This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-10-183T entitled 'National Transportation Safety Board: Reauthorization Provides an Opportunity to Focus on Implementing Leading Management Practices and Addressing Human Capital and Training Center Issues' which was released on October 30, 2009. This text file was formatted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to be accessible to users with visual impairments, as part of a longer term project to improve GAO products' accessibility. Every attempt has been made to maintain the structural and data integrity of the original printed product. Accessibility features, such as text descriptions of tables, consecutively numbered footnotes placed at the end of the file, and the text of agency comment letters, are provided but may not exactly duplicate the presentation or format of the printed version. The portable document format (PDF) file is an exact electronic replica of the printed version. We welcome your feedback. Please E-mail your comments regarding the contents or accessibility features of this document to Webmaster@gao.gov. This is a work of the U.S. government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. It may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without further permission from GAO. Because this work may contain copyrighted images or other material, permission from the copyright holder may be necessary if you wish to reproduce this material separately. Testimony: Before the Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senate: United States Government Accountability Office: GAO: For Release on Delivery Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT: October 29, 2009: National Transportation Safety Board: Reauthorization Provides an Opportunity to Focus on Implementing Leading Management Practices and Addressing Human Capital and Training Center Issues: Statement of Gerald L. Dillingham, Ph.D. Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues: National Transportation Safety Board: GAO-10-183T: GAO Highlights: Highlights of [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-10- 183T], a testimony before the Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security, Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senate. Why GAO Did This Study: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), whose reauthorization is the subject of today’s hearing, plays a vital role in advancing transportation safety by investigating accidents, determining their causes, issuing safety recommendations, and conducting safety studies. To support the agency’s mission, NTSB’s Training Center provides training to NTSB investigators and others. From 2006 through 2008, GAO made 21 recommendations to NTSB that address management, information technology (IT), accident investigation criteria, safety studies, and Training Center use. This testimony addresses NTSB’s progress in implementing recommendations that it (1) follow leading management practices, (2) conduct aspects of its accident investigations and safety studies more efficiently, and (3) increase the use of its Training Center. This testimony is based on GAO’s assessment from July 2009 to October 2009 of plans and procedures NTSB developed to address these recommendations. NTSB provided technical comments that GAO incorporated as appropriate. What GAO Found: NTSB has fully implemented or made significant progress in adopting leading management practices in all areas in which GAO made prior recommendations. For example, as GAO recommended in 2006, NTSB issued agencywide plans for human capital management and IT management, as well as a strategic plan. In 2008, GAO identified opportunities for improvement in those plans, and NTSB has since issued revised human capital and IT plans and drafted a revised agencywide strategic plan and a new strategic training plan. NTBS has taken steps to improve its diversity management. However, the percentages of NTSB’s fiscal year 2008 workforce that were women and minorities were lower than those of the federal government. In addition, no members of a minority group are part of NTSB’s 15-member career Senior Executive Service. Since GAO’s 2008 report, NTSB has continued to improve information security by installing encryption software on agency laptops and appropriately restricting users’ access privileges. NTSB has obligated money to implement a full cost accounting system consistent with a prior GAO recommendation, but NTSB officials said that the system will not be implemented until late in fiscal year 2010. In 2008, GAO reported that NTSB had made significant progress in articulating risk-based criteria for selecting which accidents to investigate. Specifically, NTSB had established such criteria for identifying which rail, pipeline, hazardous materials, and aviation accidents to investigate at the scene. Since then, NTSB has adopted the remaining highway and marine criteria, and NTSB is streamlining and increasing it use of technology in closing-out recommendations. NTSB has three safety studies in progress and would like to broaden the term “safety studies” to include not only its current studies of multiple accidents, but also the research it does for other smaller safety-related reports