US Land Bureau Slammed for ‘Inconsistent, Inadequate’ Policies

The US Government Accountability Office reports that the US Bureau of Land Management has inadequate and obsolete policies and procedures.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which oversees the mining of gold, silver, copper and other metals on federal land, has inadequate and obsolete policies and procedures, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report.

“BLM has designed internal controls, including policies and procedures over mining law program funds, but some of them are inconsistent, outdated and not effectively communicated,” the report, which was released on Wednesday, said.

The GAO explained that its statistical tests of fiscal year 2013 non-payroll mining law program expenditures showed the BLM did not effectively implement controls to reasonably assure that such transactions were properly recorded and supported.

Gold prices have been falling around the world partly because of diminished fears about inflation, but also because of a stronger dollar and an expectation that the US Federal Reserve will soon raise prime interest rates. This development is expected to reduce demand for output from some of the mines that the BLM oversees.

The BLM has also attracted controversy recently over its revised regulations to oversee expanding oil and natural gas drilling using new hydraulic fracturing techniques.

Critics have charged that its new procedures will discourage innovation and the expansion of the industry.

The US Government Accountability Office is an independent, nonpartisan agency that works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.