Author Archives: recoverydiva

New GAO Report on Earthquakes

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Earthquakes: Opportunities Exist to Further Assess Risk, Build Resilience, and Communicate Research.https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105016?utm_campaign=usgao_email&utm_content=daybook&utm_medium=email&utm

The National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program helps U.S. communities strengthen their earthquake resilience. For example, the program educates the public on earthquake risks and helps communities update building codes and improve design and construction practices.

The program has started assessing progress, for example, by tracking building code adoption in 22,000 jurisdictions. But we found that a national assessment hasn’t been done. Such an assessment could help the program more strategically address inconsistencies in how states, localities, territories, and tribes mitigate earthquake risks.

[The Diva apologizes for the faulty link, but posted it in crude form to facilitate sharing it.]

New GAO Report on Pandemic Response

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GAO’s Oversight of the Pandemic Response.  In March 2020, Congress passed the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act, a multi-trillion dollar stimulus bill, to respond to the economic downturn caused by the pandemic. The CARES Act also includes a provision for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to regularly report on the pandemic response by the federal government. To date, GAO has released 10 oversight reports as a part of this provision.

Their latest report, COVID-19: Current and Future Federal Preparedness Requires Fixes to Improve Health Data and Address Improper Payments, details 15 new recommendations to federal agencies as GAO continues “to monitor and oversee the federal government’s efforts to prepare for, respond to, and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.”