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Brought to you by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency
As part of our annual audit plan, we performed an audit of costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Bechtel Power Corporation (Bechtel) for providing engineering, procurement, construction, and related services in support of the completion of TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Unit 2 under Contract No. 65419. Our audit included about <br> $502 million in craft labor costs billed to TVA from January 1, 2010, to June 30, 2015. Our audit objective was to determine if Bechtel billed TVA in accordance with the contract terms and conditions. In summary, we determined Bechtel overbilled TVA $6,828,935. Specifically, Bechtel overbilled:$3,826,970 in ineligible craft labor and related costs, which included (1) $3,584,707 for ineligible overtime and double time costs billed, (2) $195,850 for ineligible personnel history questionnaire incentive payments, and (3) $46,413 for ineligible and/or unsupported meal allowances.</li>$2,932,151 for ineligible and excessive craft labor costs for material handling.</li>$60,808 in overbilled craft labor due to using an incorrect rate for the craft labor Helmets to Hardhats contribution.</li>$9,006 in other unsupported and ineligible craft labor costs.</li>(Summary Only)
In March 2017, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a summons to Twitter, Inc., regarding the @ALT_USCIS user account for the purpose of identifying the owner of the account under 19 U.S.C. 1509. During our review, we identified issues concerning CBP's policies and practices with respect to Section 1509 summonses which resulted in inconsistent and, in some cases, improper use of such summonses. We determined that CBP can and should do more to ensure that its personnel are properly informed and educated about the appropriate use of Section 1509 summonses. We made one recommendation to CBP to immediately update its internal operating procedures to reflect the guidance of the use of Section 1509 summonses, train relevant staff on the use of such summonses and review the use of such summonses across the agency to determine how the summonses are used and whether its use comports with the law and updated policy.
In August 2016, Amtrak (the company) received a federal loan1 to purchase 28 new high-speed trainsets for $1.6 billion and undertake 10 infrastructure improvements needed to operate and maintain these trains for $850 million. Collectively, these projects—called the Acela Express 2021 program—represent the company's largest single investment in its 46 years of service. The new equipment will replace the 20 Acela trainsets currently providing high-speed service on the Northeast Corridor, allowing the company to increase service frequency between Washington, D.C., and Boston, Massachusetts.
The auditors determined that NEA substantially complied with the DATA Act for FY 2017 Q2. Quarter 2 data was submitted timely with over 95 percent of its data submitted accurately, completely, and in accordance with government-wide data standards. However, we noted six procurement awards included in File C that were not listed in File D1. These transactions were erroneously included in File C due to timing issues and a misunderstanding about what types of transactions should be included. These six files represent 2.3% of the sample tested.We recommend that NEA enforce the validations required by the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to ensure all obligations in File C correspond to the award data in File D1. Moreover, NEA should update their DATA Act SOP to reflect the type of awards that should be excluded and/or included from DATA Act reporting.
