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Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) Status

 

The Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) is a component of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) developed to assess and improve program performance so that the federal government can achieve better results. A PART review helps identify a program’s strengths and weaknesses to inform management decisions aimed at making the program more effective.

OMB conducted the following PART reviews during FY 2005 with results reported in FY 2006. The results of previous PART reviews are reported in the FY 2004 and FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Reports (PAR). The results of these reviews are used to inform the participants in the planning and budgeting process and are published in the annual President’s Budget and Performance Plan, submitted to Congress. OMB did not conduct any PART reviews for programs appearing in the Management Integration Goal during FY 2005.

TABLE 1: RESULTS OF THE OMB PART PROCESS1


NUMBER OF PART RESULTS
RATING RESULTS
Effective 6
Moderately Effective 10
Adequate 9
Results Not Demonstrated 5
Totals 30*
Percentage of PARTS Rated
"Adequate" or Better:

83%
* Amount reflects the total number of Department programs reviewed to date. If OMB reviewed a program a second time, only the score of the second review was included. (back)

PART RATINGS AND SCORES BY PROGRAM
PROGRAM RATING AND SCORE
Current Economic Statistics and Census of Governments (Census) Moderately Effective – 83%
Market Access and Compliance (ITA) Adequate – 58%
Import Administration (ITA) Results Not Demonstrated
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) (entire bureau) Moderately Effective – 72%
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) (entire bureau) Adequate – 62%
Weather and Related Services (NOAA) Moderately Effective – 76%
Ecosystem Research (NOAA) Adequate – 63%

 

TABLE 2: PART SUMMARIES BY STRATEGIC GOAL


STRATEGIC GOAL 1: PROVIDE THE INFORMATION AND TOOLS TO MAXIMIZE U.S. COMPETITIVENESS AND ENABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH FOR AMERICAN INDUSTRIES, WORKERS, AND CONSUMERS
PROGRAM NAME CURRENT ECONOMIC STATISTICS (CES) AND CENSUS OF GOVERNMENTS
Score and Rating
  • Moderately Effective – 83%
Lead Bureau
  • Census Bureau

Major Findings/
Recommendations

  • These programs address the need to provide comprehensive economic statistics, critical to understanding the current conditions of the U.S. economy.
  • Improve the relevance of CES data by improving measurement of the services sector.
  • Facilitate reporting and reduce burden through the use of electronic reporting.
Actions Taken/
Planned
  • Increased the number of current economic survey reporting units filing electronically by 41 percent.
  • Established quality management program for the Economic Directorate.
  • The Committee on National Statistics, a subsidiary of the National Academy of Science, began its review of the Directorate’s Census of Governments and corresponding current programs.
  • Expand the Quarterly Services Survey to include Rental and Leasing; the remainder of Health Care and Social Assistance; Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation, and Other Services; and increasing coverage to at least 25 percent of GDP.
PROGRAM NAME MARKET ACCESS AND COMPLIANCE (MAC)
Score and Rating
  • Adequate – 58%
Lead Bureau
  • International Trade Administration (ITA)

Major Findings/
Recommendations

  • MAC’s mission is clear. The U.S. government seeks to ensure that its trading partners abide by the commitments of their trade agreements and that U.S. companies can enter foreign markets on a level-playing field. MAC supports this by assisting U.S. industry with market access and trade agreement compliance problems.
  • MAC has developed new long-term performance measures that will reflect program outcomes; however, MAC should also develop efficiency measures. MAC should engage other federal agencies to develop long-term shared goals regarding high-level trade compliance issues.
  • Overall, program management is strong. However, MAC would benefit from implementation of a financial system that allows staff to allocate time and operational costs to different activities and enables management to readily identify how resources are applied to key activities and goals.
Actions Taken/
Planned
  • Developing measures to assess the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the program.
  • Implementing a financial system to better track how resources are applied to program goals.
  • Working with other federal agencies to develop long-term shared goals regarding high-level trade compliance issues.
PROGRAM NAME IMPORT ADMINISTRATION (IA)
Score and Rating
  • Results Not Demonstrated
Lead Bureau
  • International Trade Administration (ITA)

