Federal Reports

The purpose of this report is to provide the results of our survey of the Peace Corps’ compliance with the anti-gag provision requirement in the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (WPEA) (5 U.S.C. § 2302(b)(13)). We initiated this assessment at the request of Senator Chuck Grassley. (See attached Senator Grassley Letter, dated March 11, 2024). 

The audit objective was to determine if the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is effectively managing and monitoring selected research and development grants in accordance with applicable federal requirements, agency policies and guidance, and award terms and conditions.

The OIG found that the NRC was not effectively managing or monitoring selected research and development grants.  Specifically, the OIG found that staff in the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research assumed grants officer responsibilities without a grants officer appointment or through a delegation as a grants officer representative.  We also found that NRC staff did not request or review source documents to support equipment purchased using grant funds.  Additionally, we found that the NRC does not have a public repository for final performance reports or other means to share the results of federally funded research grants.

The OIG further determined that the grants officer had not ensured that all relevant documents were contained in the official grant files; 11 grants were not closed out within one year of the performance end date and the NRC had not deobligated more than $321,000 in funds that could have been put to better use; and, grants awarded through the Integrated University Program (the predecessor to the University Nuclear Leadership Program) with periods of performance ending in 2021 and 2022 had more than $920,000 of funds that were not deobligated and could be put to better use.  The report contains nine recommendations to improve management and monitoring of research and development grants. 

This Office of Inspector General (OIG) Healthcare Facility Inspection program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the care provided at the Hershel “Woody” Williams VA Medical Center in Huntington, West Virginia. 

This evaluation focused on five key content domains:
     •    Culture
     •    Environment of care
     •    Patient safety
     •    Primary care
     •    Veteran-centered safety net

The OIG issued one recommendation for improvement in one domain:
   1.    Environment of care
     •    Safe and clean environment

To view this interactive report, visit: https://oig.justice.gov/reports/concurrent-inspections-bop-food-service-operations

The Office of Inspector General is issuing this inspection report to assess the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) initial response to Hurricane Helene, including staffing, loan application volume, and timeliness of disaster loan approvals.

We found that in SBA’s initial disaster assistance response to Hurricane Helene, the agency promptly established a field presence, adequately staffed recovery centers, responded timely to applicant queries, and processed loans in a timely manner.

We found that SBA processed loan applications in 20 days on average but was unable to disburse many of those loans due to a 68-day funding lapse. As a result, the overall processing time was 69 days on average with the funding lapse and 64 days on average without it. In addition, we identified opportunities for SBA to optimize its outreach efforts so disaster survivors are aware of the assistance available to them.

We recommended SBA review current outreach strategies; immediately conduct outreach efforts in North Carolina and South Carolina and perform a root cause analysis to determine the basis of insufficient outreach efforts in these two states; and implement appropriate changes to ensure maximum awareness of available assistance to disaster survivors that account for rural areas.

Management’s planned actions to review staffing assignments to ensure adequate coverage for future disasters and immediately conduct outreach efforts in North Carolina and South Carolina resolved Recommendations 1 and 2. Management’s response did not resolve Recommendation 3; therefore, we will seek resolution in accordance with our audit follow-up policy.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted an audit of TVA’s cloud inventory due to the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) increased use of cloud services.  Our objective was to determine if TVA maintained an accurate and complete cloud inventory.  Although we determined TVA’s (1) defined processes related to managing cloud inventory were designed in alignment with identified best practices, and (2) access controls for the cloud inventory were operating effectively, TVA does not maintain an accurate and complete cloud inventory.  Specifically, (1) cloud services procured outside of the IT organization’s procurement process were not included in inventory, (2) reconciliation controls did not include all available sources to identify cloud services, and (3) required fields in existing inventory data were incomplete. 

This report, specifically identifies Center for Internet Security, a nongovernmental organization/business entity.  Pursuant to the James M. Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, Pub. L. No. 117-263 §5274, any such organization may submit a written response to the report within 30 days, clarifying or providing additional context for each instance within the report in which the organization is specifically identified.  Any response provided for that purpose will be appended to the final, published report.  If you have any questions about this process, please contact Jeffrey McKenzie at (865) 633-7374 or jtmckenzie@tvaoig.gov within 30 days of publication.

OIG reviewed APHIS’ Horse Protection Act horse show inspection and disqualification processes.