Reports
Search reports, investigative results, and agency plansShowing 1 - 18 of 18 results
Department of Transportation OIG
FAA Has Improved Its Oversight of COVID-19 Relief Funds Despite Implementation Inconsistencies
Our Objective(s)To assess FAA's oversight of airport sponsors' compliance with the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) rent relief and economic relief reimbursement eligibility requirements. Why This AuditThe CRRSA Act and ARPA awarded $10 billion in economic relief to eligible U.S. airports and concessions at those airports to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of December 2023, FAA had expended more than $8.5 billion in concession rent relief and economic relief grants. We...
Department of Transportation OIG
FTA’s Oversight of Its Region 9 Recipients Is Insufficient To Confirm Compliance With CARES Act Funding Requirements
What We Looked At Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) received $25 billion to help the Nation’s public transit agencies mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. FTA obligated over $4.4 billion of this funding to recipients within FTA’s Region 9, which contains the 4th, 10th, and 11th highest FTA CARES Act fund recipients nationwide. Although the Agency expanded its oversight of COVID-19 relief funding recipients, we previously found risks associated with these activities and FTA’s oversight of contract and grant expenditures...
Department of Transportation OIG
FAA Did Not Fully Follow Its Processes When Awarding and Administering CARES Act-Funded Airport Development Grants and Contracts
What We Looked At The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with $10 billion in funding, including about $525 million for airport development expenses. FAA distributed these funds through its Airport Improvement Program (AIP), which requires grant recipients to comply with various Federal procurement requirements, including Buy American Preferences. Previous Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits identified weaknesses in FAA’s processes for awarding and administering AIP grants and its oversight of CARES Act funds. Given...
Arizona Auditor General
Arizona school districts’ and charter schools’, and ADE’s discretionary, COVID-19 federal relief spending—in fiscal year 2022 and in total through June 30, 2022
This special report provides summary information and 4 interactive dashboards with Arizona school districts’ and charter schools’ (districts and charters) reported spending in fiscal year (FY) 2022 and in total through June 30, 2022, and planned future spending of allocated/awarded (awarded) COVID-19 federal relief monies (relief monies), as required by Laws 2021, Ch. 408, §54. This special report also provides Arizona Department of Education (ADE)-reported spending in FY 2022 and in total through June 30, 2022, and planned future spending of the discretionary federal relief monies that it...
Arizona Auditor General
State of Arizona Single Audit Report Year Ended June 30, 2022
We have audited, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards and the standards applicable to financial audits contained in Government Auditing Standards, issued by the U.S. Comptroller General, the financial statements of the governmental activities, business-type activities, aggregate discretely presented component units, each major fund, and aggregate remaining fund information of the State of Arizona as of and for the year ended June 30, 2022, and the related notes to the financial statements, which collectively comprise the State’s basic financial statements, and have...
Arizona Auditor General
Performance Audit and Sunset Review: Arizona Commerce Authority
This report reviewed the performance of the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA), which administers the Arizona Coronavirus Relief Fund (Fund). The Fund was established to receive donations and provide financial support to organizations working to mitigate the impact of the pandemic in Arizona. Through the review of more than $7.8 million of the total $10.2 million distributed from the Fund, the audit identified that most of these monies were used for PPE for frontline medical personnel. Additionally, the review of 15 grant awards totaling $2.5 million to nonprofit organizations found that the ACA...
Department of Transportation OIG
DOT Has Effectively Managed the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program and Should Capture Lessons Learned From Its Oversight Efforts
What We Looked AtThe American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) established the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection (AMJP) program in March 2021. To support the program, the ARPA appropriated $3 billion in funding via the Department of Transportation (DOT) through September 2023 for eligible companies engaged in aviation manufacturing and services, maintenance, repair, and overhaul activities. Program funds would allow these companies to continue paying employee wages, salaries, and benefits or rehire employees who were furloughed as a result of the pandemic, and Congress expected DOT to award the...
Arizona Auditor General
Follow Up: Arizona School Districts' and Charter Schools', and ADE's Discretionary, COVID-19 Federal Relief Spending - In Fiscal Year 2022 and in Total Through June 30, 2022
This special report provides summary information and four interactive dashboards with Arizona school districts' and chart schools' reported spending in fiscal year 2022 and in total through June 30, 2022, and planned future spending of allocated/awarded COVID-19 federal relief monies as required by law. In total, districts and charters reported spending $2.2 billion, or almost half of their relief monies through June 30, 2022.
Arizona Auditor General
Arizona School Districts’ and Charter Schools’, and ADE’s Discretionary, COVID-19 Federal Relief Spending— Fiscal Year 2022 and In Total Through June 30, 2022
This special report provides summary information and four interactive dashboards with Arizona school districts’ and charter schools’ reported spending in FY 2022 and in total through June 30, 2022, and planned future spending of allocated/awarded COVID-19 federal relief monies, as required by Laws 2021, Ch. 408, §54. This special report also provides Arizona Department of Education-reported spending in FY 2022 and in total through June 30, 2022, and planned future spending of the discretionary COVID-19 federal relief monies that it received, as required by the law. This information is included...
