Nuclear Waste: DOE Needs to Ensure Nevada's Conformance With Grant Requirements
RCED-90-173
Published: Jul 09, 1990. Publicly Released: Jul 23, 1990.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) program to provide financial assistance to Nevada under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Energy | To better ensure that grant funds are adequately protected and that recipients of those funds comply with applicable laws, regulations, court decisions, and grant provisions, the Secretary of Energy should obtain properly executed grant agreements and amendments to the agreements before releasing funds to grantees. |
Closed – Implemented
DOE has instructed officials responsible for grant administration to invalidate any signed document that is altered by the grantee, and that no grant funds be released until the grantee acknowledged all award terms. An accomplishment report has been prepared and approved.
|
| Department of Energy | To better ensure that grant funds are adequately protected and that recipients of those funds comply with applicable laws, regulations, court decisions, and grant provisions, the Secretary of Energy should provide timely guidance to the grantee on the methods to be followed in implementing any congressional restrictions placed on the grantee's use of funds. |
Closed – Implemented
DOE now requires grant awards to include specific language detailing any congressional restrictions placed on funding. An accomplishment report has been prepared and approved.
|
| Department of Energy | To better ensure that grant funds are adequately protected and that recipients of those funds comply with applicable laws, regulations, court decisions, and grant provisions, the Secretary of Energy should resolve all audit findings within 6 months, as required by current DOE regulations. |
Closed – Implemented
DOE has instructed officials responsible for grant administration to comply with existing regulations. An accomplishment report has been prepared and approved.
|
| Department of Energy | To better ensure that grant funds are adequately protected and that recipients of those funds comply with applicable laws, regulations, court decisions, and grant provisions, the Secretary of Energy should determine the amount of grant funds expended for unallowable purposes, seek repayment of unallowable expenditures, and, if timely repayment is not forthcoming, recover those expenditures by withholding the amount due from the state's subsequent grant award. |
Closed – Implemented
DOE has determined the amounts of grant funds spent by Nevada for unallowable purposes and has also determined that the state should repay $75,266 of the unallowable costs. To this end, DOE has billed Nevada. Because Nevada did not pay the bill, on October 7, 1992, DOE offset the grant award by the billed amount.
|
| Department of Energy | To better ensure that grant funds are adequately protected and that recipients of those funds comply with applicable laws, regulations, court decisions, and grant provisions, the Secretary of Energy should ensure that the grantee's internal controls over grant funds comply with federal standards. |
Closed – Implemented
The grantee has implemented procedures addressing the internal control weaknesses GAO reported on. DOE also formally requested the Department of Education, the cognizant federal agency under the Single Audit Act, to ensure that problems with the grantee's internal control system are properly addressed.
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Topics
state relationsGovernment facility constructionGrant administrationGrant monitoringGrants to statesInternal controlsLegal feesLitigationNoncomplianceNuclear waste disposal