The Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) closed on September 29, 1995. During its 23-year history, OTA provided Congressional members and committees with analyses of the scientific and technological issues that were increasingly relevant to public policy and legislative action.
OTA occupied a unique role among the Congressional information agencies. Unlike the General Accounting Office, which is primarily concerned with evaluation of ongoing programs, and the Congressional Research Service, which provides rapid information on legislative topics, OTA provided a deeper, more comprehensive, and more technical level of analysis. Through eleven Congressional sessions, OTA became a key resource for Congressional members and staff confronting technological issues in crafting public policy. Its existence brought a healthy balance to the analytical resources available to the executive and legislative branches of government.
The agency’s legacy is found in the many items of legislation it influenced and in the channels of communication its staff helped foster between legislative policymakers and members of the scientific, technical, and business communities.
The Black Vault has archived here the complete collection of reports and data issued by the OTA. Clicking on any document below will take you directly to the report, all in .pdf format. This collection holds 110,670 pages in total.
1984
Acid Rain and Transported Air Pollutants: Implications for Public Policy
Africa Tomorrow: Issues in Technology, Agriculture, and U.S. Foreign Aid
Airport System Development
Annual Report to the Congress: January 1 to September 30, 1983
Arms Control in Space
The Boston Elbow
Civilian Space Stations and the U.S. Future in Space
Commercial Biotechnology: An International Analysis
Computerized Manufacturing Automation: Employment, Education, and the Workplace
The Contact Lens Industry: Structure, Competition, and Public Policy
Directed Energy Missile Defense in Space
Effects of Information Technology on Financial Services Systems
Environmental Protection in the Federal Coal Leasing Program
Federal Policies and the Medical Devices Industry
The Hemodialysis Equipment and Disposables Industry
Human Gene Therapy
Impacts of Neuroscience
Intensive Care Units (ICUs): Clinical Outcomes, Costs, and Decisionmaking
The Market for Wheelchairs: Innovations and Federal Policy
Medical Technology and the Costs of the Medicare Program
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technology: A Clinical, Industrial, and Policy Analysis
Nuclear Power in an Age of Uncertainty
Protecting the Nation’s Groundwater from Contamination-Vol. I
Protecting the Nation’s Groundwater from Contamination-Vol. II
Remote Sensing and the Private Sector: Issues for Discussion
Review of Postal Automation Strategy: A Technical and Decision Analysis
Technologies To Sustain Forest Resources
Technology and the Future of the U.S. Construction Industry
Technology, Innovation, and Regional Economic Development
Technology, Renewable Resources, and American Crafts
Technology Transfer to the Middle East
U.S. Vulnerability to an Oil Import Curtailment
Update of Federal Activities Regarding the Use of Pneumococcal Vaccine
Wetlands: Their Use and Regulation
Wood Use: U.S. Competitiveness and Technology-Vol. II
1983
Agricultural Postharvest Technology and Marketing Economics Research
Annual Report to the Congress for 1982
An Assessment of Maritime Trade and Technology
Assistive Devices for Severe Speech Impairments
Automation and the Workplace: Selected Labor, Education, and Training Issues
Census of State Government Initiatives for High-Technology Industrial Development
Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) and the Medicare Program: Implications for Medical Technology
The Effectiveness and Costs of Alcoholism Treatment
Encouraging High-Technology Development
Habitability of the Love Canal Area: An Analysis of the Technical Basis for the Decision on the Habitability of the Emergency Declaration Area
The Impact of Randomized Clinical Trials on Health Policy and Medical Practice
Industrial and Commercial Cogeneration
Industrial Energy Use
The Information Content of Premanufacture Notices
International Competitiveness in Electronics
Plants: The Potential for Extracting Protein, Medicines, and Other Useful Chemicals
Quality and Relevance of Research and Related Activities at the Gorges Memorial Laboratory
The Role of Genetic Testing in the Prevention of Occupational Diseases
The Safety, Efficacy, and Cost Effectiveness of Therapeutic Apheresis
SALYUT: Soviet Steps Toward Permanent Human Presence in Space
Scientific Validity of Polygraph Testing: A Research Review and Evaluation
Sustaining Tropical Forest Resources: Reforestation of Degraded Lands
Sustaining Tropical Forest Resources: U.S. and International Institutions
Technologies and Management Strategies for Hazardous Waste Control
Technology and East-West Trade: An Update
Technology and Learning Disabilities
U.S. Natural Gas Availability: Conventional Gas Supply Through the Year 2000
U.S. Passenger Rail Technologies
UNISPACE ’82: A Context for International Cooperation and Competition
Variations in Hospital Length of Stay: Their Relationship to Health Outcomes
Water-Related Technologies for Sustainable Agriculture in Arid/Semiarid Lands: Selected Foreign Experience
Water-Related Technologies for Sustainable Agriculture in U.S. Arid/Semiarid Lands
Wood Use: U.S. Competitiveness and Technology-Vol. I
1982
The Air Cargo System
Air Service to Small Communities
Airport and Air Traffic Control System
Annual Report to the Congress for 1981
The Artificial Heart: Costs, Risks, and Benefits
