GAO-13-279SP, 2013 Annual Report - US Government ...

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RMA ROI S&T SAMHSA SBA SBDC SOI SRF SSA State TFF TPCC Treasury TSA USDA USPS VA Risk Management Agency return on investment Science & Technology Directorate Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Small Business Administration Small Business Development Centers Statistics of Income State Revolving Fund Social Security Administration Department of State Treasury Forfeiture Fund Trade Promotion Coordinating Committee Department of the Treasury Transportation Security Administration U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Postal Service Department of Veterans Affairs Page 29 GAO-13-279SP Abbreviations
Report at a Glance Section I of this report presents 17 areas in which we found evidence of fragmentation, overlap, or duplication among federal government programs. Table 1: Fragmentation, Overlap, and Duplication Areas Identified in This Report Mission Areas Identified Page Agriculture 1. Catfish Inspection: Repealing provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill that assigned U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service responsibility for examining and inspecting catfish and for creating a catfish inspection program would avoid duplication of federal programs and could save taxpayers millions of dollars annually without affecting the safety of catfish intended for human consumption. Defense 2. Combat Uniforms: The Department of Defense’s fragmented approach to developing and acquiring uniforms could be more efficient, better protect service members, and result in up to $82 million in development and acquisition cost savings through increased collaboration among the military services. 3. Defense Foreign Language Support Contracts: The Department of Defense should explore opportunities to gain additional efficiencies in contracts for foreign language support, which is estimated to cost more than $1 billion annually, by addressing fragmentation in the department’s acquisition approach. Energy 4. Renewable Energy Initiatives: Federal support for wind and solar energy, biofuels, and other renewable energy sources, which has been estimated at several billion dollars per year, is fragmented because 23 agencies implemented hundreds of renewable energy initiatives in fiscal year 2010—the latest year for which GAO developed these original data. Further, the Departments of Energy and Agriculture could take additional actions—to the extent possible within their statutory authority—to help ensure effective use of financial support from several wind initiatives, which GAO found provided duplicative support that may not have been needed in all cases for projects to be built. Health 5. Joint Veterans and Defense Health Care Services: The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense should enhance their collaboration to reduce costs, overlap, and potential duplication in the delivery of health care services. 6. Medicaid Program Integrity: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services needs to take steps to eliminate duplication and increase efficiency in two Medicaid Integrity Program activities— provider audits and the collection of state program integrity data. Homeland security/law enforcement Information technology 7. Department of Homeland Security Research and Development: Better policies and guidance for defining, overseeing, and coordinating research and development investments and activities would help the Department of Homeland Security address fragmentation, overlap, and potential unnecessary duplication. 8. Field-Based Information Sharing: To help reduce inefficiencies resulting from overlap in analytical and investigative support activities, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and the Office of National Drug Control Policy could improve coordination among five types of fieldbased information sharing entities that may collect, process, analyze, or disseminate information in support of law enforcement and counterterrorism-related efforts—Joint Terrorism Task Forces, Field Intelligence Groups, Regional Information Sharing Systems centers, state and major urban area fusion centers, and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Investigative Support Centers. 9. Justice and Treasury Asset Forfeiture: Conducting a study to evaluate the feasibility of consolidating the Departments of Justice’s and Treasury’s multimillion dollar asset forfeiture activities could help the departments identify the extent to which consolidation of potentially duplicative activities would help increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the programs and achieve cost savings. 10. Dissemination of Technical Research Reports: Congress may wish to consider whether the feebased model under which the National Technical Information Service currently operates for disseminating technical information is still viable or appropriate, given that many of the reports overlap with similar information available from the issuing organizations or other sources for free. 34 37 45 51 60 66 71 77 90 96 Page 30 GAO-13-279SP Report at a Glance
Page 1 and 2: GAO United States Government Accoun
Page 3 and 4: Figure 1: Definitions of Fragmentat
Page 5 and 6: efficiencies in fragmented contract
Page 7 and 8: demonstration authority. Although t
Page 9 and 10: as maintaining roads and responding
Page 11 and 12: overall effectiveness of the federa
Page 13 and 14: The Executive Branch and Congress H
Page 15 and 16: Consolidated areas and actions were
Page 17 and 18: To help maintain attention on these
Page 19 and 20: Our systematic examination required
Page 21 and 22: information. In particular, we revi
Page 23 and 24: of a comprehensive list of federal
Page 25 and 26: data-driven reviews of their perfor
Page 27 and 28: guide to help ensure that these con
Page 29: Abbreviations AFF Assets Forfeiture
Page 33 and 34: Mission Areas Identified Page Gener
Page 35 and 36: Agriculture 1. Catfish Inspection R
Page 37 and 38: GAO provided a draft of this report
Page 39 and 40: Services’ Camouflage Uniforms, Da
Page 41 and 42: military operations in different un
Page 43 and 44: combat uniforms since they began se
Page 45 and 46: Related GAO Products Warfighter Sup
Page 47 and 48: What GAO Found DOD contracts for a
Page 49 and 50: agencies in determining what produc
Page 51 and 52: How GAO Conducted Its Work The info
Page 53 and 54: party estimates indicate that feder
Page 55 and 56: characteristics, and several of the
Page 57 and 58: expected reduction or avoidance of
Page 59 and 60: eport, where GAO recommended that i
Page 61 and 62: Health 5. Joint Veterans and Defens
Page 63 and 64: enefit from collaboration, such as
Page 65 and 66: Actions Needed GAO recommended in S
Page 67 and 68: 6. Medicaid Program Integrity The C
Page 69 and 70: data resulted in a significant comm
Page 71 and 72: might not provide adequate data to
Page 73 and 74: processes and procedures for overse
Page 75 and 76: unnecessary duplication increases b
Page 77 and 78: Internal Control in the Federal Gov
Page 79 and 80: State and major urban area fusion c
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activities are uncoordinated, as we
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a Collection management is the iden
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c Analytical products involve the c
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However, GAO also reported in April
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highly dependent on local circumsta
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9. Justice and Treasury Asset Forfe
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consolidation proposals and activit
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of both agencies, which affects the
Page 97 and 98:
Information Technology 10. Dissemin
