zealand
             Sweden
             United Kingdom
             Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles
             Bibliographies
             CIM
             Superfund Program
             Arizona Medicaid Managed Care Program
             
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REPORTS AND TESTIMONY:  JANUARY
1996

GAO/OPA-96-4


Highlights

Nuclear Waste

Delays in determining the specific nature of radioactive waste stored
in underground tanks at the Energy Department's Hanford, Washington,
site could drive up cleanup costs beyond the current estimate of $36
billion and jeopardize the development of effective treatment
processes and facilities.  Page 4. 

Retention Allowances

In 1994, 94 percent of the 354 special payments made by federal
agencies to ensure retention of employees with unique qualifications
were made by five agencies.  One agency--the Export-Import
Bank--awarded such allowances to nearly 22 percent of its employees,
but failed to determine whether the recipients would quit without
such extra pay.  Page 6. 

Safety Belts

Safety belt use has increased substantially during the past decade,
from 11 percent in 1982 to 58 percent in 1994.  States achieving the
highest rates of safety belt use have comprehensive programs that
include strong laws mandating safety belt use, aggressive law
enforcement, and vigorous education programs.  Page 15. 

GAO/OPA-96-4



Abbreviations
=============================================================== ABBREV

  DOD - x
  DOE - x
  EPA - x
  FAA - x
  NASA - x
  NHTSA - x
  PCB - x
  PECDAR - x
  SEC - x
  USDA - x
  VA - x

REPORTS AND TESTIMONY:  JANUARY
1996
=========================================================== Appendix 0


   AGRICULTURE AND FOOD
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:1

Agricultural Marketing:
U.S.  Cotton Market Before and After Import Assessments

GAO/RCED-96-49, Jan.  22 (25 pages). 

The cotton check-off program, which has collected assessments on
domestic cotton since 1967, is intended to strengthen cotton's
competitive position relative to synthetic fibers and maintain and
expand domestic and foreign markets for U.S.  cotton.  The program's
promotion efforts have probably contributed to cotton's growth in the
U.S.  market.  In addition, the U.S.  consumption of cotton and the
import share of the U.S.  cotton market continued to increase
following the imposition of the assessment on imported textiles and
apparel.  The value of this assessment--about one-half cent for a
man's cotton shirt--is unlikely to slow consumer demand for cotton. 
Furthermore, this assessment is in accord with U.S.  international
trade agreements.  Although the Agriculture Department has created an
administrative framework for assessing imported cotton, two major
issues raised by importers have yet to be resolved.  The first of
these issues--double payments on assessment--may be addressed by
current efforts to identify foreign mills that use large amounts of
U.S.  cotton.  The second issue, however, is harder to resolve--the
extent of the Cotton Board's oversight over Cotton Incorporated. 
Although steps are being taken to address this matter, such efforts
do not deal with importers' lack of representation on Cotton
Incorporated's board of directors. 


   BUDGET AND SPENDING
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:2

Deficit Reduction:
Better Targeting Can Reduce Spending and Improve Programs
and Services

GAO/AIMD-96-14, Jan.  16 (13 pages). 

Targeting is a promising approach to deficit reduction that can help
reduce spending as well as improve federal programs and services. 
When resources are poorly targeted, the federal government spends
more money than needed to achieve program goals.  Moreover, in a
climate of large budget deficits, the inefficiencies resulting from
poorly targeted programs and services have sometimes called into
question the legitimacy of continuing these programs or maintaining
them at current levels.  This report summarizes previous GAO work
that proposed "better targeting" as a strategy for downsizing
government.  In past reports, GAO has identified instances in which
individuals, organizations, and jurisdictions outside the population
originally targeted for assistance have received program funds,
service benefits, or tax subsidies.  This report presents examples
illustrating better targeting in a wide range of federal programs. 

Impoundments:
Historical Data on Proposed and Enacted Rescissions for Fiscal Years
1974-1995

GAO/OGC-96-3, Jan.  18 (five pages). 

To keep Congress abreast of the amount and frequency of proposed and
enacted rescissions, GAO has updated its previous compilation of
historical data on rescissions proposed by the executive branch and
rescissions enacted by Congress through the close of the fiscal year. 
These statistics were prepared in accordance with the same scope and
methodology GAO used to compile its previous tables. 


