Federal Reports

This investigation addressed an allegation that a contract employee and his employer submitted mileage reimbursement expenses in the amount of $34,173.15 that were not allowed under their contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). These travel expenses were submitted for the employee’s travel to and from TVA’s Sequoyah Nuclear Site between August 2016 and June 2019. The evidence substantiates that these expenses were not reimbursable under the contract.The OIG recommends that (1) TVA re-educate the contractor on when mileage reimbursement is permitted under the contract, and (2) resolve the misinterpretation of the contract terminology pertaining to mileage reimbursement between TVA’s Nuclear Projects and Supply Chain groups.

Our objective was to answer congressional questions about the Social Security Administration's (SSA) response to telephone imposter scams.

I am pleased to submit the Amtrak Office of Inspector General Semiannual Report to the United States Congress for the six months ending March 31, 2020. We are submitting this report at a time when Amtrak is facing unprecedented challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Ridership has dropped to historic lows, revenue losses are mounting, and service across the country has been reduced or canceled while the country adjusts to this national emergency. As the nation’s passenger railroad, however, Amtrak continues to operate its trains and designated its core personnel as “essential.”We are keenly aware of the challenges the company faces, and we remain dedicated to balancing our mission requirements with those of Amtrak as it works through the issues and uncertainties associated with the pandemic.We appreciate that Congress has recognized the important role of the accountability community at this critical time. As historic levels of federal relief quickly flow to Americans, state and local governments, hospitals, and businesses such as Amtrak, the risk of fraud, waste, and abuse will undoubtedly increase. We and our oversight partners remain committed to providing the necessary attention that will help ensure those vast resources are used appropriately.

What We Looked AtIn 2013 and 2014, reports from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) documented a disproportionate decline in commercial air service to smaller communities. Since that time, there have been concerns that small- and medium-sized communities continue to have limited access to the National Airspace System. The lack of a recent analysis, as well as major changes in the industry, prompted our office to update the GAO and MIT reports. Accordingly, our objective for this self-initiated audit was to detail recent trends in the aviation industry, particularly as they relate to small- and medium-sized communities.What We FoundCompared to larger metropolitan areas, smaller communities have experienced disparate effects from several recent aviation industry trends. For example, departures declined in larger communities by roughly 12 percent and in smaller communities by about 34 percent. Connectivity--the ability to connect to and move throughout the national air system--declined by 16 percent in smaller communities, double the rate in larger communities; however, data limitations hindered our analysis of delays and cancellations. Similarly, competitive conditions improved in larger communities, but grew worse in smaller communities, where the cost to fly was also greater. Finally, we found that some airlines have dramatically increased their revenues from booking charges and other ancillary fees. However, the Department of Transportation (DOT) does not collect adequate data on ancillary fees, which reduces its ability to fully assess competition in the industry. Also, ancillary fees are not subject to the excise tax that funds the Airport and Airway Trust Fund (AATF). We conservatively estimate that certain carriers' use of booking fees as a revenue source reduced AATF revenues by $60.6 million in 2019 alone.Our RecommendationsWe made three recommendations to address DOT's data shortcomings and improve departmental clarity on the impact of ancillary fees on AATF receipts. The Department concurred with one of our three recommendations.