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

GAO-21-535PR 1 (2021-06-22)

handle is hein.gao/gaolwh0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 1Oo U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE A Century of Non-Partisan Fact-Based Work 441 G St. N.W. Comptroller General Washington, DC 20548 of the United States June 22, 2021 The Honorable Deb Haaland Secretary Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20240 Priority Open Recommendations: Department of the Interior Dear Madam Secretary: I appreciated our recent meeting and look forward to a constructive working relationship between our two institutions. As we discussed, the purpose of this letter is to provide an update on the overall status of the Department of the Interior's implementation of GAO's recommendations and call your personal attention to areas where open recommendations should be given high priority.1 In November 2020, we reported that on a government-wide basis, 77 percent of our recommendations made 4 years ago were implemented.2 Interior's recommendation implementation rate was 81 percent. As of April 2021, Interior had 137 open recommendations. Fully implementing these open recommendations could significantly improve Interior's operations. Since our April 2020 letter, Interior has implemented five of our 10 open priority recommendations. Interior took multiple steps to identify and evaluate offshore oil and gas drilling risks. These steps included (1) establishing a program to develop and implement a safety data reporting system, (2) implementing a new process to analyze weekly well activity reports, and (3) finalizing a directive establishing procedures and guidance for conducting reviews of high- risk wells in drilling operations. These actions will give Interior greater assurance that it is mitigating risks associated with offshore oil and gas drilling activities in the Gulf of Mexico. The Indian Energy Service Center updated the charters for existing regional federal partner groups and established additional regional groups to serve as forums for local federal officials to identify and work to resolve energy and mineral issues and coordinate the regulatory process for each region. These mechanisms will enable the Service Centers to foster coordination with federal partners on Indian energy development. 1Priority recommendations are those that GAO believes warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies. They are highlighted because, upon implementation, they may significantly improve government operation, for example, by realizing large dollar savings; eliminating mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or making progress toward addressing a high-risk or duplication issue. 2GAO, Performance and Accountability Report: Fiscal Year 2020, GAO-21-4SP (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 16, 2020). GAO-21-535PR Interior Priority Recommendations Page 1

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