This page contains information about recommendations that remain open because the OIG determined that the the Department had not fully implemented corrective actions. The OIG reports the funds put to better use, questioned costs, restitution, funds returned to the Department, and penalties and court costs associated with all recommendations in its Semiannual Reports to Congress.
Open Recommendations
Identify the optimal size of the CO workforce to ensure that it is appropriate for the workload distribution.
Review the seven contracts that remain open as identified in the report, along with the expired contracts and agreements not included in our sample, and addressing the issues resulting in delayed closeout.
Develop and implement additional processes and controls to strengthen BPA’s oversight and monitoring of contracts such as training, tracking task status more accurately, and documenting justification for final disposition of task.
Update BPA’s policies and procedures to include a process for closing out IAAs and to establish specific closeout timeframes.
Evaluate the current design and operating effectiveness of the invoicing practices and revising, developing, or implementing a policy to strengthen and improve BPA’s overall approach to reviewing invoices.
Consider the use of a structured, documented self-assessment process to ensure compliance with applicable requirements and continuous improvement of the Program.
CO make a determination regarding the allowability of questioned costs identified in this report, recover those amounts determined to be unallowable, and determine whether additional steps are needed to validate the allowability of costs.
Direct the contracting officers to determine whether credits are owed for the remaining unsettled amounts in Section 3610 funds that were paid to its prime contractors for subcontractors who received a forgiven PPP loan and did not remove those Section 3610 monies from their payroll cost calculation when applying for forgiveness. (Approximately $2.2M)