Federal Reports

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of April 28, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically:• Total expenditures are $168,719,791 and total obligations are $387,887,389.• A total of 491 grants and contracts have been awarded, with total value of $390,845,278.• Expenditures by charge card total $2,409,399.We will also be monitoring the DOI’s meeting of required reporting milestones established by the CARES Act and the Office of Management and Budget.We anticipate issuing updated status reports monthly.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted a healthcare inspection at the request of Senator Tammy Duckworth on behalf of a constituent to assess concerns regarding the appropriateness of facility leaders’ response to a radiologist’s alleged four radiologic errors. The OIG determined that one of the four patients met criteria for institutional disclosure. Alerted to the radiologist’s potential errors, facility leaders conducted an expanded review, with Veterans Integrated Service Network and National Teleradiology Program assistance and found a high error rate in the radiologist’s exams. A second, further-expanded review ensued. The OIG concluded that Radiology Service lacked an effective early detection and identification process for radiologic errors. Once radiologic errors were identified, Veterans Integrated Service Network and facility leaders took appropriate actions. The Radiology Service Chief inadequately assessed the radiologist’s performance due to a small exam sample size and lack of consideration to the modalities and complexities of exams. VA’s National Guidelines for Radiology Professional Competency provide facility leaders with direction to assess radiologists’ clinical competence. Because radiologic exams vary in complexity and risk to patients, a risk stratification methodology would further and better inform professional practice evaluations. The OIG made six recommendations: one to the Under Secretary for Health regarding guidelines to better inform radiologists’ professional practice evaluations; one to the Veterans Integrated Service Network Director regarding continued oversight of the facility’s response to National Teleradiology Program findings; and four to the Facility Director regarding disclosures to patients or families as warranted, Radiology Service improvements in quality assurance and performance plans, consideration for radiologist competency reviews based on VA’s National Guidelines for Radiology Professional Competency, and evaluation of the National Teleradiology Program final findings to determine what additional steps are required.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted a review of Hydro Generation (Hydro) to identify operational and cultural strengths and risks that could impact the organizational effectiveness of Hydro as a whole. Our review was based on the results of our prior evaluations in the five Hydro areas and additional interviews and data analyses conducted in this evaluation. Our report identified strengths within Hydro related to (1) organizational alignment, (2) positive interactions within and outside of Hydro, (3) effective leadership, and (4) positive ethical culture. However, we also identified risks that could impact Hydro’s ability to meet its responsibilities in support of PO’s vision. These were comprised of risks related to (1) lack of effective accountability by management, (2) inadequate staffing, (3) training needs, and (4) other resources, including adequacy of equipment, infrastructure, supplies, and/or workspace conditions. In addition, we requested feedback from personnel in other TVA organizations that have regular interactions with Hydro personnel. Based on feedback that was received, we identified concerns related to reliability, collaboration/coordination of work, and staffing that could have a negative impact on Hydro’s ability to execute PO’s vision.

This investigation was initiated after concerns were reported to the Office of the Inspector General that the duties of a managed-task contract employee working at TVA placed him in a position to direct TVA contracts to his company. While it was determined that, as a contractor, criminal conflict of interest statutes did not apply to this contract employee, the OIG made several recommendations to address this situation. The OIG recommended TVA do the following: (1) review the duties and responsibilities of the contract employee and ensure compliance with the Organizational Conflict of Interest terms of the contract; (2) require contractors acting in contract manager roles and/or involved with contracting decisions be required to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest, similar to OGE Form 450, “Confidential Financial Disclosure Report;” and (3) ensure contract employees do not review or have access to information that could provide the contractor with an unfair competitive advantage.

Our objective was to report internal control weaknesses, noncompliance issues, and unallowable costs identified in the single audit to the Social Security Administration (SSA) for resolution action.

The OIG investigated allegations that a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) administrative assistant made numerous personal purchases using a Government purchase card from 2016 to 2018.Our investigation found that during that 2-year period the employee made 27 personal purchases totaling $7,454.88 using the employee’s Government-issued purchase card. We also determined that the employee lied during our investigation when the employee claimed some charges were for office supplies. We later established those purchases were for personal food and alcohol.The employee pleaded guilty to felony theft under a deferred judgment and was sentenced to 2 years supervised release. The employee also agreed to pay $7,454.88 in restitution and resigned from the FWS.

The OIG investigated allegations that an oil and gas production company failed to properly account for oil produced from Federal leases in the Bakersfield, CA area, resulting in a loss of mineral royalties owed to the Federal Government. The company was required to account for and report its oil production to the U.S. Department of the Interior.We determined that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) discovered that the company’s recordkeeping contributed to a production reporting error of 400 barrels of oil, but an audit of the company’s operations did not disclose a loss of royalties. We found the company’s reported oil production volumes coincided with its recorded oil sales.