Federal Reports

OIG reviewed the Forest Service to determine the likely level of sophistication an attacker would need to compromise selected USDA systems or data. OIG made one recommendation to FS and reached management decision on it.

2024 Peer Review Results of the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Investigations Division

What We Looked AtThe Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) oversees approximately $350 billion appropriated for FHWA programs and activities by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) of 2021. To ensure proper planning and budgeting, each State Department of Transportation (State DOT) must submit a Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) that includes all projects planned for implementation over a period of at least 4 years. Given the amount of funding under IIJA, we initiated this audit. Our objectives were to assess whether FHWA (1) issued guidance to support States’ STIP planning, (2) provided timely technical assistance to support States’ STIP development, and (3) provided continued monitoring and oversight of the Division Offices’ updated STIP standard operating procedures.What We FoundFHWA has not finalized all planned guidance to help State DOTs administer IIJA programs and develop STIPs. As of November 2023, the Agency was working on 4 of 22 guidance areas related to IIJA. Federal control standards call for agencies to communicate the information necessary to achieve objectives. FHWA’s lack of complete guidance may increase the risk that IIJA funding will not achieve intended benefits and cause increased project costs. Furthermore, FHWA’s delays in technical assistance to State DOTs on IIJA-funded projects can impact States’ administrative efficiency. It took the Agency up to 5 months to fulfill two requests from one State DOT. Such delays in other States may increase the risk of adverse effects on STIP development for IIJA-funded projects. FHWA has provided guidance to Division Offices on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for STIP reviews and approvals but lacks policy on reviews of updated SOPs. This lack of policy can increase the Agency’s oversight risks.Our RecommendationsWe made three recommendations to help FHWA improve oversight of STIPs that include IIJA-funded projects. FHWA concurred with one recommendation and partially concurred with the other two. We consider all three recommendations resolved but open pending completion of planned actions.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is issuing this management advisory to bring to your attention concerns regarding how the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) manages its Information Technology (IT) systems. OIG has reported on significant IT investment internal control issues over the last 6 years, which the agency has also identified without taking meaningful action to resolve. These issues include:• The governance board did not meet as required to oversee IT investments,• Performance against established baselines was not reported,• Critical system capabilities were missing, and• Corrective actions were not taken for underperforming investments.These issues require immediate attention as a strong IT governance framework enables the agency to achieve mission goals and objectives while safeguarding taxpayer funds. An efficient IT framework will help the agency better deliver SBA programs and services, particularly in times of crisis.SBA management agreed with five recommendations and partially agreed with one. To address these recommendations, the agency is planning to implement corrective measures, including updating applicable policies, procedures, and evidentiary documentation.

This inspection concluded that the FCC has effectively implemented five of the nine privacy requirements in Title 42 U.S.C. § 2000ee-2. Four of the nine requirements had not been effectively implemented for the period covered by our review. The final report includes four findings and offers seven recommendations intended to improve the Commission’s privacy and data protection policies and procedures

To see our report, click on the link below

The audit of AmeriCorps grants awarded to the Puerto Rico Commission for Volunteerism and Community Service (the Commission) and two of its subgrantees found that the Commission and subgrantees did not comply with Federal regulations and AmeriCorps grant terms and conditions resulting in $625,446 in questioned Federal and match costs, and education awards. Specifically, the Commission did not adequately document or appropriately report costs. We also found the Commission insufficiently monitored its subgrantees’ compliance with grant terms and conditions and the Commission’s and a subgrantee’s financial management system did not properly track grant and report expenditures.We made recommendations for the Commission and AmeriCorps that focus on improving the Commission’s and its subgrantees’ administrative and management procedures for monitoring AmeriCorps grants. The Commission concurred with all findings within the report and noted that it had begun implementing corrective actions consistent with the auditor’s recommendations. AmeriCorps acknowledged working with the Commission on its management response and noted it will make its final determination for all findings, recommendations, and questioned costs after receiving the final report and reviewing the auditor’s working papers and the Commission’s corrective action plan.

We found that Indian Affairs was unable to effectively manage deferred maintenance at school facilities funded by the Bureau of Indian Education.