Recovery Act: Status of Science-Related Funding
Published: 2011-11-30T00:00:00

Fast Facts:

Highlights:
section_title: Why GAO Did This Study
paragraphs: The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) is intended to preserve and create jobs and promote economic recovery, among other things. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2011 that the Recovery Act would cost $840 billion, including more than $40 billion in science-related activities at the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Commerce, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). These activities support fundamental research, demonstrate and deploy advanced energy technologies, purchase scientific instrumentation and equipment, and construct or modernize research facilities. The Recovery Act assigned GAO with a range of responsibilities, such as bimonthly reviews of how selected states and localities used funds, including for science-related activities. This statement updates the status of science-related Recovery Act funding for DOE, Commerce, NASA, and NSF and provides the status of prior recommendations from GAO's Recovery Act reports. This testimony is based on prior GAO work updated with agency data as of September 30, 2011.
section_title: What GAO Found
paragraphs: As of September 30, 2011, DOE, Commerce, NSF, and NASA had obligated about 98 percent of the more than $40 billion appropriated for science-related activities identified at those agencies. They had spent $22 billion, or 54 percent of appropriated funds. DOE received the majority of this funding, and the four agencies vary in the amount of Recovery Act funds they have obligated and spent for their programs, as well as the challenges they have faced in implementing the Recovery Act. For example: 1) Loan Guarantee Program for Innovative Technologies. As of September 30, 2011, DOE had obligated about 78 percent of the nearly $2.5 billion provided for this program, which among other things guarantees loans for projects using new or significantly improved technologies as compared with commercial technologies already in use in the United States and reported spending about 15 percent of those funds. In a July 2010 report (GAO-10-627), GAO made four recommendations for DOE to improve its evaluation and implementation of the program. DOE has begun to take steps to address our recommendations but has not fully addressed them, and GAO continues to believe DOE needs to make improvements to the program. 2) Weatherization Assistance Program. As of September 30, 2011, DOE had obligated the full $5 billion of Recovery Act funding provided for the Weatherization Assistance Program, which enables low-income families to reduce their utility bills by making long-term energy-efficiency improvements to their homes, and reported spending about 72 percent of those funds. In a May 2010 report (GAO-10-604), GAO made eight recommendations to DOE to clarify guidance and production targets. To date, DOE has implemented two of those recommendations: (1) it issued guidance on multi-family buildings and (2) clarified the definition of income and strengthened income eligibility requirements. 3) Commerce, NASA, and NSF. As of September 30, 2011, Commerce, NASA, and NSF each had obligated nearly all of their science-related Recovery Act funding. Commerce spent about 62 percent, NASA spent about 95 percent, and NSF spent about 46 percent of this funding. GAO has reported several times on the use of these funds and the challenges agencies faced. In a February 2010 report (GAO-10-383), GAO found that some recipients of Commerce's Recovery Act grants faced challenges complying with Recovery Act reporting and other federal requirements and had to delay or recast certain scheduled activities as a result. In a March 2009 report (GAO-09-306SP), GAO found that NASA's large-scale projects, including those that received Recovery Act funds, had experienced significant cost and schedule delays. In a March 2011 report, (GAO-11-239SP), GAO found that Recovery Act funds allowed NASA to reduce the impact of cost increases on some projects and to address problems being experienced by others. In GAO's October 2010 report (GAO-11-127R), it found that NSF's program to increase investment in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education took steps to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of its projects and developed goals and metrics for that evaluation.

section_title: Letter
paragraphs: I am pleased to be here today to discuss our oversight of science-related  funding provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of  2009 (Recovery Act). In response to the recent economic crisis,  Congress enacted the Recovery Act to, among other things, preserve and  create jobs and promote economic recovery. In 2011, the Congressional  Budget Office estimated that the Recovery Act would cost approximately  $840 billion. That amount includes more than $40 billion for science- related activities at the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of  Commerce, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA),  and the National Science Foundation (NSF). These activities include  supporting fundamental research, demonstrating and deploying advanced  energy technologies, purchasing scientific instrumentation and  equipment, and constructing or modernizing research facilities.
