Reports

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...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Department of Education OIG

Tennessee Department of Education’s Administration and Oversight of Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools Grant Funds

Congress provided $5.5 billion for the Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools (EANS) program. The purpose of the EANS programs, authorized under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) and American Rescue Plan (ARP), is to provide services or assistance to eligible nonpublic schools to address educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 emergency. Our audit sought to determine whether the Tennessee Department of Education (Tennessee) designed and implemented (1) application processes that adequately assessed nonpublic schools’ eligibility for EANS...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 11/19/2024

2.1 - Open

We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education require Tennessee, in consultation with the Governor of Tennessee, to review its policies and procedures for drawing down Department grant funds to pay for corresponding grant expenditures and determine whether any updates are necessary to ensure funds drawn down from one grant (for example, CRRSA EANS) are not being used to pay for expenditures under another grant (for example, ARP EANS).

2.2 - Open

We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education require Tennessee, in consultation with the Governor of Tennessee, to ensure that Tennessee officials responsible for making, reviewing, and approving G5 drawdowns receive sufficient training on Federal rules and regulations and State policies and procedures related to drawing down funds from G5 and documenting the process correctly.

2.3 - Open

We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education require Tennessee, in consultation with the Governor of Tennessee, to ensure full implementation of procedures that will identify, locate, and track assets purchased with EANS funds at nonpublic schools and verify that those assets were still being used for purposes related to COVID-19 or for allowable purposes under another Federal education program in which the nonpublic school participates. If assets purchased with EANS funds are no longer being used for purposes related to COVID-19 or for allowable purposes under another Federal education program in which the nonpublic school participates, retrieve them for use in other allowable activities or dispose of them in accordance with State laws and procedures. If assets purchased with EANS funds cannot be identified and located, determine any liabilities owed to the Department and return funds if required.

2.4 - Open

We recommend that the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education require Tennessee, in consultation with the Governor of Tennessee, to retroactively obtain prior written approval from the Department for the three equipment expenditures or return the approximately $123,000 expended for those equipment purchases and perform a review of the remaining equipment expenditures to determine whether there are additional purchases that require prior written approval. Tennessee should also incorporate into its grants management policies and procedures a step to determine for any Department grants whether it is required to obtain prior approval from the Department for certain expenditures, or whether Tennessee can provide prior approval for subrecipients.

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...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 5/21/2024

Department of Education OIG

Illinois’ Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending

The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Illinois State Board of Education (Illinois) had an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ (LEA) American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and their approved LEA ARP ESSER plans.We found that Illinois generally had adequate processes to ensure that LEA ARP ESSER plans met applicable requirements. However, it did not communicate accurate...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 3/27/2024

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...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 2/21/2024

1 - Open

Revise procedures for reviewing and approving grant application packages to add steps to verify that the applications are complete and accurate.

2 - Open

Assess the CARES Act-funded airport development grants identified in this report that did not meet award requirements and recover the $27 million or identify the rationale for acceptance of these costs.

4 - Open

Strengthen internal controls to verify that all reimbursement requests comply with FAA's two-tier manual review process for CARES Act funds. This may include requiring Delphi controls are correctly established and maintained.

5 - Open

Assess the 35 invoices-comprising $18.7 million in questioned costs-that did not receive sufficient review under the CARES Act guidance and seek recovery of any portion that is determined to be improper and/or unallowable or provide justification for approving the payments.

6 - Open

Require FAA field offices to collect, review, and maintain required price and cost analyses before making grant awards. Implementation of this recommendation could result in funds put to better use of $10.6 million.

7 - Open

Revise the Agency's policies for collecting, reviewing, and approving Buy American Preferences waivers to require the waiver requests to be timely, complete, and accurate, and define the "extraordinary circumstances" that would allow grant recipients to deviate from Buy American requirements. Implementation of this recommendation could result in funds put to better use of $49.6 million.

8 - Open

After revising Buy American policies, develop and implement Buy American Preferences waiver training for field offices.

Department of Education OIG

Kentucky’s Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending

The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Kentucky Department of Education (Kentucky) had an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ (LEA) American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and their approved LEA ARP ESSER plans. Overall, we found that Kentucky had adequate processes to ensure that LEA ARP ESSER plans met applicable requirements. We also determined that the ARP ESSER plans for...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 10/12/2023

Department of Education OIG

Washington’s Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending

The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (Washington) had an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ (LEA) American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and their approved LEA ARP ESSER plans. We found that Washington did not have an adequate review and approval process to ensure that LEA ARP ESSER plans met all applicable...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 9/20/2023

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...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Department of Education OIG

Federal Student Aid’s Processes for Waiving Return of Title IV Requirements, Cancelling Borrowers’ Obligation to Repay Direct Loans, and Excluding Pell Grants from Federal Pell Lifetime Usage

FSA had adequate processes for waiving R2T4 requirements, cancelling borrowers’ obligation to repay Direct Loans, and excluding Pell disbursements from Pell lifetime usage for impacted students. FSA also designed adequate processes for schools to report the number and amounts of R2T4 waivers applied.

