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During the year, OTA served over 40 different Committees and Subcommittees of both houses, typically in response to bipartisan requests.

Relation of Work to Legislative Activities

OTA's role is neither to promote nor to discourage the development or the application of any particular technology or legislation but rather to help Congress determine whether or when some form of Federal government participation may make sense. OTA helps identify and clarify options; exposes misleading, unsupportable, or incorrect information; and helps raise the level of understanding in the debate about expensive and controversial technical issues.

In each section on accomplishments in OTA's divisions, we identify some activities during fiscal years 1991 and 1992 that illustrate the link between OTA's work and specific Congressional activity. Please see the following pages for this information:

OTA works closely with members of TAB and the Appropriations Committees to maintain the authority of the Board to determine the agenda of the agency and the best use of OTA's limited resources for the whole Congress. Because demand for OTA assistance exceeds the resources made available to the agency, some committees attempt to initiate studies through new legislation rather than request studies through the Board (as was contemplated in OTA's enabling legislation). Mandates are strongly discouraged as a mechanism to obtain OTA's help, and potential mandates are often avoided when we are able to work with the interested parties prior to introduction of bills. Nevertheless, during the 102nd Congress, a number of bills were introduced that would, if passed, mandate activities for OTA. For example:

H.R. 2508

H.R. 2854

To amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961

Engrossed Senate Amendment issued on July 26, 1991; bill was in conference as of September 17, 1991

Expresses the sense of the Senate that OTA should undertake a
detailed study of the process of formulation and the economic,
social, and environmental impact of the programs of adjustment
supported or leveraged by the Agency for International
Development through the Development Fund for Africa.

To provide for the labeling or marking of nontropical wood
Introduced July 10, 1991, and referred to the Committee on Energy

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H.R. 2880

H.R. 3180

S. 12

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S. 1567

Would require OTA to report to Congress within a year of enactment on the countries that export nontropical wood and wood products to the U.S., the amounts exported, the uses of the products imported, and to make recommendations on the best methods for public disclosure of the data.

To amend the Solid Waste Disposal Act

Introduced July 11, 1991, and referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce

Would require OTA to prepare within 18 months of enactment a study of all matters relating to the provision to the public of toxic release inventory information.

To amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act.

Introduced August 1, 1991, and referred to the Committees on
Ways and Means and Energy and Commerce

Would require the Director of OTA to appoint the 13 members of a
newly established Long-Term Care Advisory Council.

To amend title VI of the Communications Act of 1934
Reported out of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation on June 28, 1991.

Would require an OTA participant on a study panel charged with
making recommendations to Congress on developing, selecting, and
funding programming for the public use channels required to be
provided by any direct broadcast satellite service. The study would
be due within 2 years of enactment.

To amend the Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias
Services Research Act of 1986

Introduced July 26, 1991, and referred to the Committee on
Labor and Human Resources

New Mandated Activities

New Mandated Study

Despite our best efforts to the contrary, OTA was mandated to do one study during the 1st session of the 102nd Congress. The Defense Authorization Act, P.L. 102-190 raised the ceilings for independent research and development that is reimbursable by the Department of Defense. The Act requires OTA to evaluate these changes and to report to the Congress by December 1, 1995 to see if they have been effective in improving the nation's defense industrial base.

Other New Mandated Activity

P.L. 102-172, the Defense Appropriations Act, requires one small activity for OTA. The Secretary of Defense is required to "work with OTA" in a study that DoD is conducting

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Existing Mandated Studies

OTA was able to successfully negotiate the study mandated by P.L. 101-574, the Small Business Reauthorization and Amendments Act. The act required a major review of the effects of all deregulation on rural America. The sponsors of the legislation graciously agreed to accept OTA's past work in the area as complying with the mandate, so minimal funds were expended on this mandate, and it is now considered completed.

OTA is currently conducting the study of handicapped access to inter city buses as required by P.L. 101-336. the American for Disabilities Act.

The other active mandate for a study occurred in the 100th Congress. P.L. 100-435, requires OTA to develop model performance standards, and review those actually developed by the Secretary of Agriculture, with regard to employment and training requirements within the food stamps program. A report to the Speaker, the President Pro Tempore, and the Secretary of Agriculture on the comparison/review is required. With the publication of the Department of Agriculture's standards in August 1991, OTA's report is due to the Congress at the end of February 1992.

OTA continues to have the ongoing activity of monitoring veterans studies (P.L. 96151) which mandates that OTA monitor and evaluate certain studies by the Department of Veterans Affairs. OTA's initial work led to additional mandates: P.L. 98-169 requires that OTA monitor certain Federal research activities with regard to veterans exposed to atomic radiation; P.L. 99-272 requires that OTA monitor certain Federal research activities with regard to women veterans.

Other Mandated Functions

OTA has also been assigned the task of appointing health-related commissions. PL. 99-660 mandated the OTA Director to appoint a citizens' Advisory Panel on Alzheimer's Disease. This mandate does not include any reporting requirements for OTA. However, OTA is required to appoint and monitor the activities of two additional commissions (see below).

Prospective Payment Assessment Commission (ProPAC)

The Commission is an independent advisory committee mandated under the "Social Security Amendments of 1983" (Public Law 98-21, Section 601) that reform the Medicare program payment method.

