State Department: Need to Reassess U.S. Participation in the International Joint Commission
NSIAD-89-164
Published: Jun 29, 1989. Publicly Released: Aug 08, 1989.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed U.S. participation in the International Joint Commission (IJC), focusing on the extent to which U.S. agencies have implemented IJC recommendations.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of State | The Secretary of State, in conjunction with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Army Corps of Engineers, and other involved technical agencies, should establish a formal mechanism to provide prompt U.S. responses to IJC recommendations. Such responses should include either a confirmation that the U.S. agencies plan to implement a recommendation or an explanation of their rationale for rejecting the recommended course of action. |
Closed – Implemented
According to State officials, written responses will be provided to IJC biennial report recommendations.
|
| Department of State | The Secretary of State, with the assistance of officials from EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and other involved technical agencies, should reevaluate U.S. participation in IJC. Among the issues that should be included in this assessment are whether: (1) the U.S. commissioners should be required to have technical backgrounds or expertise; (2) the size and composition of the IJC staff are appropriate for the current IJC mission; (3) improvements can be made in the methods used for collecting and aggregating data from the states; and (4) greater public involvement would help to achieve IJC goals and, if so, what the nature and extent of that involvement should be. |
Closed – Implemented
As noted in State's response to Congress, it essentially disagreed that a major review of IJC is in order. State believes that IJC is working as intended and plans no further actions to review it.
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