Federal Reports

What We Looked AtThe Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) depends on a vast but aging network of radars to manage air traffic and weather. FAA has partnered with three other agencies through the Spectrum Efficient National Surveillance Radar (SENSR) program to auction Government-owned electromagnetic spectrum frequencies and use the revenue--expected to be valued in the billions of dollars--to develop and deploy new radar systems. Given the significant investment and coordination required to design, procure, test, and implement a new national air traffic and weather surveillance system, the House Committee on Appropriations directed our office to examine FAA's SENSR program. Our audit objectives were to assess FAA SENSR program's (1) progress, including leveraging of work conducted by other agencies, and (2) plan to mitigate program risks, such as integration with the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and the National Airspace System (NAS).What We FoundFAA has taken initial steps to advance the SENSR program, such as establishing a Joint Program Office and developing a Spectrum Pipeline Plan, which outlines the current schedule for making spectrum available for auction in 2024. However, FAA and partner agencies have not yet defined the program's requirements and are still working to establish firm costs and schedule. FAA also still has opportunities to leverage resources from its partner agencies to help advance the program. Moreover, FAA, partner agencies, and our work have identified several critical risks to advancing SENSR. These include an aggressive schedule and generating sufficient revenue to cover the cost of the program. While FAA has established a plan to mitigate some of these risks, our analysis shows some of the planned mitigations may not be sufficient and require sustained management attention. In addition, FAA has not fully analyzed risks related to integrating SENSR into the many complex systems within the NAS, including NextGen technologies that are currently in development and being deployed.Our RecommendationsFAA concurred with both of our recommendations to improve the coordination, planning, and risk mitigation of the SENSR program. Based on FAA's response, we consider both recommendations resolved but open pending completion of planned actions.

Revision to RRB-OIG Audit Report No. 19-05

We audited the Little Rock Housing Authority’s Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD program). We initiated this assignment due to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Little Rock Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) field office’s concern about the amount of funds that the Authority had spent on RAD program predevelopment costs. HUD designated the Authority as “troubled” mainly due to its transition under its RAD program. Our objective was to determine whether the Authority administered its RAD program in accordance with regulations and whether the program was viable. The Authority did not ensure that its RAD program fully met requirements. Specifically, it did not (1) ensure timely completion of its conversions, (2) properly account for predevelopment costs as required, and (3) resolve a potential conflict of interest. This condition occurred because the Authority’s executive management did not exercise effective oversight of the program. In addition, the Authority’s executive management and board members did not communicate effectively. Further, the Authority did not have effective procedures to ensure that costs were properly supported and allocated. As a result, revisions and postponements of its RAD program conversion plans adversely affected rehabilitation costs by requiring the same or similar tasks to be amended, updated, or reworked multiple times. Further, the delays resulted in reduced occupancy in anticipation of rehabilitation of units and hindered the Authority’s ability to provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing to current and prospective tenants. We recommended that the Little Rock, AR, Acting PIH Director require the Authority to (1) development and implement an achievable plan to close its remaining projects and complete its RAD program conversions; (2) support or repay $1,925,814 in predevelopment costs to its program from nonfederal funds; (3) design and implement financial controls to ensure that predevelopment costs are properly accounted for and eligible, thereby putting $829,544 to better use; (4) develop and implement procedures to identify, report, and resolve conflict-of-interest and ethics concerns; and (5) design and implement adequate control systems to ensure that the executive management team provides oversight of its RAD program.