Federal Reports

The small business segment in the U.S. is growing and has a strong potential to generate more revenue for the Postal Service. Consumer expectations are changing, including demands for faster shipping. For small businesses to compete with larger competitors, they need help with speedy and efficient logistics and fulfillment. Additional services and further outreach to small businesses at post offices can position the Postal Service for continued success serving this segment. The Postal Service’s Delivering for America 10-year plan, released in March 2021, acknowledges the need to improve how the retail network serves small businesses.

HUD established procedures in the Lead Safe Housing Rule in 1999 to eliminate lead-based paint hazards, as far as practicable, in public housing. However, it did not have a plan to manage lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in public housing. Additionally, HUD generally did not monitor whether public housing agencies had implemented lead-based paint hazard reduction and documented the activities at their public housing developments. These weaknesses occurred because HUD relied on public housing agencies to implement their own methods to achieve lead-safe housing, which should have included implementing lead-based paint hazard reduction. Further, instead of monitoring public housing agencies for compliance with the lead-based paint hazard reduction procedures in the Lead Safe Housing Rule, HUD relied on public housing agencies’ annual certifications of compliance. Without a plan to manage lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in public housing and ensure that public housing agencies implemented lead-based paint hazard reduction, HUD lacked assurance that (1) families with children under 6 years of age residing in public housing were not exposed to lead-based paint hazards and, thus, protected from lead exposure and (2) its procedures for eliminating lead-based paint hazards in public housing were effective.We recommend that the General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing require the Real Estate Assessment Center in coordination with the Office of Field Operations to (1) develop a plan to manage lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in public housing, (2) determine whether public housing agencies identified as having lead-based paint in their housing developments maintain and implement a plan for controlling lead-based paint, and (3) assess the lead-based paint hazard reduction activities performed at 19 developments associated with 18 public housing agencies reviewed that did not implement interim controls or adequately document that lead-based paint had been abated or treated with interim controls. If those reduction activities did not fully abate the lead-based paint, HUD should ensure that the public housing agencies implement interim controls and ongoing maintenance and reevaluation programs.

An Amtrak Maintainer based in Newark, New Jersey, and a Trainer based in Sunnyside, New York, were terminated after their disciplinary hearings on October 4, 2022. The two former employees conspired with another employee, Keith Kovaleski, to sell misbranded and unapproved new drugs. The Maintainer violated company policies by ordering misbranded and/or unapproved new drugs from Kovaleski’s company, All American Peptide (AAP), and by accepting shipments of these products on behalf of Kovaleski. The Trainer violated company policies by regularly ordering misbranded and/or unapproved new drugs from AAP and reselling them to the public. Kovaleski, an Assistant Foreman based in New York, is currently awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty on March 21, 2022, to selling misbranded and unapproved new drugs. The two former employees are ineligible for rehire.

Every Postal Service-owned vehicle is assigned a Voyager Fleet card (Voyager card) to pay for its commercially purchased fuel, oil, and routine maintenance. Vehicles certified for unleaded gasoline are required to be fueled with unleaded regular or gasohol. A fuel consisting of a blend usually of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline. Vehicles can be fueled with gasohol when the price per gallon is equal to or less than the price of unleaded regular gasoline.Controls over fuel purchases and PINs are crucial in maintaining the integrity of the program to control costs. Postal Service policy provides guidance over the assignment, use, and monitoring of PINs and reconciliation of Voyager card transactions.

The Office of the Inspector General conducted a review of Kingston Fossil Plant (KIF) organization to identify factors that could impact KIF’s organizational effectiveness. During our evaluation, plant personnel informed us that interactions with management and between coworkers were generally positive, although behavioral concerns regarding one individual were identified. In addition, plant personnel expressed concerns regarding (1) condition of assets, (2) staffing challenges, and (3) communication related to the future of KIF.