December 8, 1998

The Speaker of the

In accordance with provisions of Public Law 105-277, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, I hereby request the following transfers from the Information Technology Systems and Related Expenses account:

Department of Agriculture

• Executive Operations, Office of the Chief Information Officer: $28,731,000

Department of Commerce

• General Administration, Salaries and Expenses: $5,350,000

 

• Economic Development Administration, Salaries and Expenses: $694,000

 

• Bureau of the Census, Salaries and Expenses: $10,000,000

• Bureau of the Census, Periodic Censuses and Programs: $10,900,000
• Export Administration, Operations and Administration: $330,000
• National Technical Information Service, NTIS Revolving Fund: $1,000,000

• National Institute of Standards and Technology, Industrial Technology Services: $21,000,000

Department of Education

• Office of Postsecondary Education, Federal Direct Student Loan Program, Program Account: $531,000

 

• Office of Postsecondary Education, Federal Family Education Loan Program Account: $794,000

 

• Departmental Management, Program Administration: $960,000

Department of Housing and Urban Development

• Management and Administration, Salaries and Expenses: $12,200,000

Department of the Interior

• Departmental Management, Working Capital Fund: $17,701,200

Department of Labor

• Employment and Training Administration, Training and Employment Services: $804,000

 

• Mine Safety and Health Administration, Salaries and Expenses: $2,259,000

 

• Departmental Management, Salaries and Expenses: $1,170,000

 

• Departmental Management, Office of the Inspector General: $1,000,000

Department of State

• Administration of Foreign Affairs, Capital Investment Fund: $10,000 ,000

Department of Transportation

• Office of the Secretary, Salaries and Expenses: $7,054,000

 

• Coast Guard, Operating Expenses: $20,505,000

 

• Federal Aviation Administration, Operations: $9,699,000

 

• Federal Aviation Administration, Facilities and Equipment: $86,612,000

 

• Federal Aviation Administration, Research, Engineering, and Development: $147,000

 

• Research and Special Programs Administration, Research and Special Programs: $182,000

 

• Research and Special Programs Administration, Pipeline Safety: $150,000

 

• Maritime Administration, Operations and Training: $530,000

Department of the Treasury

• Departmental Offices, Automation Enhancement: $37,403,000

 

• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Salaries and Expenses: $2,665,000

Federal Emergency Management Agency

 

• Salaries and Expenses: $3,641,000

 

• Emergency Management Planning and Assistance: $3,711,000

General Services Administration

• General Activities, Policy and Operations: $12,701,023

International Assistance Programs

 

• Agency for International Development, Operating Expenses of the Agency for International Development: $10,200,000

 

• Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Overseas Private Investment Corporation Noncredit Account: $840,000

 

• Overseas Private Investment Corporation Program Account: $1,260,000

 

• African Development Foundation, African Development Foundation: $137,485

Small Business Administration

• Salaries and Expenses: $890,000

District of Columbia

 

• District of Columbia Courts, Federal Payment to the District of Columbia Courts: $2,248,660

National Archives and Records Administration

• Operating Expenses: $6,662,000

Office of Special Counsel

• Salaries and Expenses: $100,000

Railroad Retirement Board

• Federal Payment to the Railroad Retirement Accounts: $340,000

Smithsonian Institution

• Salaries and Expenses: $4,700,000

 

This funding will support efforts to make Federal information technology systems Year 2000 compliant and outreach to non-Federal entities in support of the Year 2000 Conversion Council.

 

I hereby designate all of the above requests as emergency requirements pursuant to section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended.

 

The details of these actions are set forth in the enclosed letter from the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. I concur with his comments and observations.

Enclosure

Estimate No.              25            
105th Congress, 2nd Session

December 8, 1998

The President

The White House

     Submitted for your consideration are requests to transfer $338 million from the Information Technology Systems and Related Expenses Account for year 2000 (Y2K) compliance to 20 Federal agencies. This is the second release of contingent emergency funding for Y2K from funds appropriated in P.L. 105-277, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999. On November 6, 1998, you allocated $891 million to 17 Federal Agencies.

     These transfers will support a range of activities to ensure that important computer systems will operate smoothly through the year 2000 and beyond. Contingent emergency funding would be allocated both for activities that were included in your FY 1999 Budget but were not funded in the FY 1999 appropriations process, and for critical Y2K requirements that have been identified since the FY 1999 Budget was transmitted. Federal agencies would use this funding for additional remediation for information technology systems, testing to ensure that systems are Y2K compliant, replacement of embedded computer chips, creation and verification of continuity of operations and contingency plans, and outreach to non-Federal entities by agencies in support of the Year 2000 Conversion Council.

     Your FY 1999 Budget anticipated that Y2K requirements would emerge over the course of the year and included an allowance to provide flexible funding to address emerging needs. As you requested, P.L. 105-277, the FY 1999 Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, provided contingent emergency funding for Y2K computer conversion activities -- $1.1 billion for defense-related activities and $2.25 billion for non-defense activities. The enclosed requests for transfers are for non-defense agencies; therefore, the funds would be transferred from the Information Technology Systems and Related Expenses account established by P.L. 105-277.

