SBA’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund Program Award Practices

Summary

Report 24-09, SBA's Restaurant Revitalization Fund Program Award Practices, an SBA OIG pandemic oversight report reviewing the Restaurant Revitalization Fund application review and approval process. It says that beginning in May 2021, SBA received 278,300 RRF applications requesting $72.2 billion in relief payments, approved approximately 101,000 applications and disbursed all $28.6 billion authorized for the program. The report says SBA disbursed nearly $6.7 billion to applicants without sufficiently verifying they were eligible. It lists five recommendations and that SBA management agreed or partially agreed with all five. The page lists an effective date of March 26, 2024.

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Report 24-09

SBA’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund Program Award Practices

This SBA OIG pandemic oversight report reviewed the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund application review and approval process.

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This SBA OIG pandemic oversight report reviewed the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Restaurant Revitalization Fund application review and approval process. The objective of this review was to determine whether the controls SBA implemented to award RRF program funds in accordance with the Act and other applicable guidance were effective.

SBA developed an implementation plan including a risk framework that was intended to reduce the risk of making improper payments and awarding Restaurant Revitalization Funds (RRF) to ineligible recipients. However, the plan did not include all program requirements and SBA did not always adhere to the plan or have sufficient controls to ensure program and statutory requirements were met by RRF applicants.

Beginning in May 2021, SBA received 278,300 RRF applications requesting $72.2 billion in relief payments. SBA approved approximately 101,000 applications and disbursed all $28.6 billion authorized for the program . After accounting for award amounts that we questioned for more than one eligibility requirement, we determined that SBA disbursed nearly $6.7 billion to applicants without sufficiently verifying they were eligible for award.

We made five recommendations for SBA to improve the use of data to reduce risks of making improper payments, and to review and recover funds awarded to applicants that did not meet eligibility requirements or received funds that exceeded statutory limits. SBA management agreed or partially agreed with all five recommendations.

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Effective : March 26, 2024

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