International Joint Commission Water Quality Activities Need Greater U.S. Government Support and Involvement

GAO conducted a review to determine whether the United States is meeting the objectives of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreements with Canada. The International Joint Commission (IJC) is responsible for advising the U.S. and Canadian Governments on Great Lakes and other boundary waters pollution control matters.

The U.S. Government has not adequately supported, nor has it been sufficiently involved in, the work of IJC. Consequently, IJC has had difficulty meeting its water quality responsibilities. To help IJC more effectively carry out its advisory role, the United States needs to: (1) formally respond to IJC report recommendations and requests for information on U.S. pollution control activities; (2) provide continuity of U.S.-IJC leadership when active leadership on water quality matters is of high importance; and (3) involve key federal agencies with water quality agreement responsibilities on IJC advisory boards. IJC officials maintain that the lack of formal U.S. responses to its reports and recommendations has hampered its effectiveness in advising the governments. Key U.S. Government and IJC officials believe that formal responses to IJC would result in many benefits, including improved IJC accountability to the U.S. and Canadian Governments. GAO concluded that a formal system of feedback to IJC on its reports would be efficient and useful.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Hugh J. Wessinger Team: General Accounting Office: Community and Economic Development Division Phone: (202) 275-5489