Open Recommendations

Review current outreach strategies, including staffing assignments, and make appropriate changes to optimize resources, ensuring maximum awareness of available assistance to disaster survivors.

Implement processes to gather feedback from applicants that would assist the agency in monitoring the effectiveness of its outreach methods.

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensures PBS personnel responsible for measurement and verification activities: are adequately trained to understand how to perform their oversight responsibilities in accordance with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program guidance; independently witness, verify, and document the ESCO’s baseline measurements; and adhere to PBS’s policy to ensure O&M contractor employees do not serve as government witnesses for ESPCs.

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensures the project team establishes communication protocols by developing an effective communication plan that is consistent with the PBS Project Management Practice Guide V.2 to prevent the government from incurring unnecessary costs.

We recommend that the PBS Commissioner ensures contracting officers authorize contract changes and implement them through contract modifications, in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).

Work with ARC to resolve the costs questioned totaling $693,374 for non-ARC match construction costs.

Develop policies and procedures for determining the allowability and allocability of costs, record retention, and procurement standards as required under the Uniform Guidance.

Develop policies and procedures to ensure GL grant expenditures are reconciled with supporting documentation to reflect accurate reporting of financial information.

Work with ARC to resolve the reporting discrepancies of non-ARC matching cost share expenditures to reflect the total cost incurred.

Develop and implement a process to assess ongoing solicitations for compliance with the company’s procurement manual.

Develop and implement additional guidance to help COs determine when to require end users to provide more detailed cost estimates, in line with leading practices, and consider adjusting its policies accordingly.

Implement a companywide process to consistently collect and analyze key pre-award data elements, such as those we raised for the company’s consideration in our April 2024 report, as necessary to identify indicators of fraud.

Develop and implement mandatory, recurring fraud training for employees involved in the pre-award phase. At a minimum, this training should include how to detect indicators of the fraud schemes that most commonly occur during this phase.

We recommend that the Architect of the Capitol revise and fully implement a process that ensures compliance with construction contracts, project specifications and any other requirements prescribed for substantial and final completion and document justification and approval for all deviations. This process should be applied to the awarding of substantial and final completion on all remaining Phases of the Cannon House Office Building Renewal Project.

We recommend that the Architect of the Capitol develop construction contract requirements and project specifications for substantial and final completion that are feasible, achievable and necessary for future construction projects with multiple phases — similar to the Cannon House Office Building Renewal Project.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations update the inactivity control in the Nuclear Material FISMA Systems-system security plan to include references to the 30-minute deviation request and approval.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations update the Web-Based Licensing System User Guide’s instructions on clearing the cache to access the system without closing the browser.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations evaluate and update the Web-Based Licensing System to ensure users assigned to multiple roles may perform tasks associated with the highest access rights.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations update the Web-Based Licensing System’s user role descriptions to ensure users’ capabilities in the system are properly defined.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations develop and implement a process to periodically update user roles in the Web-Based Licensing System to ensure users may perform tasks commensurate with their assigned NRC responsibilities.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations update the Web-Based Licensing System User Guide to incorporate guidance on how to use the new modules added to the WBL System, and describe how to use new enhancements to the system.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations establish a schedule to periodically review the Web-Based Licensing System User Guide and determine if it incorporates significant enhancements made on how to use the system.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations update the Web-Based Licensing System Change Control Procedure and related information resources to accurately reflect the current process and issue a memo to WBL users informing them of the updated process.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations clarify the role of a Web-Based Licensing System module point of contact and update the points of contact list for the Web-Based Licensing System Change Control Procedure.

The OIG recommends that the Executive Director for Operations prioritize and fix any current features within the Web-Based Licensing System that are not operating correctly.