About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

RCED-85-9 1 (1984-11-20)

handle is hein.gao/gaobabnof0001 and id is 1 raw text is: COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTOND.C. 20548 B-215060 .NOVEMBER 20, 1984 %0~ The Honorable John D. Dingell Chairman, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Committee on Energy and Commerce House of Representatives RELEASED Dear Mr. Chairman: Subject: Improvements Needed in the Department of the Interior's Acquisition of Geophysical Data (GAO/RCED-85-9) As requested in your July 26, 1983, letter, we have reviewed the Department of the Interior's policies and practices for acquiring geophysical data.1 Geophysical data are gathered by analyzing the earth's subsurface using seismic and other tech- niques and are important to the Minerals Management Service (MMS) in its evaluation of petroleum potential on offshore lands.2 The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act Amendments of 1978 require that companies conducting exploration and development of offshore oil and gas provide geophysical data to the Secretary of the Interior upon his request, and that Interior pay companies for the reasonable costs of processing and reproducing, but not for acquiring, such data. We found, however, that MMS has not ensured that the amounts it pays companies for geophysical data are allow- able and reasonable. For example, we found that MMS paid non- allowable acquisition costs3 and widely varying amounts for Nwe reported on Minerals Management Service's (MMS') practices for safeguarding these data in a letter to the Director, MMS, dated May 24, 1984, and plan to report to you on the adequacy of the data which MMS uses to manage the offshore leasing program early next year. 2The Secretary of the Interior established MMS on January 19, 1982. MMS is responsible for activities previously handled by the Conservation Division of the U.S. Geological Survey. We refer to MMS in this report for Geological Survey activities relating to the procurement of geological and geophysical data in fiscal years 1981 and 1982. 3Acquisition costs refer to the costs of collecting data (ship, crew, equipment, etc.). 53 (005578)

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most