NASA to Take Corrective Action in Spacesuit Contract Protest

NASA has concluded that corrective action is appropriate in the Government Accountability Office (GAO) bid protest of Exploration Systems & Technology, Inc. NASA determined that
a compliance issue requires the termination of the contract for the Constellation Space Suit System with Oceaneering International, Inc. of Houston for the convenience of the government.

NASA anticipates that corrective action will involve reconsideration of its procurement decision. The pending protest litigation is subject to a Government Accountability Office protective order, NASA says.

NASA had awarded the contract on June 12. The spacesuit will protect astronauts during Constellation Program voyages to the International Space Station and, by 2020, the surface of the moon. The Constellation Space Suit System contract is for design, development, test, evaluation and production of equipment to support astronauts aboard the Orion crew exploration vehicle, the Altair lunar lander, and during human exploration of the
surface of the moon.

Suits and support systems will be needed for as many as four astronauts on moon voyages and as many as six space station travelers. For short trips to the moon, the suit design will support a week's worth of moon walks. The system also must be designed to support a significant number of moon walks during potential six-month lunar outpost expeditions. In addition, the
spacesuit and support systems will provide contingency spacewalk capability and protection against the launch and landing environment, such as spacecraft cabin leaks, NASA says.

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Variables Remain For Introduction of Very Light Jets, Gov't Auditors Find

For several years, a number of aviation manufacturers have been designing and testing very light jets, a type of small jet aircraft equipped with advanced technologies and priced below other business jets. Aviation forecasters predict that thousands of very light jets will enter the National Airspace System (NAS) over the next two decades, contributing to the overall growth of the general aviation fleet, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.

GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

While some experts predict that very light jets will be used in ways that are similar to current general aviation aircraft, others predict that they will be used to expand the air taxi market to provide on-demand, point-to-point air transportation, GAO says.

In 2006, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certified the first very light jets for flight.

"The impact of very light jets on FAA’s costs and Trust Fund revenues will depend on factors such as the number of very light jets deployed, the extent to which they replace existing aircraft, and whether they facilitate a large-scale air taxi industry," the GAO report says. "The Congress is considering legislation that could affect how very light jets are taxed but, as with the current funding structure, there is too much uncertainty about very light jets to accurately compare the revenue effects of these proposed alternative funding structures."

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DOD Could Improve Pandemic Flu Preparedness, Audit Finds

An influenza pandemic could impair the military’s readiness, jeopardize ongoing military operations abroad, and threaten the day-to-day functioning of the Department of Defense (DOD) due to a large percentage of sick or absent personnel, according to a recent federal report.

Each of DOD’s nine combatant commands (COCOMs) has established or intends to establish a working group to prepare for an influenza pandemic, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) finds in a recent report. GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

Additionally, eight of the nine COCOMs have developed or are developing a pandemic influenza plan. Half of the COCOMs have conducted exercises to test their pandemic influenza plans and several are taking steps to address lessons learned. Five of the nine COCOMs have started to use various media, training programs, and outreach events to inform their personnel about pandemic influenza. Each of the geographic COCOMs has worked or plans to work with nations in its area of responsibility to raise awareness about and assess capabilities for responding to avian and pandemic influenza, according to the GAO study.

GAO recommends that DOD take steps to clarify the COCOMs’ roles and responsibilities for pandemic influenza-related efforts, identify the sources and types of resources needed for the COCOMs to accomplish these efforts, and develop options to mitigate the effects of factors that are outside of their control. DOD concurred with each of these recommendations, GAO says.

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Report: Cybercrime Costs $67.2 Billion A Year

Cybercrime has significant economic impacts and threatens U.S. national security interests. Various studies and experts estimate the direct economic impact from cybercrime to be in the billions of dollars annually. The annual loss due to computer crime was estimated to be $67.2 billion for U.S. organizations, according to a 2005 FBI survey, cited by a recent federal report.

In addition, there is continued concern about the threat that U.S. adversaries, including nation-states and terrorists, pose to our national security, says the report, prepared by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

"For example, intelligence officials have stated that nation-states and terrorists could conduct a coordinated cyber attack to seriously disrupt electric power distribution, air traffic control, and financial sectors. Also, according to FBI testimony, terrorist organizations have used cybercrime to raise money to fund their activities," the GAO says.