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the reports GAO was searching for w
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NTIS acknowledged in its 2011-2016
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ased on random selections, its samp
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What GAO Found In November 2012, GA
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data themes, as shown in the follow
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designate a senior agency official
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How GAO Conducted Its Work The info
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Select Features and Limitations of
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SBA and other agencies could also b
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GAO assessed interagency coordinati
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Overlap of BBG Entities’ Language
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variety of factors, including wheth
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of capitalization grants to revolvi
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GAO’s October 2012 report also de
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purpose of this document is to summ
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Social Services 15. Drug Abuse Prev
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prevention or treatment services to
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minimize the risk of potential dupl
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22 more program evaluations were un
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Page 139 and 140:
Training, Employment, and Education
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education expenses. While many mean
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Considering these factors can help
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Related GAO Products Higher Educati
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significant barriers to employment,
Page 149 and 150:
ut it does not consistently report
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Program. In examining coordination,
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Agriculture 18. Agricultural Quaran
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customs fee collection mechanisms t
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The Secretaries of Agriculture and
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19. Crop Insurance To achieve up to
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federal government. 4 If the limit
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GAO has continued to monitor DOD’
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will not be in the best position to
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Finally, DOD partially agreed with
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Energy 21. Department of Energy’s
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already exists in the commercial ma
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General Government 22. Additional O
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implementation of its data analytic
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GAO reported that the complexity of
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Higher Education: Improved Tax Info
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additional savings. 1 By contrast,
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Agency Comments and GAO’s Evaluat
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24. Opportunities to Help Reduce Go
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to identify opportunities and imple
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U.S. and foreign satellite operator
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plan to rely on foreign companies
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Page 197 and 198:
policies established by CMS or by l
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ased on their local coverage determ
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26. Medicaid Supplemental Payments
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Medicaid payment principles, in par
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GAO provided a draft of this report
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Demonstration extends the bonuses t
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Actions Needed and Potential Financ
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Homeland Security/Law Enforcement 2
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Based on data provided by TSA for G
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or a preference for funding initiat
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2007 as being a definitive statemen
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existing IT services to or offering
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ecause legacy systems may not be re
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30. Information Technology Operatio
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identifying investment improvements
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ecommendations and that the departm
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Examples of Cigarette and Cigar Pro
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cigars. In addition, Treasury faces
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Appendix I: List of Congressional A
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duplication government-wide over th
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of funding devoted to overlapping p
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means the administration, the agenc
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Table 1: GAO Identified Areas of Du
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Mission General government Annual r
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Mission Science and the environment
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Table 2: GAO Identified Areas of Co
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Mission Annual Report Areas identif
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Mission Income security Information
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Table 1: Catfish Inspection: List o
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Table 3: Renewable Energy Initiativ
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Agency Program name Fiscal year 201
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Table 5: Medicaid Program Integrity
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Table 7: Field-Based Information Sh
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Table 9: Export Promotion: List of
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Table 11: Rural Water Infrastructur
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subagency Program name Program desc
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subagency Program name Program desc
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Table 13: Higher Education Assistan
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Table 14: Higher Education Assistan
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Table16: Crop Insurance: Program an
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Table 18: Medicare Prepayment Contr
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Table 20: Checked Baggage Screening
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Table 22: Tobacco Taxes: List of Pr
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GAO’s Mission Obtaining Copies of
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