Federal Reports

In October 1987, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) contracted with Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) to operate a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC), with the principal focus to provide support for the NRC’s activities in licensing a deep geologic repository for high level waste and spent nuclear fuel. The SwRI established the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses to serve as an FFRDC. The current contract is the NRC’s seventh renewal of the FFRDC contract. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Section 35.017-4 requires, prior to extending a contract for an FFRDC, a sponsoring agency must conduct a comprehensive review of the use and need for the facility. The audit objectives were to determine if the NRC is (1) properly considering all FAR requirements for an FFRDC review in preparing its renewal justification; and, (2) adequately fulfilling its oversight responsibilities for the FFRDC. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) considers all FFRDC renewal FAR requirements to be satisfied. However, opportunities for improvement were identified in how the NRC oversees the administration of the contract. Specifically, opportunities for improvement were identified in the area of final invoice billing. The OIG found that the NRC’s administration of the FFRDC contract relating to the final invoice billing is inadequate. The NRC requested SwRI to delay sending final invoices until requested to do so by the Contracting Specialist. The SwRI claims that the NRC owes $599,414 on tasks completed between fiscal years 2011 and 2021. This occurs primarily because the NRC lacks resources related to closeout of cost-reimbursement contracts. As a result, the NRC on its own initiative issued SwRI an extension of the 120-day period for submitting invoices covering that period, even though the relevant FAR section, 52.216-7(d)(5), does not provide clear authority for the agency to take such action without a request from the contractor. This increases the risk of claims that funds are subject to the Prompt Payment Act, potential billing discrepancies not being identified or corrected in a timely manner, and old contract funds being unavailable for payment. This report makes two recommendations to improve the final invoice billing and closeout process.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) does not consistently conduct outbound inspections of personal vehicles and pedestrians at land border crossings on the Southwest and northern borders to prevent the illegal exportation of currency, firearms, explosives, ammunition, and narcotics. During our audit, we visited 108 of 167 land border crossings on the Southwest and northern borders. We found the frequency of outbound inspections, inspection techniques, technology, and infrastructure in outbound inspection areas varied significantly between the two borders and among land border crossings. These inconsistencies occurred because there is no structured outbound inspection program with oversight from OFO headquarters. Field office and port of entry (POE) leadership often use professional judgment and other strategies to determine the frequency of inspections because they have wide discretion regarding when and how to conduct outbound inspections. Additionally, OFO does not have performance metrics to measure the impact of outbound inspections or a comprehensive outbound inspection policy.

Our objective was to determine whether the Postal Service complied with applicable maximum total compensation provisions of the PAEA and related Postal Service policies and guidelines for CY 2022. We reviewed significant provisions of PAEA; Postal Service policies, procedures, and guidelines regarding compensation, benefits, and bonuses; payroll, bonus, and award information from Postal Service systems; and employment agreements applicable to the compensation limits for the project scope. We also conducted interviews with Postal Service employees.