Newly revised in 2011. Contains the auditing standards promulgated by the Comptroller General of the United States. Known as the Yellow Book. Includes the professional standards and guidance, commonly referred to as generally accepted government auditing standards (GAGAS), which provide a framework for conducting high quality government audits and attestation engagements with competence, integrity, objectivity, and independence. These standards are for use by auditors of government entities and entities that receive government awards and audit organizations performing GAGAS audits and attestation engagements.

Conflict over the use of our nation's natural resources, along with increased ecological problems, has led land managers to seek cooperative means to resolve natural resource conflicts and problems. Collaborative resource management is one such approach that communities began using in the 1980s and 1990s. A 2004 Executive Order on Co-operative Conservation encourages such efforts. This book deals with: (1) experts' views on collaborative resource management, (2) how selected collaborative efforts have addressed conflicts and improved resources, and (3) challenges that agencies face as they participate in such efforts and how the Cooperative Conservation initiative has addressed them. This is an edited and indexed version.

In recent years, much attention has been focused on the roles that the private sector and federal government play in providing insurance and financial aid before and after catastrophic events. In this context, the authors examined (1) the rationale for and resources of federal and state programs that provide natural catastrophe insurance; (2) the extent to which Americans living in catastrophe-prone areas of the United States are uninsured and underinsured, and the types and amounts of federal payments to such individuals since the 2005 hurricanes; and (3) public policy options for revising the federal role in natural catastrophe insurance markets.

The authors are providing information on (1) federal funding DOE receives for electricity-related R&D, including funding by type of fuel; (2) tax expenditures the federal government provides to subsidise electricity production, including expenditures by type of fuel; and (3) other ways the federal government subsidises electricity. The authors examined federal electricity-related subsidies over a 6-year period, from fiscal year 2002 through fiscal year 2007. This is an excerpted and indexed version.

Congress granted financial regulators flexibility to establish their own compensation systems and required certain agencies to seek to maintain comparability with each other in pay and benefits to help the agencies overcome impediments to recruiting and retaining employees and avoid competing for the same employees. In response to a request, this book reviews (1) how the performance-based pay systems of 10 financial regulators are aligned with six key practices for effective performance management systems, (2) the actions these agencies have taken to assess and implement comparability in pay and benefits, and (3) the extent to which employees in selected occupations have moved between or left any of the agencies. The author analysed agency guidance and policies, agency data on performance ratings and pay increases, agency pay and benefits surveys, data from the Central Personnel Data File, and interviewed agency officials. This is an excerpted and edited edition.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service manage about 628 million acres of public land, mostly in the 11 western states and Alaska. Under the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act (FLTFA), revenue raised from selling BLM lands is available to the agencies, primarily to acquire non-federal land within the boundaries of land they already own -- known as in-holdings, which can create significant land management problems. To acquire land, the agencies can nominate parcels under state-level interagency agreements or the Secretaries can use their discretion to initiate acquisitions. FLTFA expires in 2010. The author was asked to determine (1)FLTFA revenue generated, (2)challenges to future sales, (3)FLTFA expenditures, and (4)challenges to future acquisitions. This is an edited and indexed edition.

As a group, Asian American and Pacific Islanders represent about 5 percent of the U.S. population and hold about 8 percent of the college degrees. To better understand the educational attainment and average incomes of the subgroups that comprise this population, the authors asked: 1) What are Asian American and Pacific Islander subgroups' educational attainment and household income levels? (2) What challenges, if any, Asian American and Pacific Islander students face in pursuing and completing their post-secondary education? and (3) What federal and institutional resources do institutions with large Asian American and Pacific Islander student enrolment use to address the particular needs of these students? The authors analysed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Education (Education) and spoke with officials and Asian American and Pacific Islander students at eight post-secondary institutions.

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (referred to hereafter as the Reform Act) included provisions to better inform individuals who file for personal bankruptcy about their options for reaffirming debt--whereby filers may voluntarily agree to pay certain creditors in an effort to retain assets, such as an automobile. Reaffirmation agreements between debtors and creditors are required, by law, to formally disclose to debtors the terms of the agreement, such as the amount of debt reaffirmed. Some requirements differ for credit unions, such as an exemption for reporting debtor financial information when the debtor's attorney signs the agreement. This book discusses (1) the extent to which required Reform Act disclosures and other information have been incorporated into reaffirmation agreements, (2) the types of debts reaffirmed and the percent this debt comprised of debtors' overall debt burden, and (3) how reaffirmed and original interest rates compare.