   CIVIL RIGHTS
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:3

Military Equal Opportunity:
Problems With Services' Complaint Systems Are Being Addressed by DOD

GAO/NSIAD-96-9, Jan.  26 (27 pages). 

Defense Department (DOD) policy holds that equal opportunity is
integral to the unity, readiness, and total defense capability of its
forces.  Unwarranted discriminatory behavior, including racial
discrimination and sexual harassment, is not to be condoned or
tolerated.  From fiscal year 1989 through 1993, the number of equal
opportunity complaints reported by the military services ranged from
about 1,300 to more than 3,600--averaging nearly 2,900 per year. 
During the same period, the active duty military forces declined from
about 2.1 million to 1.7 million.  This report (1) identifies the
military services' processes for handling equal opportunity
complaints and (2) discusses whether opportunities exist for
improvement.  As part of its review, GAO conducted focus group
sessions with more than 900 servicemembers to gain an understanding
of the complaint system and equal opportunity environment from
their perspective. 


   ENERGY
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:4

Nuclear Waste:
Management and Technical Problems Continue to Delay Characterizing
Hanford's Tank Waste

GAO/RCED-96-56, Jan.  26 (22 pages). 

Delays in determining the specific nature of radioactive waste stored
in underground tanks at the Energy Department's (DOE) Hanford site
could drive up costs beyond the current estimate of $36 billion and
jeopardize the development of effective treatment processes and
facilities.  Some of the Hanford tanks have leaked, and others hold
potentially flammable waste.  Characterization, the first major step
in cleaning up tank wastes, involves determining the contents of the
tanks through sampling and other means.  Westinghouse Hanford
Company, DOE's contractor, has yet to characterize any of the 177
Hanford tanks sufficiently to declare them ready for remediation.  In
addition, DOE did not meet its commitment to the Defense Nuclear
Facilities Safety Board to characterize the 54 tanks with known
safety problems by October 1995.  Although many factors have
contributed to the delays, two stand out.  First, despite more than
10 years of effort, DOE and Westinghouse have had difficulty
resolving such basic questions as how to take reliable top-to-bottom
samples from the tanks and how to reconcile conflicting information
about a tank's contents.  Second, DOE and Westinghouse have not had
effective management systems for detecting and addressing problems
with the characterization program.  In some cases, managers were
unaware of technical and safety problems; in others, they knew about
problems for a long time before taking action. 

Department of Energy:
Property Management Has Improved at DOE's Rocky Flats Site

GAO/RCED-96-39, Dec.  28 (15 pages). 

As of October 1995, the Energy Department (DOE) estimated that only
$4.5 million worth of property was missing or could not be physically
located at its Rocky Flats facility in Colorado.  This amount is
considerably lower than the $29.3 million cited in GAO's 1994 report
(GAO/RCED-94-77)
primarily because DOE authorized the contractor to write off about
$20.8 million in missing or "unlocated" property from the property
records.  Generally, GAO found that DOE had improved property
management at Rocky Flats.  For instance, DOE has acquired a new
property-tracking system more suited to property management. 
However, a major problem highlighted in GAO's 1994 report has yet to
be addressed:  A large percentage of the data in the site's
property-tracking system
are inaccurate. 

Energy Management:
Unsubstantiated DOE Travel Payments

GAO/RCED-96-58R, Dec.  28 (11 pages). 

The Secretary of Energy has taken more than 100 domestic and foreign
trips since she took office.  Because of concerns about the extent of
her trips as well as their expense, GAO reviewed the Energy
Department's (DOE) expenditures for selected foreign trips.  GAO
found that DOE lacked written procedures at the time of these trips
that specified either the types of records to be kept or the process
to follow in obtaining support for foreign travel from U.S. 
embassies.  During GAO's audit of the Secretary's trip to India, DOE
officials could not provide records to substantiate about $80,000 of
DOE's total cost of $730,000.  In addition, DOE inappropriately
shifted the source of funding for some security travel costs from one
appropriation account to another during fiscal year 1995.  DOE has
taken several steps, including efforts to substantiate all travel
payments, and Congress has clarified which appropriation DOE is to
use for security travel costs.  GAO summarized this report in
testimony before Congress; see: 

Energy Management:  Some Unsubstantiated Payments for the Secretary's
Foreign Travel, by Victor S.  Rezendes, Director of Energy,
Resources, and Science Issues, before the Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations, House Committee on Commerce.  GAO/T-RCED-96-59,
Jan.  4 (seven pages). 


   ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:5

Superfund:
EPA Has Identified Limited Alternatives to Incineration for Cleaning
Up PCB and Dioxin Contamination

GAO/RCED-96-13, Dec.  29 (37 pages). 

One of the most contentious issues facing the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is the use of incineration to clean up
Superfund sites contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) or
dioxin.  Increasingly, community groups are protesting the use of
incineration as a treatment remedy.  Many people fear that the
incinerators will emit hazardous substances that could pose a health
risk for neighboring communities.  Although EPA encourages the
development of innovative technologies to dispose of hazardous
wastes, it had not identified any technologies it believes to be as
effective as incineration for most PCB- or dioxin-contaminated sites. 
Several innovative technologies, however, have the potential for
future applications in treating complex sites contaminated with PCBs
and dioxin.  Accordingly, GAO agrees with EPA's recent proposal to
revisit its decisions on remedies at some sites that could benefit
from significant technological advancements. 


   FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:6

Financial Management:
Implementation of the Cash Management Improvement Act

GAO/AIMD-96-4, Jan.  8 (18 pages). 

The Cash Management Improvement Act seeks to promote equity in the
exchange of funds between the federal government and the states. 
This legislation was enacted in response to allegations that states
either drew cash advances well before federal funds were needed to
make payments or used their own funds to satisfy federal program
needs and were not reimbursed promptly by federal agencies.  GAO
found that the act has heightened awareness of cash management at
both the state and federal levels.  The Treasury Department, federal
agencies, and the states have made substantial progress in
implementing the act.  By revising the act's regulations to
streamline the process and by emphasizing the results of single
audits as a way to oversee state activities and enforce the act's
requirements, the Treasury's Financial Management Service should be
able to improve the act's effectiveness and help alleviate any
concerns about administrative burden. 


   GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:7

Retention Allowances:
Usage and Compliance Vary Among Federal Agencies

GAO/GGD-96-32, Dec.  11 (22 pages). 

Federal agencies use retention allowances as salary supplements to
retain workers with unique qualifications or skills.  As of September
1994, 354 of the 2.1 million civilian employees in the executive
branch were receiving retention allowances.  The cost of these
allowances totaled $2.8 billion annually.  Five agencies--the
Departments of Defense (DOD), Energy, and Agriculture; the
Export-Import Bank; and the Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC)--awarded 94 percent of these retention allowances.  GAO found
that Ex-Im Bank awarded allowances to nearly 22 percent of its
employees in fiscal year 1994; other agencies gave allowances to 0.3
percent or fewer of their employees.  The average allowance at the
five agencies during fiscal years 1991 through 1994 was about $7,800
per employee.  Ex-Im Bank did not appear to comply with the
requirement that it determine that prospective recipients would be
likely to leave the agency if they did not receive allowances.  The
retention allowance plans for DOD, Ex-Im Bank, and SEC did not
include criteria for determining the amounts of the allowances. 
Without a documented agencywide rationale, lower-level managers
lacked guidance for decisions on individual allowances.  Moreover,
Office of Personnel Management regulations do not require that
allowances be reviewed or recertified in writing when there are
significant increases to employees' basic pay during the year. 

Status of Open Recommendations:
Improving Operations of Federal Departments and Agencies

GAO/OP-96-1, Jan.  16 (179 pages). 

Each year, GAO's work contributes to many legislative and executive
branch actions that yield significant financial savings and other
improvements in government operations.  Some, but not all, are
identified through GAO's system for periodically following up to
determine the status of actions taken on the recommendations made in
GAO reports.  About three out of four recommendations made during the
past five years have been implemented.  This report highlights the
impact of GAO's work on various issue areas and summarizes key open
recommendations.  It also includes a set of computer diskettes with
details on all open recommendations.  The diskettes have several menu
options to help users find information easily. 

Postal Service:
Conditions Leading to Problems in Some Major Purchases

GAO/GGD-96-59, Jan.  18 (17 pages). 

