Results Act

GAO commented on the Department of Energy's (DOE) August 15, 1997, draft strategic plan it is developing under the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993, highlighting selected aspects of three of the Department's four business lines' related objctives, strategies, and measures. This report focuses on GAO's concerns about the DOE's efforts to: (1) reduce the vulnerability of the U.S. economy from disruptions in oil supplies; (2) strengthen nuclear nonproliferation efforts and improve international nuclear safety; and (3) reduce the risks from the environmental legacy of the U.S. nuclear weapons program. GAO did not discuss DOE's fourth business line--science and technology--because GAO had discussed its concerns about this business line in its July 1997 report and these concerns have not changed.

GAO noted that: (1) the current draft plan is much improved over the June 16, 1997, draft; (2) the revised draft now includes all six elelments required by the act; (3) GAO is still concerned that some of the strategies and many of the measures do not appear to be results-oriented; and (4) GAO believes that, on the basis of the work it has previously conducted, additional oppportunities exist to improve DOE's plan for these three business lines.