Department of Transportation OIG
DOT's Tracking of Aviation Imports and Potential Impacts of Disruptions
What We Looked AtThe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted the importance of developing and maintaining resilient supply chains in essential industries. Citing the significance of the aviation industry to the Nation's economy, the Ranking Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and its Subcommittee on Aviation asked us to assess how the Department of Transportation (DOT) tracks the amount of critical aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) imports. They also asked for the amount of critical aviation parts that are manufactured in and...
Arizona Auditor General
Special COVID-19 Funding Report: Federal COVID-19 Monies Allocated to Arizona
Since March 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and through September 2022, the federal government has allocated through various acts $77.8 billion to the State of Arizona and its local governments, businesses, and individuals for COVID-19 response and relief efforts. This special COVID-19 funding report presents information on the amounts, intended purposes, and recipients of those allocations. It also presents the results of our audit of the allocated monies Arizona State government directly spent and distributed during fiscal year 2021.
Department of Transportation OIG
FTA Can Enhance Its Controls To Mitigate COVID-19 Relief Funding Risks
What We Looked AtSince March 2020, Congress has provided $69.5 billion in supplemental funding to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to help transit systems in the United States mitigate the impacts of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. As of August 1, 2022, FTA had obligated over $63 billion and expended over $46 billion. In addition to increased funding, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES), Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA), and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Acts permitted changes in how recipients use FTA funds...
Department of Transportation OIG
FAA Quickly Awarded CARES Act Funds but Can Enhance Its Oversight Approach To Promote Effective Stewardship
What We Looked AtThe Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with $10 billion to help airports deal with the public health emergency caused by Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). FAA awarded $9.1 billion in grants to airports nationwide, using its existing Airport Improvement Program (AIP) to distribute the funds. Our objective for this self-initiated audit was to assess whether FAA’s policies and procedures for awarding and overseeing CARES Act grants are sufficient to protect taxpayer interests. What We FoundLeveraging the AIP...
Department of Transportation OIG
FTA Does Not Effectively Assess Security Controls or Remediate Cybersecurity Weaknesses To Ensure the Proper Safeguards Are in Place To Protect Its Financial Management Systems
What We Looked AtThe Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 set up appropriations to support executive agency operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has received nearly $70 billion in CARES Act and other COVID-19 relief appropriations. FTA uses several financial management systems to approve, process, and disperse this funding for the transit industry’s COVID-19 response and recovery. Given the size of this investment, we initiated this audit. Our audit objective was to assess the effectiveness of FTA’s financial management...
Arizona Auditor General
Report on Internal Control and on Compliance Year Ended June 30, 2020
Based on our audit of the State’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, we reported internal control weaknesses and instances of noncompliance over financial reporting. For example, the Department of Economic Security did not put all critical identity-verification or other anti-fraud measures in place before paying federal CARES Act unemployment insurance benefits and reported it paid over $4 billion in fraudulent identity theft unemployment insurance benefits claims through September 4, 2021, when the benefits ended.
Department of Transportation OIG
Audit of FAA's Award and Oversight of CARES Act Funds
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act designated $10 billion to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to support continuing operations at U.S. airports following the sharp decline in passenger traffic and other airport business due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. By the end of fiscal year 2020, FAA had obligated approximately $9.4 billion in formula grants to airports for such purposes as capital expenditures, operating expenses (including payroll and utilities), and debt payments. We are initiating this audit because the act also provided $5 million to OIG for conducting oversight of DOT projects and activities supported by CARES Act funds. Our objective is to assess whether FAA’s policies and procedures for awarding and overseeing CARES Act grants are sufficient to protect taxpayer interests.
Department of Transportation OIG
Audit Initiated of Security Controls for FTA’s Financial Management Systems That Support CARES Act Funding
The Federal Transit Administration has received billions in funding appropriated by the CARES Act to provide grants for transit infrastructure to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the pandemic. FTA uses several financial management systems to approve, monitor, and distribute CARES Act funds. In recent months, the number of attacks on Federal Government information systems has increased through a variety of techniques, including social engineering and spear phishing. These attacks can threaten the operations of FTA's financial management information systems by affecting system and...
Department of Transportation OIG
Memorandum to the Secretary: Key Potential Risk Areas for the Department of Transportation in Overseeing CARES Act Requirements
Implementing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is among the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) highest priorities in this time of national emergency. The CARES Act provides DOT with over $36 billion to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19 across all modes of transportation. To its credit, DOT swiftly distributed these funds and has begun implementing the Act’s requirements to provide much-needed relief to American workers, families, and businesses. As the Department is aware, the volume of CARES Act funds and the speed with which the funds have been...