Open Recommendations

We recommend that FWS require the Department to provide training to ensure employees charging to the Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration Program understand the Federal requirements for allocating leave across multiple projects and activities.

We recommend that FWS require the Department to provide training on public reporting requirements to all employees responsible for the administration of subawards.

We recommend that ONRR update its policies and procedures to establish conditions that warrant or require a referral to ONRR Enforcement, such as the maximum number of informal compliance attempts or maximum number of days since an effort to obtain compliance was initiated, to provide sufficient time to resolve the case before expiration of the statute of limitations.

We recommend that ONRR update policies and procedures with clear instructions on the steps necessary to ensure that companies have achieved full compliance, including searching for collateral violations and coordination with other ONRR divisions for verification that there are no other related violations prior to closing the case.

We recommend that ONRR establish a process to periodically evaluate identified cases of noncompliance that have not been referred to enforcement to determine whether open cases may require additional actions, such as an enforcement referral or escalation.

We recommend that ONRR update its policies and procedures to prioritize referring cases related to unpaid royalties to the Office of Enforcement based on defined conditions, to include dollar thresholds, material significance, or when companies are repeat offenders.

We recommend that ONRR establish procedures to identify unpaid royalties related to missing reporting cases and issue Immediate Liability Civil Penalties unless an exception is warranted and adequately documented.

We recommend that ONRR provide training on updated procedures to ensure all investigators consistently pursue issuing penalties when warranted or document any exceptions.

We recommend that ONRR evaluate and report on the compliance of the responsible parties associated with the 25 cases of insufficient enforcement actions to determine if the entities corrected the identified violations.

We recommend that ONRR evaluate and report on the compliance of the responsible parties associated with the six closed reporting cases to ensure each company submitted all the required reports and payments or pursue appropriate enforcement actions.

The Commissioner, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, should take the necessary steps to provide FTP penalty relief to the 2,138 eligible taxpayers we identified, including but not limited to abating FTP penalties.

Implement standardized, written procedures to verify that applicable contract award and closeout contract file documentation requirements are met for each GLS contract.

Implement standardized, written procedures to verify that applicable Federal and Department independent government cost estimates and fair and reasonable price determination requirements are met prior to awarding a GLS contract. Implementing this recommendation could put up to $18.7 million in Federal funds to better use by improving GLS's ability to establish fair, reasonable, and realistic contract pricing.

Conduct an assessment of acquisition staff levels and needs, and based on this assessment, develop a plan to address shortages of critical acquisition personnel needed to carry out the Agency's contracting needs.

Review and take corrective action to address the approximately $11.5 million in questioned costs related to contracting officers awarding contracts without evidence that they had the proper warrant authority to do so.

It is recommended that GPO strengthen the controls related to the review and approval of employee separation personnel actions and reinforce the requirements in OPM's Guide to Processing Personnel Actions, specifically as it relates to the timeliness of review and approval.

GPO strengthens controls related to the review and certification of printing vendor invoices and reinforce the requirements in SOP 12-0023, Examination of Printing Invoices, specifically as it relates to supporting documentation requirements for vendor invoices.

It is recommended that GPO design and implement effective monitoring controls related to the review and approval for the processing of new hire employee actions and reinforce the requirements in OPM's Guide to Processing Personnel Actions, specifically as it relates to the timeliness of supervisor authorizations.

It is recommended that GPO design and implement monitoring controls related to the review and certification of employee timesheets and reinforce the requirements in GPO Directive 440.12C, specifically as it relates to the separation of duties between the timekeeper and certifying official roles.

It is recommended that GPO establish procedures within its review control for the OWCP liability adjustment to independently assess the reliability of data received from DOL. This may include performing reasonableness checks such as detailed trend/variance analysis, reconciliations, or reviewing supporting documentation.

Strengthen RD’s continuous review and monitoring controls to identify and timely deobligate ULOs that are not properly authorized and supported by appropriate documentation; that have been completed and not closed out; and under which no future expenditures are expected.

Determine whether the identified undocumented grant is valid, and properly document review and approval thereof.

Deobligate the identified invalid ULOs that are outstanding.

Identify key balances, such as high-risk balances or high dollar value items and ensure that supporting schedules agree with stated balances

Develop a plan for completing the FY 2026 internal controls assessment and resulting assurance statements, including the timing and who is responsible for completing the assessment