Despite the estimated loss of money and information and known threats from adversaries, the precise impact of cybercrime is unknown because it is not always detected and reported, GAO finds.

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Weather Service Changes In Trouble, Gov't Investigators Find

A planned new operations prototype for the National Weather Service (NWS) is in trouble, according to a new U.S. government report.

To improve the efficiency of its operations, in November 2006, NWS approved an effort to develop a prototype of an alternative way of operating. Under the prototype, weather forecasting offices would share selected responsibilities.

NWS’s prototype is currently on hold pending a reevaluation of the agency’s approach, according to the recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

The agency had just begun the first phase of its three-phased prototype to demonstrate a new concept of operations over a two-year period when, in late March, a top Department of Commerce official suspended the prototype because of concerns about the agency’s approach, GAO says.

In the first phase, NWS established a program manager and began planning for the next two phases. During the remaining phases, NWS planned to have 20 weather forecasting offices share responsibilities in two-office pairs and then in four-office clusters. NWS then planned to decide whether to implement the new concept of operations on a national basis.

"The justification for the prototype was not sufficient," GAO says. "Before the prototype was suspended, the agency had approved moving forward with its prototype without conducting a cost-benefit analysis. NWS estimated that the prototype would cost approximately $9.3 million and would offer qualitative benefits, such as increased efficiency and an improved ability to focus on severe weather events, but did not quantify benefits or the expected return on its investment. If NWS were to proceed with the prototype without a cost-benefit analysis, it would lack assurance that its approach would be a cost-effective investment for the agency."

The National Weather Service provides storm and flood warnings and weather forecasts nationwide using advanced systems and trained specialists located in 122 weather forecast offices throughout the United States.

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Hurdles Remain For NextGen Air Traffic Control

U.S. agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), still face challenges in creating a state-of-the-art air traffic control system needed to meet increasing demand for air traffic, according to a new government report.

The current U.S. air traffic control system is reaching its capacity limits as demand for air transportation grows. The Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) represents a new system that will use state-of-the-art technologies and procedures. Transitioning to NextGen will require the FAA to continue to sustain the current air traffic control system while acquiring new systems on schedule and on budget.

In 2003, Congress authorized the creation of the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO), housed within FAA, to plan NextGen and coordinate the transition.

FAA and JPDO continue to face a number of challenges in moving toward NextGen, including questions about FAA’s technical and contract management expertise; FAA’s ability to maintain a number of existing systems, including monitoring and addressing equipment outages to ensure the safety of these existing systems as it transitions to NextGen; and conducting necessary human factors research.

That's according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

"In addition, while JPDO recently estimated that the total federal cost for NextGen infrastructure through 2025 will range between $15 billion and $22 billion, questions remain about which entities will fund and conduct the necessary research, development, and demonstration projects that will be key to achieving certain NextGen capabilities," GAO says. "Also, JPDO faces a continuing challenge in ensuring the involvement of all key stakeholders, such as active air traffic controllers and system technicians, in its NextGen planning efforts."

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Small Communities Reliant on Subsidies for Air Service, GAO Finds

Congress established two key programs to help support air service to small communities —the Essential Air Service (EAS) providing about $100 million in subsidies per year and the Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP) that provides about $20 million per year in grants.

EAS subsidies support air service to many small communities that would likely not have service if EAS subsidies are discontinued. Since 1997, funding for EAS has increased from $25.9 million in 1997 to $109.4 million in 2007 and the number of communities has generally increased. The federal government is spending a median of about $98 per passenger, with subsidies ranging from about $13 to $677 per passenger.

That is according to a new US government report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

Concerns exist about the costs of the program, particularly given the federal government’s long-term structural fiscal imbalance, GAO says. In addition, according to industry representatives, the number of air carriers flying aircraft suitable for EAS communities may decrease, raising concerns about the availability of appropriate aircraft to provide small community air service in the future, it adds.