and data inquiries. NTSB has continued to increase the use of its Training Center—from 10 percent in fiscal year 2006 to 80 percent in fiscal year 2009. As a result, revenues have increased and the center’s overall deficit has declined from about $3.9 million in fiscal year 2005 to about $1.9 million in fiscal year 2009. Figure: NTSB Training Center: [Refer to PDF for image: photograph] Source: NTSB. [End of figure] View [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-10-183T] or key components. For more information, contact Gerald L. Dillingham, Ph.D., at (202) 512-2834 or dillinghamg@gao.gov. [End of section] Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: We appreciate the opportunity to testify before you today as you consider the reauthorization of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). NTSB is a relatively small agency that has gained a worldwide reputation as a preeminent investigator of transportation accidents. With a staff of about 400 and a budget of $91 million for fiscal year 2009, NTSB is charged with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and selected accidents in other transportation modes, determining the probable cause of these accidents, making recommendations to address safety issues identified during accident investigations, and performing transportation safety studies. To support its mission, NTSB built a Training Center that opened in 2003 and provides training to NTSB investigators and other transportation safety professionals. As the share of federal resources used to address the nation's long- term fiscal imbalance and other national priorities grows, funding for increases in the budgets of individual agencies becomes more uncertain. It is therefore critical for NTSB to use its resources as efficiently as possible to carry out its mission. In 2006, we conducted a broad review of the agency's management practices, examined how it carried out its activities related to accident investigations and safety studies, and analyzed whether its Training Center was cost- effective.[Footnote 1] In total, we made 21 recommendations in these areas. In addition, in recent years, other entities have conducted reviews and made recommendations to NTSB related to information security practices and financial management. Our testimony addresses NTSB's progress in (1) following leading practices in management areas such as strategic planning, human capital management, information technology (IT), and financial management; (2) increasing the efficiency of activities related to investigating accidents, issuing recommendations, and conducting safety studies; and (3) increasing the use of its Training Center. Our testimony is based on our analysis of policies and procedures that NTSB developed in response to our recommendations and to the recommendations of the independent auditors of NTSB's information systems. To perform our analysis, we reviewed NTSB's agencywide, IT, and human capital strategic plans; office operating plans; and other relevant documents. We also visited the NTSB Training Center; interviewed NTSB's Chief Information Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and other agency officials; and updated information we reported in 2006 and 2008.[Footnote 2] In addition, we performed limited testing of NTSB's laptop computers. In our analysis, we classified NTSB's progress in implementing a recommendation as limited when the agency was in the early planning stages and documents or milestones for actions did not exist or the agency did not follow leading practices. Recognizing that many recommendations may take considerable time and effort to fully implement, we classified NTSB's progress in implementing a recommendation as significant if the agency had taken steps beyond the early planning stages toward addressing the concerns. For example, NTSB might have developed documents or policies that, for the most part, followed leading practices. Finally, we classified a recommendation as fully implemented when NTSB had fully implemented plans or processes that followed leading practices. NTSB provided technical comments on a draft of this statement that we incorporated as appropriate. We conducted this performance audit from July 2009 to October 2009 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide 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 findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. NTSB Has Made Progress in All Management Areas, but Further Actions Are Needed to Fully Implement Some Recommendations: Overall, NTSB has fully implemented or made significant progress in following leading management practices in all eight areas that our recommendations addressed in 2006 and 2008--communication, strategic planning, IT, knowledge management, organizational structure, human capital management, training, and financial management. We made 15 management recommendations in these areas based on leading agency management practices that we identified through our governmentwide work. Although NTSB is a relatively small agency, such practices remain relevant. Figure 1 summarizes NTSB's progress in implementing our management recommendations. Figure 1: Implementation Status of GAO's Recommendations Related to