Reports

We found that a full-time NPS employee wrongfully obtained State unemployment insurance and Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation.

We found that a USBR employee wrongfully obtained $28,524 in combined Unemployment Insurance and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance.

We determined that the BIA Great Plains Region did not hold three Tribes accountable for submitting CARES Act financial reports or narrative reports.

We determined that the Omaha Tribe did not follow applicable requirements in an agreement with the BIA.

We recommended the BIA and the BIE implement controls designed to prevent or detect instances of multi-dipping of pandemic response funds.

We determined that the Three Affiliated Tribes did not follow applicable requirements in an agreement with the BIA.

We determined that the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe did not follow applicable requirements in its agreements with the BIA.

Our inspection identified $155,575 in CARES Act and pandemic-related purchase card transactions with insufficient documentation.

Our inspection identified several issues with CARES Act and pandemic-related purchase card transactions made through September 30, 2020.

Our inspection identified several concerns with CARES Act and pandemic-related contract actions made through October 31, 2020.

We reviewed the actions the BLM has taken to protect its employees, volunteers, and the visiting public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 27, 2020, Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was enacted. To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of January 31, 2021, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $613,068,783, and its obligations...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of December 31, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $600,876,882...

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was enacted. It included $8 billion for direct payments to Indian Tribes and $522 million of direct appropriations to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) for COVID-19 response. Given this infusion of funding, we examined the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian detention system from April 1, 2020, to May 31, 2020, including the actions the BIA and the tribes have taken to respond to outbreaks of this virus, and how other longstanding challenges have affected the BIA’s response...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of November 30, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $582,466,112...

Under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) enacted on March 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) received $909.7 million to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. The Office of the Secretary (OS) received $158.4 million of the DOI’s CARES Act funding and transferred funds to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Office of Inspector General (OIG), Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), and Office of Wildland Fire (OWF). As of November 30, 2020, 5.3 percent of the funding...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of October 31, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $566,168,083...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of September 30, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $546,908,092...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date, the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to the BIE.In this report, we present lessons learned from and the risks identified in our earlier audit and investigation work related to the Coastal Impact Assistance...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the BIE.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of August 31, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $526,662,366...

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) continued to fulfill its mission by performing safety and environmental inspections for offshore oil and gas operations. We reviewed the actions BSEE’s three regions—the Gulf of Mexico Region, Pacific Region, and Alaska Region—have taken to protect inspectors and offshore employees from COVID-19 and evaluated any impacts the virus had on inspections BSEE conducted since March 2020. We found that BSEE:• Developed, communicated, and updated COVID-19 guidance for all personnel involved with offshore...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of July 31, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $502,312,984 and its obligations total $599,016,669.We are also monitoring the DOI’s progress on reporting milestones established by the CARES...

The Defense Intelligence Agency Office of the Inspector General initiated an evaluation of the Agency's use of Reserve military intelligence capabilities across the Defense Intelligence Enterprise.  Our objective is to assess the effectiveness of Agency’s use of Reserve military intelligence forces for the delivery and integration of Reserve capabilities across the Defense Intelligence Enterprise in peacetime and during crisis and contingency operations.  Through this evaluation effort, we will examine the use of Reserve military intelligence capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security's initiative to professionalize the analysis workforce within the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Office of the Inspector General initiated an evaluation to assess the Agency's effectiveness in serving as the All-Source Analyst Professional Certification Program management lead.  We will assess the effectiveness of the DIA’s efforts to administer, implement, and oversee the program in accordance with DoD, Intelligence Community, Agency, and national accreditation policies and standards. As a part of this evaluation effort, we will also examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on DIA's ability to provide the DoD analysis workforce with continuous opportunities to attain the Certified Defense All-Source Analyst-I professional credential.

In accordance with the CARES Act, Section 3610, “Federal Contractor Authority,” March 27, 2020 we will evaluate DIA’s implementation of Section 3610. Our objective is to determine whether DIA’s contractor reimbursements were appropriate and governed by policies and procedures that met the Act’s requirements.

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas.As part of the $756 million, the Office of the Secretary received $157.4 million to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus across DOI operations, which includes wildland fire management. The DOI approved $11.3 million in funding for the DOI’s Wildland Fire Management (WFM) program through September 30, 2020...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date, the CARES Act has provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas and a $153.7 million transfer from the U.S. Department of Education to the Bureau of Indian Education in June.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of June 30, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), which provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas.As part of the CARES Act, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) received $69 million from the DOI to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to the CARES Act funding appropriated directly to the DOI, the CARES Act’s Education Stabilization Fund required the U.S. Department of Education to...

CARES Act Section 3610 allows Federal agencies to reimburse their contractors and subcontractors for any paid leave, including sick leave, that the contractors provide to keep their employees or subcontractors in what the section refers to as a “ready state.” Because these reimbursements present a number of risks and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is already receiving Section 3610 claims from contractors, the DOI urgently needs to put policies in place to ensure consistent oversight of reimbursed leave costs.In this management advisory memorandum, we offer three recommendations that...

In response to the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the National Park Service (NPS) closed most park buildings, facilities, and restrooms, and in some cases, entire parks. With States now easing stay-at-home restrictions, and in response to the White House’s emphasis to open the national parks, some parks have already increased access by implementing a phased reopening. To facilitate a safe reopening, the NPS issued the National Park Service COVID-19 Adaptive Operations Recovery Plan to the parks on May 28, 2020. We contacted each of the 62 national park superintendents to report on...

The DOI will award most of its CARES Act funding to Indian Country through grants to the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). Of the $756 million, $522 million (69.0 percent) will be funded to Indian Country. As of June 13, 2020, $419,462,721, or 80.4 percent, had been obligated.These emergency response awards from the DOI–together with more than $8.7 billion in awards to Indian Country from other Federal departments—present a higher risk because they must be spent in a short period of time. In addition, we have identified Indian Country as a high-risk area...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of May 31, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically, the DOI’s expenditures to date total $337,105,190 and its obligations total $448,680,794.We are also monitoring the DOI’s progress on reporting milestones established by the CARES...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas.The DOI will award most of its CARES Act funding through contracts and financial assistance agreements (such as grants and cooperative agreements). Our past work demonstrates that these awards are a vulnerable area for the DOI. Moreover, awards made as part of emergency response are riskier...

In March 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) for response and relief related to COVID-19. The Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the Bureau of Reclamation, Insular Affairs, Indian Affairs, Indian Education, and Department operations.Oversight of the DOI’s CARES Act spending is critical to safeguard health and safety, water, and Indian education. We describe our four-pronged approach in this document:• Monitoring for early detection• Reviews to uncover and report on wrongdoing•...

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among its provisions, the CARES Act provided the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas.This report presents the DOI’s progress as of April 28, 2020, in spending CARES Act appropriations. Specifically:• Total expenditures are $168,719,791 and total obligations are $387,887,389.• A total of 491 grants and contracts have been awarded, with total value of $390,845,278.•...