Open Recommendations

The Bureau of Fiscal Operations and the Office of Programs should work together to research the unrecovered debts identified in this audit and take action to: recover them; properly record the recoveries in the Financial Management Integrated System and other applicable agency systems; and/or record the reasons why they were not recovered, and if there are legitimate reasons why they should no longer be recovered.

The Bureau of Fiscal Operations and the Office of Programs should work together to identify the organizational unit with debtor notification responsibility and take the necessary actions to ensure that the debt notification process addressed in this audit is properly documented and maintained in agency records.

The Bureau of Fiscal Operations and the Office of Programs should work together to ensure that Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act debtors for the debt process addressed in this audit are properly notified of the debt, as required.

The Bureau of Fiscal Operations should implement a process to periodically monitor the status of each Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act debt transaction (adjustment type code 41) and prepare a report that contains the status of each Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act debt recoverable from Railroad Retirement Act benefits that is also to be provided to the Office of Programs to aid in their monitoring efforts of these Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act debts.

The Office of Programs should develop and implement a process to periodically monitor the new report that the Bureau of Fiscal Operations will provide, (that will identify adjustment type code 41 Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act debts) to determine if any of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act debts need further action to recover them from the annuitants’ Railroad Retirement Act benefits.

We recommend that the Food and Drug Administration identify and implement additional ways to improve the timeliness of its foreign for-cause drug inspection process

We recommend that the Food and Drug Administration consider streamlining the process for writing and reviewing EIRs to minimize potential delays due to unexpected events.

We recommend that the Food and Drug Administration conduct an analysis of the workloads of individuals responsible for: (1) determining final classification, (2) issuing warning letters, and (3) holding regulatory meetings, and address any potential issues identified by this analysis.

We recommend that the Food and Drug Administration implement policies and procedures to ensure that lead investigators assigned to inspections have completed the Level 1 Investigator Certification Process.

We recommend that the Food and Drug Administration ensure that supervisors review investigators' qualifications and document that they meet applicable training requirements when the investigator training records do not exist.

We recommend that the Food and Drug Administration review the training records of the lead investigators that were outside the scope of the audit to verify that documentation supports either: o that the investigators completed the required training courses, Level 1 Performance Audit, and Level 1 Investigator Certification, or o that investigators are recommended as "experienced investigators" by supervisors and have completed training courses equivalent to the current required training courses.

Embassy Pristina, in coordination with the Office of the Legal Adviser and the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, should document and request approval for dual accreditation of its staff in accordance with Department guidance.

Embassy Pristina should manage its records in accordance with Department standards.

We recommend that Retirement Services develop and implement additional cost-effective corrective actions, aimed at the root causes of improper payments, to further reduce the improper payments rate.

We recommend the Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Resilience implement financial management procedures to ensure FEMA regional officials monitor and close HMGP property acquisition projects in a timely manner, and that they conduct Strategic Funds Management reviews, document review decisions, and implement such decisions where appropriate. These actions will help minimize as much as $134,911,248 in funds that FEMA could put to better use.

We recommend the Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Resilience implement management procedures to ensure HMGP property acquisition project applications and project information are complete and accurate when submitted, reviewed, closed, and maintained by FEMA.

We recommend the Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Resilience direct FEMA regions to ensure states monitor, inspect, and report to FEMA on acquired HMGP properties in accordance with grant requirements to confirm the properties are maintained as open space.

We recommend the Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for Resilience and FEMA’s Office of Equal Rights continue initiatives to reduce barriers and increase opportunities pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for applying for and receiving FEMA HMGP property acquisition grants. Additionally, we recommend that FEMA develop guidance and implement equity considerations in program delivery, including the states’ use of demographic, economic, and other required data when selecting projects for HMGP property acquisition.

The OIG recommends the Under Secretary for Benefits, in conjunction with the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, establish a mechanism to gain assurance that proper Office of Information Technology project management processes and protocols are followed when establishing information technology systems and applications.

Direct Cal Poly to implement additional administrative and management procedures surrounding the payment of intra-Institution of Higher Education consulting services. Updated procedures should require that Cal Poly: • Request and receive approval from NSF before charging NSF awards for intra-Institution of Higher Education consulting payments made to Cal Poly employees. • Document the methodology used to calculate the amount of any intraInstitution of Higher Education consulting payments made to Cal Poly employees.

Direct Cal Poly to strengthen its processes and procedures surrounding the booking and approval of travel expenses. Updated procedures could include implementing additional reviews for all airfare purchases, including requiring the reviewer to verify the traveler purchased an economy-class ticket and/or has appropriate justification for a travel upgrade before charging the travel expense to an NSF award.

Direct Cal Poly to strengthen its administrative and management controls and processes for supporting the allocation of expenses to sponsored projects. Updated processes could include: • Implementing a standard documentation and retention process to support the allocation of publication costs that benefit multiple awards. • Requiring Principal Investigators or other designated staff to both document and justify the allocation methodologies used when charging expenses to sponsored projects near the grant expiration date. • Performing reconciliations at the end of each summer program to verify that the costs charged to sponsored projects were appropriate based on the number of program participants.

Direct Cal Poly to strengthen its monitoring procedures and internal control processes for applying indirect costs to federal awards. Updated procedures could include implementing an annual review process for costs charged to awards that include funding for participant support costs to ensure Cal Poly is appropriately segregating these expenses in accounts that it has excluded from its Modified Total Direct Cost base.

Direct Cal Poly to strengthen its policies and procedures for creating and retaining documentation, including introducing additional controls to help ensure that it appropriately creates and maintains all documentation necessary to support the allowability of travel expenses charged to sponsored programs. Updated procedures could include: • Requiring travelers to document the business purpose of each day of a planned trip before charging travel costs to NSF awards. • Implementing additional reviews for all airfare purchases, including requiring the reviewer to verify that the traveler purchased an economyclass ticket before charging the expense to an NSF award. • Verifying that subawardees…

Direct Cal Poly to strengthen its administrative and management procedures to ensure the appropriate personnel complete and authorize an independent contractor agreement before a consultant begins work on a project.