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Department of Education OIG

University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants

Our objective was to determine whether the University of Cincinnati (University) used the Student Aid (Assistance Listing Number (ALN) 84.425E) and Institutional (ALN 84.425F) portions of its Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) funds for allowable and intended purposes.The University spent $109.9 million (83 percent) of its total HEERF allocation of $132.8 million as of September 30, 2021. The University generally used the Student Aid ($42.1 million) and Institutional ($67.8 million) portions of its HEERF grant funds for allowable and intended purposes but needs to strengthen its...

Full Details: Oversight.gov Report Page

Audit | 1/17/2023

1.1 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement a review process to prevent or detect payment errors when awarding emergency financial aid grants to students, including written policies and procedures detailing how the reviews shall be conducted and the results documented, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.303.

1.2 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies, procedures, and management review to ensure that its award determinations, eligibility criteria, and management decisions related to eligibility for its emergency financial aid grants to students are adequately documented and supported at the time award decisions are made, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.302(b)(3).

1.3 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to carefully document how its student aid eligibility criteria prioritized and continues to prioritize students with exceptional need throughout the HEERF grant performance period.

2.1 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures, including procedures that would identify and prevent improper revenue recognition and duplicate charges, to ensure that future calculations for charging lost revenue to its HEERF Institutional grant are reviewed for accuracy and consistency with its financial reporting policies and procedures.

2.2 - Closed

Determine whether the University of Cincinnati implemented appropriate corrective actions to resolve the $797,965 in unsupported lost revenue costs it charged to its HEERF Institutional grant; and, if the corrective actions are inappropriate, require the University to either return the funds to the Department or reallocate the funds for allowable expenditures.

2.3 - Closed

Determine whether the $1,916,041 that the University of Cincinnati charged to its HEERF Institutional grant for noncompetitive procurements was reasonable when compared to the costs of suitable alternatives; and, if the charges were inappropriate, require the University to either return the funds to the Department or reallocate the funds for allowable expenditures.

2.4 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures to ensure that procurements charged to its HEERF Institutional grant are in accordance with applicable Federal requirements; and it consistently follows its procurement policies and procedures, including maintaining sufficient documentation to support its rationale for noncompetitive procurements and the basis for and reasonableness of the contract price.

3.1 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to incorporate in its policies and procedures and implement the cash management requirements for minimizing the time between drawing down and disbursing Federal grant funds, and remitting interest earned in excess of $500 in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.305(b).

3.2 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to remit $35,439 based on the TIP’s average rate of return, less no more than $320 ($500 minus the $180 already retained) for administrative expenses if applicable; and remit the actual amount of earned interest on any future advances of Federal funds, in accordance with 2 C.F.R. section 200.305(b)(9).

4.1 - Closed

Require the University of Cincinnati to develop and implement written policies and procedures that incorporate the HEERF program’s reporting requirements and ensure that the expenditures in its quarterly HEERF Institutional expenditure reports are accurate and reported in the appropriate expenditure category.

Date Range

Report Category

Submitting Agency

Agency Reviewed

Any Recommendations

Any Open Recommendations

Reports

FAA Has Improved Its Oversight of COVID-19 Relief Funds Despite Implementation Inconsistencies

Tennessee Department of Education’s Administration and Oversight of Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools Grant Funds

FTA’s Oversight of Its Region 9 Recipients Is Insufficient To Confirm Compliance With CARES Act Funding Requirements

Illinois’ Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending

FAA Did Not Fully Follow Its Processes When Awarding and Administering CARES Act-Funded Airport Development Grants and Contracts

Kentucky’s Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending

Washington’s Oversight of Local Educational Agency ARP ESSER Plans and Spending

DOT Has Effectively Managed the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program and Should Capture Lessons Learned From Its Oversight Efforts

Federal Student Aid’s Processes for Waiving Return of Title IV Requirements, Cancelling Borrowers’ Obligation to Repay Direct Loans, and Excluding Pell Grants from Federal Pell Lifetime Usage

University of Cincinnati’s Use of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund Student Aid and Institutional Grants

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