Federal Reports

We reviewed actions the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) and three of its bureaus took during the longest partial Government shutdown in U.S. history (from December 22, 2018, through January 25, 2019). Our objective was to determine whether the three DOI bureaus—the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of Land Management—deviated from their published shutdown contingency plans during the shutdown and, if so, whether they changed the plans in accordance with guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).We confirmed that the bureaus did change their initial shutdown plans, primarily to clarify how they would pay employees who worked during the shutdown and to recall employees to complete certain necessary tasks. We found, however, that the bureaus changed the plans in accordance with OMB guidance and by following a thorough process of review and approval by senior DOI and bureau officials.

A Communications and Signals employee violated Amtrak policy by repeatedly disabling the Dash Cam system—designed to monitor and record incidents of unsafe driving—in his company-assigned vehicle, including on December 1, 2019, when he was involved in an accident while operating this vehicle. During the OIG investigation, the employee denied that he tampered with, disconnected, or reconnected his vehicle’s Dash Cam system. The evidence, however, demonstrated that he manually disconnected the Dash Cam system at the times in question. The employee retired on May 6, 2020, prior to his administrative hearing.

What We Looked AtWe performed a quality control review (QCR) on the single audit that McGee, Hearne & Paiz, LLP (MHP) performed for the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s (WYDOT) fiscal year that ended September 30, 2018. During this period, WYDOT expended approximately $285 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) grant programs. MHP determined that DOT’s major programs were the Highway Planning and Construction Cluster, the Formula Grants for Rural Areas Program, and the Highway Research and Development Program.Our QCR objectives were to determine (1) whether the audit work complied with the Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended, and the Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Guidance, and the extent to which we could rely on the auditors’ work on DOT’s major programs; and (2) whether WYDOT’s reporting package complied with the reporting requirements of the Uniform Guidance. What We FoundMHP’s audit work complied with the requirements of the Single Audit Act, the Uniform Guidance, and DOT’s major programs. We found nothing to indicate that MHP’s opinion on each of DOT’s major programs was inappropriate or unreliable. However, we identified a deficiency in MHP’s audit work that should be corrected in future audits. We did not identify any deficiencies in WYDOT’s reporting package.

What We Looked AtWe performed a quality control review (QCR) on the single audit that Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP (Baker Tilly) performed for the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission’s (Commission) fiscal year that ended June 30, 2018. During this period, the Commission expended approximately $19.2 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) grant programs. Baker Tilly determined that DOT’s major program was the Highway Planning and Construction Cluster.Our QCR objectives were to determine (1) whether the audit work complied with the Single Audit Act of 1984, as amended, and the Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Guidance, and the extent to which we could rely on the auditors’ work on DOT’s major program; and (2) whether the Commission’s reporting package complied with the reporting requirements of the Uniform Guidance. What We FoundBaker Tilly’s audit work complied with the requirements of the Single Audit Act, the Uniform Guidance, and DOT’s major program. We found nothing to indicate that Baker Tilly’s opinion on DOT’s major program was inappropriate or unreliable. However, we identified deficiencies in the Commission’s reporting package that required correction and resubmission.

The OIG investigated an allegation that an information technology services contractor intentionally diverted a payment made by the Interior Business Center (IBC) away from the contractor’s assignee—an entity to which the contractor owed money—into its own bank account. As a result, the IBC paid the contractor instead of the assignee, and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) lost more than $300,000.We found that the contractor changed its default bank account information in the system of award management to its own bank account, which caused the payment diversion, but we could not show the contractor changed the account information with the intent of diverting the payment. Furthermore, we found the IBC paid the wrong entity because it did not properly enter the assignee as the payment recipient in its contract management system.We presented this matter to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which declined prosecution. The contractor filed for bankruptcy protection and could not return the money to the DOI or the assignee. As a result, the DOI paid an additional $324,544 to the assignee to fulfill the money owed under the contract.