NTSB's Management: [Refer to PDF for image: chart] Arena: Communication; GAO recommendation: Develop mechanisms to facilitate communication from staff to management; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Fully implemented; Current Status: Fully implemented. Arena: Communication; GAO recommendation: Report to Congress on the status of GAO recommendations; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current Status: Fully implemented. Arena: Strategic Planning; GAO recommendation: Develop a revised strategic plan that follows performance-based practices; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current Status: Significant progress. Arena: Information Technology; GAO recommendation: Develop an IT plan that includes policies and a strategy to guide IT acquisitions; Status in 2006: [Empty]; Status in 2008: New recommendation or limited progress; Current Status: Fully implemented. Arena: Information Technology; GAO recommendation: Encrypt information/data on all laptops and mobile devices. Status in 2006: [Empty]; Status in 2008: New recommendation or limited progress; Current Status: Fully implemented. Arena: Information Technology; GAO recommendation: Limit local administrator privileges to those accounts that require that level of access[A]; Status in 2006: [Empty]; Status in 2008: New recommendation or limited progress; Current Status: Fully implemented. Arena: Knowledge Management; GAO recommendation: Develop a knowledge management plan to create, capture, and reuse knowledge to achieve NTSB’s objectives; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current Status: Significant progress. Arena: Organizational structure; GAO recommendation: Align organizational structure to implement strategic plan; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Fully implemented; Current Status: Fully implemented. Arena: Organizational structure; GAO recommendation: Eliminate unnecessary management layers; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current Status: Significant progress. Arena: Human capital management; GAO recommendation: Develop a strategic human capital plan that is linked to NTSB’s overall strategic plan. This human capital plan should include strategies on staffing, recruitment and retention, training, and diversity management; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current Status: Significant progress. Arena: Training; GAO recommendation: Develop a strategic training plan that is aligned with NTSB’s revised strategic plan, identifies skill gaps that pose obstacles to meeting the agency’s strategic goals, and establishes curriculum that would eliminate those gaps; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: New recommendation or limited progress; Current Status: Significant progress. Arena: Training; GAO recommendation: Develop a core curriculum for investigators that addresses the specialized needs for each mode; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: New recommendation or limited progress; Current Status: Significant progress. Arena: Financial Management; GAO recommendation: Correct violation of the Antideficiency Act related to purchasing accidental death and dismemberment insurance for employees on official travel[B]; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Fully implemented; Current Status: Fully implemented. Arena: Financial Management; GAO recommendation: Correct violation of the Antideficiency Act related to NTSB’s lease of the Training Center; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current Status: Significant progress. Arena: Financial Management; GAO recommendation: Develop a full cost accounting system to track time employees spend on each investigation and in training; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: New recommendation or limited progress; Current Status: Significant progress. Source: GAO analysis of NTSB data. [A] Users with local administrator privileges on their workstations have complete control over all local resources, including accounts and files, and have the ability to load software with known vulnerabilities, either unintentionally or intentionally, and to modify or reconfigure their computers in a manner that could negate network security policies as well as provide an attack vector into the internal network. Accordingly, industry best practices provide that membership in local administrators' groups should be limited to only those accounts that require this level of access. [B] In 2007, we issued a legal decision finding that NTSB improperly used its appropriated funds to purchase accidental death and dismemberment insurance for its employees on official travel. NTSB does not have an appropriation specifically available for such a purpose, and the expenditures cannot be justified as a necessary expense. Because NTSB has no appropriation available to purchase accident insurance, the payments NTSB made constitute violations of the Antideficiency Act. 31 U.S.C. § 1341(a). We did not make a recommendation regarding this violation of the act because we reported the violation in a Comptroller General's decision, and such decisions do not include recommendations. GAO, Decision of the Comptroller General of the United States, B-309715, September 