The Department of Commerce Inspector General has released its annual report on the Department of Commerce's top management challenges for fiscal year (FY) 2011. The Office of Inspector General (OlG) is required by statute to annually report the top management challenges facing the Department. The purpose of the report is to identify what the IG considers, from our oversight perspective, the most significant management and performance issues facing Commerce in the coming fiscal year.
For the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the IG included "Effectively Balancing NOAA’s Goals of Protecting the Environment and Supporting the Fishing Industry" as a top challenge, and also noted "Allegations Against NOAA Law Enforcement Spark Reform".
The following is the text from the section of the report addressing NOAA's top challenges for 2011:
Effectively Balancing NOAA’s Goals of Protecting the Environment and Supporting the Fishing Industry
Charged with protecting, restoring, and managing the use of living marine and coastal and ocean resources, NOAA invests billions of dollars each year to support an array of programs that require long-term commitments and years of funding before showing their full effect. With its Exclusive Economic Zone of 3.4 million square nautical miles of ocean, the United States manages the largest marine territory of any nation in the world. According to NOAA’s 2009- 2014 strategic plan, “the value of the ocean economy to the United States is more than $138 billion.” NOAA faces difficult challenges in promoting the health of marine resources, especially in the areas of fishery enforcement and environmental restoration while ensuring they sustain the vital economic benefits we derive from them.
Allegations Against NOAA Law Enforcement Spark Reform
NOAA’s management of commercial fisheries and its enforcement of fair, transparent, and effective regulations is a critical component of the successful execution of its mission. In FY 2010, we responded to a request from NOAA to investigate allegations of excessive penalties and arbitrary actions by its Office for Law Enforcement and General Counsel for Enforcement and Litigation. In response to our findings, the Secretary of Commerce and the Undersecretary for Oceans and Atmosphere (who is also the NOAA Administrator) announced sweeping reforms to increase the accountability and transparency of, and to strengthen the public’s trust in, NOAA’s law enforcement agency. The Secretary also announced significant restrictions on the use of the Asset Forfeiture Fund (where fines and penalties assessed against the fishing industry are deposited).
The actions directed by the Secretary and the reforms being implemented by NOAA to promote impartiality in its enforcement processes should help ensure fair and unbiased treatment of fishery cases. NOAA must take positive, equitable action to restore the reputation and soundness of its enforcement program and ensure that corrective actions are applied consistently nationwide. We will continue to devote resources and attention to NOAA’s fisheries enforcement to make sure that this important program receives sufficient independent oversight.
Gulf Oil Spill Creates New Challenges for NOAA
In addition to its law enforcement activities, NOAA responds each year to over a thousand natural and human-induced incidents threatening life, property, and marine resources. For example, on April 20, 2010, an explosion on Deepwater Horizon, a semisubmersible mobile offshore oil-drilling well in the Gulf of Mexico, resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history. To help recover from a spill of this magnitude, NOAA’s monitoring, damage assessment, and restoration activities will continue for years to come.
Because the Deepwater Horizon spill is so large in scope, we anticipate NOAA will need to devote significant resources for an extended period of time towards restoration in the Gulf. As of September 2010, NOAA has dedicated $131.4 million to the spill through reimbursable projects. Since serious threats to wildlife and the fishing community still exist, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service must continue to monitor conditions along the coastal areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama, and Florida to ensure seafood is safe for consumption. NOAA, as the lead agency for the Natural Resource Damage Assessment process and the nation’s lead science agency covering oil spills, will also continue to assess what environmental resources have been harmed. Finally, federal, state, and local governments and affected communities will continue to rely on NOAA to provide continued monitoring and accurate data so responders can react to the oil’s effects on our ecosystem.
For more information, view the reports listed below at www.oig.doc.gov:
• Review of NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Programs and Operations (OIG-19887-2,September 23, 2010)
• Review of NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Asset Forfeiture Fund (OIG-19887-1, July 1, 2010)
• Letter to Massachusetts Congressional Delegation re: Status of OIG Review of Complaints Related to NOAA Fisheries Enforcement (June 25, 2010)
• IG’s Testimony on NOAA Fisheries Enforcement: House Committee on Natural Resources (March 3, 2010)
• IG’s Testimony on NOAA Fisheries Enforcement: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation (March 3, 2010)
• IG’s Testimony on NOAA Fisheries Enforcement: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Field Hearing, Gloucester, Massachusetts (March 2, 2010)
• Review of NOAA Fisheries Enforcement Programs and Operations (OIG-19887, January 21, 2010)
The following reviews are in progress:
• Review of NOAA's Systems and Processes for Tracking Gulf Coast Oil Spill Expenditures and Revenues
• Follow Up on Corrective Actions Taken to Address the Asset Forfeiture Fund
• Follow Up on NOAA Enforcement Issues
Read the complete report from the Commerce Department Inspector General.