Federal Reports

Evaluation of the FLRA's Compliance with the Privacy Act Mandatory Annual Training Requirement for Fiscal Year 2023

This report presents the results of our audit of the U.S. Postal Service’s cost attribution for parcelonlyprocessing facilities.

The objective of this statutory audit was to review the U.S. Department of Education (Department) compliance with the requirements outlined under section 759(a) of the Geospatial Data Act. Specifically, we sought to determine whether the Department implemented the 13 covered agency responsibilities listed in section 759(a) of the Geospatial Data Act. We found that the Department is in compliance with the applicable responsibilities outlined under section 759(a) of the Geospatial Data Act. Specifically, we found that the Department implemented all 12 of the 13 covered agency responsibilities listed in section 759(a) of the Geospatial Data Act that we reviewed. We were unable to evaluate compliance with one covered agency responsibility as the applicable data standards related to this responsibility have not yet been defined by the Federal Geographic Data Committee and the Office of Management and Budget. Although the Department has continued to meet the requirements of the Geospatial Data Act thus far, we noted concerns regarding the allocation of resources that could negatively impact the Department’s ability to remain compliant going forward.

Our Objective(s) To assess the Department of Transportation's (DOT) progress implementing its responsibilities under the Geospatial Data Act (GDA) as a (1) lead covered agency and (2) covered agency.Why This Audit Federal agencies and State governments rely on geospatial data to accomplish their missions. Geospatial data can also be critical to monitoring and responding to transportation safety issues. The GDA requires inspectors general of covered agencies to report to Congress at least every 2 years on their agencies' collection, production, acquisition, maintenance, distribution, use, and preservation of geospatial data. This is our third audit under the act, which revisits the objectives of our first two audits conducted in 2020 and 2022.What We FoundDOT fully complies with the GDA's requirements for lead covered agencies.DOT has fully implemented the five responsibilities related to the maintenance and dissemination of its transportation theme data.The Department has developed a plan to implement standards for transportation theme data, which includes creating an online document repository and procedures for standards adjudication and adoption.DOT complies with the GDA’s general and reporting requirements for covered agencies but partially complies with the inventory requirement.DOT meets all 12 of the Act's applicable covered agency requirements for advancing geospatial data through implementation of its strategy, record schedules, and use of geospatial information.The Department provided timely annual reports to the Federal Geographic Data Committee and Congress; however, it did not maintain an accurate geospatial system inventory.Recommendations We made two recommendations to improve DOT’s geospatial data assets inventory and reduce geospatial systems’ risks.