Federal Reports

We summarized (1) direct payments SSA made to claimant representatives during Calendar Years 2018 through 2022, and (2) user fees SSA charged claimant representatives to process the direct payments during Fiscal Years 2018 through 2022

An Amtrak Assistant Passenger Conductor based in Denver, Colorado, was terminated from employment on May 25, 2023, following his administrative hearing. The Denver Police Department requested our assistance in identifying an individual who was suspected of shoplifting items valued at $244 from a Whole Foods Market while wearing an Amtrak uniform. Our investigation resulted in the identification of the former employee and he, subsequently, pleaded guilty to and was convicted for shoplifting.

The EPA needs to shift its focus from point sources to nonpoint sources to achieve the necessary Chesapeake Bay TMDL pollutant reduction goals.

Our objective was to identify any challenges with company systems and processes that could impede the Capital Delivery department’s ability to effectively track and manage costs for capital projects.Amtrak’s Capital Delivery department is strengthening its ability to track and manage costs. For example, the company is developing a single project management system that it anticipates will replace or integrate at least 12 systems to address the challenge project teams currently have tracking costs across multiple systems. We identified additional challenges, however, with the systems and processes that the department uses for project cost management. Specifically, detailed and standardized cost data are not readily available to project teams, and project cost management guidance is outdated. These challenges hinder project teams and company executives from obtaining consistent, detailed cost data to manage the company’s portfolio of capital work—foundational capabilities that are critical to effectively managing costs on billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded projects.We recommended Amtrak study how it can develop and use more detailed and standardized costs for effective project cost management and then create a plan specifying the people, processes, and systems it needs to do so. While that study is ongoing, we recommended Amtrak develop and implement rules in the short term that define how project teams should categorize costs using existing systems and processes. Finally, we recommended that Amtrak update and implement project cost management procedures to reflect current processes and requirements.

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements.

The OIG inspection team examined how the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) addressed violations identified during the 2016 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the 2014 DC Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE) inspections.