Federal Reports

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The OIG investigated whether a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) special agent was driving a rental vehicle in compliance with U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) policy when he was involved in a traffic accident that resulted in the death of two pedestrians. The DOI policy states that motor vehicle operators are responsible for operating motor vehicles in a safe and prudent manner and exercising a reasonable degree of care, skill, and judgment in the performance of their duties.Our investigation found no evidence that the special agent violated DOI policy while operating the rental vehicle. The local police department investigated the accident and no charges were filed.This is a summary of an investigative report we issued to the BLM Director.

The OIG investigated allegations that a gas producer operating in New Mexico failed to properly submit royalty reports and remit royalty payments owed to the Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR).We determined the producer failed to properly file ONRR-Form 2014s (Reports of Sales and Royalty Remittance) and pay royalties for gas produced from Federal leases located in New Mexico. Working closely with ONRR experts, we determined that the unpaid royalties totaled more than $51,000 plus late payment interest.We consulted with both ONRR and the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico. The producer cooperated with the investigation and ONRR officials determined they would pursue the unpaid royalties through their administrative process.

The FTC OIG has concluded its fiscal year (FY) 2018 review of the FTC’s compliance with the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (IPIA; Pub. L. 107-300), as amended by the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 (IPERA; Pub. L. 111-204), the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 (IPERIA; Pub. L. 112-248), and the Federal Improper Payments Coordination Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-109). Our review was conducted in accordance with implementing guidance set forth in Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-18-20, Transmittal of Appendix C to OMB Circular A-123, Requirements for Payment Integrity Improvement, June 26, 2018.

Indiana did not always comply with Federal Medicaid requirements for invoicing manufacturers for rebates for physician-administered drugs. Indiana did not invoice manufacturers for rebates associated with $710,420 (Federal share) in physician-administered drugs. Of this amount, $695,070 was for single-source drugs, and $15,350 was for top-20 multiple-source drugs. Because Indiana's internal controls did not always ensure that it invoiced manufacturers to secure rebates, Indiana improperly claimed Federal reimbursement for these single-source drugs and top-20 multiple-source drugs.

What We Looked AtHurricane Sandy caused widespread damage to the transportation infrastructure in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States in October 2012. This included damage to transit vehicles--buses, vans, cars, railcars, and locomotives, referred to as rolling stock--in the New York City metropolitan area. To support communities with damaged public transit systems, Congress appropriated $10.9 billion to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), which provided funds to the transit agencies in the affected areas. Accordingly, our objectives were to assess (1) FTA's implementation of relevant guidance and oversight of emergency planning as it relates to the rolling stock of recipients impacted by Hurricane Sandy and other natural disasters and (2) the extent to which lessons learned from experiences with protecting rolling stock during Hurricane Sandy have been incorporated into emergency relief plans and procedures at FTA and the Office of the Secretary of Transportation.What We FoundConsistent with the Agency's interpretation of its authority under current Federal law, FTA does not require recipients to develop plans to protect rolling stock before an emergency and assumes a limited role in discussing such activities. Although they lacked a Federal requirement to do so, the five transit agencies we reviewed put emergency procedures in place before the hurricane struck. Still, they experienced over $171 million in damage to rolling stock vehicles, which suggests there are benefits to improving the protection of rolling stock. Furthermore, FTA could do more to promote the lessons learned by its recipients, which might help transit agencies elsewhere protect their own rolling stock during future disasters. However, FTA doesn't provide a consistent or centralized means for sharing lessons learned to help other transit agencies protect their assets--actions that could result in disaster-related cost savings.Our RecommendationsWe made two recommendations to improve the protection of public transit agency assets from future disasters. FTA partially concurred with the first recommendation and fully concurred with the second.