25, 2007, National Transportation Safety Board--Insurance for Employees Traveling on Official Business. NTSB remedied this violation through a fiscal year appropriation. Pub. L. No. 110-161, Title III, 121 Stat. 1844, 2441 (2007). A bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, H.R. 915, 111th Cong., 2009, would provide NTSB with specific authority to purchase this insurance. [End of figure] NTBS had fully implemented three of our management recommendations as of our last report in April 2008--our recommendations to (1) facilitate communication from staff to management, (2) align organizational structure to implement a strategic plan, and (3) correct an Antideficiency Act violation related to purchasing accidental death and dismemberment insurance for employees on official travel. In addition, NTSB has made further progress on seven of our management recommendations since 2008. First, it started reporting to Congress on the status of our recommendations by including the actions it has taken to address them in its Annual Report to Congress.[Footnote 3] In addition, NTSB has taken steps to implement all three of our IT-related recommendations: * NTSB has fully implemented an IT strategic plan that addresses our comments. Moreover, in compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), NTSB has undergone annual independent audits, hiring outside contractors to perform security testing and evaluation of its computer systems.[Footnote 4] * We performed limited testing to verify that NTSB has implemented our recommendation to install encryption software. Agency officials confirmed, however, that while encryption software is operational on 410 of the agency's approximately 420 laptop computers, the remaining laptops do not have encryption software installed because they do not include sensitive information and are not removed from the headquarters building. * NTSB has made significant progress in limiting local administrator privileges while allowing for employees to add software and print from offsite locations as necessary. NTSB has also drafted a strategic training plan that, when finalized, would address GAO guidance on federal strategic training and development efforts and establish the core competencies needed for investigators and other staff. In addition, two modal offices have developed core curricula that relate specifically to their investigators. In addition, NTSB obligated $1.3 million in September 2009 to the National Business Center--an arm of the Department of the Interior that provides for-fee payroll services to federal agencies--to develop a full cost accounting system for NTSB based on a statement of work. NTSB officials said that the first phase of the cost accounting system will be implemented late in fiscal year 2010. When completed to permit recording time and costing of investigations and other activities, including training, this action will fully implement our recommendation. The remaining five management recommendations have not yet been fully implemented. However, NTSB has initiated actions that could lead to the full implementation of the remainder of the recommendations. For example, GAO offered suggestions in 2008 for improving NTSB's agencywide strategic plan, and NTSB is in the final stages of updating its strategic plan, which may address our comments by incorporating all five agency mission areas in its goals and objectives and obtaining comments from Congress or other external stakeholders potentially affected by or interested in the plan. In addition, NTSB has continued to improve its knowledge management by developing a plan to capture, create, share, and revise knowledge, and the agency is deploying Microsoft SharePoint® to facilitate sharing useful information within NTSB. In April 2008, we reported that NTSB had made significant progress in implementing our human capital planning recommendation by issuing a human capital plan that incorporated several strategies on enhancing the recruitment process but was limited in some areas of diversity management. As we have previously reported, diversity management is a key aspect of strategic human capital management. Developing a workforce that includes and takes advantage of the nation's diversity is a significant part of an agency's transformation of its organization to meet the challenges of the 21st century. The most recent version of NTSB's human capital plan establishes goals for recruiting, developing, and retaining a diverse workforce, and NTSB provided diversity training to 32 of its senior managers and office directors in May 2009. Table 1 compares the diversity of NTSB's fiscal year 2008 workforce with that of the federal government and the civilian labor force. Table 1: NTSB, Federal Government, and Civilian Labor Force Diversity by Percentage, Fiscal Year 2008A: NTSB; Fiscal year 2008: African American: 17.0%; Fiscal year 2008: American Indian/ Alaska Native: 1.0%; Fiscal year 2008: Asian/Pacific Islander: 4.0%; Fiscal year 2008: Hispanic: 2.0%; Fiscal year 2008: White: 76.0%; Fiscal year 2008: Women: 38.0%; Fiscal year 2008: Men: 62.0%. Federal government; Fiscal year 2008: African American: 17.9%; Fiscal year 2008: American Indian/ Alaska Native: 1.9%; Fiscal year 2008: