Forced labor is a global problem affecting millions of people, according to the United Nations. U.S. law prohibits imports produced with forced labor, including seafood. Customs and Border Protection, responsible for enforcement, established a forced labor division in 2018 to focus on identifying such imports. CBP uses information from external sources to help identify seafood imports produced w...

Commercial fishing landed more than $1 billion worth of seafood from the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico in 2016, and recreational anglers made about 127 million fishing trips. To help manage fisheries, the National Marine Fisheries Service and regional councils may allocate fishing privileges to the commercial and recreational sectors for red snapper, wahoo, red grouper, and other fish. Stake...

Until the 1970s, mine operators could mine for valuable hardrock minerals—i.e., gold or copper—then abandon the land. On lands they oversee, federal agencies identified about 140,000 remnants of these hardrock mines, including unsecured tunnels and toxic waste piles. Hundreds of thousands more likely exist. Remedies include sealing tunnels and treating contaminated water to address safety and...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studies the potential costs and benefits of flood risk management projects—such as levees, floodwalls, or building relocation—to inform decision makers about their potential economic effects. We reviewed 8 Corps studies and found they followed many best practices. But the analyses were not always transparent. For example, only one study considered the limitati...

Debris in the ocean—such as plastic bottles and abandoned fishing gear—is a global economic and environmental problem. Multiple U.S. federal agencies work together on the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee to address this issue. The committee shares information on members’ activities such as education and cleanup efforts. Although it’s required to report on the activities’...

Federal land management agencies have law enforcement divisions to help protect employees and facilities on nearly 700 million acres of land. Security incidents on federal land include the 2016 armed occupation of a wildlife refuge by individuals motivated by anti-government beliefs. Federal employees have been subject to a range of threats and assaults. But agencies have not completed all of the...

The Army Corps of Engineers undertakes water resources projects to reduce the risk of damage from coastal storms, among other things. The Corps first conducts a feasibility study to determine costs, benefits, and whether the project is in the federal interest. Such studies can take years. To accelerate feasibility studies, Congress and the Corps introduced reforms. The Corps has not fully impleme...

4 agencies—Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, and Forest Service—use funds from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to conserve land or enhance recreational activities. These agencies used LWCF funds to acquire over 850,000 acres from FYs 2013-2017 for things like protecting wildlife habitat or improving recreational access. We found that, un...

The President's annual budget request to Congress usually includes more than a billion dollars for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water resource construction projects. These projects help protect people from flooding, improve navigation, and restore ecosystems. In fiscal years 2008-2017, there were 164 such projects in 31 states. Florida, Illinois, California, Washington, and Kentucky accounted for...

After mining, a coal company is required to restore the land it disturbed, e.g., by regrading or replanting. The federal government requires coal companies to get bonds to assure their payment for these activities. Federal law permits coal mine operators in some cases to guarantee these costs on the basis of their own finances, a practice known as self-bonding, rather than by securing a bond thro...

Conditions such as dense vegetation and drought have resulted in more severe wildland fires in recent years, and some communities are experiencing the devastating effects of these fires. Federal agencies can collaborate with nonfederal stakeholders to reduce the risk of wildland fires. This is a key aspect of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. We recommended that federal ag...

As GAO found in its September 2015 report, the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Department of the Interior assess the effectiveness of their wildland fire management programs in several ways, including through performance measures, evaluations of particular activities, and reviews of specific wildland fires. Forest Service and Interior officials told GAO their performance measure...

Those mining for gold and other hardrock minerals on federal land must provide financial assurances, such as bonds, to ensure that lands they disturb will be restored. As of October 2017, the Bureau of Land Management held $3 billion in assurances and has a process in place to monitor these. As of November 2018, the Forest Service held $251 million in assurances. Its headquarters cannot determin...

Can women and minorities get the loans they need to buy and operate farms? According to USDA survey data, these "socially disadvantaged" farmers and ranchers get a disproportionately small share of farm loans. More detailed information isn’t available on farm lending to these groups because lenders generally aren't allowed to record an applicant's race or sex. Advocates, industry representativ...

The federal government manages 29% of the land in the United States. We reviewed the extent to which federal agencies collected data on hardrock mining on federal land, and found that the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service are the 2 agencies that reported collecting some of this data. For example, both agencies collect data on the value of their reclamation bonds, which ensure that mini...

More than 80% of the land held in trust for Indian tribes and their members is used for farming, ranching, or other agricultural purposes. But the extent to which Indian tribes and their members receive agricultural credit, such as loans to buy farm equipment, is unclear. Tribal representatives and experts we interviewed cited barriers to obtaining credit such as Difficulty in using tribal land...

Private companies operate over 140,000 oil and gas wells on federal and Indian lands. The Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) inspection program ensures that these operators are complying with laws and regulations that protect public safety and the environment. Inspectors also ensure that operators are making accurate royalty payments to the federal government. We reviewed BLM's inspection program...

The Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management sell millions of dollars of timber from federal forests each year. Federal law bans buyers from exporting unprocessed timber from western federal lands, along with related practices. Some agency policies to implement the ban are outdated or unclear. The agencies have also not issued required regulations. While the agencies found no violations of th...

Oil and gas companies operating wells on federal and Indian lands are required to reclaim sites after wells are no longer used—plug wells, remove structures, and replant. Companies provide bonds up front to cover reclamation, but if they don't reclaim the site, or if it costs more than expected, the Bureau of Land Management may be liable. Reclamation costs and potential liabilities likely incr...

The Endangered Species Act established a fund to provide grants to states and territories for the conservation of endangered and threatened species. Treasury is required to make deposits into the fund when the amount NOAA and FWS collect for violations of certain laws exceeds $500,000. However, we found that NOAA is not requesting that Treasury make deposits to the fund because it isn't tracking...

The FDA warned in 2016 that infants face a higher health risk than adults from arsenic owing to their less-varied diets, and proposed guidance on arsenic levels in infant rice cereal. We reviewed recent scientific work and FDA and USDA actions to manage the risk of arsenic in rice. We found the agencies have researched methods to detect arsenic in rice and taken other actions, but that FDA could...

The Department of the Interior (Interior) recently issued guidance intended to streamline the review process and reduce the approval times of oil and gas revenue-sharing agreements—called a communitization agreement (CA)—that include Indian resources. Under the revised guidance, for example, oil and gas operators are to provide simplified, less detailed information in their CA applications. In...