GAO REPORT RECOMMENDS OVERSIGHT OVERHAULS FOR DOE PROJECTS

In a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO): Nuclear Waste Cleanup: More Effective Oversight Is Needed to Help Ensure Better Project Outcomes, the Office reviewed DOE oversight of 5 contracted projects. GAO found that in the only project running ahead of schedule and under budget, contractors maintained consistent, reliable project data in systems that oversight officials could use to find problems promptly.

In its report, GAO determined several other issues as well. GAO found that officials did not use certain quality assurance oversight processes as intended. For example, two projects did not have consistently compliant Earned Value Management Systems. These systems help measure cost and schedule performance and can alert officials to problems.

GAO detailed that EM does not consistently assess the effectiveness of its contractor oversight or identify root causes of project deficiencies related to EM’s management. For example, in a 2021 root cause analysis, EM did not acknowledge its role in hiring an inexperienced contractor and not providing sufficient oversight. GAO also found that EM does not have guidance for assessing federal management performance or oversight effectiveness. 

Further, many of EM’s project reviews rely on contractors’ Earned Value Management Systems data. However, DOE has allowed some contractors to operate their systems with deficiencies for years, which may result in undependable data.

To remedy these shortcomings, GAO is making four recommendations, including that:

(1) EM develop project review guidance for analyzing federal management performance and oversight effectiveness

(2) DOE evaluate options to hold contractors accountable for maintaining compliant Earned Value Management Systems. 

DOE concurred with GAO’s recommendations.

To read the full report, click here. To see eport highlights, click here.