Major Findings/
Recommendations

  • IA does not have long term measures that address the program’s intended outcome, and therefore results cannot be demonstrated. IA does have an annual measure that indicates its efficiency in administering certain program processes.
  • Overall, IA is well-managed. However, it would benefit from a program evaluation that assesses how well IA is accomplishing its mission.
Actions Taken/
Planned
  • Developing long-term measures and targets that address the program’s intended mission.
  • Conducting a program evaluation that addresses how well the program is accomplishing its mission.
  • Implementing a financial system to better track how resources are applied to program goals.
PROGRAM NAME BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY (BIS) (ENTIRE BUREAU)
Score and Rating
  • Moderately Effective – 72%
Lead Bureau
  • Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)

Major Findings/
Recommendations

  • BIS’s purpose, design, and management are strong; however it would benefit from an updated, reauthorized Export Administration Act (EAA). A new act would clarify some outdated control requirements, increase penalties for violations, and specify interagency licensing processes.
  • BIS has long-term and annual measures that relate to the program’s goals, and targets are largely met, including those related to increasing efficiency.
Actions Taken/
Planned
  • Working to ensure passage of an updated reauthorized EAA.
  • Developing a measure to address the accuracy of the export licensing process.

 

STRATEGIC GOAL 2: FOSTER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP BY PROTECTING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, ENHANCING TECHNICAL STANDARDS, AND ADVANCING MEASUREMENT SCIENCE
PROGRAM NAME NATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION (NTIA)
(ENTIRE BUREAU)
Score and Rating
  • Adequate – 62%
Lead Bureau
  • National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

Major Findings/
Recommendations

  • NTIA coordinates executive branch telecommunications policy, manages all spectrum use by federal government departments and agencies, and examines how the radio spectrum is used and managed in the United States.
  • NTIA plays an important role in advancing the President’s Spectrum Policy Initiative, engaging relevant parties in pursuit of the President’s goals for spectrum use.
  • NTIA lacks outcome measures and data to ensure that radio spectrum allocation serves the greatest public benefit. As a proxy, the program uses output-based measures, such as frequency assignment processing speed. NTIA should continue efforts to develop measures of economic efficiency of spectrum use, particularly for the federal spectrum.
Actions Taken/
Planned
  • Analyzing the costs and benefits of the process by which spectrum is allocated in order to improve efficiency of operations.
  • Improving technical, procedural, and policy coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in order to improve management of the radio spectrum.
  • Developing methods to measure the economic efficiency of spectrum use, considering opportunity costs and benefits.

 

STRATEGIC GOAL 3: OBSERVE, PROTECT, AND MANAGE THE EARTH'S
ENVIRONMENT TO PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
PROGRAM NAME WEATHER AND RELATED SERVICES
Score and Rating
  • Moderately Effective – 76%
Lead Bureau
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Major Findings/
Recommendations

  • The program has made progress in achieving its long-term goals, particularly in improving accuracy and timeliness of forecasts and warnings.
  • One of the satellite programs has experienced significant cost and schedule overruns which were caused by management and technical problems. This program is at least 25 percent over budget and the satellite launches are delayed by at least two years.
Actions Taken/
Planned
  • Investing in technology to improve severe weather warning lead times.
  • Instituting quarterly reporting on progress of satellite programs.
PROGRAM NAME ECOSYSTEM RESEARCH
Score and Rating
  • Adequate – 63%
Lead Bureau
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Major Findings/
Recommendations

  • Ecosystem Research addresses the need for science in support of wise management of ocean and coastal resources. The President’s U.S. Ocean Action Plan expressed support for many of these activities, which were also emphasized by two recent blue-ribbon panels, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission.
  • Some redundancies exist both within the components of Ecosystem Research and between it and other federal efforts. Ecosystem Research was established to begin to align different research efforts within NOAA in order to address these redundancies. In addition, other federal, state, and private organizations have similar or shared responsibilities.
  • Within some of the components of this program, program managers have had difficulty influencing how resources are targeted to ensure that the highest priority science needs are met. This can be an issue for institutional programs, such as Sea Grant, and for earmarked research projects.
Actions Taken/
Planned
  • Assessing the portfolio of research within NOAA’s Ecosystem Research program in order clarify the role of each of the program’s components and eliminate redundancies.
  • Modifying planning and management processes so that research activities meet the highest priority science needs and provide a balanced response to local, regional, and national issues.

1 Source: Office of Managment and Budget - http://www.results.gov (back)

 


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