While billions have been provided to rebuild Iraq's oil and electricity sectors, Iraq's future needs are significant and sources of funding uncertain. For fiscal years 2003 through 2006, the United States made available about $7.4 billion and spent about $5.1 billion to rebuild the oil and electricity sectors. The United States spent an additional $3.8 billion in Iraqi funds on the two sectors, primarily on oil and electricity sector contracts administered by U.S. agencies. However, according to various estimates and officials, Iraq will need billions of additional dollars to rebuild, maintain, and secure Iraq's oil and electricity sectors. The Ministry of Electricity estimates that about $27 billion will be needed to meet the sector's future rebuilding requirements; a comparable estimate has not been developed by the Ministry of Oil. Since the majority (about 70 percent) of U.S. funds has been spent, the Iraqi government and the international donor community represent important sources of potential funding. However, prospects of such funding are uncertain. First, the Oil and Electricity Ministries have encountered difficulties spending capital improvement budgets because of weaknesses in budgeting, procurement, and financial management. As of November 2006, the Ministry of Oil had spent less than 3 percent of its $3.5 billion 2006 capital budget to improve Iraq's oil facilities. Second, Iraq has not made full use of potential international contributions and it is unclear what additional financial commitments, if any, will be provided to Iraq's oil and electricity sectors as part of a new international compact (agreement), according to U.S. officials. As of March 2007, donors had committed $580 million in grants for the electricity sector and had offered loans for oil and electricity projects; however, Iraq has not accessed these loans in part due to concerns about its high debt burden.

This report is based substantially upon work conducted for ongoing audits and previously completed GAO products, which were conducted in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards or with GAO's quality assurance framework, as appropriate. We conducted the work for the overall report from February 2010 through February 2011. For issues being reported on for the first time, GAO sought comments from the agencies involved and incorporated those comments as appropriate. Appendix II contains additional details of our scope and methodology.

Department of Agriculture, which administers agricultural conservation programs a source of federal funding that can complement EPA's water quality improvement efforts. USDA's conservation programs provide billions of dollars in assistance to farmers. In particular, through its Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which is implemented by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA develops contracts with agricultural producers to implement conservation practices on working agricultural land to, for example, reduce soil erosion and nonpoint source water pollution.

GAO provided information regarding the Air Force's progress in achieving and sustaining full operational capability for the Peacekeeper missile force. GAO found that the Air Force: (1) delayed its plans to start full operational capability testing, citing congressional directions, basing mode redirections, gaps between developmental and operational flight testing, and production delays; (2) believes that developmental flight testing has demonstrated the system's capability; (3) plans to conduct only three phase I flight tests a year until fiscal year 1994 in order to meet the scheduled full operational capability milestone for the Peacekeeper in Minuteman Silo Program; (4) plans phase II testing to consist of 84 flight tests over 12 years; (5) plans to sustain required alert rates for a force of 50 Peacekeeper missiles with an inventory of 61 serviceable units and 20 units in repair; (6) had accepted 81 units by December 1988, although only 71 were fully operational; (7) improved its mean recycling time from 2,444 to 2,839 hours, but had not attained its planned level of 3,000 hours; and (8) will have difficulty sustaining its average 30-day repair time.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the effects of leveraged buyouts (LBO) and hostile business takeovers, focusing on: (1) what happened to companies that had been taken over through LBO; (2) how those companies have performed since the takeover; and (3) the effect on communities. GAO found that: (1) in five LBO that GAO reviewed, purchasers bought out the target companies' equity holders with money from loans and bond issues; (2) the capitalization of the companies studied changed from primarily equity to primarily long-term debt after LBO or recapitalization; (3) employment at the companies declined after LBO and recapitalization as a result of asset divestitures and cost reduction efforts; (4) the overall performance of three of the five companies reviewed diminished after LBO, while one company's performance initially was mixed but then improved, and the last company's fluctuated; (5) since of the companies had locations across the country and were generally a small part of the economic base of any one community, communities were not adversely affected, but one company's headquarters formed a major part of the economic base for the local community and layoffs affected the overall earning power of the community; (6) financial success of the companies after LBO depended largely on their ability to meet the service requirements when due, which was dependent upon the initial price paid, future economic conditions, the value of the company's assets, and management's ability to cut costs, reduce debt, and improve profits afterwards; and (7) in these highly leveraged transactions the purchasers had little to lose if they paid too much and a lot to gain if they could make the surviving company a success, while their advisers earned large fees regardless of the price paid or ultimate fate of the surviving company.

