Audit of departmental receipt of final deliverables for grant awards
To help meet legislatively mandated and programmatic mission requirements, the Department of Energy (DOE) awards grants to colleges and universities, state and local governments, individuals, small businesses, and non-profit corporations. As of July 15, 1996, the DOE was responsible for administering over 7,400 grants with purposes ranging from basic research to weatherizing homes. The Government`s share of these grants was about $8 billion. The objective of this audit was to determine whether the DOE received final deliverables, detailing grantee accomplishments and expenditure of funds, in accordance with Federal and Departmental policies and procedures. The Code of Federal Regulations requires that grants benefit the general public. This is demonstrated through technical and/or financial reports that each grantee is usually required to deliver. These reports describe the final results of the grant effort. In spite of this requirement, many grantees did not provide final technical and/or financial reports. For example, at the five procurement offices audited, it is projected that the Department had not received final deliverables on 718 inactive grants valued at about $232 million. In other cases, officials inappropriately extended performance periods so that the grant instrument would continue to be classified as active. This non-reporting occurred because the Department did not effectively implement existing procedures or establish other monitoring procedures that ensured grantees fulfilled their grant obligations. Specifically, the Department did not establish procedures to withhold payment if a grantee failed to comply with grant terms and conditions. In addition, the Department did not defer additional awards to grantees that had not met the tenons and conditions of prior grants and inappropriately extended grant performance periods for excessive periods of time. Further, Departmental personnel waived reporting requirements in order to close out grant awards.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Office of Inspector General, Washington, DC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Inspector General, Washington, DC (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 562525
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/IG--0415; ON: TI98001740; NC: NONE
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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