Federal Reports

In the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Congress established a comprehensive program to preserve the historical and cultural foundations of the nation as a living part of community life. Section 106 of the Act requires federal agencies to consider the effects of projects they carry out, approve, or fund on historic properties. The Tennessee Valley Authority's Cultural Compliance group performs historic preservation reviews (called Section 106 reviews) to assess (1) whether or not historic properties are present, (2) adverse effects of projects on historic properties, and (3) how to mitigate the adverse effects. Due to concerns raised about the efficiency of historic preservation reviews, we performed an evaluation to determine if the process for performing historic preservation reviews was efficient. We determined Section 106 reviews were not consistently tracked resulting in a lack of data to determine the time and costs of the reviews. However, we were able to identify inefficiencies in the Section 106 process. Specifically, we determined the process had inefficiencies regarding (1) prioritization of projects, (2) incorporation of Cultural Compliance in planning, (3) communication between organizations, (4) workload of Cultural Compliance personnel, (5) reliance on contractors, and (6) tracking of cultural resources. We made recommendations to the Vice President, Environment, to address inefficiencies in Section 106 reviews.

What Office of Inspector General Evaluated

The objective of this audit was to determine whether the Library’s Contracts and Grants Directorate had implemented recommendations from previous audit reports and if Contracts and Grants Directorate had not yet implemented all of the recommendations, to describe what steps Contracts and Grants Directorate had accomplished to date and what further actions were required to fulfill any outstanding recommendations.

What Office of Inspector General Found

Based on the results of this follow-up Audit  and prior Audits preceding it, the Inspector General has determined that management has made significant progress in addressing operational, human capital, and internal control weaknesses to merit  removal of contracting from the Library’s list of Top Management Challenges. 

What Office of Inspector General Recommends

None reported

The Office of Inspector General evaluated NASA’s policies and practices regarding the use of non-Agency mobile IT devices to conduct NASA business.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection to determine the validity of allegations related to the management of staff exposure to a patient diagnosed with COVID-19 at the VA Portland Medical Center (facility) in Oregon. The events under review involved the facility’s first patient diagnosed with COVID-19. The OIG did not substantiate that emergency department staff failed to notify imaging department staff that a patient was suspected to have COVID-19 before sending the patient to the imaging department. At the time of the patient’s transport to the imaging department, emergency department staff had not identified suspicion of COVID-19. However, emergency department staff failed to alert imaging department staff of the patient’s potential influenza. The OIG did not substantiate that imaging department supervisors failed to properly and promptly notify imaging department staff who had contact with a patient who was diagnosed with COVID-19 after admission to the facility, or that leaders failed to take appropriate action following staff exposure to a patient with COVID-19. The OIG identified some missteps in the facility’s processes when responding to staff exposure, which affected the accuracy of exposure risk assessments and monitoring for some exposed staff. While missteps were noted, the facility made a significant and timely effort to identify staff with potential exposure and respond in accordance with the most current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Oregon Health Authority. Facility leaders and infection prevention and control staff developed and revised COVID-19-related policies as new guidance became available. The OIG made five recommendations to the facility director related to communicating infection control precautions prior to transfer, management of staff with exposure to high-consequence infections, and inclusion of a detailed staff exposure management process in relevant facility policies.