Legality of an Impoundment of Funds Appropriated for the Solar Energy and Energy Conservation Bank

GAO was asked to comment on issues concerning the legality of an impoundment of funds appropriated for the Solar Energy and Solar Energy Conservation Bank and the relevance of certain sections of the Energy Security Act and the Impoundment Control Act. The Impoundment Control Act requires that funds withheld pending rescission be made available for obligation at the end of a prescribed period, and the Office of Management and Budget complied with this requirement when it released funds to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The impoundment action taken in the past year has prevented the Bank from becoming operational. Therefore, while the Impoundment Control Act requires that these funds be made available for obligation, GAO recognized that it may not be possible for HUD to obligate the funds until the Bank is operational.