This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-12-306R entitled 'National Transportation Safety Board's Implementation of GAO Recommendations' which was released on January 6, 2012. This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this document to Webmaster@gao.gov. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately. GAO-12-306R: United States Government Accountability Office: Washington, DC 20548: January 6, 2012: The Honorable John D. Rockefeller IV: Chairman: The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison: Ranking Member: Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: United States Senate: The Honorable John L. Mica: Chairman: The Honorable Nick J. Rahall, II: Ranking Member: Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: House of Representatives: Subject: National Transportation Safety Board's Implementation of GAO Recommendations: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates every civil aviation accident in the United States and selected accidents involving other transportation modes, determines the probable causes of these accidents, makes recommendations to address safety issues identified during accident investigations, performs transportation safety studies, and operates a Training Center for NTSB investigators and other transportation safety professionals. NTSB is a relatively small federal agency with about 400 staff and a fiscal year 2011 budget of about $98 million. From 2006 through 2008, we made 21 recommendations to NTSB aimed at improving its management, information technology, accident investigation criteria, safety studies, and Training Center use. In January 2010, we reported that NTSB had fully implemented 9 of our 21 recommendations and made significant progress in implementing the remaining 12 recommendations.[Footnote 1] NTSB's 2006 reauthorization legislation included language that called for us to annually evaluate NTSB's programs, operations, and activities. [Footnote 2] As agreed with your committees, this report evaluates NTSB's progress in implementing our remaining 12 recommendations as of December 2011. To determine the status of NTSB's implementation of our remaining 12 recommendations, we reviewed and analyzed documents obtained from NTSB since January 2010 on the actions NTSB officials have taken to address our recommendations. We also spoke with NTSB officials about these actions. We conducted this performance audit from October 2011 to January 2012 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. NTSB Has Implemented All of Our Recommendations Made Since 2006: NTSB has fully implemented all of the 21 recommendations we have made to the agency since 2006. After assessing NTSB's progress since our 2010 report, we conclude that NTSB has now fully implemented the 12 recommendations not previously closed. Among the actions NTSB took since January 2010 are the following: * developed a strategic training plan that is aligned with its revised strategic plan, * established a diversity task force and management development programs to address diversity management issues, * deployed an agencywide document management system that improved the efficiency of its process for closing recommendations, * implemented an accounting system that tracks the amount of time employees spend on each investigation to allow better management of agency resources, and: * limited users' ability to load software or modify NTSB workstations to reduce risk to NTSB computers and internal network. All 21 recommendations and their implementation status are listed in figure 1. Figure 1: Implementation Status of GAO's Recommendations to NTSB, as of December 2011: [Refer to PDF for image: illustrated data] Area: Communication; GAO recommendation: Develop mechanisms to facilitate communication from staff to management; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). GAO recommendation: Report to Congress on the status of GAO recommendations; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). Area: Strategic planning; GAO recommendation: Develop a revised strategic plan that follows performance-based practices; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). Area: Information technology (IT); GAO recommendation: Develop an IT plan that includes policies and a strategy to guide IT acquisitions; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). GAO recommendation: Encrypt information/data on all laptops and mobile devices; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). GAO recommendation: Limit local administrator privileges to those accounts that require that level of access; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. Area: Knowledge management; GAO recommendation: Develop a knowledge management plan to create, capture, and reuse knowledge to achieve agency objectives; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. Area: Organizational structure; GAO recommendation: Align organizational structure to implement strategic plan; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). GAO recommendation: Eliminate unnecessary management layers; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. Area: Human capital management; GAO recommendation: Develop a strategic human capital plan that is linked to the agency's overall strategic plan. The human capital plan should include strategies on staffing, recruitment and retention, training, and diversity management; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. Area: Training; GAO recommendation: Develop a strategic training plan that is aligned with the revised strategic plan, identifies skill gaps that pose obstacles to meeting the agency's strategic goals, and establishes curriculum that would eliminate those gaps; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. GAO recommendation: Develop a core curriculum for investigators that addresses the specialized needs for each mode; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. GAO recommendation: Maximize the delivery of core investigator curriculum at the Training Center; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. GAO recommendation: Develop plans to increase utilization of the Training Center; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). Area: Financial management; GAO recommendation: Correct violation of the Antideficiency Act related to purchasing accident insurance for employees on official travel; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). GAO recommendation: Correct violation of the Antideficiency Act related to NTSB's lease of the Training Center; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. GAO recommendation: Develop a full cost accounting system to track time employees spend on each investigation and in training; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. Area: Accident selection; GAO recommendation: Develop agency orders for all modes articulating risk-based criteria for selecting which accidents to investigate; Status in 2010: Fully implemented; Status as of December 2011: No change in status (already fully implemented by 2010). Area: Recommendation close-out; GAO recommendation: Computerize related documentation and use concurrent reviews; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. Area: Report development; GAO recommendation: Identify better practices in the agency and apply them to all modes; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. Area: Safety studies; GAO recommendation: Increase use of safety studies; Status in 2010: Significant progress; Status as of December 2011: Fully implemented. Sources: GAO and analysis of NTSB data. [End if figure] Agency Comments: We provided NTSB a draft copy of this report for review and comment and we received written comments from the Chairman of NTSB, which are reprinted in enclosure I. In its written comments, NTSB agreed with our characterization of the progress it had made in implementing our recommendations. We are sending copies of this report to the Chairman of NTSB, other congressional committees, and interested parties. In addition, this report will be available at no charge on the GAO website at [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov]. If you or your staffs have any questions regarding this report, please contact me at (202) 512-2834 or dillinghamg@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. Key contributors to this report were Cathy Colwell (Assistant Director), Andy Clinton, Fred Evans, Bert Japikse, Elizabeth Eisenstadt, Mary Marshall, Sara Ann Moessbauer, Travis Thomson, and Jack Warner. Signed by: Gerald L. Dillingham, Ph. D. Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues: Enclosure: [End of section] Enclosure I: Comments from the National Transportation Safety Board: National Transportation Safety Board: Office of the Chairman: Washington, D.C. 20594: December 19, 2011: The Honorable Gene L. Dodaro: Comptroller General of the United States: Government Accountability Office: 441 G Street, NW: Washington, D.C. 20548: Dear Mr. Dodaro: Thank you for the opportunity to respond to your draft report, National Transportation Safety Board's Implementation of Government Accountability Office Recommendations (GAO-12-306R). We agree with your assessments (1) that the NTSB has fully implemented all of the 21 recommendations that the GAO has made to the NTSB since 2006 and (2) that we have fully implemented the 12 recommendations not previously closed since the GAO 2010 report. We appreciate the constructive working relationship that we have developed with the GAO and would like to thank Dr. Dillingham and the GAO Physical Infrastructure Team who have worked diligently on our engagements. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. David Mayer, NTSB Managing Director, at (202) 314-6060. Sincerely, Signed by: Deborah A. P. Hersman: Chairman: [End of section] Footnotes: [1] GAO, National Transportation Safety Board: Issues Related to the 2010 Reauthorization, [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-366T] (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 27, 2010). [2] The National Transportation Safety Board Reauthorization Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-443, § 5, 120 Stat. 3297, 3299, adding § 1138 to title 49 U.S.C. [End of section] GAO’s Mission: The Government Accountability Office, the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of Congress, exists to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and to help improve the performance and accountability of the federal government for the American people. GAO examines the use of public funds; evaluates federal programs and policies; and provides analyses, recommendations, and other assistance to help Congress make informed oversight, policy, and funding decisions. 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