Congress has raised concerns that five purchases by the Postal
Service did not reflect favorably on the Service's procurement policy
or the wisdom of exempting the Service from many of the purchasing
rules that apply to other federal agencies.  The purchasing problems
covered by this report focus on seven cases, ranging from ethics
violations in an automation contract to the purchase of a site in
Queens, New York, that is unusable because of toxic contamination. 
Given the circumstances of the seven purchases, GAO does not believe
that the problems were due to causes that should be addressed through
legislation.  GAO attributes the problems to poor judgment and
decisions to circumvent existing internal controls to meet perceived
operational exigencies.  Nevertheless, the Postal Service can improve
its purchasing organization and methods to help safeguard against
such future occurrences, and the Service has taken steps to do so. 

White House Travel Office:
Status of Financial Management Reforms

GAO/AIMD-96-19R, Jan.  23 (nine pages). 

In a 1994 report (GAO/GGD-94-132), GAO used 29 criteria to evaluate
financial management and procurement operations at the White House
Travel Office.  GAO reported that the Travel Office had developed
policies and implemented procedures consistent with 20 of the
criteria and had begun, or agreed to take, action on the remaining
nine.  This report follows up on the status of financial reforms at
the Travel Office.  GAO found that as of August 1995, the Travel
Office had implemented all but three of the criteria.  For those
three, the Travel Office had not (1) billed customers within its
stated 15-day requirement, (2) paid vendors within its stated 45-day
requirement, or (3) done bank reconciliations regularly. 


      TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:7.1

U.S.  Postal Service:  A Look at Other Countries' Postal Reform
Efforts, by Michael E.  Motley, Associate Director for Government
Business Operations Issues, before the Subcommittee on Post Office
and Civil Service, Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, and the
Subcommittee on the Postal Service, House Committee on Government
Reform and Oversight.  GAO/T-GGD-96-60, Jan.  25 (16 pages). 

Various parties have called for fundamental changes in the laws and
regulations governing the U.S.  Postal Service.  In the past decade,
several other countries have restructured their postal
administrations.  Although they are still owned by the government,
these entities are now subject to less governmental control.  GAO
reviewed postal reform in eight nations:  Australia, Canada, France,
Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United
Kingdom.  This testimony discusses the experiences of other postal
administrations, focusing on three areas--universal service, the mail
monopoly, and rate setting--that will be among the most challenging
for Congress to address in any future reform of the Postal Service. 


   HEALTH
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:8


      TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:8.1

Medicaid:  Spending Pressures Spur States Toward Program
Restructuring, by William J.  Scanlon, Director of Health Systems
Issues, before the Subcommittee on Human Resources and
Intergovernmental Relations, House Committee on Government Reform and
Oversight.  GAO/T-HEHS-96-75, Jan.  18 (14 pages). 

Several factors, including federal mandates that expand eligibility,
medical price inflation, and creative financing schemes, have boosted
Medicaid costs.  To contain these expenses, 22 states have recently
sought waivers from federal regulations that limit their ability to
run extensive managed care programs.  Some of these states have
required the enrollment of their acute care patients--primarily
low-income women and children--into managed care programs and have
expanded coverage to previously ineligible persons.  Arizona, which
runs a Medicaid managed care program under a federal waiver obtained
more than 10 years ago, has lowered Medicaid spending by millions of
dollars.  It also leads the states in its development of information
systems for collecting medical encounter data essential for assessing
quality of care. 


   INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
--------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:9

Foreign Assistance:
Controls Over U.S.  Funds Provided for the Benefit of the Palestinian
Authority

GAO/NSIAD-96-18, Jan.  8 (nine pages). 

A series of letters allegedly prepared by the Palestinian Authority's
Finance Minister and the Director General of the Palestine Economic
Council for Development and Reconstruction (PECDAR) indicates that
$138 million from unidentified sources was "diverted" in late 1994 to
finance several covert transactions.  These transactions include
purchasing land and building apartments in Jerusalem, funding a
Palestinian journal, and providing financial support to groups inside
Israel that are sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.  In response to
Congressional concerns that U.S.  assistance may have been involved
in these transactions, this report discusses (1) the financial
controls established by the World Bank and the U.S.  Agency for
International Development to monitor the use of U.S.  funds provided
to the Palestinian Authority, PECDAR, or the Palestine Liberation
Organization officials for budget support purposes and (2) what
controls the U.S.  Agency for International Development established
over project funds provided to other U.S.  government agencies,
private contractors, nongovernmental organizations, private voluntary
organizations, and the United Nations for the benefit of the
Palestinian Authority. 


