Skip to main content

Observations on the Fiscal Year 1999 Annual Program Performance Report and Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 Annual Performance Plans for Selected Science Agencies Within the Department of Commerce

GGD-00-197R Published: Sep 25, 2000. Publicly Released: Oct 25, 2000.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Commerce's fiscal year (FY) 1999 Annual Program Performance Report and the FY 2000 and FY 2001 plans for selected science-related agencies, focusing on whether: (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Technology Administration (TA) sections of Commerce's FY 1999 performance report and FY 2000 and FY 2001 performance plans told a coherent story in addressing science issues; (2) NOAA's and TA's performance goals, budgetary and full time equivalent (FTE) staffing resource requirements identified in Commerce's FY 2001 performance plan linked, or matched, to those in NOAA's and TA's sections of Commerce's FY 2001 congressional budget submission; and (3) the NOAA and TA sections of Commerce's FY 2001 performance plan addressed the weaknesses that GAO identified in its review of Commerce's FY 2000 performance plan.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Commerce The Secretary of Commerce should: (1) include in the GPRA documents explanatory information related to significant changes made to agency performance goals, objectives or activities, performance measures, and resource requirements; and (2) direct that Commerce agencies better link their sections of the GPRA documents to congressional budget submissions and other budget documents by identifying budgetary resources at the bureau-specific initiative levels and the performance goal objective or activity levels in both the GPRA and budget documents.
Closed – Implemented
Commerce has implemented both recommendations GAO made in "Department of Commerce: Observations on the Fiscal Year 1999 Annual Program Performance Report and Fiscal Years 2000 and 2001 Annual Performance Plans for Selected Science Agencies Within the Department of Commerce (GAO/GGD-00-197R, September 25, 2000)." Commerce implemented GAO's recommendation that the Secretary of Commerce "include in the GPRA documents explanatory information related to significant changes made to agency performance goals, objectives or activities, performance measures, and resource requirements." The agency included explanatory information related to significant changes made to agency performance goals, objectives or activities, performance measures, and resource requirements in "The Department of Commerce FY 2000 Annual Program Performance Report and FY 2002 Annual Performance Plan," issued April 4, 2001. GAO's recommendation that Commerce better link sections of the GPRA documents to congressional budget submissions and other budget documents at the performance goal, objective or activity level complies with OMB Circular A-11 guidance issued in July 2004, that requires agencies to "fully integrate the annual performance plan required by the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) with other elements of the agency budget request." Furthermore, the budget "may be presented by bureau or other organization, but each entity should start by analyzing its contributions to strategic goals, followed by a detailed analysis of supporting programs...Your (agency) budget request should be justified on the basis of resources needed to make planned progress toward the strategic goals...At a minimum, resources are aligned at the program level within this framework, and agencies are encouraged to align resources at the performance goal level."

Full Report

GAO Contacts

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Agency missionsMission budgetingPerformance measuresReporting requirementsStrategic planningPerformance plansPerformance goalsBudget submissionsPerformance measurementInformation infrastructure