Under the Statute, the OTA Director is charged with selecting the Commission members. The first Commissioners were appointed in 1983. Six Commissioners' terms expired in March 1990, and the Director made three reappointments and three new

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Physician Payment Review Commission (PhysPRC)

The Physician Payment Review Commission is also an independent advisory committee mandated under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (P.L. 99-272). PhysPRC's purpose is to advise Congress and the Executive Branch on possible ways of reforming physician payment under the Medicare program.

As with ProPAC, the OTA Director is statutorily charged with selecting the Commission members. Initial appointments to the 13-member Commission were made in 1986, for terms ranging from one to three years. In April of 1990, the Director reappointed three Commissioners and appointed two new Commissioners.

Interagency Coordination

In carrying out OTA's mission as a shared resource to the committees of the Congress, our staff cooperate and interact extensively not only with Congressional Members and staff, but also with staffs of other Federal agencies, as well as with the private sector and universities around the world. This extensive networking not only serves to avoid duplication but also helps to increase Congress' analytical resource base and enables OTA to utilize the most up-to-date information available. As a consequence, a typical OTA assessment, costing $500,000, draws heavily upon the work of others that, taken together, would cost many times more.

Over the past several years, OTA and the three other Congressional support agencies have adopted a process to more fully utilize each other's expertise. This is as true in administrative areas as program areas; for instance, the Library of Congress provides accounting and disbursing services to OTA on a reimbursable basis, CRS provides access to the SCORPIO database and other research assistance, and GAO provides legal advice and opinions. The Comptroller General and the Director of CRS serve on OTA's Technology Assessment Advisory Council, and agency directors meet regularly to discuss issues of common concern. CBO, CRS, and GAO staffs coordinate with, and, in some cases, participate in OTA advisory panel meetings, symposia, and workshops. The four agencies share information on related studies and provide new data as input to each others' projects as appropriate to their areas of expertise. In addition, two or more agencies may collaborate in the preparation of testimony or general assistance for Congressional hearings. Examples from 1991 include:

As a follow-up to the reports, Energy Technology Choices: Shaping Our Future and US. Oil Import Vulnerability: The Technical Replacement Potential, and in conjunction with the ongoing project, U.S. Energy Efficiency: Past Trends and Future Opportunities, OTA staff cooperated with CRS's Environment and Natural Resource Policy Division to informally evaluate the implications of a variety of energy bills being considered by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce at the request of both committees.

In conjunction with preparation of the forthcoming report, Building Energy Efficiency, OTA has worked closely with the CRS Science Policy Research Division, which is examining various energy efficiency issues to help support the House Science, Space

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. In the course of the ongoing assessment Fueling Development: Energy and Technology in Developing Countries, OTA staff have coordinated with GAO staff who are engaged in a review of the U.S. Agency for International Development's energy programs. In the course of this work OTA staff also coordinated directly with U.S. AID and various offices of the Department of Energy's Trade and Development Program, the Department of Commerce, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Eximbank, OPIC, and the Department of the Treasury.

In the course of completing OTA's report, Improving Automobile Fuel Economy: New Standards, New Approaches, OTA staff cooperated closely with DOE's Office of Policy, Planning and Analysis. Also in the course of this work, OTA staff provided detailed review of CBO staff memorandum on Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) incentives for sale of alternative fueled vehicles, which resulted in extensive changes in the CBO report. In this work and in the area of alternative fuels, OTA staff continue to cooperate closely with various CRS staff who are working on similar issues. OTA also is participating on the Electric Power Research Institute's advisory panel for its electric vehicle research program.

In preparing the report, Energy Efficiency in the Federal Government, OTA worked closely with personnel from the Department of Defense, Postal Service, Department of Energy, General Services Administration, and Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Housing and Urban Development. Since its publication, the report has been widely distributed by several Federal agencies in support of their in-house energy management activities. Private sector vendors of efficient products and services have used the report in their efforts to understand and overcome challenges they face in working with Federal agencies. The report has been widely cited as a balanced examination of the major issues and opportunities for improved Federal energy efficiency.

In the course of our ongoing assessment Aging Nuclear Powerplants: Life Attainment, License Extension and Decommissioning, OTA has coordinated closely with U.S. General Accounting Office staff who have recently completed a study examining the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's research efforts for license extension.

OTA's Background Paper Biological Effects of Power Frequency Electric and Magnetic Fields, continues to be widely cited as a landmark study and a balanced summary of the major issues in this controversial area. In response to a request from the Environmental Protection Agency OTA provided comments and suggestions for EPA's draft national research agenda on human exposure to electric and magnetic fields. OTA also continues informal consultation on these issues with other Federal and state agencies, including coordination with the GAO and CRS.

As a follow-up to the OTA report, Physical Vulnerability of Electric Systems to Natural Disasters and Sabotage, OTA staff have assisted GAO staff who are planning an update of a report done about 1980 on Federal preparation for and responses to emergencies. They are using the OTA report in their analysis. The OTA report also was distributed by the Alaskan emergency planning agency and in a floor debate by the Alaskan legislature on whether the power system needed greater resistance. In the course of the original study, the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Emergencies cooperated closely with OTA. DOE was particularly helpful in securing difficult-to-locate information and in the national security review and classification of some of the more sensitive findings of the assessment. The cooperative relationship developed in the course of this assessment has led in part to the continued extensive use of the OTA report by DOE, GAO, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other