Open Recommendations

We recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health verify all underground coal mines in abandoned status for more than 90 days are either sealed (and its status updated in MSHA’s system), in the process of sealing and are issued a violation for non-compliance with the regulation, or has a remark in MSHA’s system indicating why it will not be sealed. This may include verifying the mine was identified for future reclamation in the Abandoned Mine Lands program inventory.

We recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health communicate to staff on: (1) the current version of mine status criteria, (2) MSHA reports and tools available for the mandatory inspection program, and (3) leadership’s expectations on districts correcting activity codes and when Part 50 data should be available to districts (including follow-up and violations for operators not reporting timely).

We recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health update policy or procedures to: (1) clearly define when an inspection starts and ends and (2) ensure the inspection dates for an E01 mandatory inspection include any inspection work done on other events (e.g., E16 spot inspection) to make the E01 inspection an “entire mine” inspection adhering to requirements in the Mine Act.

We recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health revise business rules used in MSHA reports for the mandatory inspections program to align with the Mine Act and MSHA policy, or update MSHA policy accordingly and consider raising the number of E28 idle mine visits and E27 denial of entry attempts used in MSHA reports to eliminate an inspection requirement.

We recommend the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health improve the design and execution of MSHA’s internal control system for the mandatory inspections program to align with the GAO Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, specifically by identifying key risks through a programmatic risk assessment and collecting MSHA workforce concerns to verify or improve the integrity of the program.

Treasury’s Acting Chief Recovery Officer should work with Treasury OIG to obtain adequate documentation from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Department of Health and Human Services $300,000 in expenditures or begin recoupment proceedings for the disallowed costs.

We recommend that ASPR mitigate the risk presented by relying on foreign supply chains and JIT inventory strategies when determining annual Stockpile purchases.

We recommend that ASPR develop a strategic plan for the Stockpile, that clearly defines the goals and objectives of the Stockpile, and the Stockpile's roles and responsibilities for responding to emergency events, including pandemics.

We recommend that ASPR work to increase the Stockpile's annual funding to keep pace with the Stockpile's increased responsibilities.

We recommend that ASPR reinstate the annual planning and review process and issue to Congress an updated PHEMCE SIP, PHEMCE Multiyear Budget, and Stockpile Annual Review Report.

We recommend that ASPR develop a plan and timeline for fully integrating the Stockpile within ASPR.

We recommend that ASPR develop a response plan, to include communication plans, for situations in which the Stockpile needs to respond to changes in roles and responsibilities during large-scale emergency responses.

We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education require Kentucky todesign and document procedures to guide Kentucky personnel through the LEA reimbursement request process. Theprocedures should be in the form of written policies and procedures or protocols, and designed to ensure compliance withapplicable requirements, including those covered in 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (Uniform Guidance) and ARP.

We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education require Kentucky to,in order to address the heightened risk associated with ARP ESSER funds, design and incorporate into its documentedprocedures for reviewing LEA reimbursement requests protocols to sample LEA expenditures charged to ARP ESSERand review supporting documentation to ensure that applicable Federal, State, and local requirements are met.

We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education require Kentucky toimplement its ARP ESSER monitoring policies and procedures, as designed, to provide additional assurance that LEAsuse ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and their approved ARP ESSER plans.

Establish achievable cost saving metrics beginning with Artemis IV SLS elements and production contracts.

Transition the core stage and Exploration Upper Stage contracts to fixed-price contracts with a per mission price to codify the actual costs.

If keeping contracts as cost-plus-award-fee, increase the percentage of cost as a factor when conducting contractor evaluations for award fee purposes.

Conduct a detailed review of all contractor-submitted documents to ensure the government’s rights to data and processes are not unnecessarily transferred to the contractor.

Include contract flexibility on future SLS acquisitions that will allow NASA to pivot to other commercial alternatives.

For each Artemis SLS rocket under EPOC, add compensation to the DST contract such as incentive fees for when the contractor achieves specific cost saving goals.