GAO, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: GAO’s Role in Helping to Ensure  Accountability and Transparency for Science Funding, GAO-09-515T (Washington, D.C.:  Mar. 19, 2009). program (EECBG), and we are currently examining DOE’s Advanced  Research Projects-Energy and solar energy initiatives. Since the  Recovery Act was implemented, we also assessed large-scale projects at  NASA that received Recovery Act funds. Additionally, we have reported  on federal requirements that have influenced project selection and starts  at a variety of agencies, including DOE, Commerce, NASA, and NSF  and contracting approaches and oversight at DOE and NASA.
My statement today updates the status of science-related Recovery Act  funding for (1) DOE, (2) Commerce, (3) NASA, and (4) NSF and our  recent recommendations to these agencies regarding their spending of  Recovery Act funds. This statement is based largely on our prior reviews  and updates them with data from the four agencies as of September 30,  2011, on their obligations and spending of science-related Recovery Act  funds. We did not verify these data. We conducted all of our work in  accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.  Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain  sufficient, appropriate evidence to produce 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 statement  today. Additional information on our scope and methodology is available  in each issued product. (See our list of related products at the end of this  testimony.)
subsections: section_title: Summary of Science- Related Recovery Act Funding
paragraphs: Of the four agencies that received over $40 billion in funding for science- related activities under the Recovery Act, DOE received the largest  amount of funds. Table 1 shows Recovery Act funding, obligations, and  expenditures for these agencies.
Of the $35.2 billion it received under the Recovery Act for science-related  projects and activities, DOE reported that it had obligated $34.6 billion (98  percent) and spent $18.9 billion (54 percent) as of September 30, 2011.
This is an increase from March 10, 2011, when DOE reported that it had  obligated $33.1 billion and spent $12.5 billion. Table 2 shows Recovery  Act funding, obligations, and expenditures for DOE’s program offices.
Our Recovery Act recommendations have focused primarily on the  following four DOE programs and projects:
The EECBG program, which provides grants to states, territories,  tribes, and local communities for projects that improve energy  efficiency, reduce energy use, and reduce fossil fuel emissions.
The Office of Environmental Management, which cleans up  contaminated sites across the country where decades of nuclear  weapons research, development, and production left a legacy of  dangerously radioactive, chemical, and other hazardous wastes.
The LGP, which guarantees loans for energy projects that (1) use  either new or significantly improved technologies as compared with  commercial technologies already in use in the United States and (2)  avoid, reduce, or sequester emissions of air pollutants or man-made  greenhouse gases.
The Weatherization Assistance Program, which enables low-income  families to reduce their utility bills by making long-term energy- efficiency improvements to their homes by, for example, installing  insulation, sealing leaks, and modernizing heating or air conditioning  equipment.
Table 3 shows Recovery Act funding, obligations, and expenditures for  these DOE programs as of September 30, 2011.
The Recovery Act provided about $3.2 billion for DOE’s EECBG, funding  the program for the first time since it was authorized in the Energy  Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007.
DOE awarded this funding as follows:
About $1.94 billion as formula grants to more than 2,000 local  communities—including cities, counties, and tribal communities.
About $767 million as formula grants to the states, five territories, and  the District of Columbia.
About $40 million for Administrative and Training/Technical  Assistance.
About $453 million through competitive grants to local communities.
Our April 2011 report on the EECBG program focused on the  approximately $2.7 billion awarded through formula grants. In that  report, we found that more than 65 percent of EECBG funds had been  obligated for three types of activities: (1) energy-efficiency retrofits (36.8  percent), which includes activities such as grants to nonprofit  organizations and governmental agencies for retrofitting their existing  facilities to improve energy efficiency; (2) financial incentive programs  (18.5 percent), which includes activities such as rebates, subgrants, and  revolving loans to promote recipients’ energy-efficiency improvements;  and (3) energy-efficiency and conservation programs for buildings and  facilities (9.8 percent), which includes activities such as installing storm  windows or solar hot water technology.
We also found that DOE did not always collect information on the various  methods that recipients use to monitor contractors and subrecipients.  As a result, DOE does not always know whether the monitoring activities  of recipients are sufficiently rigorous to ensure compliance with federal  requirements. In addition, DOE officials have experienced challenges in  assessing the extent to which the EECBG program is reducing energy  use and increasing energy savings. Most recipients report estimates to  comply with program reporting requirements, and DOE takes steps to  assess the reasonableness of these estimates but does not require  recipients to report the methods or tools used to develop estimates. In  addition, while DOE provides recipients with a software tool to estimate  energy savings, DOE does not require that recipients use the most recent  version.