Asian/Pacific Islander: 5.4%; Fiscal year 2008: Hispanic: 7.9%; Fiscal year 2008: White: 66.6%; Fiscal year 2008: Women: 44.2%; Fiscal year 2008: Men: 55.8%. Civilian labor force[B]; Fiscal year 2008: African American: 10.0%; Fiscal year 2008: American Indian/ Alaska Native: 0.7%; Fiscal year 2008: Asian/Pacific Islander: 4.3%; Fiscal year 2008: Hispanic: 13.2%; Fiscal year 2008: White: 70.7%; Fiscal year 2008: Women: 45.6%; Fiscal year 2008: Men: 54.4%. Sources: Federal government and civilian labor force data are from the Office of Personnel Management's Fiscal Year 2008 Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program report. Data for NTSB are from the supplement to its strategic human capital plan. [A] This data represents the most recent data NTSB has issued on diversity. [B] The civilian labor force is defined as persons 16 years and older (including federal workers), regardless of citizenship, who are employed or looking for work and are not in the military or institutionalized. A minimum age of 18 years is required for most federal employment. [End of table] As the table shows, the percentages of NTSB's fiscal year 2008 workforce that were women and minorities were lower than those of the federal government. Under the Office of Personnel Management's regulations implementing the Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program, agencies are required to determine where representation levels for covered groups are lower than for the civilian labor force and take steps to address those differences.[Footnote 5] Additionally, as of fiscal year 2008, 9 percent of NSTB's managers and supervisors are minorities and 24 percent are women (see fig. 2). Furthermore, according to NTSB, none of NTSB's current 15-member career Senior Executive Service (SES) staff were members of minority groups, and only 2 of them were women. As we have previously reported, diversity in SES, which generally represents the most experienced segment of the federal workforce, can strengthen an organization by bringing a wider variety of perspectives and approaches to policy development and decision making. Figure 2: Distribution of NTSB Supervisory or Managerial Positions, by Race and Gender, Fiscal Year 2008: [Refer to PDF for image: horizontal bar graph] Number of supervisors/managers: Gender: Male: 59; Gender: Female: 19. Race: White: 71; Race: Nonwhite: 7. Source: GAO analysis of NTSB data. [End of figure] NTSB has undertaken several initiatives to create a stronger, more diverse pool of candidates for external positions. These initiatives include the establishment of a Management Candidate Program that has attracted a diverse pool of minority and female candidates at the GS 13/14 level. NTSB's Executive Development Program focuses on identifying candidates for current and future SES positions at the agency. Despite these efforts, NTSB has not been able to appreciably change its diversity profile for minority group members and women. NTSB's current workforce demographics may present the agency with an opportunity to increase the diversity of its workforce and management. According to NTSB, in 3 years, more than 50 percent of its current supervisors and managers will be eligible to retire, as will over 25 percent of its general workforce. Furthermore, 53 percent of its investigators and 71 percent of those filling critical leadership positions are at least 50 years of age. Although actual retirement rates may be lower than retirement eligibility rates, especially in the present economic environment, consideration of retirement eligibility is important to workforce planning. NTSB Has Made Its Selection of Accident Investigations More Efficient, but Reporting Can Be Improved: We previously made four recommendations to NTSB to improve the efficiency of its activities related to investigating accidents, such as selecting accidents to investigate and tracking the status of its recommendations, and increasing its use of safety studies (see fig. 3). Figure 3: Implementation Status of GAO Recommendations Related to NTSB's Accident Investigation Mission and Safety Studies: [Refer to PDF for image: chart] Area: Accident selection; GAO recommendation: Develop agency orders for all modes articulating risk-based criteria for selecting which accidents to investigate; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current status: Fully implemented. Area: Recommendation close-out; GAO recommendation: Computerize related documentation and use concurrent reviews; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current status: Significant progress. Area: Report development; GAO recommendation: Identify better practices in the agency and apply them to all modes; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current status: Significant progress. Area: Safety studies; GAO recommendation: Increase use of safety studies; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: New recommendation or limited progress; Current status: Significant progress. Source: GAO analysis of NTSB data. [End of figure] NTSB is required by statute to investigate all civil aviation accidents and selected accidents in other modes--highway, marine, railroad, pipeline, and hazardous materials.