Ensure Government Mandatory Inspection Points and government oversight teams remain throughout the EPOC transition period.

We recommend that CMS conduct an analysis of its hospital transfer payment policy for discharges to PAC and expand the policy as necessary.

We recommend that the Manager, BHSO:1. Direct BNL to ensure its property management policies and procedures are consistent with 41 CFR 109 requirements.

We recommend that the Manager, BHSO:2. Review and assess the adequacy and effectiveness of BNL’s property management program.

We recommend that the Acting Director, Office of Asset Management:3. Review and update the Guide to ensure it is consistent with the provisions of 41 CFR 109.

Direct BNL to ensure its property management policies and procedures are consistent with 41 CFR 109 requirements

Review and assess the adequacy and effectiveness of BNL’s property management program

Review and update the Guide to ensure it is consistent with the provisions of 41 CFR 109

Revises the Order to clearly define all oversight roles and responsibilities in the ECP;

Revises the Order to clearly define all oversight roles and responsibilities in the ECP;

We recommend that the Manager, ORNL Site Office, direct the Contracting Officer to:3. Determine the allowability of costs questioned in this report, as summarized in Appendix 2, and recover any amounts deemed unallowable.

We recommend that the Manager, ORNL Site Office, direct the Contracting Officer to:4. Ensure that actions related to real estate are approved by appropriate Department personnel.

Determine the allowability of costs questioned in this report, as summarized in Appendix 2, and recover any amounts deemed unallowable.

We recommend that Aetna, Inc. refund to the Federal Government the $632,070 of overpayments.

We recommend that Aetna, Inc. determine, for the remaining 159 enrollee-years in the potentially mis-keyed diagnosis code high-risk group not reviewed as part of this audit, whether the medical records in each case support the diagnosis for the unrelated condition and refund any resulting overpayments to the Federal Government.

We recommend that Aetna, Inc. identify, for the high-risk diagnoses included in this report, similar instances of noncompliance that occurred before or after our audit period and refund any resulting overpayments to the Federal Government.

We recommend that Aetna, Inc. continue to examine its existing compliance procedures to identify areas where improvements can be made to ensure that diagnosis codes that are at high risk for being miscoded comply with Federal requirements (when submitted to CMS for use in CMS's risk adjustment program) and take the necessary steps to enhance those procedures.

The DFC Chief Information Officer must prioritize efforts to enhance DFC's existing vulnerability management process to ensure sufficient identification, prioritization, and remediation of critical and high vulnerabilities in a timely manner in accordance with DFC's policy.

The DFC Chief Information Officer must implement the necessary oversight to monitor Cybersecurity Security Assessment and Management(CSAM) to ensure that SSPs are reviewed and authorized in accordance with the timeliness requirements in DFC's policy.

Prioritize the definition and incorporation of a cybersecurity risk tolerance into the agency's cybersecurity policies, procedures, and processes, as appropriate.

Ensure all required attributes are consistently documented within the agency's cybersecurity risk register.

Document and implement a process to consistently inventory the Board's web applications, including its public-facing websites.

Document and implement a process to consistently inventory and prioritize the Board's third-party systems, including the identification of subcontractors.

Enforce the agency's iOS Update and Device Inactivity Policy to ensure that agency services are denied to mobile devices that are out of compliance.

Develop, document, and implement a process to review and update the Board's privacy impact assessments.

Ensure that the process to update privacy impact assessments is adequately resourced for effective implementation.

Maintain a comprehensive schedule for testing current contingency plans, documenting test procedures, and maintaining relevant updates to the contingency plan.

in coordination with the Vice President, Organization Development, establish and document a workforce plan that describes key recruitment, retention, and performance measurement activities. At a minimum, the plan should address strategic priorities, include workforce goals and objectives, identify stakeholder roles and responsibilities, and define a process for periodic review and updates.

Develop a process to track employee and contractor training and certifications to monitor progress toward addressing the skills gaps identified in periodic skills assessments.