Federal Reports

In April 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency published the Disposal of Coal Combustion Residuals [CCR] from Electric Utilities (commonly referred to as the CCR Rule), which set forth national regulations for the safe disposal of coal ash from coal-fired power plants.  On May 8, 2024, the United States Environmental Protection Agency finalized changes to the CCR Rule to include additional classes of regulated CCR storage facilities.  The CCR Rule requires that applicable CCR units be inspected both weekly for any appearances of actual or potential structural weakness and annually to ensure that the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the CCR unit is consistent with recognized engineering standards.  In addition, the CCR Rule requires monthly monitoring of all CCR unit instrumentation for surface impoundments.  

We determined TVA performed required inspections and maintenance of CCR storage facilities.  Additionally, inspections identified no significant deficiencies, and all deficiencies and high priority instrumentation maintenance issues identified were resolved timely or had plans in place for resolution. However, we also determined (1) TVA did not maintain a comprehensive list of instrumentation requiring monitoring, (2) some issues were not identified in inspections and some instrumentation issues were not resolved, (3) remediation of minor issues identified during annual inspections was not documented, (4) annual inspection reports did not document review of weekly inspections, and (5) some inspectors did not have required training.

Former SEC Contract Specialist falsely claimed Virginia residency while living in and working from 
Florida, collecting higher locality pay for years

Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) is a VBA program that provides job training and other services to rehabilitate veterans who have an employment handicap, which federal law defines as a service connected disability limiting the veteran’s “ability to prepare for, obtain, or retain employment consistent with [their] abilities, aptitudes, and interests.” The goal of VR&E is to help veterans live independently and, as much as possible, help them become employable, find a suitable job, and stay employed.

The OIG audit team reviewed claims processed from April 1, 2023, through September 30, 2023, and found that, although the program manual and staff training generally capture the regulatory requirements for determining eligibility and entitlement, VR&E counselors—staff who conduct comprehensive initial evaluations to make an employment handicap decision and process the claims—did not clearly document their decisions. Sufficient documentation is necessary to ensure consistent and accurate decisions by counselors. The evidence available to the OIG to support claims was insufficient to assess the accuracy of entitlement decisions, resulting in $309.5 million in questioned costs. VR&E’s executive director acknowledged that VR&E has not asked VA’s Office of General Counsel to comprehensively review VR&E processes, meaning the program may not be conforming with all legal requirements.

The OIG recommended that the under secretary for benefits coordinate with VA’s Office of General Counsel to assess and, if necessary, update the eligibility and entitlement decision process to ensure veterans’ eligibility periods are properly verified and entitlement decisions are sufficiently clear. Other recommendations to ensure that only veterans eligible and entitled to VR&E receive these benefits included developing a standard documentation method for deferrals, extensions, and overall eligibility decisions; making sure VR&E staff are appropriately trained; and ensuring VR&E develops a process to monitor eligibility decisions for accuracy. VA concurred with the recommendations.