[Footnote 6] Since our April 2008 report, NTSB has fully implemented our recommendation to develop transparent policies containing risk-based criteria for selecting which accidents to investigate. The recently completed highway policy assigns priority to accidents based on the number of fatalities, whether the accident conditions are on NTSB's "Watch List"[Footnote 7] or whether the accidents might have significant safety issues, among other factors (see fig. 4). For marine accidents, NTSB has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the U.S. Coast Guard that includes criteria for selecting which accidents to investigate. In addition, NTSB has now developed an internal policy on selecting marine accidents for investigation. This policy enhances the MOU by providing criteria to assess whether to launch an investigation when the Coast Guard, not NTSB, would have the lead. In April 2008, we reported that NTSB had also developed a transparent, risk-based policy explaining which aviation, rail, pipeline, and hazardous materials accidents to investigate.[Footnote 8] Figure 4: Two NTSB Investigators Assess Motorcoach Wreckage: [Refer to PDF for image: photograph] Source: NTSB. [End of figure] The remaining three recommendations have not yet been fully implemented. However, NTSB has initiated actions that could lead to closure of the recommendations. NTSB is deploying an agencywide electronic information system based on Microsoft SharePoint that will streamline and increase NTSB's use of technology in closing out its recommendations and in developing reports. When fully implemented, this system should serve to close these two recommendations. NTSB has also made significant progress in implementing our recommendation to increase its use of safety studies, which are multiyear efforts that result in recommendations. They are intended to improve transportation safety by effecting changes to policies, programs, and activities of agencies that regulate transportation safety. While we, the Department of Transportation, and nongovernmental groups, like universities, also conduct research designed to improve transportation safety, NTSB is mandated to carry out special studies and investigations about transportation safety, including studies about how to avoid personal injury.[Footnote 9] Although NTSB has not completed any safety studies since we made our recommendation in 2006, it has three studies in progress, one of which is in final draft, and it has established a goal of developing two safety study proposals and submitting them to its board for approval each year. NTSB officials told us that because the agency has a small number of staff, it has difficulty producing large studies in addition to processing many other reports and data inquiries. NTSB officials told us they would like to broaden the term "safety studies" to include not only the current studies of multiple accidents, but the research done for the other smaller safety-related reports and data inquiries. Such a term, they said, would better characterize the scope of their efforts to report safety information to the public. NTSB also developed new guidelines to address its completion of safety studies. Congressional reauthorization is an ideal time to obtain stakeholder input on whether a change in terminology like this would meet NTSB's legislative requirement. NTSB Has Increased Use of the Training Center: We made two recommendations for NTSB to increase its own and other agencies' use of the Training Center and to decrease the center's overall operating deficit (see fig. 5). The agency increased use of the center's classroom space from 10 percent in fiscal year 2006 to 80 percent in fiscal year 2009. According to NTSB, it has sublease agreements with agencies of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to rent approximately three-quarters of the classroom space located on the first and second floors. The warehouse portion of the Training Center houses reconstructed wreckage from TWA Flight 800, damaged aircraft, and other wreckage. The Training Center provides core training for NTSB investigators and trains others from the transportation community to improve their practice of accident investigation. Furthermore, NTSB has hired a Management Support Specialist whose job duties include maximizing the Training Center's use and marketing its use to other agencies or organizations. The agency's actions to increase the center's use also helped increase total Training Center revenues from about $635,000 in fiscal year 2005 to about $1,771,000 in fiscal year 2009. By reducing the center's leasing expenses--for example, by subleasing classrooms and office space at the center to other agencies--NTSB reduced the Training Center's annual deficit from about $3.9 million to about $1.9 million over the same time period. Figure 5: Implementation Status of GAO Recommendations Related to Training Center Use: [Refer to PDF for image: chart] Area: Training Center; GAO recommendation: Maximize delivery of the core investigator curriculum at the Training Center; Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current status: Significant progress. Area: Training Center; GAO recommendation: Develop plans to increase use of the Training Center. Status in 2006: New