Based on these findings, we recommended that DOE (1) explore a  means to capture information on recipients’ monitoring activities and (2)  solicit information on recipients’ methods for estimating energy-related  impact metrics and verify that recipients who use DOE’s estimation tool  use the most recent version. DOE generally agreed with our  recommendations and has taken steps to implement them. DOE  took action on our first recommendation by collecting additional information  related to subrecipient monitoring, in order to help ensure that they  comply with the terms and conditions of the award. These changes will  help improve DOE’s oversight of recipients. DOE implemented our  second recommendation by making changes to the way it collects data to  apply a unified methodology to the calculation of impact metrics. DOE  officials also said the calculation of estimated impact metrics will now be  performed centrally by DOE by applying known national standards to  existing recipient-reported performance metrics.
subsections: section_title: Environmental Cleanup Projects
paragraphs: The Recovery Act provided about $6 billion to expand and accelerate  cleanup activities at numerous contaminated sites across the country.This funding substantially boosted the Office of Environmental  Management’s annual appropriation for cleanup, which has generally  been between $6 billion and $7 billion. As of September 30, 2011, DOE  had obligated all of the $6 billion in Recovery Act funding. DOE officials  told us that they planned to have 92 percent of the funds spent by  September 30, 2011, and DOE had expended about 88 percent (nearly  $5.3 billion) by that time.
As of May 2011, DOE had selected 109 projects for Recovery Act funding at  17 DOE sites in 12 states. DOE designated 80 percent of this funding to  speed cleanup activities at four large sites: the Hanford Site in Washington  State, Idaho National Laboratory, the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee,  and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. DOE generally chose to use  Recovery Act funds for cleanup projects that could be started and finished  quickly. The majority of the projects selected also had existing contracts,  which allowed the department to update and validate new cost and schedule  targets within a short time frame. DOE generally funded four types of  projects: (1) decontaminating or demolishing facilities, (2) removing  contamination from soil and groundwater, (3) packaging and disposing of  transuranic and other wastes, and (4) supporting the maintenance and  treatment of liquid tank wastes. According to DOE officials, as of the end of  May 2011, DOE had completed 28 Recovery Act projects.
In July 2010, we reported that DOE has faced challenges in both  managing Recovery Act projects and measuring how Recovery Act  funding has affected cleanup and other goals. that one-third of Recovery Act-funded environmental cleanup projects did  not meet cost and schedule targets, which DOE attributed to technical,  regulatory, safety, and contracting issues. DOE took steps aimed at  strengthening project management and oversight for Recovery Act  projects, such as increasing project reporting requirements and placing  tighter controls on when funds are disbursed to sites. By October 2010,  DOE had made improvements in both cost and schedule performance.
GAO, Recovery Act: Most DOE Cleanup Projects Appear to Be Meeting Cost and  Schedule Targets, but Assessing Impact of Spending Remains a Challenge, GAO-10-784  (Washington, D.C., July 29, 2010). very different and potentially misleading information. Second, DOE had  not yet developed a clear means of measuring how cleanup work funded  by the act would affect environmental risk or the land and facilities  requiring DOE cleanup. Third, it is unclear to what extent Recovery Act  funding will reduce the costs of cleaning up the DOE sites over the long  term. DOE’s estimate of $4 billion in life-cycle cost savings resulting from  Recovery Act funding was not calculated in accordance with Office of  Management and Budget’s guidance on benefit-cost analysis or DOE’s  guidance on life-cycle cost analysis. Our analysis indicated that those  savings could be 80 percent less than DOE estimated. Without clear and  consistent measures, it will be difficult to say whether or how Recovery  Act funding has affected DOE’s cleanup goals.
