The OIG investigated allegations that the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM’s) Wyoming State Office (WYSO) had entered into an unneeded contract for oil-and-gas-record digitization services, had improperly selected the contractor, and had improperly carried the funds for the digitization project across fiscal years. We also investigated an allegation that WYSO had not received proper compensation for record copying and other clerical services it had performed for an oil and gas company.Our investigation did not substantiate these allegations. The BLM Washington (DC) Office had encouraged WYSO and other state offices to identify high-value records, which included WYSO’s oil and gas records, and to begin digitizing them to improve record retention and reduce costs for storing physical records. WYSO used a contractor that was competitively selected by the U.S. Government Publishing Office to provide scanning and digitization services to multiple Federal agencies. We confirmed that WYSO had carried funds used for this project across fiscal years, but we learned that it had the authority to do so and used the appropriate financial mechanism. We also confirmed that WYSO was paid for the copies and the other services it provided to the oil and gas company.
WY
United States
