WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Office of the Inspector General is revealing its findings of an audit of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).
“We conducted this audit because of increased funding, rising prices, supply chain challenges and construction workforce shortages amplifying the importance of FHWA’s oversight to ensure the quality of construction materials and workmanship on Federal-aid highway projects,” USDOT said in a press release.”
Objectives
USDOT conducted the audit to evaluate FHWA’s construction quality assurance oversight activities. Specifically, USDOT assessed:
- The 52 FHWA Divisions’ oversight of State Department of Transportation (State DOT) construction quality assurance programs,
- FHWA Headquarters’ construction quality assurance reviews
- FHWA’s dissemination of construction quality assurance information on the Agency’s public website.
Findings
FHWA’s divisions do not effectively oversee State DOTs’ construction quality assurance programs.
FHWA’s Divisions could not demonstrate that they fully approved all their State DOTs’ construction quality assurance programs as required for projects on the National Highway System. The Divisions also lack guidance from Headquarters on how to review State DOTs’ program implementation. Further, FHWA Headquarters has not provided sufficient guidance to the Divisions on how to adequately oversee certifications of project materials and construction inspections. Furthermore, the guidance on how to oversee certifications of project materials lacks detail and the guidance to oversee construction inspections was outdated.
FHWA Headquarters’ reviews of State DOTs’ construction quality assurance programs do not fully address compliance and fraud risk.
FHWA Headquarters conducts two reviews of State DOT construction quality assurance programs—one that assesses State DOT practices and compliance, and one that evaluates programs’ effectiveness and how they minimize risk for fraud, waste, and abuse. However, the first does not fully address all regulatory requirements for the programs and the second does not address how the programs help minimize risk for waste, fraud, and abuse.
FHWA’s public webpages on construction quality assurance contain outdated and incomplete information.
For instance, FHWA’s Policy and Guidance Center website, the central source of policy and guidance documents, has two webpages on construction quality assurance. However, neither includes all relevant documents.
Recommendations
“We made 13 recommendations to improve FHWA’s oversight of State DOTs’ quality assurance programs,” USDOT said. ”
To help FHWA improve its oversight of construction quality assurance on Federal-aid projects, USDOT is recommending that the Federal Highway Administrator:
1. Establish requirements for complete and current Division approvals of State Department of Transportation (State DOT) construction quality assurance programs.
2. Implement controls to ensure that all applicable construction quality assurance program documents used on State DOT and locally-administered National Highway System (NHS) projects are approved by Divisions and referenced in Stewardship and Oversight Agreements as required.
3. Require Divisions to develop and implement written procedures for conducting appropriate oversight of State DOT construction quality assurance programs and addressing the minimum oversight areas as described in FHWA’s 2006 policy on construction quality assurance.
4. Assess the project materials certifications related to the $24.3 million in questioned costs we identified. Develop an action plan to confirm that materials submitted under these certificates conform to required standards and take appropriate remedial action, if necessary.
5. Develop and implement guidance for Divisions’ review of materials certifications, including verification that certifications conform to required standards, and establish a uniform definition for exceptions that State DOTs should report.
6. Update the Agency’s guidance on construction monitoring to establish minimum requirements for Divisions’ oversight on construction inspection.
7. Assess the risk of construction quality assurance on locally-administered NHS projects whose local agencies are direct recipients of Federal-aid funds and implement actions to mitigate risks.
8. Update the Agency’s construction quality assurance stewardship review process to address all aspects of compliance and Division oversight. The updated process should address the tracking of States’ compliance status and Divisions’ required oversight activities.
9. Update the Agency’s construction quality assurance assessment process to incorporate a systematic assessment of fraud risks affecting the program.
10. Update the Agency’s webpage on detecting and reporting fraud in consultation with the Office of Inspector General to correct inaccurate and out-of-date information.
11. Develop and implement an Agencywide construction quality assurance fraud risk strategy, with associated guidance and training, that Divisions can use to prevent, detect, and respond to fraud risks.
12. Update FHWA construction quality assurance related webpages to correct out-of-date information.
13. Implement controls for maintaining current and complete construction quality assurance information on FHWA’s website, including program office webpages and those on the Policy and Guidance Center.
To read the full audit report click here.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
