(CNSNews.com)  - As directed by a new law, the Government Accountability Office on Tuesday released its first annual report to Congress on waste and duplication in the federal government’s many programs, agencies, offices and initiatives.

The conclusion: Given the huge amount of money involved in the various programs the GAO studied, “even limited adjustments could result in significant savings."

The report (titled Opportunities to Reduce Potential Duplication in Government Programs, Save Tax Dollars, and Enhance Revenue) is intended to help government policymakers deal with "rapidly building fiscal pressures facing our national government," the GAO said.

The report aims to (1) identify federal programs or functions where unnecessary duplication, overlap, or fragmentation exists; and identify the actions needed to address such conditions as well as the potential benefits of doing so; and (2) highlight other opportunities for potential cost savings or enhanced revenues.

The GAO report includes 81 areas for consideration.

Section I examines 34 areas where agencies, offices, or initiatives have similar or overlapping objectives or provide similar services to the same populations; or where government missions are fragmented across multiple agencies or programs. These areas span a range of government missions: agriculture, defense, economic development, energy, general government, health, homeland security, international affairs, and social services.

"Reducing or eliminating duplication, overlap, or fragmentation could potentially save billions of tax dollars annually and help agencies provide more efficient and effective services," GAO said.

Section II summarizes 47 additional areas describing other opportunities where government agencies or Congress could act to reduce the cost of government operations or enhance revenue collections for the Treasury. “These cost-savings and revenue opportunities also span a wide range of federal government agencies and mission areas,” the report said.

Many of the problem areas are contained within single departments or agencies, GAO said, adding that cost savings in those cases can be achieved simply by implementing GAO recommendations. 

But a number of duplication problems “span multiple organizations and therefore may require higher-level attention by the executive branch or enhanced congressional oversight or legislative action.”

The savings to taxpayers may be considerable:  In some cases, taking action to address individual problems noted in the report could produce financial benefits ranging from the tens of millions to several billion dollars annually – just by addressing that single issue, GAO said.

For example, the Defense Department, by broadly restructuring its military health care system, could save up to $460 million a year, the report said. And eliminating duplicative policies designed to boost domestic ethanol production could reduce federal revenue losses by up to $5.7 billion annually.

The GAO also identified other money-saving opportunities, such as reducing improper federal payments and addressing the gap between taxes owed and paid.

The GAO says it identified 44 federal employment and training programs that overlap with at least one other program by providing at least one similar service to a similar population.  “However, our review of three of the largest programs showed that the extent to which individuals receive the same services from these programs is unknown due to program data limitations.”

Other findings:

-- The federal oversight of food safety is fragmented, leading to ineffective coordination and inefficient use of resources. Fifteen federal agencies collectively administer at least 30 food related laws.

-- The federal approach to surface transportation is fragmented, lacks clear goals, and is not accountable for results. GAO said five DOT agencies with 6,000 employees administer over 100 separate programs with separate funding streams for highways, transit, rail, and safety functions. "This fragmented approach impedes effective decision making and limits the ability of decision makers to devise comprehensive solutions to complex challenges."

-- Some two dozen presidentially appointed individuals have some responsibility for biodefense. In addition, numerous federal agencies have some role in supporting biodefense activities. However, there is no individual or entity with responsibility, authority, and accountability for overseeing the entire biodefense enterprise.

-- GAO has preliminarily identified several instances in which Defense Department entities operate independently and may have developed duplicate counter-IED capabilities. For example, both the Army and the Marine Corps continue to develop their own counter-IED mine rollers.

-- Federal efforts to meet water needs in the U.S.-Mexico border region are fragmented, and have resulted in redundant activities and an overall inefficient use of resources. According to the report, "most of the seven federal agencies that provide assistance have not comprehensively assessed the needs of the region."

-- Consolidating federal data centers would improve government efficiency.

-- Federal financial literacy activities are fragmented across multiple agencies, with more than 20 different federal agencies providing about 56 programs related to financial literacy.

-- Revising Interior’s federal oil and gas revenue collection system represents an opportunity to collect substantial additional revenues from the development of federal oil and gas resources.

-- Many federal agencies hold real property they do not need, including property that is excess or underutilized.

--Limiting the tax-exempt status of certain governmental bonds could yield revenue.

The report is just a start, GAO said. "We will continue to identify additional issues in future reports," the summary said.