Federal Reports

A senior political employee did not comply with the Federal ethics pledge by meeting with representatives from a former employer.

The Office of the Inspector General found the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) industrial hygiene planning and assessment process had weaknesses that resulted in some hazards not being identified and evaluated. Specifically, we identified the following industrial hygiene process weaknesses: (1) TVA relied on limited information to identify health hazards; (2) there was no formal evaluation of the risks posed by hazards identified; (3) industrial hygiene plans did not prioritize hazards for control; and (4) incomplete monitoring efforts, which allowed for misalignment between plans and exposure assessments as well as limited coverage for retiring plants. We also found TVA did not take appropriate actions to address some adverse conditions identified during assessments. We determined actions were not taken to address four occurrences of elevated silica. We also determined some employees were not notified of hazard exposures or actions taken to address their exposures, as required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. In addition, we identified opportunities for improvement related to handling of industrial hygiene issues in the contractor population.

OIG data analytics identified the Ranson, WV, Post Office as having $36,694 recorded to account identifier code (AIC) 528, Refund Permit Postage and Fees, from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020. This amount represented 81 percent of the district’s $45,157 refunds for permit postage and fees for this time frame. In addition, we identified the unit had several months with little or no refund activity and four months with unusually high refund amounts for the period October 1, 2019, through March 31, 2021. Our objective was to determine whether Ranson, WV, Post Office employees properly issued, supported, and processed postage affixed BRM refunds.

Our objective was to determine if the Postal Service properly processed and supported online refund requests for Priority Mail Express (PME). We conducted this audit in response to concerns raised by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and our Office of Investigations. The concerns related to potential erroneous payments with online PME refunds issued by the Postal Service from October 1, 2018, through July 31, 2020. The Postal Service provides customers the convenience of requesting refunds for domestic service failures (guaranteed delivery time commitment) for PME and applicable Extra Services online.