   JUSTICE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:10

Gun Control:
Implementation of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

GAO/GGD-96-22, Jan.  25 (91 pages). 

The Brady handgun control law imposed a five-day waiting period on
handgun sales to allow for background checks.  GAO's self-initiated
review of the first full year of the Brady bill's implementation
discusses (1) how often the five-day waiting period and background
checks resulted in denying criminals and other ineligible persons the
opportunity to buy handguns from federally licensed dealers; (2) the
extent to which such denials resulted in the arrest and the
prosecution of convicted felons and other ineligible purchasers who
falsely completed the handgun purchase application form; and (3) the
effects of the various legal challenges to the Brady bill.  Although
GAO found that 4.3 percent of purchase applications were denied
during the law's first year, these results are not projectable to the
universe of denials nationwide because standard and common criteria
were not used to make denials. 


   NATIONAL DEFENSE
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:11

Military Sealift Command:
Weak Controls and Management of Contractor-Operated Ships

GAO/NSIAD-96-41, Dec.  12 (45 pages). 

The Military Sealift Command, whose fleet consists of a mix of
government and privately owned vessels, lacks adequate controls to
detect and deter abuses by contractor-operated ships.  These
shortcomings include inadequate verification of crew repairs, review
of invoices, and supervision of overhaul work.  The Military Sealift
Command does not verify that it has received the goods or services it
is paying for, in part because there is a disconnect between
headquarters reviewers and field-level personnel, whose main concern
is the operation but not the cost of ship repairs.  The Military
Sealift Command also cannot be certain that contractual requirements
are being met.  It has no guidelines for systematically establishing
personnel requirements, such as those involving citizenship and
security.  Neither does it regularly compare contractual requirements
with contractors' performance in obtaining security clearances and
trustworthiness evaluations for crew members.  Finally, the Military
Sealift Command lacks a formal system to identify and implement best
practices to improve contractor performance and
reduce costs. 

Federally Funded R&D Centers:
Use of Fee by the MITRE Corporation

GAO/NSIAD-96-26, Nov.  27 (21 pages). 

The Defense Department (DOD) spent $1.25 billion in fiscal year 1995
for research, development, engineering, and analytical services from
the 10 federally funded research and development centers it sponsors. 
The MITRE Corporation is one of the largest centers, with fiscal year
1995 DOD funding of $374 million.  Congress has raised concerns about
whether government agencies effectively manage the centers they
sponsor.  Among the concerns is whether the contract fees provided to
the centers--in addition to reimbursement of incurred costs--are
adequately justified.  This report reviews (1) the manner in which
MITRE spends its DOD management fee, (2) the adequacy of federal
guidance on how fees may be used, (3) opportunities to reduce
management fees at MITRE, (4) ways to strengthen DOD oversight of
MITRE's use of fees, and (5) DOD's efforts to improve the fee
management process for its centers. 

Defense Research and Development:
Fiscal Year 1993 Trustee and Adviser Costs at Federally
Funded Centers

GAO/NSIAD-96-27, Dec.  26 (21 pages). 

This report provides information on the stipends and expenses of the
boards of trustees and other management advisory personnel who served
in fiscal year 1993 at DOD's Federally Funded Research and
Development Centers.  Specifically, GAO discusses (1) the extent to
which the centers used federal funds to pay these costs; (2) the
range and highest daily stipends paid to individual trustees and
other management advisory personnel; (3) the center advisers' costs
and, where applicable, the Defense Science Board's limits on paying
for such expenditures; (4) the total and average daily center costs
for their trustees and advisory personnel; and (5) individual
stipends and total expenditures for each of the 186 center trustees
and other management advisory personnel in fiscal year 1993. 

Army Inventory:
Budget Requests for Spare and Repair Parts Are Not Reliable

GAO/NSIAD-96-3, Dec.  29 (20 pages). 

