Department of the Interior OIG

OIG investigated allegations that an oil and gas company improperly claimed royalty suspension under the Deepwater Royalty Relief Act of 1995, and failed to pay mineral royalties associated with an offshore Federal lease.We determined the company was eligible for royalty relief but was required to...

OIG investigated allegations that Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) native language teachers accepted payments from a tribe, which illegally supplemented their Federal salaries.We substantiated the allegations. We identified BIE native language teachers who received two or three supplemental payments...

OIG investigated allegations that a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) employee improperly used a BIA purchase card to purchase speakers, headphones, and electronic tablets.Prior to any significant involvement by our office, we learned that BIA had already investigated the matter and confirmed that two...

OIG investigated allegations that a former Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) contracting employee had a conflict of interest involving a government contractor. We also investigated allegations that the employee had an inappropriate relationship with a second government contractor.Our investigation...

We completed a verification review of Recommendation 9, presented in our evaluation report, “Bureau of Land Management’s Renewable Energy Program: A Critical Point in Renewable Energy Development” (CR-EV-FWS-0004-2010), issued June 12, 2012. Our objective for this review was to determine whether the...

We completed a verification review of Recommendations 1, 3, 4, and 5, presented in our evaluation report, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Management of Oil and Gas Activities on Refuges (CR-EV-FWS-0002-2014), issued March 1, 2015. Our objective for this review was to determine whether the U.S. Fish...

The OIG audited the costs claimed by the Government of Guam’s Department of Agriculture under grants awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. The audit included claims totaling $4.6 million on 31 grants that were open during the...

OIG investigated allegations that an Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) employee stole government equipment and committed time and attendance fraud.We determined the employee stole two stereoscopes and a mapping tool from OSMRE and that the equipment was obsolete and valued...

OIG’s audit of grants to New York’s State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Fish and Wildlife, included claims totaling approximately $171 million on 19 grants that were open during the State fiscal years that ended March 31, 2015, and March 31, 2016. The audit also covered the...

The OIG investigated allegations that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Wyoming State Office (WYSO) had entered into an unneeded contract for oil-and-gas-record digitization services, had improperly selected the contractor, and had improperly carried the funds for the digitization project...