In a very significant development, DOI Secretary Ken Salazar announced on September 16, 2009 that he will be "phasing-in termination of the royalty-in-kind program and an orderly transition over time to a more transparent and accountable royalty collection program."  Salazar made the announcement in his testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee, which convened to discuss Committee Chairman Nick Rahall's proposed legislation that would create a new Interior agency to handle onshore and offshore lease sales, inspection, enforcement, and revenue collection, as well as an overhaul of the federal royalty program.  Salazar's announcement comes on the heels of an August 2009 GAO report that found MMS was losing millions of dollars in royalty revenue.  The royalty-in-kind program also made headlines in June 2008 when reports surfaced of MMS employees accepting gifts from oil and gas companies and  abusing drugs and alcohol .  In his testimony, Salazar told the House Natural Resources Committee that, "The royalty-in-kind program in my view has been a blemish on the department."