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Safety, Other Issues May Arrive With New Airliner

The size of the new A380 airliner poses some potential safety challenges for U.S. airports. As a result, airports expecting A380 service may need to modify their infrastructure or impose operating restrictions, such as restrictions on runway use, on the A380 and other aircraft to ensure an acceptable level of safety, according to a new US government report.

In addition, increased separation between the A380 and other aircraft during landing and departure is also required because research data indicate that the air turbulence created by the A380’s wake is stronger than the largest aircraft in use today, says the report, issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

Airbus S.A.S. (Airbus), a European aircraft manufacturer, is introducing the A380, expecting it to enter service late this year. The A380 will be the largest passenger aircraft in the world, with a wingspan of about 262 feet, a tail fin reaching 80 feet high, and a maximum takeoff weight of 1.2 million pounds. The A380 has a double deck and could seat up to 853 passengers.

The impact of A380 operations on air capacity is uncertain, GAO says.

The A380 was designed, in part, to help alleviate capacity constraints faced by many large airports in the United States and around the world by accommodating more passengers and freight on each flight than any aircraft currently in use.

"However, potential operating restrictions and the increased separation requirements imposed to ensure the safety of the A380 and other aircraft at airports and during flight could reduce the number of flights that airports can accommodate," the report says. "The extent to which possible operating restrictions, increased separation, and gate utilization impact capacity would depend on the time of day, the number of A380 operations, and the volume of overall airport traffic."

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International U.S. Food Aid Hindered, Investigators Find

Multiple challenges hinder the efficiency of U.S. food aid programs by reducing the amount, timeliness, and quality of food provided, according to a recent government audit.

The United States is the largest global food aid donor, accounting for over half of all food aid supplies to alleviate hunger and support development. Since 2002, Congress has appropriated an average of $2 billion per year for U.S. food aid programs, which delivered an average of 4 million metric tons of food commodities per year, says a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

Despite growing demand for food aid, rising business and transportation costs have contributed to a 52 percent decline in average tonnage delivered over the last five years, GAO finds.

"Specific factors that cause inefficiencies include (1) funding and planning processes that increase delivery costs and lengthen time frames; (2) ocean transportation and contracting practices that create high levels of risk for ocean carriers, resulting in increased rates; (3) legal requirements that result in awarding of food aid contracts to more expensive service providers; and (4) inadequate coordination between U.S. agencies and food aid stakeholders to track and respond to food and delivery problems," the GAO report says.

"U.S. agencies have taken some steps to address timeliness concerns," it adds. "The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been stocking or prepositioning food commodities domestically and abroad, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has implemented a new transportation bid process, but the long-term cost effectiveness of these initiatives has not yet been measured."

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Homeland Security Data Mining System Raises Privacy Worries, Investigators Say

A planned new data-mining tool from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) raises privacy issues, government investigators warn.

A technique for extracting useful information from large volumes of data, data mining offers potential benefits but also raises privacy concerns when the data include personal information, notes the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which issued a report on the matter.

GAO is the nonpartisan, investigative arm of Congress.

ADVISE is a data mining tool under development intended to help DHS analyze large amounts of information. It is designed to allow an analyst to search for patterns in data—such as relationships among people, organizations, and events—and to produce visual representations of these patterns, referred to as semantic graphs.

None of the three planned DHS implementations of ADVISE that GAO reviewed are fully operational. (GAO says it did not review uses of the tool by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis.) The intended benefit of the ADVISE tool is to help detect threatening activities by facilitating the analysis of large amounts of data. DHS is currently in the process of testing the tool’s effectiveness.

Use of the ADVISE tool raises a number of privacy concerns, GAO warns.

DHS has added security controls to the tool; however, it has not assessed privacy risks. Privacy risks that could apply to ADVISE include the potential for erroneous association of individuals with crime or terrorism and the misidentification of individuals with similar names. A privacy impact assessment would identify specific privacy risks and help officials determine what controls are needed to mitigate those risks, GAO says.

"ADVISE has not undergone such an assessment because DHS officials believe it is not needed given that the tool itself does not contain personal data. However, the tool’s intended uses include applications involving personal data, and the E-Government Act and related guidance emphasize the need to assess privacy risks early in systems development," GAO says. "Further, if an assessment were conducted and privacy risks identified, a number of controls could be built into the tool to mitigate those risks.

