DOC FY 2005 PAR - 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 fiscal year (FY) 2004 with results reported in FY 2005. The results of previous PART reviews are reported in the FY 2004 Performance and Accountability Report (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. No programs in Strategic Goal 2 or the Managment Integration Goal were PART’ed during FY 2004.

TABLE 1: RESULTS OF THE OMB PART PROCESS¹

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	ECONOMIC CENSUS
Score and Rating	Effective – 90%
Lead Bureau	Census Bureau
Major Findings/ Recommendations	Pursue additional independent evaluations of the economic census. Implement a plan to improve electronic response rates in the 2007 Economic Census.
Actions Taken/Planned	Contracted with a certified public accounting (CPA) firm to provide expert advice on economic census forms design to ensure proper use of accounting terminology and ability to collect the requested data. Devoted spring 2005 Census Bureau Advisory Committee (AEA subcommittee) meeting to an evaluation of the 2002 Economic Census with an eye towards making improvements in the 2007 Economic Census. Send letters to government agencies and trade associations inviting them to comment on proposed 2007 Economic Census report forms. Complete plan to improve electronic response rates in the 2007 Economic Census that includes a newly designed electronic reporting instrument.

PROGRAM NAME	CURRENT DEMOGRAPHIC STATISTICS
Score and Rating	Effective – 87% (re-part, previous – 84%)
Lead Bureau	Census Bureau
Major Findings/ Recommendations	Continue to improve long-term goals for the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) by including an ambitious data release schedule. Develop ways to improve managerial accountability for SIPP release schedules. Pursue additional independent evaluations of the SIPP to demonstrate that results are being achieved.
Actions Taken/Planned	A SIPP Data Products Team was established in FY 2003 to make recommendations on implementing OMB’s findings. As a result, several actions have already been implemented: Improvements in managerial accountability. An outside study by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. The program has sought advice from the federal policy community on the data that will be collected by the 2004 SIPP Panel. An external evaluation of the usefulness of SIPP to data users. Also, the following action is planned: Early SIPP releases will begin in FY 2006.

PROGRAM NAME	ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE (EDA) PROGRAMS
Score and Rating	Moderately Effective – 77% (re-part, previous – 75%)
Lead Bureau	Economic Development Administration (EDA)
Major Findings/ Recommendations	EDA continues to meet or exceed performance targets, which are based on three, six, and nine-year reviews of private sector investment and job creation. EDA’s reauthorization now provides new authority to reward outstanding performance by grant recipients who excel in carrying out projects that create jobs and generate private investment. A cross-cutting review of federal community and economic development programs revealed that no Administration-wide approach guides these development efforts.
Actions Taken/Planned	The Administration proposes a new economic development program within the Department of Commerce that streamlines federal assistance and targets funding to economically distressed communities and regions.

PROGRAM NAME	EXPORT ADMINISTRATION (EA)
Score and Rating	Adequate – 63%
Lead Bureau	Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS)
Major Findings/ Recommendations	The program currently operates under an Executive Order. It would benefit from an updated, reauthorized Export Administration Act (EAA) to clarify some outdated control requirements, increase penalties for violations, and specify interagency licensing processes. Due to increases in workload and changes in technology, the program also requires additional technological and analytical ability to maintain effective dual-use export controls. The program’s long-term performance goals are under development. It does have adequate annual performance goals that emphasize both the timeliness of the license process and updates to its regulations. The program also should consider an accuracy measure of the license process.
Actions Taken/Planned	The EA program is developing long-term measures by: (1) working with the appropriate agencies to measure the interagency dual-use export control program’s ability to protect national security, and (2) obtaining information on the market impact on U.S. companies of applying for an export license. The budget requests increases for an Office of Technology Evaluation to enhance the program’s analytical ability to systematically evaluate its control list, identify sensitive technologies for inclusion on the control list, and conduct evaluations of the multilateral regimes.

STRATEGIC GOAL 3: OBSERVE, PROTECT, AND MANAGE THE EARTH'S
ENVIRONMENT TO PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
PROGRAM NAME	CLIMATE RESEARCH
Score and Rating	Moderately Effective – 78%
Lead Bureau	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Major Findings/ Recommendations	NOAA has implemented a matrix management process to coordinate climate programs across the Agency and has established a quarterly review process to assess performance and budget issues. Additional steps are needed to better integrate performance into budget decisions. NOAA will evaluate options for lab consolidation and other management changes to address recommendations of the NOAA Research Review Team.
Actions Taken/Planned	The NOAA Climate Program is implementing a trackable performance measure database that will be used in development of future budget requests. NOAA is implementing in FY 2006 a laboratory and headquarters reorganization to address recommendations of the NOAA research review team.

PROGRAM NAME	NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY PROGRAM (NMSP)
Score and Rating	Adequate – 68%
Lead Bureau	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Major Findings/ Recommendations	The NMSP and Marine Protected Areas (MPA) Center have clear purposes and are well managed, though integration between the two, as well as with other coastal and marine area management programs, could be improved. The NMSP has begun collecting long-term monitoring data within sanctuaries to allow the program to better evaluate changes in ecological conditions and assess progress in achieving positive results.
Actions Taken/Planned	The NMSP will continue to ensure that targets and timeframes for performance measures are ambitious. NOAA will establish review processes at the appropriate level and frequency to evaluate effectiveness and relevance of coastal and ocean area management programs. NOAA will work to enhance integration of area-based management programs.

Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) Status

TABLE 1: RESULTS OF THE OMB PART PROCESS1

TABLE 2: PART SUMMARIES BY STRATEGIC GOAL

TABLE 1: RESULTS OF THE OMB PART PROCESS¹