GAO Lists Interior's Oversight of Oil And Gas Leases as 'High-Risk'

"Concerns about how the Interior Department manages the nation's oil and gas resources have earned it a spot on a closely watched list of the government's most at-risk offices and programs.

After last year's Gulf Coast oil spill, the department might be unable to manage oil and gas leases while overhauling the agencies and offices responsible for them, according to the Government Accountability Office's biennial "High-Risk Report."

The nonpartisan investigative agency's 177-page study is a way for federal watchdogs, lawmakers and the Obama administration to track the agencies and programs requiring special attention in the next two years.

The GAO publishes the report at the start of each new congressional session. Congress's main oversight panels, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, are to unveil the report Wednesday."

Ed O'Keefe reports for the Washington Post February 16, 2011.