DOE officials define footprint reduction as the “physical completion of activities with  petition for regulatory approval to follow.” longer relevant since the Office of Management and Budget now requires  contractor and subcontractor jobs to be reported online.
section_title: Loan Guarantee Program for Innovative Technologies
paragraphs: In February 2009, the Recovery Act amended the LGP, authorizing DOE  to also guarantee loans for some projects using commercial technologies.  Projects supported by the Recovery Act must employ renewable energy  systems, electric power transmission systems, or leading-edge biofuels  that meet certain criteria; begin construction by the end of fiscal year  2011; and pay wages at or above market rates. The Recovery Act  originally provided nearly $6 billion to cover the credit subsidy costs for  projects meeting those criteria.reduction of $3.5 billion of this funding to be used for other purposes.  According to our analysis of DOE data, as of September 30, 2011, DOE’s  LGP had obligated about 78 percent of the remaining $2.5 billion in  Recovery Act funds, leaving $552 million unobligated. The Recovery Act  required that borrowers begin construction of their projects by September  30, 2011, to receive funding, and the unobligated funds expired and are  no longer available to DOE.
GAO-10-627.
Consequently, we reported that DOE’s program management could  improve its ability to evaluate and implement the LGP by implementing the  following four recommendations: (1) develop relevant performance goals  that reflect the full range of policy goals and activities for the program, and  to the extent necessary, revise the performance measures to align with  these goals; (2) revise the process for issuing loan guarantees to clearly  establish what circumstances warrant disparate treatment of applicants; (3)  develop an administrative appeal process for applicants who believe their  applications were rejected in error and document the basis for conclusions  regarding appeals; and (4) develop a mechanism to systematically obtain  and address feedback from program applicants and, in so doing, ensure  that applicants’ anonymity can be maintained.
In response to our recommendations, DOE stated that it recognizes the  need for continuous improvement to its LGP as those programs mature  but neither explicitly agreed nor disagreed with our recommendations. In  one instance, DOE specifically disagreed with our findings: the  department maintained that applicants are treated consistently within  solicitations. Nevertheless, the department stated that it is taking steps to  address concerns identified in our report. For example, with regard to  appeals, DOE indicated that its process for rejected applications should  be made more transparent and stated that the LGP continues to  implement new strategies intended to reduce the need for any kind of  appeals, such as enhanced communication with applicants and allowing  applicants an opportunity to provide additional data to address  deficiencies DOE has identified in applications. DOE directly addressed  our fourth recommendation by creating a mechanism in September 2010  for submitting feedback—including anonymous feedback—through its  website. We tested the mechanism and were satisfied that it worked.
We have an ongoing mandate under the 2007 Revised Continuing  Appropriations Resolution to review DOE’s execution of the LGP and to  report our findings to the House and Senate Committees on  Appropriations. We are currently conducting ongoing work looking at the  LGP, which will examine the status of the applications to the LGP’s nine  solicitations and will assess the extent to which has DOE adhered to its  process for reviewing loan guarantees for loans to which DOE has closed  or committed. We expect to issue a report on LGP in early 2012.
section_title: Weatherization Assistance Program
paragraphs: The Recovery Act provided $5 billion for the Weatherization Assistance  Program, which DOE is distributing to each of the states, the District of  Columbia, five territories, and two Indian tribes. The $5 billion in funding  provided by the Recovery Act represents a significant increase for a  program that has received about $225 million per year in recent years.
During 2009, DOE obligated about $4.73 billion of the $5 billion in  Recovery Act weatherization funding to recipients, while retaining the  remaining funds to cover the department’s expenses. Initially, DOE  provided each recipient with the first 10 percent of its allocated funds,  which could be used for start-up activities, such as hiring and training  staff, purchasing equipment, and performing energy audits of homes.  Before a recipient could receive the next 40 percent, DOE required it to  submit a plan for how it would use its Recovery Act weatherization funds.  By the end of 2009, DOE had approved the weatherization plans of all 58  recipients and had provided all recipients with half of their funds.
In our May 2010 report,buildings can improve production numbers quickly, state and local  officials have found that expertise with multifamily projects is limited and  that they lack the technical expertise for weatherizing large multifamily  buildings. We also found that state agencies are not consistently dividing  weatherization costs for multifamily housing with landlords. In addition, we  found that determination and documentation of client income eligibility  varies between states and local agencies and that DOE allows applicants  to self-certify their income. We also found that DOE has issued guidance  requiring recipients of Recovery Act weatherization funds to implement a  number of internal controls to mitigate the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse,  but that the internal controls to ensure local weatherization agencies  comply with program requirements are applied inconsistently.   we found that although weatherizing multifamily  In our May 2010 report, we made eight recommendations to DOE to  clarify its weatherization guidance and production targets. DOE generally  concurred with the recommendations, has fully implemented two of them  and taken some steps to address a third. For example, we recommended  that DOE develop and clarify weatherization program guidance that  considers and addresses how the weatherization program guidance is  impacted by the introduction of increased amounts of multifamily units.