The Army continues to rely on inaccurate data to determine its
inventory requirements for spare and repair parts.  For 258 items GAO
reviewed, the Army overstated the inventory shortfall by nearly $200
million.  If accurate information had been used, the shortfall for
these items would have totaled $23 million rather than the $211
million reported.  Although the Army is aware of many of the
processing, policy, data, and system problems, it has not corrected
them because the Defense Department is developing a system to
determine standard requirements for all the services as part of its
Corporate Information Management initiative.  For that reason, DOD
has limited the amount that the services can spend to change their
existing systems.  Army officials said that the standard system will
not be up and running for at least four years.  In the interim, the
Army's budget requests may not represent its actual funding needs for
spare and repair parts.  Furthermore, unless the data problems are
resolved now, the inaccurate data will be integrated into the new
system. 

Army Acquisition:
Medium Trucks Passed Key Operational and Technical Tests

GAO/NSIAD-96-4, Jan.  8 (13 pages). 

Army trucks--part of the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles-- passed
technical and operational tests, paving the way for the Army's August
1995 decision to approve full-rate production.  Following contractor
modifications to correct vehicle deficiencies found in earlier
testing, the Army conducted (1) a limited follow-on technical test to
determine whether the trucks could meet contractual reliability and
performance requirements and (2) a full operational test to determine
whether it could meet its operational reliability and other mission
requirements when operated and maintained by soldiers.  The trucks
exceeded reliability requirements in both tests and met most
performance requirements.  However, many of the test vehicles had not
been produced on the production line or had been retrofitted to
correct past deficiencies.  Also, the contractor pretested both the
technical and operational test vehicles and corrected deficiencies
before delivering them to the Army for testing. 

Navy Maintenance:
Assessment of the Public-Private Competition Program for Aviation
Maintenance

GAO/NSIAD-96-30, Jan.  22 (44 pages). 

GAO reviewed the Navy's plans and procedures for public-private
competitions of aviation depot-level maintenance workloads.  Various
factors limited the amount of past depot-level work available for
competitive awards, including the time and costs for performing
competitions.  Although actual savings were difficult to quantify,
GAO found that the Navy's competition programs generally reduced
operating costs and in many cases streamlined production processes. 
The Navy ended its aviation maintenance competition program in 1993,
and the Defense Department terminated the program in 1994 despite
continued congressional support for it.  However, as DOD begins to
implement recommendations by the Commission on Roles and Missions
leading to the possible privatization of most depot maintenance, use
of competitive procedures for distribution of workloads between the
public and private sectors should prove cost-effective. 


   NATURAL RESOURCES
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:12


      TESTIMONY
------------------------------------------------------ Appendix 0:12.1

Forest Service:  Issues Relating to Its Decisionmaking Process, by
Barry T.  Hill, Associate Director for Energy, Resources, and Science
Issues, before the Subcommittee on Forests and Public Land
Management, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 
GAO/T-RCED-96-66, Jan.  25
(13 pages). 

The Forest Service must manage its lands for multiple purposes,
including timber, livestock forage, recreation, fish and wildlife,
wilderness, and water supply.  To meet its legislative mandate, the
Forest Service uses a decisionmaking process that includes developing
management plans for forests or for groups of small, adjacent forests
and reaching project-level decisions for implementing these plans for
such activities as timber harvests, livestock grazing, recreational
development, and habitat improvement.  Some project decisions are
challenged through the agency's administrative appeal process and the
federal courts by parties seeking to delay or stop a project with
which they disagree.  Critics argue that the Forest Service could cut
costs and increase the efficiency of its decisionmaking process and
improve its service to the public while still meeting its basic
legislative mandate.  This testimony discusses (1) issues related to
developing forest plans and reaching project-level decisions and (2)
actions taken or proposed to address these matters. 


   SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:13

Federal Research:
Information on Fees for Selected Federally Funded Research and
Development Centers

GAO/RCED-96-31FS, Dec.  8 (28 pages). 

Federally Funded Research and Development Centers first came into
existence during World War II to meet special research needs that
federal and private-sector facilities were unable to meet. 
Currently, 39 centers are sponsored by eight federal agencies--the
Energy Department (DOE) sponsors 18, the Defense Department (DOD)
sponsors 11, and NASA sponsors one.  In 1992, a congressional
committee reported on variations in the fees paid by sponsoring
federal agencies for management of the centers, the formulas used to
calculate the fees, and the justifications for paying the fees
provided by the sponsoring agencies.  The committee also indicated
that because there were no govermentwide guidelines for setting the
fees, evaluating their reasonableness was difficult.  This report
provides information on federal policies and practices governing the
fees paid by DOE, DOD, and NASA for managing the centers. 

