Lessons Learned From Oversight of the Coastal Impact Assistance Program Grants

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date, the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to the BIE.In this report, we present lessons learned from and the risks identified in our earlier audit and investigation work related to the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP). Under CIAP, the DOI disbursed $1 billion in grant funds across six States—Alabama, Alaska, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas—to respond to impacts from offshore drilling. We particularly highlight our 2013 CIAP audit report because, like the CARES Act, CIAP provided significant funding to recipients through a series of grants that were primarily managed from afar. As of August 31, 2020, the DOI has obligated nearly $522 million of its CARES Act funding—in addition to more than $102 million in CARES Act funding the DOI received from the ED—using grants, cooperative agreements, and direct payments. Our previous CIAP-related work demonstrated that grant awards can present substantial risks. Using our earlier work to illustrate areas of particular risk, we highlight the following factors as essential to successful oversight of the DOI’s CARES Act funds:• Review grant applications to ensure proposals seek to use grant funds for the intended purposes• Conduct risk assessments of potential recipients to understand grant recipient backgrounds• Ensure the grant recipients have proper internal controls, such as segregation of duties and conflict-of-interest policies• Maximize competition when awarding contracts using grant funds• Monitor the grant recipients’ documentation and use of grant funds• Review the grant recipients’ performance and financial reportsOur prior work detailed the impact of the mismanagement that can occur because of ineffective oversight. We believe that many of the same risks present themselves today and that careful attention to our earlier work can help the DOI avoid some of the mistakes that occurred then.