Reports
Search reports, investigative results, and agency plansShowing 1 - 36 of 36 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...
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19 - Food and Nutrition Service’s Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer - Final Report
In our final report, we reviewed key aspects of the Food and Nutrition Service funding and administration of Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer assistance.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID 19 - ReConnect Program
This informational report provides general information and highlights CARES Act funding as of June 30, 2023. This informational report does not contain any findings or recommendations, and it was prepared using information obtained during the audit work and from public sources.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19 - Coronavirus Food Assistance Program - Direct Support
We determined whether Farm Service Agency (FSA) provided timely and accurate Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) direct payments to eligible recipients.
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...
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Farmers to Families Food Box Program Administration
In our final report, we assessed the controls Agricultural Marketing Service developed and implemented to ensure awardees fulfilled the obligations of their contracts.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Forest Service’s Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic at Recreation Sites
OIG identified the prevention measures that Forest Service established for recreation sites in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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...
Department of Agriculture OIG
USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Data Story
This data story is the second in the series from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and focuses on the USDA Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). This product utilized data analytics, visualizations, and data storytelling methods to enhance transparency of how the CFAP 1 and CFAP 2 programs evolved over time.
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 Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Oversight of the Emergency Food Assistance Program—Final Report
In our final report, we determined what TEFAP flexibilities were available to States during the pandemic and FNS’ oversight of the States and Eligible Recipient Agencies’ compliance with administrative fund requirements.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Food Safety and Inspection Service Pandemic Response at Establishments
We reviewed the actions FSIS took relating to COVID-19 to ensure the continuation of inspection operations at meat and poultry slaughter and processing establishments, including to ensure the health and safety of FSIS inspectors and how FSIS spent the $33 million in CARES Act funding.
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 Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Farmers to Families Food Box Program Administration—Interim Report
We assessed how AMS designed the Farmers to Families Food Box Program solicitation, whether AMS awarded the contracts in accordance withrequirements, and what methodology AMS used to allocate funding.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19―Food and Nutrition Service's Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer―Interim Report
Our ongoing inspection is reviewing P‑EBT—this report provides the results on Objectives 1, 3, and 4 for P‑EBT funding and outreach activities, and the procedures and criteria FNS used to approve State plans.
Department of Agriculture OIG
USDA COVID-19 Funding Dashboard
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Funding Dashboard allows stakeholders to explore an overview of the sources and uses of USDA’s COVID-19 funding. This interactive dashboard displays the amounts of USDA COVID-19 funding enacted, budgeted, obligated, and spent, by appropriations act, agency, program area, and use of funds, as identified by USDA’s Office of Budget and Program Analysis and by the Forest Service.
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...
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Oversight of the Emergency Food Assistance Program—Interim Report
The objective of our ongoing inspection is to evaluate FNS’ oversight of TEFAP—this report provides the interim results on what criteria FNS used to approve States for food and administrative funds provided under the FFCR and CARES Acts.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Modifications in Response to the Pandemic
We determined how RBCS implemented the B&I CARES Act Guaranteed Loan Program and made modifications to help guaranteed lenders with existing borrowers experiencing cash flow issues.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Oversight of the Emergency Food Assistance Program-Interim Report
The objective of our ongoing inspection is to evaluate FNS’ oversight of TEFAP—this report provides interim results on whether FNS identified risks related to the safeand efficient distribution of USDA-food assistance to States during the COVID-19pandemic.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19—Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Online Purchasing in Response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019
OIG reviewed FNS’ controls over the SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot in response to the COVID 19 pandemic.
Department of Agriculture OIG
Survey of Food Safety and Inspection Service Inspectors’ Perceptions of COVID-19 Safety in the Work Environment
This product presents the results of the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) February – March 2021 pulse survey of Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspectors to obtain information about how FSIS frontline inspectors perceive coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) safety in their work environments.
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 Agriculture OIG
USDA Coronavirus Disease 2019 Funding
On May 28, 2020, we initiated a non-audit service to identify U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) funding. Our objective was to identify the funding streams USDA used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as of May 31, 2020.
Department of Agriculture OIG
COVID-19: FS' Wildland Fire Response Plans
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) comments on the Wildland Fire Response Plans (WFRP) that were developed in order to more safely and effectively combat wildland fires during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
Department of Agriculture OIG
Potential Risks to the Food and Nutrition Service’s Coronavirus Aid Relief
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...