Federal Research:
Preliminary Information on the Small Business Technology Transfer
Program

GAO/RCED-96-19, Jan.  24 (34 pages). 

The nation's research institutions--its universities, federal
laboratories, and nonprofit research organizations--account for about
a quarter of all the scientists and engineers in the United States. 
To help move new knowledge from research institutions to industry,
Congress authorized the Small Business Technology Transfer Pilot
Program for three years, beginning in fiscal year 1994.  Federal
agencies rated the quality and commercial potential of winning
proposals favorably in the program's first year.  Technical experts,
however, were cautious about the commercial potential, possibly
because of the newness of the program.  Agencies have taken steps to
avoid potential conflicts of interest that might arise because of the
close connection between federal agencies and research and
development centers.  In addition, the Departments of Defense and
Energy, which accounted for almost all of the awards involving such
centers, have taken steps to prevent the centers from using
privileged information in preparing program proposals.  Agency
officials expressed differing views on the Technology Transfer
Program's effect on the Small Business Innovation Research Program
and other agency research and development, although none of them
suggested any negative effects, such as competition between the two
programs for quality proposals.  The similarity of the two programs,
however, raised questions about the need for a new program. 


   TRANSPORTATION
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:14

Motor Vehicle Safety:
Comprehensive State Programs Offer Best Opportunity for Increasing
Use of Safety Belts

GAO/RCED-96-24, Jan.  3 (49 pages). 

In late 1994, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
(NHTSA) did a special nationwide survey on the use of safety belts. 
This survey found that the rate of safety belt use rose from 11
percent in 1982 to 58 percent in 1994.  Considerable progress is
still needed, however, if the Department of Transportation is to meet
its goal of 75-percent use of safety belts by 1997.  The four
states--California, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Washington--that have
achieved rates of more than 80-percent use of safety belts have
comprehensive programs, including strong laws mandating use of safety
belts, visible and aggressive enforcement of these laws, and vigorous
programs to educate the public.  An effective federal strategy to
boost the use of safety belts would be to encourage the states to
establish comprehensive programs that include all the elements that
increase safety belt use--primary enforcement laws with aggressive
enforcement, requirements that all occupants of vehicles that have
belts installed use them, fines that discourage noncompliance, and
public education.  Current law does not require the occupants of
cars' back seats or any occupant of a light truck or a van to use
safety belts.  Neither does the law specify primary and secondary
enforcement.  Given the increased number of light trucks being sold
and the low rate of seat belt use in these vehicles, measures are
needed to increase the rate of seat belt use by the occupants of
light trucks. 

Certification of New Airlines:
Department of Transportation Has Taken Action to Improve Its
Certification Process

GAO/RCED-96-8, Jan.  11 (16 pages). 

The Department of Transportation's certification process has added 90
new carriers to the airline industry during the past 5-1/2 years. 
These new carriers have increased competition among airlines and have
reduced fares.  However, about half of the applicants that applied to
operate new airlines did not complete the process, mainly because
they lacked the financial resources.  In some cases, the Federal
Aviation Administration spent considerable resources on costly
certification activities.  Although the Department of Transportation
has taken steps to improve its certification process and reduce the
amount of money spent on unsuccessful applications, it is too soon to
know how successful these measures will be.  The fees that applicants
pay for certification allow the government to recoup only a small
portion--less than one percent--of its costs for those applicants
that complete the process.  The government recoups some of its
certification costs through ticket and fuel taxes, but these funds
are collected only from applicants that successfully begin and
sustain their operations.  Requiring applicants to pay a greater
share of the certification costs could generate revenue to help
defray these expenses--a particularly important outcome during this
period of declining federal budgets. 



   SPECIAL PUBLICATIONS
-------------------------------------------------------- Appendix 0:15

GAO Reports:
Health, Education, Employment, Social Security, Welfare, and Veterans
Issues

GAO/HEHS-96-78W, Jan.  1996 (46 pages). 

This booklet lists GAO documents on government programs related to
health, education, employment, social security, welfare, and veterans
issues, which are run primarily by the Departments of Health and
Human Service, Labor, Education, and Veterans Affairs.  One section
identifies reports and testimony issued during the past month and
summarizes key products.  Another section lists all documents
published during the past year, organized chronologically by subject. 
Order forms are included. 

*** End of document. ***