Mass Transit: Grants Management Oversight Improving, but Better Follow-up Needed on Grantees' Noncompliance
RCED-98-89
Published: Apr 03, 1998. Publicly Released: Apr 03, 1998.
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Highlights
GAO reviewed the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) grants management oversight, focusing on: (1) FTA's initiatives that have provided an increased focus on grants management oversight; and (2) the improvements that can be made to correct grantees' noncompliance and assess the program's effectiveness.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Transportation | To continue FTA's progress in improving grants management oversight on a nationwide basis, the Secretary of Transportation should direct the Administrator, FTA, to require all regional staff to consistently apply established procedures and practices for monitoring and correcting grantees' noncompliance to ensure standardization throughout FTA. |
Closed – Implemented
FTA officials informed GAO that they have and will continue to emphasize to their regional staff, through both memoranda and direct personal contact, the need to ensure application of standardized procedures and practices in the monitoring and correcting of grantees' areas of noncompliance.
|
| Department of Transportation | To determine the regional staffing levels that are necessary to effectively carry out the responsibilities of grants management oversight in a timely manner, the Secretary of Transportation should require the Administrator, FTA, to complete the detailed staffing workload analysis recommended by an earlier internal task force. |
Closed – Implemented
FTA believes the findings from two earlier studies (1991, 1993) are still valid and that conducting another study will not be beneficial. FTA is aware of its staffing needs and will concentrate on filling vacancies in the oversight area when possible.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should ensure that the Administrator, FTA, requires all regional staff to provide information on triennial reviews to the Triennial Review Information System on a consistent basis so that it can be used as the monitoring and tracking mechanism that FTA originally intended it to be. FTA should quickly move to incorporate the results of other specialized reviews, such as financial management oversight and procurement reviews, into the system so that all instances in which grantees are not in compliance with federal requirements can be monitored and tracked to their proper resolution. |
Closed – Implemented
FTA officials informed GAO that they have modified the Triennial Review reporting procedures to allow contractor personnel to enter Triennial Review Information System data. This helps ensure that timely and reliable information on Triennial Reviews is consistently entered into the information system. FTA has also implemented a Comprehensive Oversight Tracking System to track both grantee and regional oversight action, including the results of FTA's other specialized reviews. This is helping FTA monitor and correct instances where grantees are not in compliance with federal requirements.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should require the Administrator, FTA, to: (1) enforce the timeframes established by FTA for resolving noncompliance findings and closing out triennial reviews; and (2) abide by established reporting timeframes. |
Closed – Implemented
FTA officials told GAO that they have taken a number of actions to address this recommendation. First, a memo was sent in March 1998 to all regional offices stressing the importance of timely completion of grantees' corrective actions. Second, FTA Headquarters officials have increased their monitoring of regional oversight operations to ensure renewed emphasis is placed on resolving noncompliance issues, closing out Triennial Reviews, and meeting established reporting timeframes for Triennial Reviews. Finally, FTA is using its Triennial Review Information System and its Comprehensive Oversight Tracking System, to identify, track, and follow up on noncompliance findings in a more timely manner.
|
| Department of Transportation | The Secretary of Transportation should require that the Administrator, FTA, have the Office of Oversight monitor the way regional office staff are implementing oversight procedures and policies to ensure dependable and consistent application throughout the agency. |
Closed – Implemented
As noted above, FTA Headquarters officials have taken actions to reemphasize reporting and issue resolution requirements to regional staff and have increased monitoring of these efforts.
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Topics
Federal aid for transportationFederal grantsGrant administrationGrant monitoringStaff utilizationInternal controlsManagement information systemsMass transit fundingMass transitNoncompliance