recommendation or limited progress; Status in 2008: Significant progress; Current status: Significant progress. Source: GAO analysis of NTSB data. [End of figure] NTSB has made significant progress in achieving the intent of our recommendation to maximize the delivery of its core investigator curriculum at the Training Center by increasing the number of NTSB- related courses taught at the Training Center (fig. 6). For example in 2008, 49 of the 68 courses offered at the Training Center were solely for NTSB employees. Figure 6: NTSB Training Center: [Refer to PDF for image: photograph] Source: NTSB. [End of figure] NTSB has fully implemented our recommendation to increase use of the Training Center. NTSB subleased all available office space at its Training Center to the Federal Air Marshal Service (a DHS agency) at an annual fee of $479,000. NTSB also increased use of the Training Center's classroom space and thereby increased the revenues it receives from course fees and rents for classroom and conference space. From fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2009, NTSB increased other agencies' and its own use of classroom space from 10 to 80 percent, and increased revenues by over $1.1 million. For example, according to NTSB it has a sublease agreement with DHS to rent approximately one-third of the classroom space. NTSB considered moving certain staff from headquarters to the Training Center, but halted these considerations after subleasing all of the Training Center's available office space. NTSB decreased personnel expenses related to the Training Center from about $980,000 in fiscal year 2005 to $507,000 in fiscal year 2009 by reducing the center's full-time equivalent positions from 8.5 to 3.0 over the same period. As a result of these efforts, from fiscal year 2005 through fiscal year 2009, Training Center revenues increased 179 percent while the center's overall deficit decreased by 51 percent. (Table 2 shows direct expenses and revenues for the Training Center in fiscal years 2004 through 2009.) However, the salaries and other personnel-related expenses associated with NTSB investigators and managers teaching at the Training Center, which would be appropriate to include in the Training Center's costs, are not included. NTSB officials told us that they believe the investigators and managers teaching at the Training Center would be teaching at another location even if the Training Center did not exist. Once NTSB has fully implemented its cost accounting system, it should be able to track and report these expenses. Table 2: Direct Expenses and Revenues for NTSB's Training Center, Fiscal Years 2004 through 2009 (unaudited): Expenses: Personnel related; Fiscal year: 2004: $1,011,717; Fiscal year: 2005: $978,591; Fiscal year: 2006: $688,716; Fiscal year: 2007: $466,582; Fiscal year: 2008: $512,525; Fiscal year: 2009: $506,503. Expenses: Travel; Fiscal year: 2004: $24,428; Fiscal year: 2005: $56,912; Fiscal year: 2006: $31,009; Fiscal year: 2007: $22,284; Fiscal year: 2008: $35,572; Fiscal year: 2009: $32,678. Expenses: Space rental[A]; Fiscal year: 2004: $2,521,440; Fiscal year: 2005: $2,500,896; Fiscal year: 2006: $2,221,430; Fiscal year: 2007: $2,286,660; Fiscal year: 2008: $2,516,498; Fiscal year: 2009: $2,342,653. Expenses: Maintenance/repair of buildings[B]; Fiscal year: 2004: $706,279; Fiscal year: 2005: $238,203; Fiscal year: 2006: $23,151; Fiscal year: 2007: ($4,215); Fiscal year: 2008: [Empty]; Fiscal year: 2009: [Empty]. Expenses: Contract services; Fiscal year: 2004: $2,204,880; Fiscal year: 2005: $558,540; Fiscal year: 2006: $287,873; Fiscal year: 2007: $330,491; Fiscal year: 2008: $635,300; Fiscal year: 2009: $722,187. Expenses: Miscellaneous expenses[C]; Fiscal year: 2004: $42,258; Fiscal year: 2005: $182,136; Fiscal year: 2006: $57,099; Fiscal year: 2007: $19,720; Fiscal year: 2008: $77,399; Fiscal year: 2009: $82,482. Total expenses; Fiscal year: 2004: $6,511,003; Fiscal year: 2005: $4,515,279; Fiscal year: 2006: $3,309,277; Fiscal year: 2007: $3,121,521; Fiscal year: 2008: $3,777,294; Fiscal year: 2009: $3,686,503. Total earned revenue[D]; Fiscal year: 2004: $258,760; Fiscal year: 2005: $634,800; Fiscal year: 2006: $651,191; Fiscal year: 2007: $817,555; Fiscal year: 2008: $1,630,910; Fiscal year: 2009: $1,770,996. Overall deficit; Fiscal year: 2004: -$6,252,243; Fiscal year: 2005: -$3,880,479; Fiscal year: 2006: -$2,658,086; Fiscal year: 2007: -$2,303,966; Fiscal year: 2008: -$2,146,374; Fiscal year: 2009: $-1,915,507. Deficit when space rental expense is excluded; Fiscal year: 2004: -$3,730,803; Fiscal year: 2005: -$1,379,583; Fiscal year: 2006: -$436,656; Fiscal year: 2007: -$17,306; Fiscal year: 2008: -$453,737; Fiscal year: 2009: -$354,584. Source: GAO analysis of information from NTSB. [A] NTSB leases the Training Center from George Washington University under a 20-year capital lease that will expire in 2021. [B] The amount reported in the maintenance and repair category during fiscal year 2007 includes a refund of $28,377 to NTSB because of a reconciliation of utility costs, as required by the lease. According to NTSB officials, in recent years, maintenance and repair expenses have been reported in the contract services category. [C] Includes expenses for