Federal Reports

We performed an audit of costs billed to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) by Barnard Construction Company, Inc., (Barnard) to provide TVA support in connection with its coal combustion residual conversion program, activities or projects, and/or waste-water treatment, dewatering, and landfill projects under Contract No. 13159. The contract provided for TVA to compensate Barnard for work on either a cost-reimbursable, target cost estimate, time and materials, fixed price, or fixed unit rate basis. Our audit objectives were to determine (1) if the costs billed to TVA were in accordance with the contract’s terms and (2) the reasonableness of TVA’s process for evaluating and awarding fixed price or fixed unit rate tasks issued under the contract. Our audit scope included about $140.6 million in costs paid by TVA from January 1, 2021, through July 27, 2023, for purchase orders with initial payments after January 1, 2021. This included approximately $83.7 million for fixed price projects, $23.2 million for fixed unit rate projects, and $33.7 million for cost reimbursable projects.In summary, we determined Barnard generally billed cost-reimbursable projects in accordance with the contract, except (1) Barnard billed salaried personnel at an average rate for each labor category instead of actual salaries, and (2) the fee structure agreed upon in the work releases and paid by TVA did not meet the intent of the fee structure provided for in the contract. In addition, we determined there were opportunities to strengthen TVA’s process for evaluating and awarding fixed price and fixed unit rate tasks that were issued when TVA received limited or no competition.

From fiscal years 2020 to 2023, we conducted 17 unannounced inspections at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facilities across the United States (facility locations below), which resulted in 17 reports and 1 management alert.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not always conduct and manage assessments of owned and leased facilities for the safe and economical use of its real property. Department of Homeland Security policy requires CBP to assess the condition, function, and overall performance of its real property every 3 years. CBP uses assessment information to identify any critical or life safety deficiencies that may need to be addressed. However, during fiscal years 2018 through 2023, CBP did not complete assessments for 63 of 288 (22 percent) facilities. Of the 225 completed assessments, none were performed on a 3-year cycle as required by policy. Additionally, CBP did not always resolve critical or life safety deficiencies identified in its assessments in a timely manner. As of January 2024, 448 of 767 (58 percent) identified critical or life safety deficiencies remained unresolved. Finally, CBP did not ensure data in its real property system of record was accurate and complete.

OIG reviewed USDA’s compliance with the covered agency responsibilities specific to subsection 759(a) of the Geospatial Data Act.

Objective: To determine whether the Social Security Administration issued payments to beneficiaries who were reported as missing in the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System.

Ambulatory care, which refers to medical services performed in outpatient settings, is the basis by which most care is delivered within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) healthcare system. Because over half of VHA’s medical care budget is for ambulatory care (about $65.1 billion for FY 2023), the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this audit to determine whether VHA has adequate controls over its budget formulation process to ensure its ambulatory care budget estimate is reliable. The OIG found that VHA could strengthen internal controls over its budget formulation process to provide reasonable assurance that the ambulatory care budget estimate is reliable. VHA lacks documented procedures, including assigned roles and responsibilities, for developing the ambulatory care budget estimate. VHA also did not establish a data governance structure with clearly defined authoritative data sources and designated data stewards. Documented procedures and a data governance structure could help maintain organizational knowledge of the process and provide reasonable assurance that VHA’s internal controls over operations, reporting, and compliance are effective. The OIG made four recommendations to strengthen internal controls over the budget formulation process.