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Open Recommendations (84 total)

Artificial Intelligence: Agencies Have Begun Implementation but Need to Complete Key Requirements

GAO-24-105980
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the department (a) reviews the department's authorities related to applications of AI, and (b) develops and submits to OMB plans to achieve consistency with the Regulation of AI Applications memorandum (M-21-06). (Recommendation 8)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

IT Modernization: USDA Needs to Improve Oversight of Farm Production and Conservation Mission Area

GAO-21-512
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) directs the Business Center Chief Operating Officer to have the FPAC mission area implement the key IT workforce planning activity of developing competency and staffing requirements. (Recommendation 5)
Open
In August 2023, agency officials noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Workforce Steering Committee had updated the technical competencies for its IT workforce. Subsequently the FPAC Human Resources group used the updated competencies to develop a competency assessment process. However, agency officials stated that that the assessment process was put on hold. FPAC officials noted that in August 2023 they began the process of restarting the competency assessments. We will continue to review FPAC's progress in this area.
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) directs the Business Center Chief Operating Officer to have the FPAC mission area implement the key IT workforce planning activity of assessing competency and staffing needs regularly. (Recommendation 6)
Open
In August 2023, agency officials noted that the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Workforce Steering Committee had updated the technical competencies for its IT workforce. Subsequently the FPAC Human Resources group used the updated competencies to develop a competency assessment process. However, agency officials stated that that the assessment process was put on hold. FPAC officials noted that in August 2023 they began the process of restarting the competency assessments. We will continue to review FPAC's progress in this area.

Rural Housing Service: Actions Needed to Strengthen Management of the Single Family Mortgage Guarantee Program

GAO-16-193
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture To improve compliance with OMB Circular A-129 standards and strengthen management and oversight of the guarantee program, and to strengthen risk assessment and reporting, the Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Undersecretary for Rural Development to improve performance measures comparing RHS and the Federal Housing Administration loan performance, potentially by making comparisons on a cohort basis and limiting comparisons to loans made in similar geographic areas.
Open – Partially Addressed
Consistent with one aspect of our recommendation, RHS produces an internal quarterly report that includes a comparison of RHS and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan performance by state. However, the report does not include any cohort-level comparisons. In August 2023, RHS said it had implemented Moody's rating agency's Mortgage Portfolio Analyzer (MPA) and stated that this allowed RHS to make comparisons to FHA loan performance on a cohort basis and in similar geographic areas. RHS has used MPA to compare RHS and FHA expected portfolio-level losses under baseline and severely adverse environments. However, as of December 2023, RHS had not provided documentation that it uses MPA to compare RHS and FHA loan performance at the cohort level and in similar geographies. We maintain that these more detailed comparisons would be more meaningful than the portfolio-level comparisons RHS currently makes.

Broadband: USDA Should Set Performance Goals and Improve Fraud Risk Management for Funding Program

GAO-23-105265
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should direct ReConnect program officials to establish program specific performance goals and use them to manage the program. (Recommendation 1)
Open
Previously, USDA said it will develop performance goals for ReConnect. In January 2024, USDA officials said they expect to complete this work by the end of June 2024. GAO will continue to monitor the agency's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Sustainable Aviation Fuel: Agencies Should Track Progress Toward Ambitious Federal Goals [Reissued with Revisions May 17, 2023]

GAO-23-105300
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should coordinate with DOT and DOE to develop and incorporate into the Grand Challenge Roadmap performance measures that enable the agencies to evaluate their actions and the effect of policy on SAF production and communicate the extent to which SAF is poised to contribute to larger aviation greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. (Recommendation 3)
Open
USDA agreed with, but has not fully addressed, this recommendation. As of February 2024, officials from DOT, DOE, and USDA reported they are in the process of developing metrics to track the progress of the Grand Challenge and address GAO's recommendations, which were made in March 2023. These officials reported these metrics will be included in the forthcoming Grand Challenge Implementation Framework, which will be issued after each department has approved the document, in late March 2024 at the earliest. According to the officials, these metrics will also be included in the Grand Challenge Progress Report, which will be issued after the Implementation Framework. To close the recommendation, performance measures need to be developed and incorporated into such reports that are associated with the roadmap. Incorporating performance measures could help enable the three departments better manage fragmentation by monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of their actions and communicate and report on the extent to which sustainable aviation fuel is poised to contribute to larger aviation greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. GAO will continue to monitor USDA's efforts regarding this recommendation.

Artificial Intelligence: Agencies Have Begun Implementation but Need to Complete Key Requirements

GAO-24-105980
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the department updates its AI use case inventory to include all the required information, at minimum, and takes steps to ensure that the data in the inventory aligns with provided instructions. (Recommendation 9)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Critical Infrastructure Protection: Additional Actions Are Essential for Assessing Cybersecurity Framework Adoption

GAO-18-211
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, should take steps to consult with respective sector partner(s), such as the sector coordinating council (SCC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and NIST, as appropriate, to develop methods for determining the level and type of framework adoption by entities across their respective sector. (Recommendation 1)
Open – Partially Addressed
USDA neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendation, but stated that it would attempt to develop a measurement mechanism as part of its annual data calls to the Food and Agriculture Sector. USDA has taken steps towards determining framework adoption across the sector. For example, USDA has distributed several requests for information to sector members that include questions regarding framework adoption and resulting improvements. In addition, USDA requested feedback from sector partners and made subsequent changes to its data calls responses. Despite these efforts, as of February 2024, USDA has not yet received information from sector entities regarding their adoption of the NIST cybersecurity framework. To fully implement this recommendation, USDA needs to implement actions that will allow the agency to better assess framework adoption among entities within its sector. USDA has been encouraging and supporting the use of the framework. However, in order to assist in protecting critical infrastructure the agency needs to implement our recommendation so it can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the framework's use.

Broadband: USDA Should Set Performance Goals and Improve Fraud Risk Management for Funding Program

GAO-23-105265
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the Office of the Chief Risk Officer conducts and documents a fraud risk assessment for the ReConnect program that aligns with the leading practices outlined in our Fraud Risk Framework. (Recommendation 3)
Open
Previously, USDA said it plans to conduct and document a series of activities that will culminate in the production of the ReConnect program's fraud risk profile. In October 2023, USDA officials said they expect to complete this work in June 2024. GAO will continue to monitor the agency's progress in implementing this recommendation.

School Meal Programs: USDA Could Enhance Implementation of the Buy American Provision

GAO-23-105884
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the Administrator of FNS develops a standard form that school food authorities can use to document their reasons for using exceptions from the Buy American provision, and disseminates that form through state agencies. (Recommendation 1)
Open
FNS concurred with this recommendation and stated that it will develop a standard form that school food authorities can use to document information related to the Buy American provision when utilizing exceptions. FNS noted that in developing the form, it will consider topical comments on the Buy American provision included in the proposed rule, Child Nutrition Programs: Revisions to Meal Patterns Consistent with the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published in February 2023. FNS plans to issue the final rule in early 2024, and subsequently plans to provide state agencies and school food authorities with the standard form for the 2024-2025 school year that begins in July 2024. We will monitor the progress of these efforts.
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