"For example, controls could be implemented to ensure that personal information is used only for a specified purpose or compatible purposes, and they could provide the capability to distinguish among individuals that have similar names to address the risk of misidentification," GAO adds. "Because privacy has not been assessed and mitigating controls have not been implemented, DHS faces the risk that ADVISE-based system implementations containing personal information may require costly and potentially duplicative retrofitting at a later date to add the needed controls."

To ensure that privacy protections are in place, GAO is recommending that the secretary of Homeland Security immediately conduct a privacy impact assessment of the ADVISE tool and implement privacy controls, as needed, to mitigate any identified risks.

GAO says that DHS generally agreed with the content of the GAO report and described actions initiated to address GAO’s recommendations.

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Federal Auditors Uncover Millions in Katrina, Rita Fraud

U.S. government auditors have identified millions of wasteful and fraudulent dollars paid by FEMA for relief in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) continues to respond to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, two storms which laid waste to the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005.

In one case, FEMA provided free housing to 10 individuals in apartments in Plano, Texas, while at the same time it sent these individuals $46,000 to cover out-of-pocket housing expenses. In addition, several of these individuals certified to FEMA that they needed rental assistance, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

GAO is the nonpartisan watchdog agency of Congress.

FEMA made nearly $20 million in duplicate payments to thousands of individuals who claimed damages to the same property from both hurricanes Katrina and Rita. FEMA also made millions in potentially improper and/or fraudulent payments to nonqualified aliens who were not eligible for FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP).

For example, FEMA paid at least $3 million to more than 500 ineligible foreign students at four universities in the affected areas. This amount likely understates the total payments to ineligible foreign students because it does not cover all colleges and universities in the area. FEMA also provided potentially improper and/or fraudulent IHP assistance to other ineligible non-U.S. residents, despite having documentation indicating their ineligibility.

Finally, FEMA’s difficulties in identifying and collecting improper payments further emphasized the importance of implementing an effective fraud, waste, and abuse prevention system, GAO says. For example, GAO previously estimated improper and potentially fraudulent payments related to the IHP application process to be $1 billion through February 2006. As of November 2006, FEMA identified about $290 million in overpayments and collected about $7 million.

GAO recommends that DHS direct FEMA to take six actions, including establishing controls to prevent duplicate housing benefits to FEMA trailer and apartment residents and duplicate benefit payments for the same damages. GAO is also recommending that FEMA establish controls to prevent benefits to nonqualified aliens.

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Report: Workers Should Have More 401(k) Information

Over the past two decades there has been a shift in the types of retirement plans employers are offering employees. Employers are increasingly moving away from traditional defined benefit plans to what has become the most dominant and fastest growing type of defined contribution plan, the 401(k).

But as workers come to more heavily rely on 401(k) plans for their retirements, they to have more information, as well, a government audit finds.

Now, 401(k) plans represent the majority of all private pension plans; they also service the most participants and hold the most assets, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress. These plans offer a range of investment options, but equity funds—those that invest primarily in stocks—accounted for nearly half of 401(k) assets at the close of 2005. Most 401(k) plans are participant-directed, meaning that a participant is responsible for making the investment decisions about his or her own retirement plan contributions, GAO notes.

"Inadequate disclosure and reporting requirements may leave participants without a simple way to compare fees among plan investment options, and [the U.S.] Labor [Department] without the information it needs to oversee fees and identify questionable 401(k) business practices," the report says.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974 requires 401(k) plan sponsors to disclose only limited information on fees, GAO notes.

"Participants must collect various documents over time and may be required to seek out some documents in order to get a clear picture of the total fees that they pay. Furthermore, the documents that participants receive do not provide a simple way to compare fees—along with risk and historical performance—among the investment options in their 401(k) plan," GAO adds. "The information reported to Labor does not identify all fees charged to 401(k) plans and therefore has limited use for effectively overseeing fees and identifying undisclosed business arrangements among consultants or service providers. As a result, participants may have more limited investment options and pay higher fees for these options than they otherwise would."

