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Open Recommendations (84 total)

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

GAO-21-512
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1 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 Director for Customer Experience to establish baselines and measures for customer service performance, and targets and goals associated with the progress. (Recommendation 14)
Open
In August 2023, USDA officials stated that as of December 2021, the FPAC Customer Service division had gathered feedback, and completed analysis of the 2020 Producer Satisfaction Survey. They further stated that they had developed performance indicators associated with improving customer experience feedback and customer experience support. Additionally, the officials stated that they had developed several indicators associated with these improvements. However, the agency has yet to provide us with documentation for the above activities. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Agency Relocations: Following Leading Practices Will Better Position USDA to Mitigate the Ongoing Impacts on Its Workforce

GAO-23-104709
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Research, Education, and Economics Under Secretary should require NIFA to more fully follow leading practices for strategic workforce planning, such as documenting a strategic workforce plan and agency succession plans. (Recommendation 4)
Open
As of February 2024, GAO is assessing the actions reported by the agency.

Alaska Land Management: Resolving Ownership of Submerged Lands

GAO-23-106235
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the Chief of the Forest Service coordinates with the Directors of BLM, FWS, and NPS to secure an independent third-party facilitator to help agencies within the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture and the State of Alaska work toward agreement on a collaborative approach for the management of submerged lands in Alaska while ownership is being resolved. (Recommendation 2)
Open
As of November 2023, we are following up with the agency and will update the response to this recommendation in the future.

Federal Property: Improved Monitoring, Oversight, and Data Would Help Understand Effects of Providing Property to Non-Federal Recipients

GAO-20-101
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Office of Property and Fleet Management to consistently monitor property provided to non-federal recipients within 1 year of receipt, and to ensure property is being used for its intended purpose 1 year after initial monitoring. (Recommendation 1)
Open
As of March 2024, we requested an updated from USDA regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. When USDA responds to our request, we will update the status of this recommendation accordingly.

Federal Software Licenses: Agencies Need to Take Action to Achieve Additional Savings

GAO-24-105717
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should ensure that the agency compares the inventories of software licenses that are currently in use with information on purchased licenses to identify opportunities to reduce costs and better inform investment decision making for its widely used licenses on a regular basis. At a minimum, it should consistently implement its procedures for comparing the inventories of licenses in use to purchase records. (Recommendation 2)
Open
The Department of Agriculture generally concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2024, the department statement that it is in the process of developing a new enterprise-wide process to consistently reconcile purchased licenses with active usage. We will continue to monitor the department's efforts to fully implement this recommendation.

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

GAO-21-512
Show
1 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 Director for Customer Experience to establish a timeframe for releasing the customer service survey results and plans for addressing the customer feedback to the public. (Recommendation 15)
Open
In August 2023, agency officials stated that the FPAC Customer Service division had gathered feedback and completed analysis of the 2020 Producer Satisfaction Survey by December 2021. They also stated that they had developed plans for addressing customer service feedback. However, the agency has yet to provide us with the documentation. We will continue to monitor the status of this recommendation.

Agency Relocations: Following Leading Practices Will Better Position USDA to Mitigate the Ongoing Impacts on Its Workforce

GAO-23-104709
Show
1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Research, Education, and Economics Under Secretary should require ERS to more fully follow leading practices for training and development, such as planning for, designing, implementing, and evaluating training and development programs and efforts. (Recommendation 5)
Open
As of February 2024, GAO is assessing the actions reported by the agency.

Sugar Program: Alternative Methods for Implementing Import Restrictions Could Increase Effectiveness

GAO-24-106144
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should evaluate the effectiveness of the WTO raw sugar tariff-rate quota allocation method versus other tariff-rate quota allocation methods to determine which would most effectively maintain an adequate sugar supply and minimizes costs to the government. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Property: Improved Monitoring, Oversight, and Data Would Help Understand Effects of Providing Property to Non-Federal Recipients

GAO-20-101
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Secretary of Agriculture should direct the Office of Property and Fleet Management to establish clear processes to oversee property programs, including excess property provided to non-federal recipients across the agency. (Recommendation 4)
Open
As of March 2024, we are in coordination with the Office of Inspector General to obtain an update from USDA regarding the status of its efforts to implement this recommendation. We are awaiting a response and will update the status of this recommendation accordingly.

Oil and Gas Pipelines: Agencies Should Improve Oversight of Decommissioning

GAO-24-106444
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Agriculture The Chief of the Forest Service should develop a documented plan to ensure the agency collects and maintains the data necessary to oversee the decommissioning of gathering lines. (Recommendation 7)
Open
The Forest Service agreed with this recommendation. We will update the status of the recommendation when we have more information.
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