According to 1992 congressional testimony, thieves turn stolen cars into money in three ways. The most common way is for a thief to take a car to a “chop shop,” where the car is dismantled and its parts are sold as replacement parts for other vehicles. The second way is for a thief to obtain an apparently valid title for the car and then sell it to a third party. Finally, the third way is for a thief to export the vehicles for sale abroad. The 1992 Act contains several approaches for dealing with these criminal activities. Title I directed the establishment of, among other things, a task force to study problems that may affect motor vehicle theft and created a new federal crime for armed car jacking. The task force was to be made up of representatives of related federal and state agencies and associations. Title II called for establishment of the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System to enable state departments of motor vehicles to check the validity of out-of-state titles before issuing new titles. Title II authorized grants up to 25 percent of a state’s start-up costs, with a limit of $300,000 per state. Title III expanded the parts marking program established in the Theft Act of 1984. The program was intended to reduce the selling of stolen parts. Major component parts of designated passenger motor vehicles are to be marked with identification numbers so that stolen parts can be identified. Title III also required the Attorney General to develop and maintain a national information system, known as the National Stolen Passenger Motor Vehicle Information System (NSPMVIS), that is to contain the identification numbers of stolen passenger motor vehicles and stolen passenger motor vehicle component parts. This system is to be maintained within the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Crime Information Center (NCIC), unless the Attorney General determines that it should be operated separately. The 1992 Act also required that the Departments of Justice and Transportation prepare studies on various sections of the 1992 Act. To determine the implementation status of the marking and information systems parts of the 1992 Act, we reviewed the 1992 Act, including its legislative history, and the Theft Act of 1984. We also interviewed officials and reviewed documentation from the Departments of Justice and Transportation, the federal agencies responsible for implementing the 1992 Act’s marking and information systems provisions. Specifically, we obtained information from Justice’s FBI, National Institute of Justice, Criminal Division, and Office of Legislative Affairs and from Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). We also interviewed officials from the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) and the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), which are involved in developing information systems called for in the 1992 Act’s provisions. To identify any issues that may impede the implementation or influence the effectiveness of the marking and information systems parts of the 1992 Act, we developed a list of possible issues affecting the implementation or effectiveness of these parts of the act by reviewing documents and interviewing the same officials from these agencies. We then discussed this list with the officials and revised it on the basis of their comments. We did not determine the validity of these issues or verify the data provided to us. We performed our work in Washington, D.C., from November 1995 to February 1996 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. On February 27, 1996, we requested comments on a draft of this report from the Attorney General, the Secretary of Transportation, the NICB Project Manger, and the AAMVA Director of Vehicle Services. We discussed this report, separately, with representatives of these organizations, including NHTSA’s Highway Safety Specialist; AAMVA Director of Vehicle Services; Executive Director of NICB-FACTA, Inc.; and the Director, Justice’s Audit Liaison Office; on March 7, 11, and 14, 1996, respectively. They generally agreed with the factual information in the report. Their comments have been incorporated where appropriate. The 1992 Act required Transportation to, among other things establish a task force by April 25, 1993, to study problems related to motor vehicle titling, registration, and salvage, which may affect motor vehicle theft, and to recommend (1) ways to solve these problems, including obtaining any national uniformity that it determines is necessary in these areas and related resources and (2) other needed legislative or administrative actions; review by January 1, 1994, state systems for motor vehicle titling and determine each state’s costs for providing a titling information system; and establish the title information system by January 31, 1996, unless Transportation determines that an existing system meets the statute’s requirement, and by January 1, 1997, report to Congress on those states that elected to participate in the information system and on those states not participating, including the reasons for nonparticipation. The title information system is intended to enable states and other users (e.g., law enforcement officials) to instantly and reliably determine, among other things, (1) the validity of title documents, (2) whether an automobile bearing a known identification number is titled in a particular state, and (3) whether an automobile titled in a particular state is, or has been, junked or salvaged. The task force, established in April 1993, reported in February 1994 its recommendations on the legislative and administrative actions needed to address problems in the areas of titling, registration, and controls over salvage to deter motor vehicle theft. The task force recommended, among other things, (1) the passage of federal legislation that would require uniform definitions for terms such as salvage vehicles and uniform methods for titling vehicles, (2) possible funding sources to pay for and maintain the titling system, and (3) penalties to enforce compliance by the participating states. The recommendations are detailed in appendix I. According to the task force chairman, the recommendations would have to be implemented to achieve the uniformity needed to ensure that the titling system would operate as envisioned. In October 1994, Transportation accepted most of the task force’s recommendations (see app. I regarding Transportation’s views on the task force recommendations). NHTSA contracted with AAMVA to identify the states’ costs for a titling system. AAMVA surveyed the 50 states and the District of Columbia to obtain their estimated costs for implementing the titling system. On January 31, 1994, NHTSA’s survey report stated that for the 37 states that provided cost estimates, the cost ranged from zero (1 state) to $12.2 million. For example, some states would have to modify their existing titling systems. In March 1996, AAMVA officials estimated that about $19 million in federal grants would be needed to fund states’ implementation costs. NHTSA officials said that since 13 states and the District of Columbia did not provide a cost estimate, they did not believe that the total costs to the states could be accurately determined. AAMVA pointed out that about 80 percent of the nation’s motor vehicle population is in the states that responded to the survey. In May 1994, Transportation sent proposed legislation to Congress to allow the Secretary of Transportation to extend the target date (from January 1996 to October 1997) for implementation of the national title information system. According to NHTSA officials, the proposed legislation was not introduced in Congress. Transportation requested the authority to extend the implementation date for the titling system because it understood that AAMVA was planning a pilot study of a titling information system, using only state and private sector funds and resources, and Transportation wanted to evaluate the study results. Subsequently, AAMVA requested funding from NHTSA for the pilot. In December 1994, NHTSA denied AAMVA’s request for funds to conduct a pilot study because, in NHTSA’s view, such a study would have been premature without first having uniformity in state titling laws and regulations. However, Congress provided $890,000 for a pilot study by NHTSA as part of Transportation’s fiscal year 1996 appropriation. NHTSA officials said that AAMVA would have responsibility for the pilot. According to AAMVA officials, as of January 1996, they were in the process of acquiring contractors to conduct the pilot, using AAMVA’s commercial driver’s license information system as the pilot’s model. According to NHTSA, the pilot should assist in determining the feasibility of a national titling system and identifying any needed uniform titling requirements for an efficient and cost-effective system. In addition, NHTSA expects the pilot to assist in determining the estimated costs for full implementation, the time frame to implement a nationwide system, the current status of titling information exchange between states, and possible barriers, in particular the absence of uniform system definitions, that could impede the states from participating in a national system. NHTSA said that the pilot study may not be able to identify all costs associated with a national titling system. It also said the complexity of implementing a titling system on a nationwide basis may call for additional resources above those identified in the pilot. NHTSA prepared legislation in response to the task force’s recommendations. Its Office of Safety Assurance submitted a legislative proposal to NHTSA’s Office of Chief Counsel in October 1994. The NHTSA Administrator approved the draft legislation for review by Transportation in May 1995. According to NHTSA, the draft legislative package contains two bills. One bill would provide (1) uniform definitions for categories of severely damaged passenger cars and their titles and (2) titling requirements for rebuilt salvage passenger vehicles. The other bill would remove the January 1996 implementation date and instead make the system contingent upon uniformity in state laws regarding the titling and control of severely damaged passenger vehicles. As of February 1, 1996, the bills were being reviewed by Transportation officials. Legislation (H.R.