Federal Reports

Financial Statement Audit

Compliance with Laws and Regulations

Internal Control

The audit objectives were to determine whether program funds were managed in accordance with the ARC and Federal grant requirements

Advertising mail provides a big chunk of revenue to the U.S. Postal Service every year — almost $17 billion in fiscal year 2013. It has also been surprisingly resilient despite the digital revolution, holding a constant share of the advertising market. The Postal Service, however, cannot afford to be complacent. Although advertising mail has important strengths, particularly tangibility, the ability to enable a two-way communications link between recipients and mailers is not as robust as current digital advertising.

For FY 2013, both the Department and FSA received unmodified opinions on their financial statements. Although it no longer noted a material weakness, the FY 2013 audit reports noted a significant deficiency in internal controls over financial reporting surrounding some loan servicing systems, including DMCS2, and found persistent deficiencies in controls surrounding information systems. The report on the Department’s financial statements also noted that its financial management systems did not substantially comply with certain systems requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act because of the control weaknesses surrounding information systems. A number of recommendations were made to address the weaknesses identified.

For FY 2013, both the Department and FSA received unmodified opinions on their financial statements. Although it no longer noted a material weakness, the FY 2013 audit reports noted a significant deficiency in internal controls over financial reporting surrounding some loan servicing systems, including DMCS2, and found persistent deficiencies in controls surrounding information systems. The report on the Department’s financial statements also noted that its financial management systems did not substantially comply with certain systems requirements of the Federal Financial Management Improvement Act because of the control weaknesses surrounding information systems. A number of recommendations were made to address the weaknesses identified. The Department concurred with the findings and recommendations in the reports.

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Post FISMA Letter

FISMA

During this period, we closed 74 investigations involving fraud or corruption related to the Department’s programs and operations, securing more than $44.8 million in settlements, fines, restitutions, recoveries, and savings. In addition, as a result of our investigative work, criminal actions were taken against a number of individuals, including school officials—people who cheated the students they were in positions to serve. We also issued 15 audit-related reports, making recommendations to improve program operations.

This report is Sensitive But Unclassified. To obtain further information, please contact the OIG Office of Counsel at OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov, (202) 927-0650, or by mail at Office of Treasury Inspector General, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC 20220.

This report is Sensitive But Unclassified. To obtain further information, please contact the OIG Office of Counsel at OIGCounsel@oig.treas.gov, (202) 927-0650, or by mail at Office of Treasury Inspector General, 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC 20220.

EAC OIG, through the independent public accounting firm of McBride, Lock & Associates, LLC, audited $65.1 million in funds received by the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth under the Help America Vote Act. The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Secretary of the Commonwealth (1) used payments authorized by Sections 101, 102, and 251 of the grant in accordance with grant and applicable requirements; (2) accurately and properly accounted for property purchased with Grant payments and for program income; and (3) met HAVA requirements for Section 251 f funds for creation of an election fund, providing required matching contributions, and meeting the requirements for maintenance of a base level of state outlays, commonly referred to as Maintenance of Expenditures (MOE).

So what does the generation born and raised in the age of the Internet think of something like regular mail? Do so-called Digital Natives, who have little experience with life pre-World Wide Web, have any interest in it? Did they ever? The questions raise critical implications for the future of the U.S. Postal Service, as mail volume has plummeted with the rise of digital communications and the postal reform debate continues. Surprisingly, the answer is yes.

Top Performance Challenges

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) contracted with the independent public accounting firm of Ernst & Young LLP (EY) to audit the balance sheet as of September 30, 2013, and the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive income (loss), changes in proprietary capital, and cash flows for the year then ended. In addition, the contract called for the review of TVA's fiscal year 2013 interim financial information filed on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The contract required the work be performed in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. The objective of our review was not intended to enable us to express, and we do not express, an opinion on the TVA's financial statements or on management's conclusions about the effectiveness of its system of internal control. EY is responsible for the auditor's reports dated November 15, 2013, and the conclusions expressed in those reports. However, our review disclosed no instances where EY did not comply, in all material respects, with generally accepted government auditing standards.

