From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: 2017 Update to GAO's High Risk List Description: Audio interview by GAO staff with Chris Mihm, Managing Director, Strategic Issues Related GAO Work: GAO-17-317: High-Risk Series: Progress On Many High- Risk Areas, While Substantial Efforts Needed On Others Released: February 2017 [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. It's February 2017. Every 2 years, at the beginning of a new Congress, GAO issues its High-Risk List. This list highlights areas in government that are at particularly high risk of waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement. A team led by Chris Mihm, Managing Director of GAO's Strategic Issues team, recently issued an update, highlighting some areas in which agencies have made progress addressing high-risk issues. Jacques Arsenault sat down with Chris to talk about what they found. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] For starters, can you tell me what GAO's High-Risk List is, and what purpose it serves? [ Chris Mihm: ] Since early 1990s, we've had a high-risk program here in GAO that has sought to focus attention on those government programs and operations that are most vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, mismanagement, or most in need of broad-based transformation. During that time, we've made hundreds of recommendations. Many of them have been implemented by agencies to help them better identify and manage the big risks that they confront. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] So, in this year's list, there are 34 areas, including 3 new ones, and I want to ask you about each of those. First, can you tell me a little bit about federal environmental liabilities? What are we looking at there? [ Chris Mihm: ] Sure. The federal government is financially liable for cleaning up areas where federal activities have contaminated the environment, and here we're talking about nuclear weapons production facilities, military installations, and other areas. The environmental liability that the government faces has grown enormously over the last 20 years, and is likely to increase in the future. For example, in fiscal year 2016, the federal government's estimated environmental liability was $447 billion. Now, this is up from $212 billion in fiscal year 1997. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] And, how about the 2020 Census? [ Chris Mihm: ] The census, as you know, is our once-a-decade national head count. It's our opportunity to take a photograph of who we are as a people, and where we are as a country, and so it's vitally important, in terms of apportionment, redistricting, and steering tens of billions of dollars in federal grant money over the ensuing decade. At the same time, the cost of taking the census has grown enormously with the increasing complexity of American society, and the difficulties in counting people and where they live. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] And, the third new area looks at federal programs that serve Indian tribes and their members. Can you tell me about that area? [ Chris Mihm: ] The issue that confronts this high-risk area really falls into 3 very broad categories. First, improvements that need to be made in the education area; second, improvements that need to be made in health care; and third, improvements that need to be made in the energy area. At the end of the day, what this is really about is addressing the challenges that we've identified that affect the people. These challenges have included poor conditions at school facilities that have endangered students, an inadequate oversight of health care that have hindered the government's ability to ensure quality care for Indian communities. We've reported on mismanagement of Indian energy resources held in trust, and that have limited the opportunities of tribes and their members to use those resources to create economic benefits, improve the well-being of their communities. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] So, those 3 areas have been added in this year's version of the list, but one area has come off. Can you tell me about that? [ Chris Mihm: ] In 2005, we put establishing effective mechanisms for sharing and managing terrorism-related information to protect the homeland on the High-Risk List. And, we're very pleased that progress has been made in the ensuing years that, in fact, significant progress, to strengthen how the intelligence on terrorism, homeland security, and law enforcement information, as well as other information, is shared among federal, state, local, tribal, international, and private-sector partners. We identified 9 key actions that needed to be taken. All of these actions have been met. Does it mean the risk has gone away? Absolutely not. What it does mean is that it's being effectively managed. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] So then, let me ask you about those other areas that remain on the list. Do we see any change there? [ Chris Mihm: ] We also saw changes to 2 other areas that were narrowed, the scope of the high-risk area was narrowed, because of progress that had been made within individual segments of that. So, for example, under the high-risk area dealing with DOD supply chain management, sufficient progress had been made to remove the inventory management component from that. Second is that we're also able to narrow the mitigating gaps in weather satellite data. We've seen strong congressional support and oversight of NOAA. It has made significant progress in its efforts to mitigate the potential gaps in weather satellite data of its geostationary satellite program. [ Jacques Arsenault: ] And finally, what would you say is the bottom line of this year's update? [ Chris Mihm: ] The bottom line of this year's update is that, while there are a number of high-risk areas that are still out there, progress can be made, as evidenced by that area that, the information sharing that came off the list, the other areas that were narrowed, but it takes concerted action. It takes leadership from agencies. It takes resources, and a capacity in order to address the high-risk areas. It takes an action plan. It takes effective monitoring, and it takes demonstrated progress. Once that's done, then agencies are effectively managing their risk. Doesn't mean they go away, but they're being managed, and that's the key thing. [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] To learn more, visit GAO.gov and be sure to tune in to the next episode of GAO's Watchdog Report for more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office.