Potential Risks to the Forest Service's Coronavirus Aid Relief (Office of Inspector General, June 2020)
Summary
A June 23, 2020 memorandum from Gil H. Harden, Assistant Inspector General for Audit, to Vicki Christiansen addresses potential risks to the Forest Service's Coronavirus Aid Relief. It states that the CARES Act provides more than $70 million in funding to the Forest Service. It notes a prior audit in which a lack of controls allowed recipients to charge more than $92 million in unallowable and questioned costs. The memorandum suggests that the Forest Service perform a global review of existing internal controls related to funding oversight and tracking.
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“Potential Risks to the Forest Service's Coronavirus Aid Relief (Office of Inspector General, June 2020).”
Original at usdaoig.oversight.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/potential-risks-forest-service-coronavirus-aid-relief/
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United States Department of Agriculture
Potential Risks to the Forest
Service's Coronavirus Aid Relief
June 2020 OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
United States Department of Agriculture
Office of Inspector General
Washington, D.C. 20250
DATE: June 23, 2020
TO: Vicki Christiansen
Chief
Forest Service
ATTN: Antoine Dixon
Chief Financial Officer/OIG Audit Liaison Staff
Chief Financial Officer Audit and Assurance
FROM: Gil H. Harden
Assistant Inspector General for Audit
SUBJECT: Potential Risks to the Forest Service’s Coronavirus Aid Relief
In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak and its impact on the
economy, public health, State and local governments, individuals, and businesses, Congress
passed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). 1 As you
are aware, the CARES Act provides more than $70 million in funding to the Forest Service (FS)
to assist with relief efforts for various programs identified within the agency.
Along with the provisions identified for FS, the CARES Act provided funding to the Office of
Inspector General (OIG) to provide oversight of agencies and specific programs that received
funding under the CARES Act. OIG may also use its regular appropriations to provide oversight
of the United States Department of Agriculture’s use of COVID-19 funding. The specifics of the
funding for FS activities are described in Table 1 below.
1
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Public Law No. 116-136, 134 Stat. 281.
Vicki Christiansen Page 2
Table 1
Funding Funding Amount How Funds are to be Used
Forest Rangeland $3,000,000 To prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus,
Research domestically or internationally, including for the
reestablishment of abandoned or failed experiments
associated with employee restrictions due to the
coronavirus outbreak: Provided, That amounts
provided under this heading in this Act shall be
allocated at the discretion of the Chief of the Forest
Service.
Wildland Fire $7,000,000 To prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus,
Management domestically or internationally, including for
personal protective equipment and baseline health
testing for first responders: Provided, That amounts
provided under this heading in this Act shall be
allocated at the discretion of the Chief of the Forest
Service.
Capital Improvement $26,800,000 To prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus,
and Maintenance domestically or internationally, including for
janitorial services: Provided, That amounts
provided under this heading in this Act shall be
allocated at the discretion of the Chief of the Forest
Service.
National Forest $34,000,000 To prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus,
System domestically or internationally, including for
cleaning and disinfecting of public recreation
amenities and for personal protective equipment and
baseline health testing for first responders:
Provided, That amounts provided under this heading
in this Act shall be allocated at the discretion of the
Chief of the Forest Service.
As part of our oversight responsibility, our first task was to review prior audit recommendations
that could impact internal controls over COVID-19 activities for each agency that received
CARES Act funding. Based on our review, we did not identify any prior recommendations that
relate, either directly or indirectly, to FS pandemic response activities where FS has yet to
implement corrective actions. However, we did identify closed recommendations from a prior
audit related to FS’ Wildland Fire Management activities. 2 During that audit, we found
2
Audit Report 08703-0005-SF, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Forest Service Hazardous Fuels
Reduction and Ecosystem Restoration Project on Non-Federal Lands, Mar 2013. This audit contains a total of 62
recommendations, including 44 recommendations from 10 associated interim “Fast” reports. These
recommendations were intended to further strengthen FS’ controls over grant funds and address unallowable and
questionable costs.
Vicki Christiansen Page 3
significant risks and a lack of controls necessary to ensure that funds were properly accounted
for and used for their intended purpose. We also found that FS did not enhance its existing
controls, despite the Recovery Act’s requirements for greater transparency and accountability.
The lack of controls allowed recipients to charge more than $92 million in unallowable and
questioned costs.
To improve FS oversight of the above activities, we issued 62 recommendations. For example,
recommendations 1 through 7 of the prior report collectively identified the need for FS staff to
adequately oversee recipients’ use of funds. In its response, FS agreed, in part, to provide
training and policy direction to its staff to clarify instructions to: (1) ensure funds are used
appropriately in accordance with applicable laws and regulations; (2) clarify roles and
responsibilities of FS staff to ensure proper oversight; and (3) modify guidance and enhance
oversight requirements to ensure only qualified applicants are considered for funding. We
recognize FS has since implemented the agreed-upon corrective actions for those 62
recommendations issued in the prior audit. At this time, as FS prepares to expend CARES Act
funds, we suggest that FS perform a global review of existing internal controls related to funding
oversight and tracking. This would be prudent on FS’ part to ensure continued effectiveness,
operational efficiencies, and a proper control environment to limit the possibilities for fraud,
waste, or abuse.
This memorandum contains publicly available information and will be posted in its entirety to
our website (http://www.usda.gov/oig) in the near future.
Learn more about USDA OIG
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