DOE's No-Year Funding

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the use of no-year funding for defense-related activities, focusing on the: (1) availability of funding for defense-related activities; and (2) likely impact on the Department of Energy (DOE) if time limits are placed on its funding for defense-related activities. GAO noted that: (1) DOE receives no-year funding for all of its activities, while the Department of Defense's appropriations generally specify that the funds be obligated within specified time frames; (2) other agencies conduct functional activities similar to DOE, although some receive no-year funding for such activities and others receive 1-year or multiyear funding; (3) DOE must modify its accounting process to account for the no-year funding it receives for its defense-related activities; (4) with no-year funding, DOE can request reallocation of unobligated funds indefinitely; and (5) if no-year funding is replaced with specific-year appropriations, any reallocation request would have to be made within the time in which the funding is available for obligation.