Recent GAO Publications

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued the following publications:

Presentations By The Acting Comptroller General

1. "Ensuring Accountability in a Time of Financial and Fiscal Stress," by Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general, before the American Institute of CPAs' National Governmental Accounting and Auditing Update Conference, in Washington, D.C. GAO-09-930CG, August 10, 2009.
http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d09930cg.pdf

2. "Ensuring Accountability in a Time of Financial and Fiscal Stress," by Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general, before the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers' 2009 annual conference, in Dearborn, Michigan. GAO-09-952CG, August 17, 2009
http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d09952cg.pdf

Appropriations Decisions:

B-318386, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service--Steller's and Spectacled
Eiders Conservation Plan, August 12, 2009
http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/318386.htm

Because considerable conservation efforts over several years have
not halted the decline of two threatened eider species, GAO will
not object to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) proposed
use of appropriated funds to purchase and distribute caps and other
items to residents of Alaska North Slope communities in furtherance
of the agency's eider conservation plan. FWS will print images of
the threatened eiders on these items and, for some items, include
eider conservation messages. The items, which FWS will distribute
as part of agency outreach events, will help residents identify the
threatened species and serve as reminders of the agency's
conservation message.

B-318325, National Indian Gaming Commission--Reimbursing Bicyclists
as Part of the Agency's Transportation Fringe Benefit Program,
August 12, 2009
http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/318325.htm

Under the federal government's transportation fringe benefit
program, as established by 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905 and Executive Order
No. 13150, the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) provides
monthly transit subsidies to employees who certify that they use
mass transit to commute to and from work. NIGC may use its
authority under 5 U.S.C. sect. 7905 to extend the program to
provide a $20 cash reimbursement to those employees who commute to
and from work by bicycle. If NIGC chooses to do so, NIGC should
consider the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C.
sect. 132(f)(5), and guidance provided by the Internal Revenue
Service and the Office of Management and Budget.

Other Decisions:

B-317634, Inclusion of Public-Private Partnership Roadways in
Calculating Total Lane Miles When Apportioning Highway Trust Funds,
August 17, 2009
http://www.gao.gov/decisions/other/317634.htm

Responding to a request for an opinion from Senator Bingaman,
Chairman, Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and
Infrastructure, Committee on Finance, GAO has issued an opinion
concluding that the Department of Transportation ("DOT"), in
calculating highway lane miles under 23 U.S.C. § 104(b) as part
of its annual apportionment of highway funds to states, may
properly include mileage for roadways operated or maintained
by private third parties under long-term public-private partnership
agreements with a state (so-called 'P3 agreements')