Federal Reports

In May 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General Office of Investigations initiated an investigation into allegations that an EPA-funded researcher may be associated with a Chinese talent recruitment program. Subsequently, the EPA OIG has identified a concern regarding the lack of oversight and controls during the EPA research grant application process and duration of the grant. In July 2023, the OIG initiated an investigation into allegations that a major United States university was allegedly receiving funds from China while simultaneously receiving funds from multiple federal agencies, including the EPA. As explained in further detail in this report, the Chinese government sponsors a malign foreign talent recruitment program which could have placed federal funds in jeopardy or resulted in the unauthorized transfer of intellectual property or other nonpublic information.

An Amtrak train attendant based in Miami, Florida, signed a civil settlement agreement on September 2, 2024, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida. The employee was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution and a $2,500 penalty. Our investigation found that the employee submitted a false claim for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Advance of $10,000 for an alleged agriculture business, which operated out of his home. We interviewed the employee, who admitted he did not own an agricultural business and that his loan application contained false information. As a result, he received an EIDL loan advance in the amount of $10,000 to which he was not entitled.

This report was issued from a developing series of six reports taking an in-depth look at how six communities used the pandemic funding they received to address a wide range of needs. This report focused on Sheridan County, Nebraska, with a detailed look at six of the 31 pandemic programs that provided funding to the community. This report was led by the Pandemic Relief Accountability Committee in coordination with HUD OIG as a project participant as well as  additional Federal OIGs.

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) requires each agency’s Inspector General (IG) to conduct an annual independent evaluation to determine the effectiveness of the information security program (ISP) and practices of its respective agency. Our objective was to determine the effectiveness of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) ISP and practices as defined by the FY 2023 – 2024 IG FISMA Reporting Metrics. Our audit scope was limited to answering the fiscal year (FY) 2024 IG metrics, which include 20 core IG metrics and 17 supplemental IG metrics. The FISMA methodology considers metrics at a level 4 (managed and measurable) or higher to be at an effective level of security. Based on our analysis of the FY 2024 IG metrics and associated maturity models, we determined TVA's ISP and practices were operating in an effective manner as defined by the FY 2023 – 2024 IG FISMA Reporting Metrics. However, we identified areas for improvement in both the core and supplemental metrics to further improve TVA’s ISP and practices.

We found that the Person in Charge failed to stop a pollution event, ordered platform operators to lie to BSEE inspectors, and falsified inspection logs.