Ocean Research Fleet: Contracting Practices for Repair of NOAA Ships

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO monitored the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) implementation of recommendations that the Department of Commerce's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) included in two audit reports concerning alleged NOAA procurement of substandard power packs and NOAA contract management weaknesses affecting its vessel fleet. GAO also examined NOAA plans to propose legislation to clarify the application of labor rate provisions to its ship repair contracts.