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Read our report on six communities’ experiences with pandemic funding and programs, which provides valuable lessons learned to improve federal emergency response programs.

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Search reports, investigative results, and agency plansShowing 61 - 70 of 95 results
Department of Education OIG

Federal Student Aid’s Suspension of Involuntary Collection in Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic

The objective of our review was to evaluate the results of Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) process for suspending involuntary collection and refunding payments involuntarily collected on defaulted Department-held loans in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. We found that FSA suspended administrative wage garnishments and the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury) offsets for over 96 percent of the borrowers that FSA collected payments for within 90 days of March 13, 2020, the start of the suspension period. However, as of October 23, 2020, we found that FSA continued to receive administrative...
Environmental Protection Agency OIG

EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory Has Taken Steps to Mitigate Impact of Coronavirus Pandemic on Mobile Source Emission Compliance

This report examines the EPA’s activities to oversee mobile source compliance with clean air laws and regulations during the coronavirus pandemic. It highlights National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory’s efforts to minimize the potential for noncompliance during the pandemic and the importance of returning to full testing capacity to provide the most effective oversight.
Department of Education OIG

Risk of Closed Institutions of Higher Education Receiving Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Grants

The purpose of this report is to share with the U.S. Department of Education (Department) observations made by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) concerning institutions of higher education (IHE) that ceased to provide educational instruction in all programs of study (closed) and received or had access to coronavirus response and relief aid through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). We found that 17 IHEs that closed on or before December 31, 2020, applied for and were awarded a total of $4,912,675 of HEERF grants by OPE. Of these 17 IHEs, 14 drew down HEERF funds and 3 did...
Environmental Protection Agency OIG

EPA Did Not Conduct Agencywide Risk Assessment of CARES Act Appropriations, Increasing Risk of Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement

EPA Did Not Conduct Agencywide Risk Assessment of CARES Act Appropriations, Increasing Risk of Fraud, Waste, Abuse, and Mismanagement.
Department of Housing and Urban Development OIG

HUD’s Use of, Accounting for, and Reporting on CARES Act Funding

As of March 31, 2021, HUD had disbursed $3.4 billion and obligated $7.4 billion of its $12.4 billion in CARES Act funds. Meanwhile, HUD has more than $1.6 billion in CARES Act funds unobligated. These funds have various expiration dates. For example, HUD has until September 30, 2021, to obligate $28 million of the remaining management and administration CARES Act funds and until September 30, 2022, to obligate more than $1.3 billion of the remaining Office of Community Planning and Development’s CARES Act funds. If HUD is unable to obligate funds properly before its appropriations expire, it...
Railroad Retirement Board OIG

Management Information Report - Interim Review of Railroad Retirement Board CARES Act Benefit Payments During the Pandemic

Management Information Report - Interim Review of Railroad Retirement Board CARES Act Benefit Payments During the Pandemic
Department of Housing and Urban Development OIG

HUD and its CDBG-DR grantees have experienced challenges related to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Inspector General (OIG), has completed a survey of the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on HUD’s Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) grantees. Our objective was to determine the challenges that HUD and its CDBG-DR grantees are experiencing related to the COVID-19 pandemic and to help inform the Office of Community Planning and Development and Congress on the issues faced in responding to the pandemic. HUD’s CDBG-DR grantees across the country reported facing similar...
Department of Housing and Urban Development OIG

Key Considerations From Prior Audits of the Single Family Default Monitoring System and the Partial Claim Loss Mitigation Option

We prepared this memorandum to provide the Office of Housing at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with key considerations from prior audits of the HUD Single Family Default Monitoring System (SFDMS) and the partial claim loss mitigation option. These audits identified HUD’s lack of effective controls to ensure that lenders reported default information accurately and in a timely manner, lenders promptly filed and reported partial claims, and partial claims fully reinstated delinquent loans. Prior audits also identified that the current design of partial claims results...
Department of Education OIG

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Reporting Requirements

The objective of our inspection was to determine (1) whether selected institutions receiving funds under the Institutional Portion of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) met public reporting requirements and (2) the reported usage of the Institutional Portion of HEERF by selected institutions. We determined that 81 of the 100 institutions included in our sample complied with Institutional Portion reporting requirements. We were unable to locate Institutional Portion reports anywhere on the websites associated with 19 of the 100 (19 percent) institutions included in our sample.
Department of Education OIG

Assessment of the Department’s Reconstitution Plans Following COVID-19

The objective of our inspection was to assess the U.S. Department of Education’s (Department) plans and procedures for returning employees to the federal office in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, including what existing guidance the Department considered when developing its plans and procedures. We found that the Department generally incorporated available guidance, which was intended to provide for a safe and gradual return to federal offices, in its Workplace Reconstitution Transition Plan (Reconstitution Plan). However, we noted that the Department’s Reconstitution Plan does not...