DOE has issued several guidance documents addressing multi-family  buildings that, among other things, provide guidance on conducting  energy audits on multi-family units. We also recommended that DOE  develop and clarify weatherization program guidance that establishes  best practices for how income eligibility should be determined and  documented and that does not allow the self-certification of income by  applicants to be the sole method of documenting income eligibility. In  response to our recommendation, DOE issued guidance that clarified the  definition of income and strengthened income eligibility requirements. For  example, the guidance clarified that self-certification of income would only  be allowed after all other avenues of documenting income eligibility are  exhausted. Additionally, for individuals to self-certify income, a notarized  statement indicating the lack of other proof of income is required. Finally,  DOE agreed with our recommendation that it have a best practice guide  for key internal controls, but DOE officials stated that there were sufficient  documents in place to require internal controls, such as the grant terms  and conditions and a training module, and that because the guidance is  located in on the website, a best practice guide would be redundant.  Therefore, DOE officials stated that they do not intend to fully implement  our recommendation. Nonetheless, DOE distributed a memorandum  dated May 13, 2011, to grantees reminding them of their responsibilities  to ensure compliance with internal controls and the consequences of  failing to do so. We will continue to monitor DOE’s progress in  implementing the remaining recommendations.
We expect to issue a report on the use of Recovery Act funds for the  Weatherization Assistance Program and the extent to which program  recipients are meeting Recovery Act and program goals, such as job  creation and energy and cost savings, as well as the status of DOE’s  response to our May 2010 recommendations by early 2012.
section_title: Commerce
paragraphs: Of the over $1.4 billion Commerce received under the Recovery Act for  science-related projects and activities, Commerce reported that it had  obligated nearly all of it (98 percent) and spent $894 million (62 percent)  as of September 30, 2011. Table 6 shows Recovery Act funding,  obligations, and expenditures for Commerce.
As part of our February 2010 report,Recovery Act grants from Commerce’s National Institute of Standards  and Technology had to delay or recast certain scheduled engineering or  construction-related activities to fully understand, assess, and comply  with the Recovery Act reporting and other requirements. In contrast,  Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials  said federal requirements did not impact the processing of Recovery Act  acquisitions.   we found that some recipients of  Of the $1 billion NASA received under the Recovery Act for science- related projects and activities, NASA reported that it had obligated nearly  $1 billion (100 percent) and spent $948 million (95 percent) as of  September 30, 2011. Table 4 shows Recovery Act funding, obligations,  and expenditures for NASA.
In a March 2009 report, we found that NASA large-scale projects had  experienced significant cost and schedule growth, but the agency had  undertaken an array of initiatives aimed at improving program  management, cost estimating, and contractor oversight. However, we  also noted that until these practices became integrated into NASA’s  culture, it was unclear whether funding would be well spent and whether  the achievement of NASA’s mission would be maximized. In our most  recent update of that report, we found that, although cost and schedule  growth remained an issue, Recovery Act funding enabled NASA to  mitigate the impact of cost increases being experienced on some projects  and to address problems being experienced by other projects. In  several cases, NASA took advantage of the funding to build additional  knowledge about technology or design before key milestones.
In our July 2010 report,agencies’, use and oversight of noncompetitive contracts awarded under  the Recovery Act. We found that most of the funds that NASA had  obligated under Recovery Act contract actions, about 89 percent, were  obligated on existing contracts. We found that officials at several  agencies said the use of existing contracts allowed them to obligate funds  quickly. Of the funds NASA obligated for new actions, over 79 percent  were obligated on contracts that were competed. We also found that  NASA undertook efforts to provide oversight and transparency of  Recovery Act-funded activities. For example, NASA issued guidance to  the procurement community on the implementation of the Recovery Act,  prohibited the commingling of funds, and increased reporting to senior  management.    we reviewed NASA’s, as well as other  Of the $3 billion it received under the Recovery Act for projects and  activities, NSF reported that it had obligated nearly all of the $3 billion  (almost 100 percent) and spent $1.4 billion (46 percent) as of September  30, 2011. Table 5 shows Recovery Act funding, obligations, and  expenditures for NSF.