     OMB continues its oversight of Federal agency progress toward fixing the Y2K problem. We are working to ensure that Federal agencies have sufficient FY 1999 resources to address Y2K and that flexible contingent emergency funding remains available to address emerging needs. Pursuant to the requirements of Public Law 105-277, OMB will prepare and submit reports to Congress on the proposed allocation and plan for each affected agency to achieve year 2000 compliance for technology information systems before funds can be released to the agency. The report for agencies represented in this second release of Y2K contingent emergency funds will be transmitted to the congressional committees specified in P.L. 105-277 concurrent with this request for release of the funds. In addition, OMB has directed each affected agency to provide detailed justification materials in support of its plan and allocation to the relevant appropriations subcommittees. OMB will continue to monitor agency requirements and will address additional funding needs as they emerge.

     I recommend that you designate the amounts listed on the enclosure as emergency requirements in accordance with section 251(b)(2)(A) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended. No further congressional action will be required. Pursuant to P.L. 105-277, funds will be made available to agencies 15 days after this designation is forwarded to Congress.

     I have carefully reviewed these proposals and am satisfied that they are necessary at this time. Therefore, I join the heads of the affected Departments and agencies in recommending that you make the requested funds available by signing the enclosed letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Enclosure

The Honorable Bob Livingston
Chairman
Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

     In accordance with provisions of Public Law 105-277, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, I am transmitting a proposed allocation and plan for the following agencies to achieve Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance for technology information systems:

Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Education [revision]
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of the Interior [revision]
Department of Labor [revision]
Department of State [revision]
Department of Transportation
Department of the Treasury [revision]
Federal Emergency Management Agency
General Services Administration [revision]
Agency for International Development
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
African Development Foundation
Small Business Administration
District of Columbia Courts
National Archives and Records Administration
Office of Special Counsel
Railroad Retirement Board
Smithsonian Institution

     As noted, for six of the agencies listed above, the materials transmitted revise the allocations and plans for these agencies that were submitted on November 6, 1998.

     In monitoring Federal agency progress towards Y2K compliance, OMB has directed agencies to estimate the total FY 1999 resources necessary for Y2K compliance and related expenses. Further, OMB and the agencies have worked together to determine whether resource requirements associated with Y2K can be accommodated within appropriated levels, or whether contingent emergency funds should be allocated.

     For the agencies listed above, the allocation of contingent emergency funds required at this time is displayed on the enclosed table. The table indicates which agencies will be receiving a second allocation of emergency funding -- those allocations and plans that are being revised -- to demonstrate how their resource requirements have been addressed over time.

     In addition, all of the agencies listed above have been directed to provide detailed justification materials for these requirements to the committees specified in Public Law 105-277, as well as to the relevant appropriations subcommittees, concurrent with the transmittal of this allocation and plan. These materials detail agency funding requirements associated with systems remediation, and discuss how that funding -- both base funding and emergency supplemental funding -- will assist an agency in achieving Y2K compliance. In addition, funding for activities in support of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion is discussed. OMB will continue to monitor agency requirements and will address additional funding needs as they emerge.

     OMB's strategy to ensure agency Y2K compliance is predicated on agency accountability. We have systematically monitored agency progress through agency goals for: compliance of mission critical systems, progress on the status of mission critical systems, status of mission critical systems being repaired, and agency Y2K cost estimates.

     These performance measures have proved useful in ensuring agency accountability without diverting vital resources from Y2K compliance activities to reporting requirements. Provided with this package is OMB's November 1998 Y2K Quarterly Report to the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, which includes an assessment of these performance measures and the Government's overall progress. In assessing agency progress towards compliance, OMB has focused on the four measures described above. The report also details other initiatives -- such as our work with the States on data exchanges -- that are part of the Administration's overall plan for achieving Y2K compliance.

     For most of the agencies listed in this transmittal, the following constitutes the agency plan as required by Public Law 105-277:

• OMB Quarterly Report; and,

• The justification materials provided by the agencies concurrent with the transmittal of this letter.

     For several small, independent agencies included in this transmittal -- Overseas Private Investment Corporation, African Development Foundation, District of Columbia Courts, Office of Special Counsel, Railroad Retirement Board, and Smithsonian Institution -- the justification materials provided serve as the agency plan. OMB has been monitoring the progress of these small agencies, and will ask them to report back on their status early next year.

    Thank you again for your cooperation on this important issue.

 

 

Identical Letter Sent To:

The Honorable Bob Livingston
The Honorable David R. Obey
The Honorable Ted Stevens
The Honorable Robert C. Byrd
The Honorable Robert F. Bennett
The Honorable Christopher J. Dodd
The Honorable F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr.
The Honorable George E. Brown, Jr.
The Honorable Dan Burton
The Honorable Henry A. Waxman
The Honorable Stephen Horn
The Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich