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Date Issued
Submitting OIG
Department of Transportation OIG
Other Participating OIGs
Department of Transportation OIG
Agencies Reviewed/Investigated
Department of Transportation
Components
Federal Transit Administration
Report Number
ZA2024033
Report Description

What We Looked At In 2017, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) awarded a $138 million contract to the state-owned China Railway Rolling Stock MA Corporation (CRRC MA) for 45 passenger railcars. In 2022, three then-ranking Members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee asked our office to examine the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) oversight of (1) SEPTA’s certification of CRRC MA’s adherence to FTA’s Buy America requirements and (2) SEPTA’s calculation of the total value of foreign components for determining compliance with FTA’s Buy America requirements. As such, our objective was to assess FTA’s oversight of SEPTA’s compliance with Buy America standards for its rolling stock contract with CRRC MA. What We Found Weaknesses in FTA’s Buy America guidance hindered its oversight of SEPTA’s compliance with Buy America rolling stock requirements. Specifically, FTA does not require recipients to retain supporting documentation for pre-award audits or to verify suppliers’ Buy America information, nor does FTA have regulations to address domestic shipping costs. Without clear guidance, FTA could not rely on SEPTA to provide oversight of rolling stock procurements and risks that recipients miscalculate domestic content costs—raising concerns about whether FTA’s Buy America rules are being met. In December 2022, FTA initiated an enhanced compliance review of SEPTA to verify compliance with Buy America rolling stock standards, but the Agency faced challenges in obtaining sufficient data from both SEPTA and CRRC MA. Although FTA suspended funds for the CRRC MA contract, the absence of policy on when to initiate an enhanced Buy America compliance review and take corrective action limits the Agency’s ability to address delays or compliance issues on future FTA-funded projects.Our Recommendations We made eight recommendations to improve FTA’s oversight of SEPTA’s compliance with Buy America rolling stock requirements and FTA’s oversight of future rolling stock procurements. FTA concurred with recommendations 1 through 6. FTA partially concurred with recommendations 7 and 8 and provided alternative actions that meet the intent of our recommendations. We consider all recommendations resolved but open pending completion of planned actions. 

Report Type
Audit
Agency Wide
Yes
Number of Recommendations
0
Questioned Costs
$30,800,000
Funds for Better Use
$35,500,000

Open Recommendations

This report has 5 open recommendations.
Recommendation Number Significant Recommendation Recommended Questioned Costs Recommended Funds for Better Use Additional Details
1 Yes $0 $0

Initiate actions to establish requirements for recipients (or third-party auditors) for how manufacturers' rolling stock documentation will be reviewed when conducting pre-award and post-delivery audits.

2 Yes $0 $0

Initiate actions to establish requirements for recipients (or third-party auditors) to maintain pre-award and post-delivery audit documentation in a manner that protects manufacturers' sensitive data while also providing supporting evidence of the work described in the audit.

4 Yes $0 $0

Initiate actions to establish requirements for recipients (or their auditors) to document their verification of suppliers' Buy America information.

5 Yes $0 $0

Develop and implement Buy America policies or guidance as to how to account for hardware and domestic shipping costs when computing domestic content percentages.

6 Yes $0 $0

Develop and implement Buy America policies or guidance detailing when to initiate Buy America rolling stock compliance reviews and apply the corrective actions (i.e., specific conditions and remedies for noncompliance) described in the Uniform Grant Guidance.

Department of Transportation OIG

United States