Phosphate is used in the manufacture of a variety of products, including toothpaste, soft drinks, and dishwashing and laundry detergents. Over 95 percent of the phosphate produced in the United States, however, is used in the manufacture of fertilizers and animal feed supplements. This section provides information on phosphate mining in Idaho, the phosphate-leasing process, the mine plan approval process, the Clean Water Act permitting process, and the CERCLA assessment and remediation process.

DOJ awards federal financial assistance to state and local governments, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, tribal jurisdictions, and educational institutions to help prevent crime, assist victims of crime, and promote innovative law enforcement efforts. Federal financial assistance can take the form of discretionary grants, formula grants, cooperative agreements, and payment programs, which all are generally referred to as grants.

As part of our audit of the fiscal years 2011 and 2010 CFS, we considered the federal government's financial reporting procedures and related internal control. Also, we determined the status of corrective actions taken by Treasury and OMB to address open recommendations relating to the processes used to prepare the CFS detailed in our previous reports.

The Marine Corps Logistics Command (MCLC) (Programs and Resources Department), in conjunction with the Office of the Marine Corps Deputy Commandant (Programs and Resources) are responsible for developing DMAG's budget. The budget is then submitted to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Financial Management and Comptroller) for review and inclusion in the Navy Working Capital Fund budget submission to Congress.

The federal government funds multiple programs that subsidize housing construction and rehabilitation, assist homebuyers and renters, and provide assistance to state and local governments through a variety of spending and loan programs, tax expenditures, regulatory requirements, and other activities aimed at promoting housing.

To examine the history of the Kachemak Bay ferry project, we reviewed and analyzed ferry project proposal, planning, and construction documentation from local and tribal sources as well as from private tour boat operators, and we interviewed individuals with knowledge of the project.

States and localities have developed and largely funded their own indigent defense systems. To do so, they have generally adopted one or more of the following methods for providing indigent defense-employing full or part-time public defenders to handle the bulk of cases requiring counsel; entering into contracts with private attorneys, often after a bidding contest, to provide counsel; or developing a list, or "panel," of private attorneys who accept a predetermined fixed rate and from which the court appoints as defense counsel when needed.

The Medicaid program consists of 56 distinct state-based programs that operate within broad federal guidelines. States are the first line of defense against Medicaid improper payments. Specifically, they must ensure the qualifications of the providers who bill the program, detect improper payments, recover overpayments, and refer suspected cases of fraud and abuse to law enforcement authorities.

Given the size and significance of the government's investment in IT, it is important that projects be managed effectively to ensure that public resources are wisely invested. Effectively managing projects entails, among other things, developing reliable and high-quality cost estimates that project realistic life-cycle costs. A life-cycle cost estimate provides an exhaustive and structured accounting of all resources and associated cost elements required to develop, produce, deploy, and sustain a particular program. In essence, life cycle can be thought of as a "cradle to grave" approach to...

In the fiscal year 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Congress directed GAO to review the results achieved by MCC compacts.3 Seven of the 26 compacts were completed in 2010 or 2011, including those with the Republic of Georgia and Benin. All 7 compacts included a transportation infrastructure project (a road or a port) which-except in the case of Armenia-received 50 percent or more of the compact's total funding. In response to the congressional mandate, this report examines the quality and sustainability of MCC's transportation infrastructure projects in Georgia and Benin.