Federal Reports

EAC OIG issued this advisory to bring to the attention to questions regarding the nature of HAVA funds and the applicability of Federal laws, regulations, and Government-wide guidance to the payments made under HAVA.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) must review the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) compliance with the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA; P.L. No. 107-300) as amended by the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (P.L. No. 111-204) and the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (IPERIA; P.L. No. 112-248). Ernst & Young (EY), LLP, under its contract with the HHS OIG, audited the fiscal year 2015 HHS improper payment information reported in the Agency Financial Report (AFR) to determine compliance with IPIA and related guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Maintenance personnel at coal plants use firearms (i.e., shotguns) to remove boiler slag, which is the buildup of molten ash. The objective of this evaluation was to determine if firearms and ammunition at coal plants are properly accounted for and safeguarded. In summary, we determined TVA does not have standardized guidance related to the accountability of firearms and ammunition used at coal plants. Instead, each plant has implemented individualized accountability processes. Although three plants have written guidance related to accounting for and safeguarding firearms and ammunition, two plants did not. Our review of the written guidance and actual practices utilized at each plant found they were insufficient to account for and safeguard firearms and ammunition. Additionally, a firearm sent to Cumberland Fossil Plant by TVA Police & Emergency Management could not be located by plant personnel.

We found that the Department did not comply with the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act because its FY 2015 improper payment rate did not meet the reduction target for the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) program. The Department established an FY 2015 reduction target of 1.49 percent for the Direct Loan program; however the improper payment rate for the program was2.63 percent after the Department recalculated this rate to correct for the formula execution errors we identified during our audit. Similar to our previous IPERA audits, we found that the Department’s improper payment methodologies for the Federal Pell Grant and Direct Loanprograms were flawed, as its estimation methodologies did not include all program reviews that could identify improper payments. We also found the estimation methodology for the Pell program excluded sources of improper payments, such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid/Internal Revenue Service Data Statistical Study, and fraud. Further, the estimation methodologies did not include all improper payments from ineligible programs or locations identified in program reviews. In addition, we found that Department’s reported improper payment estimates for both the Pell Grant and Direct Loan programs were inaccurate and unreliable because spreadsheet formulas used in the calculations were incorrect and the calculations deviated from the Office of Management and Budget-approved methodologies.

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