The Red Book: Cost-Saver Handbook (2001)

The Red Book is a compendium of significant Office of Inspector General (OIG) cost-saving recommendations that have not been fully implemented. These recommendations may require one of three types of actions: legislative, regulatory, or other administrative (such as manual revisions). Some complex issues involve two or all three types of actions. The Inspector General Act requires that the OIG's semiannual reports to the Congress include "an identification of each significant recommendation described in previous semiannual reports on which corrective action has not been completed." Thus, appendices to each semiannual report list significant unimplemented recommendations. Because of the abbreviated nature of this list, however, we prepare the Red Book to further highlight the potentially significant impact of cost-saving recommendations. The savings estimates indicated for these unimplemented recommendations are updated from time to time to reflect more current data as it becomes available. The estimates have varying levels of precision. Full implementation of the recommendations in this 2001 edition of the Red Book could produce substantial savings to the Department.

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