[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 117 (Friday, June 18, 1999)] [Notices] [Pages 32871-32872] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 99-15495] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY Evaluation of Performance as Required Under the Government Performance and Results Act
Agency
Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Action
Request for comments.
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Summary
This notice describes a survey that will be conducted by the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) to evaluate the performance of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) as required under the Government Performance Results Act (GPRA). Because the survey will be sent to more than nine non-governmental employees, the Office of Management and Budget must approve the survey instrument and thus notification to the public is required.
Dates
Comments must be received on or before August 17, 1999.
Addresses
Submit written comments by mail to: GPRA/PCAST Review Committee, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Room 435, OEOB, Washington, DC 20502 or by fax to 202-456-6026.
For Further Information Contact
Mr. Brian Kahin or Dr. Joan Porter, GPRA/PCAST Review Committee, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Room 435, OEOB, Washington, DC 20502 or by phone 202-456-6035 (Kahin) or 202-456-6101 (Porter).
Supplementary Information
PCAST will conduct a survey of approximately 200 individuals to determine how well OSTP is performing its mission as outlined in Public Law 94-282. OSTP's continuing mission is set out in the National Science and Technology Policy, Organization, and Priorities Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-282). It calls for OSTP to: Serve as a source of scientific and technological analysis and judgment for the President with respect to major policies, plans, and programs of the Federal Government. The Act authorizes OSTP to: • Advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the impacts of science and technology (S&T) on domestic and international affairs; • Lead an interagency effort to develop and implement sound S&T policies and budgets; • Work with the private sector to ensure Federal investments in S&T contribute to economic prosperity, environmental quality, and national security; • Build strong partnerships among Federal, State, and local governments, other countries, and the scientific community; • Evaluate the scale, quality, and effectiveness of the Federal effort in S&T. OSTP's Senate-confirmed Director also serves as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. In this role, he co-chairs the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and supports the President's National Science and Technology Council (NSTC). A Senate-confirmed Associate Director leads each of OSTP's four divisions covering the areas of Environment, National Security and International Affairs, Science, and Technology. OSTP's four general goals flow directly from Public Law 94-282.
Goal 1: Advise
Provide sound, timely, clear, and accurate advice to the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on topics where S&T can have an impact on domestic and international affairs, and in areas where Federal action has the potential to advance or impede scientific or technological progress.
Performance on This Goal Will be Evaluated According to the Following Criteria
• OSTP is successful in achieving this goal if it delivers timely advice on topics of great importance to the Nation, and its efforts have a favorable effect on associated national policies and on Federal research and development (R&D) program priorities and budgets. • OSTP is minimally effective in achieving this goal if it delivers advice on topics that are important to the Nation, and its efforts have a discernable effect on associated national policies and on Federal R&D program priorities and budgets.
Goal 2: Coordinate
Coordinate the development and implementation of the Administration's domestic and international S&T policies, programs, and budgets.
Performance on This Goal Will be Evaluated According to the Following Criteria
• OSTP is successful in achieving this goal if coordination of the key R&D policies, programs, and budgets of the Federal S&T agencies is improved, appropriate agencies work together to implement cross-cutting priorities and programs, and international aspects (e.g., domestic and international implications of domestic and international programs) are suitably addressed. • OSTP is minimally effective in achieving this goal if some R&D policies, programs, and budgets of the Federal S&T agencies are coordinated, some agencies work together to implement some cross- cutting priorities and programs, and international aspects are recognized.
Goal 3: Promote Partnerships
Catalyze and promote effective partnerships among Federal, State, and local governments, other countries, the private sector, and the academic and scientific communities.
Performance on This Goal Will be Evaluated According to the Following Criteria:
• OSTP is successful in achieving this goal if the partnerships it catalyzes and promotes are grounded in S&T, have the potential to contribute substantially to achieving national goals, involve the appropriate parties, including Federal government involvement in partnership implementation, and are tracked to their successful conclusion. • OSTP is minimally effective in achieving this goal if the partnerships it catalyzes are grounded in S&T, have the potential to contribute to achieving national goals, and involve most appropriate parties, including Federal government involvement in partnership implementation.
Goal 4: Assess and Report
Evaluate and report on the scale, quality, and effectiveness of the Federal effort in S&T.
Performance on This Goal Will be Evaluated According to the Following Criteria
• OSTP is successful in achieving this goal if the assessments and reports it prepares or participates in are factually accurate, cover the full range of relevant scientific, technical, and policy issues, and are written to be understood by decisionmakers who may not have scientific or technical training. • OSTP is minimally effective in achieving this goal if the assessments and reports it prepares or participates in are factually accurate and cover the full range of relevant scientific, technical, and policy issues.
Verification and Validation
OSTP has asked PCAST to assess OSTP's performance. The President appoints members to PCAST, which provides independent advice to the President on the Federal government's S&T policies and programs. PCAST will have complete discretion in formulating its assessment, and PCAST's independent views on how well OSTP has achieved or made progress toward the performance goal will be made available to the public.
Dated: June 14, 1999. Barbara Ann Ferguson, Administrative Officer, Office of Science and Technology Policy. [FR Doc. 99-15495 Filed 6-15-99; 9:21 am] BILLING CODE 3170-01-P