Federal Reports

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) has spent nearly $25.6 million on 279 small scale chemical screening devices that do not identify fentanyl and other illicit narcotics at lower purity levels (10 percent or less). We also found CBP OFO does not have adequate policies for deploying, using, and updating the chemical screening devices. We made four recommendations that will help OFO officers better identify fentanyl and other illicit narcotics at ports of entry. Specifically, we recommended that OFO Executive Assistant Commissioner develop and implement a strategy to ensure all deployed devices are able to identify narcotics at purity levels less than or equal to 10 percent, or provide ports of entry with an alternative method. Further, the Executive Assistant Commissioner should develop a formal strategy to deploy, use, and keep the chemical screening devices updated. CBP concurred with all of the recommendations.

We audited costs claimed by the State of North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission under grants awarded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) through the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program. The audit included claims totaling approximately $103 million on 54 grants that were open during the State fiscal years that ended June 30, 2017, and June 30, 2018. The audit also covered the Commission’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and FWS guidelines, including those related to the collection and use of hunting and fishing license revenues and the reporting of program income.We found that the Commission complied, in general, with applicable grant accounting and regulatory requirements. We identified, however, that the Commission may have overstated the number of licenses in its annual license certifications to the FWS for State fiscal years 2016 and 2017 because it did not have a process in place to remove some multiyear licenses. In addition, we identified, and the Commission corrected, an overstatement of in-kind contributions.The FWS concurred with our recommendation to implement a process to remove multiyear licenses that do not generate income for the State and will work with the Commission to implement the recommendation. We considered the recommendation resolved but not implemented.

Under the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provides grant funds to eligible States to conserve, restore, and manage wildlife and sport fish resources. States may provide Program funds to other non-Federal entities to accomplish or support grant-related activities. State officials must use judgment in determining whether these partnerships align more closely with the characteristics of a subaward of financial assistance to a subrecipient or of procurement from a contractor. Depending on the States’ determination, non-Federal entities are subject to differing criteria for accountability, profit taking, asset management, revenue management, and the treatment of indirect costs under Federal Uniform Grant Guidance.During our Program grant audits, we found instances in which the States did not apply Federal Uniform Grant Guidance consistently and accurately when providing Program funds to non-Federal entities. We also found that a number of States had not conducted or documented risk assessments for subrecipients, nor publicly reported major subawards.We make three recommendations to help the FWS promote consistency in how States administer Program funds and improve conformance with Federal regulations.