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Defense's (DOD) efforts to ensure that high-risk contractors reduce the government's vulnerability to contract overpricing, focusing on the: (1) extent to which contractors are correcting significant cost-estimating system deficiencies; (2) actions DOD contracting officers are taking to encourage contractors to improve their cost-estimating systems; and (3) adequacy of DOD controls to ensure that deficiencies are timely corrected. GAO found that: (1) contractors' performance in correcting their significant cost-estimating system deficiencies has been mixed; (2) 11 of 30 high-risk DOD contractors have significant uncorrected deficiencies that have been outstanding an average of 3.8 years; (3) the failure to timely correct estimating deficiencies creates a variety of problems for DOD, including increased costs and delays in contract awards; (4) although DOD contracting officers take various actions to encourage contractors to correct cost-estimating deficiencies, contracting officers do not use the most stringent measures available, such as reducing progress payments or recommending nonaward of future contracts; (5) even when contractors have long-standing estimating system deficiencies, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) does not attempt to determine the reasons for delays in correcting the deficiencies or ensure that contractors and DOD contracting officers are taking all appropriate actions to correct them; and (6) DLA oversight of contracting officers is important, since they have considerable latitude in deciding how to obtain corrective action and DOD does not specify criteria used to determine timeliness of corrective actions.

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Zilwaukee Bridge Project to: (1) determine whether the testing program that the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) implemented confirmed that the bridge was structurally sound; (2) identify construction problems causing concerns about the bridge and determine whether they would affect its ability to perform as designed; and (3) assess the MDOT draft bridge maintenance manual. GAO found that: (1) the tests indicated that the Zilwaukee Bridge had performed as designed and that the concrete exceeded design requirements for strength and durability; (2) repairs made after a 1982 construction accident fully restored the damaged areas of the bridge; (3) concrete spalling and cracking did not affect the bridge's ability to perform as designed; (4) MDOT took corrective action to ensure proper bonding of all areas with a concrete overlay; and (5) although an independent panel's review of the maintenance manual concluded that the manual was generally well prepared, it recommended several changes that, if followed, would provide for more adequate future maintenance.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

Weather-related events have cost the nation billions of dollars in damages over the past decade. Many of these losses are borne by private insurers and by two federal insurance programs the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which insures properties against flooding, and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC), which insures crops against drought or other weather disasters. This book: (1) describes how climate change may affect future weather-related losses, (2) determines past insured weather-related losses, and (3) determines what major private insurers and federal insurers are doing to prepare for potential increases in such losses. The book is fully indexed, excerpted and reformatted.

The nation's remaining grassland has several important benefits, such as providing land for grazing and wildlife habitat for many at-risk species. However, over the past 3 centuries about half of the grassland has been converted to other uses, principally cropland. In addition to losing important grassland values, such conversions may result in increased spending on federal farm programs, such as crop insurance, especially in marginal areas. This book examines (1) the extent of grassland conversions to cropland and the cost of farm program payments for these newly converted cropland acres; (2) the relative importance of farm program payments versus other factors in producers' decisions to convert grassland to cropland; and (3) any impact the Sodbuster conservation provision - which places soil erosion standards on certain converted land - has had on limiting grassland conversions. This book is an excerpted and edited edition.

Federal funding to states supported over 200,000 youths in residential facilities in 2004, many seeking help to address behavioural or emotional challenges. However, federal investigations have identified maltreatment and civil rights abuses in some facilities. GAO was asked to provide national information about (1) the nature of incidents that adversely affect youth well-being in residential facilities, (2) how state licensing and monitoring requirements address youth well-being in these facilities, and (3) what factors affect federal agencies' ability to hold states accountable for youth well-being in residential facilities. GAO conducted national Web-based surveys of state child welfare, health and mental health, and juvenile justice agencies and achieved an 85 percent response rate for each of the three surveys. They also visited four states, interviewed program officials, and reviewed laws and documentation. This book is an excerpted, edited and indexed edition.

U.S. trade preference programs promote economic development in poorer nations by providing export opportunities. The Generalized System of Preferences, Caribbean Basin Initiative, Andean Trade Preference Act, and African Growth and Opportunity Act unilaterally reduce U.S. tariffs for many products from over 130 countries. However, three of these programs expire partially or in full this year, and Congress is exploring options as it considers renewal. The author was asked to review the programs' effects on the United States and on foreign beneficiaries' exports and development, identify policy trade-offs concerning these programs, and evaluate the overall U.S. approach to preference programs. To address these objectives, the authors analysed trade data, reviewed trade literature and program documents, interviewed U.S. officials, and did fieldwork in six countries. This is an excerpted and indexed version.

Human trafficking is a transnational crime whose victims include men, women, and children and may involve violations of labour, immigration, antislavery, and other criminal laws. To ensure punishment of traffickers and protection of victims, Congress passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA), which is subject to reauthorization in 2007. The Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) lead federal investigations and prosecutions of trafficking crimes. This book discusses (1) key activities federal agencies have undertaken to combat human trafficking crimes, (2) federal efforts to co-ordinate investigations and prosecutions of these crimes, and (3) how the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) supported federally funded state and local human trafficking task forces.