An Assessment of Alternatives for a National Computerized Criminal History System
Cardiac Radionuclide Imaging and Cost Effectiveness
Civilian Space Policy and Applications
Energy Efficiency of Buildings in Cities
Environmental Issues of Synthetic Transportation Fuels From Coal
Exploratory Workshop on the Social Impacts of Robotics: Summary and Issues
Financing and Program Alternatives for Advanced High-Speed Aircraft
Four Common X-Ray Procedures: Problems and Prospects for Economic Evaluation
Global Models, World Futures, and Public Policy: A Critique
Impacts of Technology on U.S. Cropland and Rangeland Productivity
Implications of Electronic Mail and Message Systems for the U.S. Postal Service
Increased Automobile Fuel Efficiency and Synthetic Fuels: Alternatives for Reducing Oil Imports
Informational Technology and Its Impact on American Education
Mandatory Passive Restraint Systems in Automobiles: Issues and Evidence
Medical Technology Under Proposals To Increase Competition in Health Care
MEDLARS and Health Information Policy
Postmarketing Surveillance of Prescription Drugs
Radiofrequency Use and Management: Impacts From the World Administrative Radio Conference of 1979
Review of the FAA 1982 National Airspace System Plan
Selected Electronic Funds Transfer Issues: Privacy, Security, and Equity
Selected Technical and Economic Comparisons of Synfuel Options
Selected Telecommunications Devices for Hearing-Impaired Persons
Space Science Research in the United States
Strategies for Medical Technology Assessment
Synthetic Fuels for Transportation: The Future Potential of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles
Technology and Handicapped People
Technology Transfer at the National Institutes of Health
Use of Models for Water Resources Management, Planning, and Policy
Water Availability for Synthetic Fuels: An Assessment of Current Studies
World Population and Fertility Planning Technologies: The Next 20 Years
1981
Allocating Costs and Benefits in Disease Prevention Programs: An Application to Cervical Cancer Screening
Annual Report to the Congress for 1980
Assessing Selected Respiratory Therapy Modalities: Trends and Relative Costs in the Washington, D.C., Area
An Assessment of Development and Production Potential of Federal Coal Leases
Assessment of Technologies for Determining Cancer Risks From the Environment
An Assessment of Technology for Local Development
An Assessment of the United States Food and Agricultural Research System
Benefit-And-Cost Analysis of Medical Interventions: The Case of Cimetidine and Peptic Ulcer Disease
Coal Exports and Port Development Computer-Based National Information Systems: Technology and Public Policy Issues
Cost Benefit/Cost Effectiveness of Medical Technologies: A Case Study of Orthopedic Joint Implants
Cost Effectiveness of Automated Multichannel Chemistry Analyzers
The Cost Effectiveness of Bone Marrow Transplant Therapy and Its Policy Implications
Cost Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccination
The Cost Effectiveness of Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
The Costs and Effectiveness of Neonatal Intensive Care
The Costs and Effectiveness of Nurse Practitioners
Elective Hysterectomy: Costs, Risks, and Benefits
The Feasibility of Economic Evaluation of Diagnostic Procedures: The Case of CT Scanning
Formal Analysis, Policy Formulation, and End-Stage Renal Disease
Impacts of Applied Genetics: Micro-Organisms, Plants, and Animals
MX Missile Basing
Nonnuclear Industrial Hazardous Waste: Classifying for Hazard Management
Nuclear Powerplant Standardization: Light Water Reactors
Patent-Term Extension and the Pharmaceutical Industry
Patterns and Trends in Federal Coal Lease Ownership, 1950-80
Periodontal Disease: Assessing the Effectiveness and Costs of the Keyes Technique
Policy Implications of the Computed Tomography (CT) Scanner: An Update
Screening for Colon Cancer: A Technology Assessment
Solar Power Satellites
Surgery for Breast Cancer
Technology and Oceanography: An Assessment of Federal Technologies for Oceanographic Research and Monitoring
Technology and Soviet Energy Availability
U.S. Industrial Competitiveness: A Comparison of Steel, Electronics, and Automobiles
1980
Advanced High-Speed Aircraft
Alternative Energy Futures: Part I-The Future of Liquefied Natural Gas Imports
Annual Report to the Congress for 1979
An Assessment of Oil Shale Technologies
Assessment of Oil Shale Technologies-Vol. II: A History and Analysis of the Federal Prototype Oil Shale Leasing Program
Compensation for Vaccine-Related Injuries
Conservation and Solar Energy Programs of the Department of Energy: A Critique
Criteria for Evaluating the Implementation Plan Required By the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977
The Efficacy and Cost Effectiveness of Psychotherapy
Energy From Biological Processes
Energy from Biological Processes: Volume II-Technical and Environmental Analyses
Forecasts of Physician Supply and Requirements Impact of Advanced Group Rapid Transit Technology
The Implications of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Medical Technology
The Implications of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Medical Technology: Methodological Issues and Literature Review
Issues and Options in Flood Hazards Management
The Management of Health Care Technology in Ten Countries
Ocean Margin Drilling
Proceedings of the OTA Seminar on the Discrete Address Beacon System (DABS)
Recent Developments in Ocean Thermal Energy
Taggants in Explosives
Technology and Steel Industry Competitiveness
U.S. Disaster Assistance to Developing Countries: Lessons Applicable to U.S. Domestic Disaster Programs
World Petroleum Availability 1980-2000