Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 114 Part 1.djvu/163

 PUBLIC LAW 106-181—APR. 5, 2000 114 STAT. 127 SEC. 309. INDEPENDENT STUDY OF FAA COSTS AND ALLOCATIONS. (a) INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENT. — (1) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General of the Department of Transportation shall conduct the assessments described in this section. To conduct the assessments, the Inspector General may use the staff and resources of the Inspector General or contract with one or more independent entities. (2) ASSESSMENT OF ADEQUACY AND ACCURACY OF FAA COST DATA AND ATTRIBUTIONS. — (A) IN GENERAL. — The Inspector General shall conduct an assessment to ensure that the method for calculating the overall costs of the Federal Aviation Administration and attributing such costs to specific users is appropriate, reasonable, and understandable to the users. (B) COMPONENTS.— In conducting the assessment under this paragraph, the Inspector General shall assess the following: (i) The Administration's cost input data, including the reliability of the Administration's source documents and the integrity and reliability of the Administration's data collection process. (ii) The- Administration's system for tracking assets. (iii) The Administration's bases for establishing asset values and depreciation rates. (iv) The Administration's system of internal controls for ensuring the consistency and reliability of reported data. (v) The Administration's definition of the services to which the Administration ultimately attributes its costs. (vi) The cost pools used by the Administration and the rationale for and reliability of the bases which the Administration proposes to use in allocating costs of services to users. (C) REQUIREMENTS FOR ASSESSMENT OF COST POOLS.— In carrying out subparagraph (B)(vi), the Inspector General shall— (i) review costs that cannot reliably be attributed to specific Administration services or activities (called "common and fixed costs" in the Administration Cost Allocation Study) and consider alternative methods for allocating such costs; and (ii) perform appropriate tests to assess relationships between costs in the various cost pools and activities and services to which the costs are attributed by the Administration. (3) COST EFFECTIVENESS. — (A) IN GENERAL.—The Inspector General shall assess the progress of the Administration in cost and performance management, including use of internal and external benchmarking in improving the performance and productivity of the Administration. (B) ANNUAL REPORTS.—Not later than December 31, 2000, and annually thereafter until December 31, 2004, the Inspector General shall transmit to Congress an 49 USC 40101 note. Deadline.

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