The OIG audited the subcontracting process used by URS Energy & Construction, Inc. (URS), under contract numbers 66777 and 72142. Under the contracts, URS was to provide design, engineering, procurement, delivery, installation, and construction management services for TVA's (1) combined cycle combustion turbine or simple cycle combustion turbine projects and (2) various equipment for selective catalytic reduction and dry flue gas desulfurization precipitators. Our audit included subcontracts and related change orders for $256.3 million in subcontractor costs URS billed to TVA from December 14, 2007, to June 27, 2012.In summary, we determined URS (1) did not obtain TVA approval for some subcontracts and circumvented requirements for TVA approval, and (2) overbilled TVA $168,623 in the markup costs applied to costs for services and equipment provided by TVA under subcontracting agreements. Summary Only

This report was withdrawn, revised, and reissued as OIG-SBLF-14-002R on June 26, 2015, to reflect changes made on pages 2, 13, and 14 of the report. The changes clarified the amount of administrative costs that were reviewed by the Office of Inspector General as part of a sample. The corrections did not affect the findings, conclusions, and recommendations as reported.

The OIG evaluated the adequacy of actions taken to mitigate combustible coal dust at TVA coal plants. Despite some improvements in combustible dust management, we determined actions taken to date were inadequate in improving deteriorating equipment conditions, addressing housekeeping challenges, and providing appropriate monitoring of combustible dust conditions at the coal plants.Although the probability of occurrence for coal dust explosions was rated by TVA in the Enterprise Risk Management risk map as unlikely, the potential consequences of an explosion could be severe and result in disruption of generating capacity, costly clean up and repairs, and even loss of life.We found coal plant and coal handling conditions exceeded acceptable dust level limits specified in TVA Safety Procedure (TSP) 816. Specifically, we observed coal dust accumulations that exceeded the 1/32 inch standard in many of the coal handling areas during walkdowns at the Bull Run, Cumberland, and Paradise fossil plants. Additionally, TVA self-identified coal dust accumulations that were above the allowable standard in many areas throughout the coal fleet. We also found monitoring tools required by the program were not being used consistently to improve plant conditions.Site assessment reports performed by yard systems engineers indicated some conditions improved between 2010 and 2012. Some equipment deficiencies were being addressed, and there were several programmatic practices in progress that were expected to improve conditions over time. However, equipment has deteriorated faster than funding has been available for repairs or replacements. Deficiencies resulting from inadequate equipment maintenance contribute to the increased presence of combustible coal dust and coal accumulations within the coal handling system. With deteriorating equipment and recent staff reductions for housekeeping, TVA faces significant challenges in keeping coal dust accumulations within the limits specified in TSP 816. More focus is needed on the program in order to better contain coal dust and reduce the necessity for extensive and repeated housekeeping activities to achieve dust accumulations below the 1/32 inch standard.TVA management generally agreed with our recommendations and has taken or is taking actions to address the findings.

Our FY 2013 FISMA review found that the Department had made progress in remediating issues identified in previous FISMA reviews. Specifically, it complied with 4 of the 11 reporting metrics: continuous monitoring, plan of action and milestones, contractor systems, and security capital planning. However, we found deficiencies with the remaining seven reporting metrics—configuration management, identity and access management, incident response and reporting, risk management, security training, remote access management, and contingency planning—many of which were repeat or modified findings from OIG reports issued over the last several years. Without adequate management, operational, and technical security controls in place, the Department’s systems and information are vulnerable to attacks that could lead to a loss of confidentiality and to a loss of integrity resulting from data modification or limited availability of systems. In addition to reiterating recommendations made in our FY 2012 FISMA report, we made 23 new recommendations to help the Department establish and sustain an effective information security program that complies with FISMA, Office of Management and Budget, and National Institute of Science and Technology requirements.

This is a publication by GAO's Inspector General that concerns internal GAO operations. The report summarizes the activities of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the second reporting period of fiscal year 2013.

Patching Audit

The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 requires the U.S. Department of Education (Department), Office of Inspector General to identify and report annually on the most serious management challenges the Department faces. The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 requires the Department to include in its agency performance plan information on its planned actions, including performance goals,indicators, and milestones, to address these challenges. To identify management challenges, we routinely examine past audit, inspection, and investigative work, as well as issued reports where corrective actions have yet to be taken; assess ongoing audit, inspection, and investigative work to identify significant vulnerabilities; and analyze new programs and activities that could post significant challenges because of their breadth and complexity. Last year, we presented four management challenges: improper payments, information technology security, oversight and monitoring, and data quality and reporting. While the Department remains committed to addressing these areas and has taken or plans action to correct many of their underlying causes, each remains as a management challenge for fiscal year 2014. We also added a new challenge related to the Department’s information technology system development and implementation.

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