Each federal agency has an Inspector General (IG) responsible for overseeing how federal funds are spent and for working with the agency to minimize fraud, waste, and abuse. IGs for agencies who received Recovery Act funds are reviewing their stimulus spending to ensure Recovery-related projects meet legal and administrative requirements. The IGs are also reviewing their agencies administrative practices to ensure that effective controls are in place for managing Recovery funds. Reports of IG findings are below.


 Monday, June 22, 2009
Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General Proposes Strengthening Oversight of the Grants Payment Process
The Department of Transportation (DOT) will distribute 77 percent (approximately $37 billion) of its total Recovery Act funding through major grants programs. The Department has determined that four of these programs are at risk and susceptible to making improper payments, and therefore, need to be tested annually. DOT's Office of Inspector General reviewed the Department's sampling for improper payments made in Fiscal Year 2008 and found the results were not reliable due to the extremely small sample size and lack of a random sample selection. Because DOT is about to award a new contract for testing Fiscal Year 2009 payments, the Office of Inspector General emphasized the need for developing a more reliable test for improper payments.
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 Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Voucher Payments to Aquaculture Farmers Under Review
As part of its ongoing oversight of the $50 million in Recovery Act funding for the Aquaculture Grant Program, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) reviewed draft agreements concerning aid to eligible aquaculture farmers for losses associated with high feed costs during 2008. The agreements allow states the option of using vouchers or credits for future feed purchases, rather than making direct payments to the farmers. USDA's Office of Inspector General raised several concerns about the voucher requirements, payment-rate calculations, and agency oversight.
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 Monday, June 1, 2009
Addressing Past Problems at Interior Will Help Ensure Successful Recovery Efforts
To ensure effective use of the Department of the Interior's approximately $3 billion in Recovery Act funding, Interior's Inspector General advised the Department and its bureaus to focus on four areas: (1) setting an appropriate ethical tone from the top, (2) awarding contracts and financial assistance for goods and services, (3) overseeing approximately $500 million in Indian Country funding, and (4) ensuring the health and safety of Department employees and visitors.
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 Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Department of Energy Inspector General Reports on Efforts to Ensure Energy Efficient IT Resources
The Recovery Act emphasizes energy efficiency and conservation as critical to the Nation's economic vitality. A specific area of interest is the increasing demand for Federal sector computing resources and the corresponding increase in energy use. Based upon these increased demands, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Energy (DOE) reviewed the energy consumption practices of seven major DOE facilities. Despite DOE's recognized energy conservation leadership role, the Office of Inspector General noted that the Department had not always taken advantage of opportunities to reduce energy consumption associated with information technology resources and had not minimized the environmental impact. Given DOE's prominence and visibility in energy issues, the Office of Inspector General recommended aggressive action to ensure that information technology operations are as energy efficient as possible.
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 Friday, May 22, 2009
Health and Human Services Calculations Correct
The Recovery Act provides an estimated $87 billion in additional Medicaid funding to the states through 2010 to maintain State programs in the current economic downturn. In its first audit of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Recovery Act funding, the Department's Office of Inspector General found that HHS had correctly calculated the temporary increases in Medicaid's Federal medical assistance percentages for the first two quarters of Fiscal Year 2009.
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