Federal Reports

During the financial statement audit, we assessed the PBGC information security infrastructure for technical weaknesses in PBGC’s computer systems that may allow employees or outsiders to cause harm to, and/or impact, PBGC’s business processes and information. PBGC made improvements to its vulnerability management program, however, work is still needed to ensure that vulnerability scans are complete. The improvement in PBGC’s vulnerability management program also increased the number of Critical and High severity vulnerabilities detected. This report includes three new recommendations. This work was conducted by CliftonLarsonAllen LLP under contract with the OIG.The Office of Inspector General has determined that this report is for official use only. The report detailing the vulnerability assessment has been redacted in its entirety because it contains privileged and confidential information.

CNCS-OIG received hotline allegations that AmeriCorps members assigned to the Detroit Parent Network (DPN) Project Graduation AmeriCorps Program, Detroit, MI, were assigned service activities outside the scope of the grant and had displaced DPN staff as employees.

Department of Commerce DATA Act Readiness

Under a contract monitored by the National Credit Union Administration Office of Inspector General, KPMG LLP, an independent certified public accounting firm, performed an audit of NCUA’s financial statements as of December 31, 2016. This report transmits KPMG's report on its financial statement audit of the NCUA's financial statements of the Share Insurance Fund, Operating Fund, Central Liquidity Facility, and Community Development Revolving Loan Fund, as of and for the years ending December 31, 2016 and 2015.

Seek link below for the full report, report summary, multimedia or any agency follow-up.

The New Jersey Department of Human Services (State agency) budgeted Disaster Relief Act funds under its Home Repair and Advocacy Program (HRAP) subaward to Ocean County that were appropriate. However, the State agency claimed some Disaster Relief Act costs under its HRAP subaward to Ocean County that did not comply with the Disaster Relief Act. Of the $198,000 in costs that we reviewed, $161,000 complied with the Disaster Relief Act. The State agency claimed costs totaling $23,000 that were unallowable because they were already covered by other sources. The State also allocated $14,000 in salary costs to the HRAP subaward without consideration of whether the employees' activities were directly related to Hurricane Sandy.

The OIG teamed with Temple University to examine the neurological response to sequenced ads. Physical ads, shown twice, led to better memory and higher subjective value than any other tested sequence. Single-media advertising sequences (physical-physical and digital-digital) had better results in most of the behavioral and fMRI results.

Overall, in comparison to the prior year's FISMA review, the Department has made improvements. Specifically, the number of findings have decreased from year to year. In addition, the Department and its operating divisions have implemented continuous monitoring tools that have allowed them to gain more insight to the security compliance of their assets. However, despite the progress made to improve its information security program, opportunities to strengthen the overall information security program exist. We continued to identify weaknesses in the following areas: continuous monitoring, configuration management, identity and access management, risk management, incident response, security training, contingency planning, and contractor systems.

Conflict of Interest Process

NARA OIG initiated this audit to determine whether NARA effectively complied with requirements for accessing NARA facilities and information systems.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) uses anhydrous ammonia in selective catalytic reduction systems to aid in the removal of nitrogen oxide, a by-product of burning coal. Anhydrous ammonia is hazardous when inhaled, ingested, or when it comes in contact with the eyes, skin, or mucous membranes. Based on safety risks associated with the handling of ammonia, we initiated an evaluation to determine the adequacy of staffing and training of ammonia operations at coal plants. Based on our review of the training required by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency regulations, we determined the ammonia training provided by TVA addressed most of the federal training requirements; however, some elements may not be addressed. We also found (1) some personnel had not completed all of the required training, and (2)training could be improved by adding hands-on and more frequent training. Additionally, based on interviews with plant personnel, we determined the staffing of maintenance personnel for ammonia systems was adequate at the four coal plants we reviewed. However, staffing for assistant unit operators was inadequate or needed improvement at two of the four plants.

Recently stakeholders have expressed an interest in understanding how other major posts’ prices are regulated and how posts manage the relationship between price regulation, profitability, and service. The OIG worked with WIK-Consult to provide research on how postal prices are regulated in five other countries. We found that in all of the five countries, price regulation has recently become more flexible in two ways – through a reduction of scope of products that fall under price regulation or allowance of higher price increases on regulated products.

The University of California at Riverside's (the University) prior effort-reporting system did not always provide the information needed to confirm that payroll costs had been appropriately allocated to Federal awards, and its current payroll certification system pilot (pilot PCS) provided less accountability over payroll charges to Federal awards than its prior effort-reporting system. Effort reporting is a person-based methodology that allocates each employee's reasonable estimate of time worked on all awards and other activities. Specifically, the pilot PCS did not comply with requirements of Circular A-21 and, as designed, limited the ability of the University and the Department of Health and Human Services to provide oversight of these funds. On the basis of our sample, we estimated that the University put at risk $11.7 million in salaries and $5.9 million in associated facilities and administrative costs claimed against National Institutes of Health awards.

The Office of Inspector General examined NASA’s efforts to protect its critical infrastructure and related operational control systems from cyber threats.

In accordance with our fiscal year 2017 annual plan, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an evaluation to determine whether (1) the United States Capitol Police (USCP or Department) complied with its hiring standards and ensured that employees did not engage in criminal conduct detrimental to their employment, (2) USCP employees with a criminal history before employment with USCP disclosed that history during the pre-employment screening process, and (3) employees with criminal complaints during employment with USCP complied with USCP Directives by reporting incidents through the appropriate chain of command.

The Office of Inspector General reexamined NASA's efforts to improve the security of Agency information stored in the cloud.

Seek link below for the full report, report summary, multimedia or any agency follow-up.

This Newsletter provides a bimonthly summary of selected investigative accomplishments.

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 requires CMS to phase in a Competitive Bidding Program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies. Initially, under this program, suppliers competed to become Medicare contract suppliers for diabetes testing supplies provided via mail order in select areas. In July 2013, the program was expanded to include a National Mail-Order Program for diabetes testing supplies.

This final report documents the results of our audit on the effectiveness of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA’s) unliquidated obligation (ULO) review policies and procedures developed since our OIG audit report issued in June 2013 (OIG-13-026-A). In our 2013 report, we concluded that Department-wide controls over the management of ULOs needed strengthening. We also concluded that effective management of outstanding obligation balances allows bureaus to review and deobligate unneeded funds, promoting a better use of federal resources. Our objective for the current audit was to evaluate the effectiveness of NOAA obligation and deobligation practices, as well as review policies and procedures that were implemented, since our June 2013 audit report.

For this audit, our objectives were to assess the adequacy of GOES-R development as the program completes system integration and test activities for the flight and ground segments in preparation for launch and data distribution, per National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) standards. We also monitored the program's progress in developing and reporting on flight and ground segment contracting actions and changes to minimize cost increases.

During the audit, our independent public accountant, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, identified certain matters related to PBGC's internal control and operations that while significant were not of sufficient magnitude to impact the financial statement opinion and were not included in the report on internal control dated November 15, 2016 (AUD-2017-3/ FA-16-110-2). This management letter summarizes CliftonLarsonAllen's findings and recommendations regarding these matters and includes the status of prior years' management letter recommendations. PBGC management agreed with the recommendations and provided planned corrective actions and estimated completion dates.

Newark Preschool Council, Inc. (Newark), which operated throughout Newark, New Jersey, did not always comply with Head Start program requirements, resulting in its receiving approximately $10 million of excess Head Start funds during a 17-month period. In addition, it did not monitor its partner agencies' operations to ensure that children at these facilities received Head Start services.

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services (State agency) did not allocate costs for establishing a health insurance marketplace to its establishment grants in accordance with Federal requirements.