Inspectors General Findings

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.


 Friday, September 4, 2009

Department of Energy Makes Progress in Meeting Recovery Act Accountability and Performance Objectives

The Department of Energy (DOE) received $38 billion in Recovery Act funding for various initiatives, including promoting energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse emissions. The DOE Office of Inspector General (OIG) reviewed whether the agency could appropriately track this unprecedented amount of funding and measure how its Recovery Act-related programs were performing. The OIG found that the agency has been proactive and made positive efforts to ensure accurate, timely, and reliable reporting of its Recovery spending; however, there were also some challenges that the agency needs to address, such as:

• ensure existing systems are able to handle the increased workload resulting from the agency's Recovery funding, and
• develop quantifiable and reliable measures to fully evaluate the overall successes of programs funded with Recovery money.

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 Monday, August 31, 2009

Fort Worth, Texas Needs to Strengthen Administration of Recovery Act Funds

Fort Worth, Texas, will receive $10.85 million in Recovery Act funding for community development and housing programs, such Neighborhood Stabilization and Homeless Prevention and Housing. Because Fort Worth has had trouble managing grants funded with non-Recovery money, HUD's Office of Inspector General (OIG) evaluated the city's ability to administer its Recovery-related funds. The OIG found several weaknesses and recommended that HUD require Fort Worth to correct the past deficiencies and that HUD also monitor the city's spending of the additional Recovery Act funding.
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 Friday, August 28, 2009

Department of Labor Has Procedures In Place to Account for and Report on Recovery Act Financial Activities

The Department of Labor (DOL) received more than $40 billion under the Recovery Act to expand unemployment benefits, increase employment and training opportunities, build and rehabilitate Job Corps Centers, enforce worker protection laws, and provide expanded unemployment benefits. Federal agencies must account for Recovery funds separately from other agency funds. DOL's Office of Inspector General conducted an audit to determine if the agency had implemented procedures to account for and report on Recovery funds as required by law. The OIG had some concerns but found, in general, that the agency has implemented the appropriate procedures related to its Recovery funds. The agency agreed that it will remain vigilant in all aspects of financial management and will address the OIG's concerns.
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 Friday, August 28, 2009

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Has Effective Controls Over Community Planning and Development Funds

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania received $1.1 million in Recovery Act funds for projects to develop low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, and to help homeless persons and families. The HUD Office of Inspector General conducted an audit to determine if Bethlehem can effectively administer its Recovery Act funds and concluded that the city has controls in place to manage how it spends and accounts for these dollars.
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 Wednesday, August 19, 2009

EPA Needs to Revise its Methods for Calculating Grant Recipients' Costs

EPA received approximately $72 billion in Recovery Act funding for programs and projects, such as cleaning up superfund sites and helping local communities with water quality and wastewater infrastructure needs. The agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) looked at how EPA planned to calculate its Fiscal Year 2009 "grant accruals," which represent grantee costs incurred but not yet billed. The OIG noted that EPA planned to combine Recovery-related grants with traditional grants and use the same methodology to calculate the accruals for both. The OIG cautioned that this approach could distort the accrual amount, and recommended that EPA separate out the Recovery grants to obtain a more accurate accrual report.
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