In our October 2010 report, we reviewed the effectiveness of new and  expanded activities authorized by the America Creating Opportunities to  Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science  Act of 2007 (America COMPETES Act). The act authorized NSF’s  Science Master’s Program, later funded by the Recovery Act. This  program, along with 24 new programs and 20 existing programs, was  funded to increase federal investment in basic scientific research and  science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in  the United States. The Science Master’s Program awarded 21 grants in  fiscal year 2010, totaling $14.6 million. We found that evaluating the  effectiveness of federal basic research and STEM education programs  such as those authorized by the act can be inherently difficult. We also  found that NSF was taking steps to evaluate the long-term effectiveness  of their funded projects. As part of its broader initiative to pilot and review  new approaches to the evaluation of its programs, NSF developed goals  and metrics for activities in its education portfolio to reflect its increased  expectations for evaluation of its funded projects.
Chairman Broun, Ranking Member Tonko, and Members of the  Subcommittee, this completes my prepared statement. As noted, we are  continuing to monitor agencies’ use of Recovery Act funds and  implementation of programs. I would be happy to respond to any  questions you may have at this time.
section_title: Contact and Acknowledgments
paragraphs: For further information regarding this testimony, please contact me at  (202) 512-3841. Tanya Doriss, Kim Gianopoulos, Carol Kolarik, Holly  Sasso, Ben Shouse and Jeremy Williams made key contributions to this  testimony.
section_title: Related GAO Products
paragraphs: Recovery Act Education Programs: Funding Retained Teachers, but  Education Could More Consistently Communicate Stabilization Monitoring  Issues. GAO-11-804. Washington, D.C.: September 2011.
Recovery Act: Status of Department of Energy’s Obligations and  Spending. GAO-11-483T. Washington, D.C.: March 17, 2011.
Recovery Act: Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant  Recipients Face Challenges Meeting Legislative and Program Goals and  Requirements. GAO-11-379. Washington, D.C.: April 2011.
NASA: Assessments of Selected Large-Scale Projects. GAO-11-239SP.  Washington, D.C.: March 3, 2011.
Recovery Act: Opportunities to Improve Management and Strengthen  Accountability over States’ and Localities’ Uses of Funds. GAO-10-999.  Washington, D.C.: September 2010.
Recovery Act: Contracting Approaches and Oversight Used by Selected  Federal Agencies and States. GAO-10-809. Washington, D.C.: July 15,  2010.
Recovery Act: Most DOE Cleanup Projects Appear to Be Meeting Cost  and Schedule Targets, but Assessing Impact of Spending Remains a  Challenge. GAO-10-784. Washington, D.C.: July 2010.
Department of Energy: Further Actions Are Needed to Improve DOE’s  Ability to Evaluate and Implement the Loan Guarantee Program.  GAO-10-627. Washington, D.C.: July 2010.
Recovery Act: States’ and Localities’ Uses of Funds and Actions Needed  to Address Implementation Challenges and Bolster Accountability.  GAO-10-604. Washington, D.C.: May 2010.
Recovery Act: Increasing the Public’s Understanding of What Funds Are  Being Spent on and What Outcomes Are Expected. GAO-10-581.  Washington, D.C.: May 27, 2010.
Recovery Act: Factors Affecting the Department of Energy’s Program  Implementation. GAO-10-497T Washington, D.C.: March 4, 2010.
Recovery Act: Project Selection and Starts Are Influenced by Certain  Federal Requirements and Other Factors. GAO-10-383. Washington,  D.C.: February 10, 2010.
Recovery Act: GAO’s Efforts to Work with the Accountability Community  to Help Ensure Effective and Efficient Oversight. GAO-09-672T.  Washington, D.C.: May 5, 2009.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: GAO’s Role in Helping to  Ensure Accountability and Transparency for Science Funding.  GAO-09-515T. Washington, D.C.: March 19, 2009.
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