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Secure Border Net At Risk of Failure, Gov't Audit Says

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's development of its SBInet program needs improvement or risks failure, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation.

SBInet is one element of the DHS Secure Border Initiative (SBI). SBInet is responsible for developing a comprehensive border protection system. According to DHS, the system is to cover 6,000 miles of U.S. border and is designed to:

• Detect an entry when it occurs.
• Identify what the entry is.
• Classify its level of threat (who the entrant is,
  what the entrant is doing, how many, etc.).
• Respond effectively and efficiently to
  the entry, and bring the situation to the
  appropriate law enforcement resolution.

"To its credit, the SBInet contract was generally competed in accordance with federal requirements. However, the SBInet contract does not fully satisfy the federal regulatory requirement to specify a maximum dollar value or the number of units that may be ordered," GAO says in a new report. "We also reported that important management controls provided for in [White House] Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance and best practices were not yet in place, although the program manager stated that he was committed to doing so. Until they are in place, the program is at increased risk of failure."

GAO is the nonpartisan, investigative arm of Congress.

"DHS’s plan to execute SBInet activities through a series of concurrent task orders introduces additional risk. With multiple related and dependent projects being undertaken simultaneously, SBInet is exposed to possible cost and schedule overruns and performance problems," the report says.

"Without assessing this level of concurrency and how it affects project implementation, SBInet runs the risk of not delivering promised capabilities and benefits on time and within budget," the report adds. "SBI and SBInet officials told us that they understand the risks inherent in concurrency and are addressing these risks. However, as of December 2006, they had not provided evidence that identified the dependencies among their concurrent activities and that they were proactively managing the associated risk."


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No Big Money For Public Television, Government Audit Finds

PBS, the U.S. public television broadcast network, has few places to turn for new funding, according to a government-commissioned audit.

Public television is a largely decentralized enterprise of 349 local stations, owned and operated by 173 independent licensees, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) notes in a new report. The GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

The stations’ operations are funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), a nongovernmental entity that receives federal funds. The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), a nonprofit organization funded by fees paid by member licensees and CPB grants, operates a satellite-based interconnection system to distribute programs to local stations.

PBS is known for airing such programming as Sesame Street, Masterpiece Theatre, and filmmaker Ken Burns' documentaries, such as that on the American Civil War.

Public television stations in reported annual revenues of $1.8 billion in 2005, of which 15 percent came from federal sources and the rest from a variety of nonfederal sources including individuals, businesses, and state and local governments, GAO says. Federal funds help licensees leverage funds from nonfederal sources. Thirty of 54 licensees GAO interviewed say that cuts in federal funding could lead to a reduction in staff, local programming, or services. In general, smaller licensees receive a higher percent of revenue from federal sources and 11 say that cuts in federal support might force the station to shut down, GAO adds.

"Substantial growth of nonfederal funding appears unlikely. The one area with growth potential is major gifts, which many licensees are pursuing with help from CPB," GAO says.

Public television sometimes benefits from business ventures associated with its programs, but these opportunities are infrequent and do not generate significant revenue, GAO adds.

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Poor Contracting Hindering Iraq Reconstruction

The Department of Defense (DOD) effort to reconstruct Iraq following the U.S. invasion is being hampered by poor contracting with companies and inadequate security, a government watchdog agency says.

DOD has relied extensively on private contractors to undertake major reconstruction projects and provide support to its deployed forces in Iraq, but these efforts have not always achieved desired outcomes, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). GAO is the nonpartisan investigative arm of Congress.

Further, the Iraqi government must be able to reduce violence, sustain reconstruction progress, improve basic services, and make a positive difference in the daily lives of the Iraqi people, GAO says.

"The challenges faced by DOD on its reconstruction and support contracts often reflect systemic and long-standing shortcomings in DOD’s capacity to manage contractor efforts. Such shortcomings result from poorly defined or changing requirements, the use of poor business arrangements, the absence of senior leadership and guidance, and an insufficient number of trained contracting, acquisition and other personnel to manage, assess and oversee contractor performance, the GAO says in a new report. "In turn, these shortcomings manifest themselves in higher costs to taxpayers, schedule delays, unmet objectives, and other undesirable outcomes."


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