Federal Reports

Marshall Miller & Associates, Inc. (Marshall Miller) was engaged by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Office of Inspector General to review the adequacy and completeness of environmental recovery plans prepared by TVA in response to the ash spill that occurred on December 22, 2008, at the Kingston Fossil Plant (KIF). Generally, Marshall Miller found no significant deficiencies in any of the proposed alternatives for the restoration of the Swan Pond Embayment, including the selected alternative. The documents prepared by TVA appear to be substantially in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements stated in the Administrative Order and Agreement on Consent between TVA and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and meet the removal action objectives outlined in the Non-Time Critical Removal Action Embayment/Dredge Cell Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis or as is more commonly known the EE/CA. There were some discrepancies noted in the Human Health Risk Assessment, with regard to certain selected input parameters, such as toxicity and exposure factors. However, since the selected alternative includes the removal of all ash, any risk associated with leaving the ash in place is reduced, and revisions to the risk assessment are not necessary. TVA has committed to incorporating the findings in future Human Health Risk Assessments. While Marshall Miller found no significant deficiencies in any of the proposed alternatives, the following observations were noted:Both the EE/CA and Non-Time Critical Removal Action Embayment/Dredge Cell Action Memorandum (Action Memorandum) are intended to provide only a conceptual design of each of the three alternatives. Since an alternative has been selected, a more detailed design will be needed, along with revised sampling plans for monitoring potential environmental impacts during excavation of the ash and closure of the Dredge Cell. Additionally, the EE/CA provides limited detail on the long-term monitoring of various media for potential environmental impacts.A more detailed understanding of groundwater flow and associated contaminant migration from the Dredge Cell to adjacent surface water is required in order to properly establish locations for long-term monitoring of wells.TVA management agreed with our findings and recommendations and plans to take or has taken corrective actions.

The Inspector General (IG) Criminal Investigator Academy (IG Academy) was officially established in February 1994 by a Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE). The training academy is located at FLETC in Glynco, Georgia. The PCIE was superseded by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) under the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008. Therefore, CIGIE assumed accountability for the IG Academy. In this review which was performed as a service for CIGIE, we found a definite lack of resources for the IG Academy, which impacts the learning methodologies utilized and the overall quality of the programs being delivered. If the IG Academy is to exhibit the attributes of an effective training program, CIGIE must provide it with human capital and infrastructure resources, including instructional, information technology, curriculum, and administrative support.We recommended CIGIE consider the following resource needs, among others, for the IG Academy:Staffing or access to staffing to conduct timely updates of curricula and lesson plans, assist in instructional systems design, and teach coursesInformation technology supportThe implementation of an electronic learning management system-a software application that provides, among other assets, administration, documentation, tracking, and reporting of training programs, classroom and online events, e-learning programs, and training contentAdministrative supportThe means to address a legal support deficiencyRemarkably, the IG Academy has been able to provide training to investigators who consistently give very positive feedback despite the lack of resources identified in this report. Our review revealed a small but dedicated staff achieving far more than the bare statistics suggest should be possible. The Director and her staff are to be congratulated for holding together a program that enjoys the support of the majority of the IG community and continues to provide a valuable service.

Since 1933, Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) dam and reservoir construction program has acquired approximately 1.3 million acres of land for the creation of 34 reservoirs in five of the seven states in the Tennessee Valley region. Water flooded approximately 470,000 acres as part of the construction and operation of the reservoir system. Approximately 508,000 acres have been transferred or sold primarily to other federal and state agencies for public uses, leaving approximately 293,000 acres currently owned by TVA and managed to meet development needs and improve the quality of life in the Tennessee Valley. These reservoir properties, together with adjoining private lands, have been used for public parks, industrial development, commercial recreation, residential development, and a variety of other needs associated with local communities and government. Section 4(k)(a) of the TVA Act gives TVA the power "to convey by deed, lease, or otherwise, any real property in the possession of or under the control of the Corporation to any person or persons, for the purpose of recreation or use as a summer residence, or for the operation on such premises of pleasure resorts for boating, fishing, bathing, or any similar purpose."As part of our annual audit plan, we reviewed recreational land transactions. Our audit objectives were to assess the (1) process for entering into recreational land transactions and (2) monitoring and enforcement of those transactions as of August 26, 2009. In addition, our review included information related to the valuation of campgrounds and marinas. As a result of our review, we identified several areas for improvement. Specifically, we determined (1) Stewardship Guidelines do not include adequate criteria to provide for consistency in awarding recreational land agreements; (2) licenses have been used for long-term encumbrances of recreational lands; (3) no formal process is in place to track changes in campground or marina ownership which could affect fees charged; (4) reevaluations of annual fees have not been consistently performed; (5) reviews of monthly invoicing for campground and marina operators may not be adequate; (6) TVA does not have an accurate listing of recreational properties that hinders adequate monitoring; (7) no process is in place for identifying data errors or noncompliance issues related to agreement terms, other than "visual" violations on the properties; (8) TVA does not exercise its right of reentry for properties sold under Section 4(k)(a) when the properties are used in violation of the deed; (9) structures have been built on TVA properties without TVA approval; (10) sporadic usage of "approvable actions" (i.e., permits issued after construction or changes have been made to the property without TVA approval); and (11) TVA faces reputational risk due to external and internal cultural factors, primarily related to the monitoring and enforcement of violations and encroachments.TVA management agreed with our recommendations and is taking corrective action to address these issues. Summary Only

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