Federal Reports

In April 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency published the Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals [CCR] from Electric Utilities (commonly referred to as the CCR Rule), which set forth national regulations for the safe disposal of coal ash from coal-fired power plants.  On May 8, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency finalized changes to the CCR Rule to include additional classes of regulated CCR storage facilities.  The CCR Rule requires that applicable CCR units be inspected both weekly for any appearances of actual or potential structural weakness and annually to ensure that the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the CCR unit is consistent with recognized engineering standards.  In addition, the CCR Rule requires monthly monitoring of all CCR unit instrumentation for surface impoundments.  

We determined TVA performed required inspections and maintenance of CCR storage facilities.  Additionally, inspections identified no significant deficiencies, and all deficiencies and high priority instrumentation maintenance issues identified were resolved timely or had plans in place for resolution. However, we also determined (1) TVA did not maintain a comprehensive list of instrumentation requiring monitoring, (2) some issues were not identified in inspections and some instrumentation issues were not resolved, (3) remediation of minor issues identified during annual inspections was not documented, (4) annual inspection reports did not document review of weekly inspections, and (5) some inspectors did not have required training.

Former SEC Contract Specialist falsely claimed Virginia residency while living in and working from 
Florida, collecting higher locality pay for years

Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) is a VBA program that provides job training and other services to rehabilitate veterans who have an employment handicap, which federal law defines as a service connected disability limiting the veteran’s “ability to prepare for, obtain, or retain employment consistent with [their] abilities, aptitudes, and interests.” The goal of VR&E is to help veterans live independently and, as much as possible, help them become employable, find a suitable job, and stay employed.

The OIG audit team reviewed claims processed from April 1, 2023, through September 30, 2023, and found that, although the program manual and staff training generally capture the regulatory requirements for determining eligibility and entitlement, VR&E counselors—staff who conduct comprehensive initial evaluations to make an employment handicap decision and process the claims—did not clearly document their decisions. Sufficient documentation is necessary to ensure consistent and accurate decisions by counselors. The evidence available to the OIG to support claims was insufficient to assess the accuracy of entitlement decisions, resulting in $309.5 million in questioned costs. VR&E’s executive director acknowledged that VR&E has not asked VA’s Office of General Counsel to comprehensively review VR&E processes, meaning the program may not be conforming with all legal requirements.

The OIG recommended that the under secretary for benefits coordinate with VA’s Office of General Counsel to assess and, if necessary, update the eligibility and entitlement decision process to ensure veterans’ eligibility periods are properly verified and entitlement decisions are sufficiently clear. Other recommendations to ensure that only veterans eligible and entitled to VR&E receive these benefits included developing a standard documentation method for deferrals, extensions, and overall eligibility decisions; making sure VR&E staff are appropriately trained; and ensuring VR&E develops a process to monitor eligibility decisions for accuracy. VA concurred with the recommendations.

This report presents the results of our audit of Postal Service Management of Overtime Hours.

Background

The Postal Service designates overtime hours as any workhours an employee has worked in excess of a standard workday and/or workweek. The Postal Service generally categorizes overtime hours as either regular overtime or penalty overtime. Regular overtime is paid at time and a half to eligible employees, while penalty-overtime is paid to eligible employees at double the employee’s hourly rate under specific conditions spelled out in collective bargaining agreements. Facility management is required to manage overtime hours efficiently, as overtime hours represent a significant cost for the organization. During fiscal years (FY) 2021 through 2024, the Postal Service paid $24.3 billion in total overtime costs.

What We Did

Our objective was to evaluate the Postal Service’s management of overtime hours and assess whether the corrective actions taken in response to prior overtime audits sufficiently addressed the issues identified. For this audit, we analyzed nationwide overtime data and compared actual overtime to planned overtime hours during FY 2021 through FY 2024. We reviewed overtime hours of 20 judgmentally selected facilities and held interviews with headquarters, district/division, and local officials to gain an understanding of the overtime documentation process including unauthorized overtime.

What We Found

Overtime hours have declined from 172.9 million in 2021 to 117.8 million in 2024. Even with this decline, opportunities continue to exist to improve the management of unauthorized overtime in the Time and Attendance Collection System (TACS) and further reduce overtime hours. Specifically, facility management did not always properly identify, categorize, and document regular and penalty overtime transactions in TACS by the end of the pay week, as required. Additionally, although total overtime hours declined by more than 30 percent from 2021 to 2024, the Postal Service used 5.7 million overtime hours, or 5 percent more than originally planned, in FY 2024.

OIG conducted an evaluation of the Volunteer Delivery System to assess the challenges Peace Corps has recently faced in recruiting, selecting, and placing Volunteers. To perform this evaluation, OIG reviewed the agency’s strategic planning and performance documents, recruiting and hiring data, and documentation related to various recruiting strategies. OIG also conducted in-person and virtual interviews with headquarters-based and regional recruitment staff. The evaluation also included an overseas staff survey and a review of relevant documentation. The report contains seven recommendations along with a summary of the effectiveness of Peace Corps’ recruitment strategies and approaches.