Recommendation: The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works should direct the Chief of Engineers and the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to strengthen the Corps' internal review process for feasibility studies by including steps to ensure consistency with best practices for transparency, such as verifying that all of the important assumptions and limitations in models and their implications for the economic analysis are consistently, clearly, and fully described. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Defense: Department of the Army: Office of the Assistant Secretary (Civil Works)
Status: Open

Comments: In its letter dated January 14, 2020, the Department of Defense concurred with GAO's recommendation and provided a corrective action plan in response to the recommendation. According to the corrective action plan, the Corps estimates that guidance will be issued to ensure that Corps reports adequately describe and justify the models, analytical choices, assumptions, and data used such that it is consistent with best practices by December 31, 2020.

Recommendation: The Administrator of the EPA should develop a program management plan that includes a schedule of the actions EPA will take and the resources and funding it needs to establish and implement the Columbia River Basin Restoration Program, including formation of the associated Columbia River Basin Restoration Working Group, and submit this plan to the appropriate congressional authorizing committees as part of the fiscal year 2020 budget process. (Recommendation 1).

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: EPA reconvened the Columbia River Toxics Reduction Working Group. As of May 2019, EPA officials told us they are working on the development of a program management plan to identify the actions and timeline for implementing the Columbia River Basin Restoration Program. In July 2019, EPA released a status update entitled, "2019 Status Update: Columbia River Basin Toxics Reduction" that provides a summary of the working group's major accomplishments since 2010, as well as priority efforts for future work. In September 2019, EPA announced the availability of $900,000 in grants to reduce toxics throughout the Columbia River Basin for the Clean Water Act Section 123 Columbia River Basin Restoration Grant Program for fiscal year 2019 through fiscal year 2020. As of October 2020, we have not received additional information from EPA regarding this recommendation. We will update the recommendation's status when we do.

Recommendation: The Director of OMB should develop and provide guidance on the types of projects and activities that agencies involved in the protection and restoration of the Columbia River Basin should include in their reports, as well as the processes they should follow in compiling the related budget and spending information. (Recommendation 2).

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: As of April 2020, OMB staff did not provide an update. When we receive an update, we will provide information on actions taken.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Interior should notify all participating entities to ensure they are aware of the Interim Federal Action Plan and their role in it. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of the Interior
Status: Open

Comments: The 2020 OMB Crosscut Budget states that the implementation of the Delta Plan has been conducted by the Delta Plan Interagency Implementation Committee, which was created in 2013, and includes participation and leadership from federal agencies at the regional and DC headquarters levels. It also states that the Council is primarily responsible for coordinating federal activities in the Delta. This language clarifies the role of federal agencies in relation to the Council and the Delta Plan, as we recommended. However, in December 2019, Bureau of Reclamation officials stated that they were not aware of any communication of federal agencies' role. We will continue to monitor this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Chair of CEQ should notify all participating entities to ensure they are aware of the Interim Federal Action Plan and their role in it. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Council on Environmental Quality
Status: Open

Comments: The 2020 OMB Crosscut Budget states that the implementation of the Delta Plan has been conducted by the Delta Plan Interagency Implementation Committee, which was created in 2013, and includes participation and leadership from federal agencies at the regional and DC headquarters levels. It also states that the Council is primarily responsible for coordinating federal activities in the Delta. This language clarifies the role of federal agencies in relation to the Council and the Delta Plan, as we recommended. However as of January 2020, CEQ officials had not provided an update on this recommendation, although Bureau of Reclamation officials stated that they were not aware of any communication of federal agencies' role. We will continue to monitor this recommendation.

Recommendation: The Secretary of the Interior should coordinate with appropriate state entities to obtain and report the information available to meet the requirements under section 105 of the Calfed Bay-Delta Authorization Act (CALFED Act). (Recommendation 5)

Agency: Department of the Interior
Status: Open

Comments: In October 2019, Interior reported that the California Delta Stewardship Council (a state agency) had met twice and asked Reclamation to develop a template on financial detail for the Science Tracker, the Council's web-based tracking system. The Council compiles and reports on funding information and progress for federal and state agencies. The template will be used by a subgroup of agencies to collect their 2019 expenditures and this will be put into the Science Tracker in preparation for a February 15, 2020 reporting date. The subgroup is working on establishing common accounting and reporting protocols, supporting web-based tracking, and coordinating a review of science in the Delta.

Recommendation: The Director of OMB should coordinate with appropriate state entities to obtain and report the information available to meet the requirements under section 106 of the CALFED Act. (Recommendation 6)

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, OMB staff did not provide an update. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The Director of OMB should direct staff to update OMB's written guidance for federal and state agencies on submitting data for the budget crosscut reports OMB is required to submit under section 106 of the CALFED Act. (Recommendation 7)

Agency: Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget
Status: Open

Comments: As of January 2020, OMB staff had not provided an update on this recommendation. When we confirm what actions the agency has taken, we will provide updated information.

Recommendation: The EPA Region 10 Administrator should work with the management conference on future updates to the CCMP to help prioritize among the indicators that currently lack measurable targets and ensure that such targets are developed for the highest priority indicators where possible. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: EPA agreed with this recommendation, and in June 2019 EPA provided GAO with a written update on the status of actions being taken in response to the recommendation. EPA stated that the leader of the management conference, the Puget Sound Partnership, has initiated an effort to review and revise the Puget Sound recovery vital signs, including updating their associated indicators and targets. EPA estimated that this effort will be completed in fiscal year 2021 for use in the 2022 comprehensive conservation and management plan (CCMP) update. In December 2019, EPA stated that work is ongoing. We will continue to monitor the status of this effort and will assess the extent to which it addresses our recommendation.