1). In May 2011, we reported on a number of internal control weaknesses  that contributed to CVISN award violations including: problems with  grants management policies and procedures, such as an erroneous  internal policy FMCSA issued that provided incorrect guidance regarding  the extent to which states were available to receive certain CVISN funds,  as well as a lack of written policies and procedures; a failure to track  CVISN grants awarded by the Federal Highway Administration, which  managed CVISN before FMCSA, statutory cap violations for CVISN awards; insufficient FMCSA oversight  over the CVISN program, including the lack of legal review by FMCSA’s  Office of the Chief Counsel to ensure that all awards complied with  relevant laws; and a lack of training provided to FMCSA staff on how to  manage the CVISN program. NHTSA uses its grant programs, totaling about $744 million in fiscal year  2010, to help support that mission. Internal Control Weaknesses Across FMCSA Grant Programs Increased the Risk of Mismanagement and Irregularities in Pre- Fiscal Year 2010 Grant Awards

		Decentralized Grants Management and Limited Training Contributed to a Weak Control Environment

Prior to fiscal year 2010, FMCSA’s control environment for managing  grant awards was inadequate, and issues such as a lack of centralized  oversight of policies and procedures and limited grants management  training, increased the risk of irregularities and mismanagement of grant  awards. As a result, grants  management staff did not have access to a single set of comprehensive  documented policies and procedures to guide them in awarding and  managing FMCSA grants, and FMCSA management could not have  reasonable assurance that applicable laws and FMCSA policies were  followed. FMCSA Has Taken Steps to Strengthen Internal Controls, but Additional Actions Are Needed to Ensure Continued Improvement

		FMCSA has Strengthened Internal Controls, but Some Challenges Remain

Since fiscal year 2010, FMCSA has taken a number of steps to  standardize and improve internal controls over the agency’s grants  management. These actions are broadly outlined in the agency’s April  2011 Grants Management Program Roadmap, and include (1)  centralizing grants management oversight and planning to create a  centralized GMO to oversee and administer many grants management  practices, (2) standardizing and documenting policies and procedures in  its finalized Grants Management Manual mentioned above, (3) requiring  legal reviews of all grant awards, (4) establishing a new grants  management training program, (5) implementing new systems to manage  and automate aspects of the grants management process and manage  grant award documentation, and (6) improving its communications. However, despite the GMO being central to the agency’s grant  management improvements, FMCSA has not conducted a workforce  analysis that could help the agency identify and fill gaps in expertise,  including those that might be needed for the proposed GMO. While the Manual strengthens FMCSA’s internal controls, grant program  staff’s roles and responsibilities are still not sufficiently documented. FMCSA reported that training will help  grants management staff better understand the FMCSA policies, as well  as the laws and regulations that they should follow when managing grant  awards. Despite the improvements in the curriculum, FMCSA does not have a  system for management to easily track employee training to ensure that  staff complete required training and are continuing to keep their skills and  knowledge up to date. FMCSA’s ongoing initiatives reflect the agency’s progress in  implementing the first three of these practices, but it is unclear if the  agency will be able to make progress in the other two—ensuring it has  appropriate leadership and establishing goals to measure its progress. Further, FMCSA has not set metrics to measure its performance in  meeting grants management goals. In 2011, DOT determined that it had  violated federal appropriations statutes, including the Antideficiency Actin awarding some CVISN grants from fiscal years 2006 to 2010. In order to determine actions FMCSA is taking to improve its grants  management to reduce the risk for financial irregularities in awarding  grants and the challenges that remain, we interviewed FMCSA  management about the agency’s efforts to improve grants management  and reviewed documentation related to these efforts including the Grants  Management Program Roadmap, Grants Management Manual, and  documentation on FMCSA’s proposed grants management office.
Why GAO Did This Study

In 2011, the Department of Transportation (DOT) determined that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) had violated federal appropriations statues in awarding some grants for 1 of its 10 grant programs from fiscal years 2006 to 2010. This was caused in part by weaknesses in FMCSAs internal controls and may have affected FMCSAs ability to carry out its mission to reduce motor carrier (large truck and bus) accidents and fatalities. To the extent that these weaknesses existed in FMCSAs other grant programs, it is possible that FMCSA also incorrectly awarded other grant funds.
As requested, this report examines (1) internal control weaknesses in FMCSAs other grant programs prior to fiscal year 2010 that could have increased the risk of irregularities in grant awards and (2) FMCSAs actions to improve grants management, and remaining challenges. GAO analyzed FMCSA grants management documents related to internal controls over grants both before and after fiscal year 2010 and recent actions, and interviewed FMCSA officials.

What GAO Found

Prior to fiscal year 2010, FMCSAs internal controls over management of all of its grant awards were weak, which increased the risk that FMCSA awarded grants that violated laws or FMCSA policies. Internal controls like those related to workforce training and policies and procedures can help provide assurance that operations, including grants management, are efficient and transactions comply with laws. However, FMCSA had only limited formal grants management training, limited documentation of grants management policies and procedures, and, according to FMCSA grants management staff, did not require legal review to help ensure that all awards complied with governing laws and regulations. As a result, FMCSA could not be certain that staff were trained in managing grant awards or followed relevant policies and laws in awarding grants, increasing the risk for mismanagement.
Since fiscal year 2010, FMCSA has taken a number of actions to transform its grants management practices, including planning to centralize oversight through a Grants Management Office, standardizing policies and procedures, developing grants management training, and implementing grants management systems to manage award processes and documentation. While these actions help address some existing internal control weaknessesfor example, clearly documented and standardized policies and procedures should help ensure that grants management staff follow policies when awarding grantssome challenges remain. Specifically, FMCSA has not conducted a strategic workforce analysis that could help it identify and fill gaps in expertise, as well as support its budget request to staff a Grants Management Office. Also, FMCSAs grants management policies and procedures lack details on some grant program staffs roles and responsibilities, and the agency does not have a system to easily track and ensure that staff complete required training. The agency also has not set metrics related to its grants management program or developed a method to measure progress in meeting those metrics. Further, since FMCSA has only recently implemented these actions, it is unclear how effective these new initiatives will be in improving its grants management. Regardless, it will be important that the agency have leadership in place that can continue to drive its transformation, as well as metrics to measure its progress in achieving its grants management goals.