Federal Reports

Quarterly Summary Memorandum for the Lead Inspector General, Department of Defense

In March 2016, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued a Chilled Work Environment Letter to Watts Bar Nuclear Plant as a result of an investigation that concluded that a chilled work environment existed in the Operations Department because of a perception that operators were not free to raise safety concerns using all available avenues without a fear of retaliation. In response to the Chilled Work Environment Letter, TVA assessed the actions taken in response to a Confirmatory Order (CO) issued in 2009 and determined that not all of the actions had been implemented effectively. As a result of the ineffective implementation, we initiated a review of the process TVA used to address the 2009 CO.We concluded there was a weakness in the approach that TVA followed for addressing the 2009 CO. TVA did not have a formal process or procedure directly related to how a CO issued by the NRC should be addressed. TVA’s approach did not assign accountability or provide oversight to govern the implementation and continued execution for on-going actions. A potential contributing cause was TVA’s intent to address the underlying issue only and not to prevent recurrence.

We conducted this investigation in response to allegations filed with the Department of Defense (DoD) Hotline by a sub-contractor who claimed that Leidos, Inc., non-selected the Complainant for inclusion on a bridge contract in reprisal for her making protected disclosures to company and Government officials.

We completed the survey phase of our evaluation of the United States Bureau of Reclamation’s (USBR’s) hydroelectric facility management. Our objective was to examine USBR’s strategy for maintaining and increasing hydroelectric power generation. We found that USBR pursues a varied strategy to accomplish this, including a robust maintenance program, technological improvements to existing facilities, and hydrologic studies to identify locations for new facilities.Our work revealed that USBR relies on replacing older generation components with technologically superior ones as the older components reach the end of their effective lifespans. These newer components can either increase overall capacity or are more efficient than the components that they replace. The USBR is focusing on enhancing efficient generation of hydroelectric power at its facilities, as opposed to trying to increase capacity. To accomplish this, it is augmenting systems to deliver consistent power supplies with variable water availability.The USBR has also performed various studies to determine areas for increased hydroelectric power generation, as well as new areas for hydroelectric power development. This has led to increasing hydroelectric power capacity at USBR facilities and leasing USBR facilities for new hydroelectric power development.

In May 2016, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated an investigation into an allegation that a high-level political appointee (Political Appointee) at an agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce (Agency) was using the Agency’s account with a local taxicab company (Cab Company) for personal trips that were notauthorized under Agency policy. OIG found that from September 2014 to May 2016, Political Appointee misused the Agency’s account with Cab Company by charging it for the cost of approximately 130 cab rides prohibited by Agency policy.

This Newsletter provides a bimonthly summary of selected investigative accomplishments.

U.S. Representative Kyrsten Sinema asked the OIG to evaluate the effectiveness of the Phoenix VA Health Care System’s (PVAHCS) management of its outpatient Medical Support Assistant (MSA) workforce. The OIG examined two allegations involving MSAs reported to the OIG but did not substantiate these allegations. The PVAHCS needs to ensure its outpatient MSA operations align with clinical operations. PVAHCS’s Health Administration Service (HAS) couldn’t account for the number and clinical location of almost 60 percent of its MSAs. The Office of Personnel Management’s hiring model allows agencies 80 days to fill a vacancy and VA’s metric allows 60 days to fill a vacancy. The OIG was not able to assess whether the PVAHCS filled MSA vacancies in accordance with these metrics because its Human Resources office did not maintain adequate documentation. Despite the inadequate documentation, the OIG concluded that the PVAHCS generally did not meet these metrics. HAS failed to place newly hired MSAs on performance plans within the required 60 days of starting their jobs. The PVAHCS did not use available employee survey data to improve MSA retention. HAS lacked effective processes to evaluate applicants and place MSAs on performance plans in a timely manner. The PVAHCS also did not implement processes to ensure MSA survey data was used to improve MSA retention. The OIG recommended the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 22 Director ensures the PVAHCS Director implements controls over its MSA resources, records accurate MSA hiring data, and uses incentives to hire human resources specialists. The OIG also recommended the PVAHCS Director implements practices to improve the timeliness of MSA selections, establishes controls to ensure MSAs receive timely performance plans, and evaluates the potential use of survey data. The VISN 22 Director concurred with these recommendations.