This bill requires the Comptroller General of the United States (GAO) to conduct a review of three Mid-Atlantic river basin commissions within 1 year of enactment. The review must examine each commission's ethics policies and practices; how each commission communicates with the public; federal responsibilities at each commission, including actions by federal agencies; the level and sources of Federal and State funding each commission receives; duties or responsibilities that may duplicate or overlap with other Federal authorities; and the commissions' reporting policies and best practices. After the review, the Comptroller General must send a report with findings and any recommendations — including possible statutory or administrative changes or changes to ethics policies — to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. Within 90 days after that report, and annually for five years, each commission must submit to those two committees a plan detailing actions the commission has taken to comply with the report's recommendations. The bill names the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, the Delaware River Basin Commission, and the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin as the covered commissions.
If you live, work, or have interests in the Susquehanna, Delaware, or Potomac river basins, those three commissions will be reviewed by the GAO and must send plans to Congress describing steps they take in response to the review. The review focuses on ethics, public communication, funding sources, overlapping duties, and reporting practices.
No publicly available information on cost estimates or appropriations is included in the provided bill text.
The bill directs a GAO review and requires follow-up plans and reporting with the stated goal of increasing transparency and congressional oversight of the three river basin commissions.
No publicly available information on opposition or opponents' arguments is included in the provided bill text.