items such as telephone, mail, photography services, printing, office supplies and equipment. [D] Earned revenue includes imputed fees for NTSB students and sublease fees. [End of table] Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared statement. I would be happy to respond to any questions you or other Members of the Subcommittee may have at this time. Contacts and Acknowledgments: For further information on this testimony, please contact Gerald L. Dillingham, Ph.D. at (202) 512-2834 or by e-mail at dillinghamg@gao.gov or Gregory C. Wilshusen at (202) 512-6244 or wilshuseng@gao.gov. Individuals making key contributions to this testimony include Keith Cunningham, Assistant Director; Lauren Calhoun; Peter Del Toro; George Depaoli; Elizabeth Eisenstadt; Fred Evans; Steven Lozano; Mary Marshall; Kiki Theodoropoulos; Charles Vrable; Jack Warner; and Sarah Wood. [End of section] Footnotes: [1] GAO, National Transportation Safety Board: Progress Made, yet Management Practices, Investigation Priorities, and Training Center Use Should Be Improved. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO- 07-118] (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 22, 2006). [2] GAO, National Transportation Safety Board: Preliminary Observations on the Value of Comprehensive Planning and Greater Use of Leading Practices and the Training Academy. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi- bin/getrpt?GAO-06-801T] (Washington, D.C.: May 24, 2006); [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-118]; and GAO, National Transportation Safety Board: Progress Made in Management Practices, Investigation Priorities, Training Center Use, and Information Security, but These Areas Continue to Need Improvement. [hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-08-652T] (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 23, 2008). [3] NTSB, Annual Report to Congress 2008 (Washington D.C.: July 1, 2009) [4] The Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), Pub. L. No. 107-347, 116 Stat. 2899, 2946, codified as amended at 44 U.S.C. § 3541 et seq., requires that each agency shall have performed an independent evaluation of the information security program and practices of that agency to determine their effectiveness. 44 U.S.C. § 3545(a)(1). Agencies that do not have an Inspector General, such as the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), shall engage an independent external auditor to perform the evaluation. 44 U.S.C. § 3545(b)(2). In fiscal years 2007 and 2008, NTSB contracted with Leon Snead & Company to perform the independent external audits. See Leon Snead & Company, P.C., National Transportation Safety Board: Compliance with the Requirements of the Federal Information Security Management Act, Fiscal Year 2007 (Sept. 24, 2007), and National Transportation Safety Board: Compliance with the Requirements of the Federal Information Security Management Act, Fiscal Year 2008 (Sept. 29, 2008). These audits, which were submitted to the Office of Management and Budget as required by FISMA, identified weaknesses in NTSB's compliance with FISMA requirements and included an assessment of the agency's actions to address recommendations in prior-year FISMA reports. Those prior reports include U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General, Information Security Program: National Transportation Safety Board, Report No. FI-2006-001 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 7, 2005); and Information Security Program: National Transportation Safety Board, Report No. FI-2007-001 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 13, 2006). [5] The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Management Directive 715 provides guidance and standards to federal agencies for establishing and maintaining effective equal employment opportunity programs, including a framework for executive branch agencies to help ensure effective management, accountability, and self-analysis to determine whether barriers to equal employment opportunity exist and to identify and develop strategies to mitigate or eliminate the barriers to participation. [6] NTSB also has the authority to investigate any other accident related to the transportation of individuals or property when its board decides the accident is catastrophic or involves problems of a recurring character, or the investigation would help carry out NTSB authorities for accident investigation. 49 U.S.C. § 1131(a)(1)(F). [7] The Watch List contains accident conditions that could either support previous NTSB recommendations or sustain issues being developed in accidents currently under investigation. [8] NTSB conducts all of its marine, rail, pipeline, hazardous materials, and highway accident investigations at the scene of the accident. In contrast, for aviation accidents, NTSB conducts on-scene investigations of major accidents and more limited investigations of accidents not designated as major. NTSB defines a major accident as one that involves an issue that is related to a current safety study or special investigation, affects public confidence or transportation safety in a significant way, or is catastrophic. [9] 49 U.S.C. § 1116(b)(1). 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