We Oversee the Department of the Interior’s Management of Infrastructure Funds
Congress provided more than $28 billion in funding from the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (IIJA) for U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) programs. Likewise, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) provided the DOI with over $6 billion. As we learned from the pandemic response, funding at this scale requires a commensurate level of oversight.
Congress provided the Office of Inspector General almost $100 million in the IIJA and $10 million in the IRA to oversee the DOI’s management of these funds. Our task is to help ensure that these funds go towards those purposes and are used effectively and efficiently.
(View DOI’s map of IIJA-funded projects.)
Here is what we are doing:
- Initiating audits, inspections, and evaluations in high-risk areas, such as western water.
- Training antifraud professionals and coordinating with stakeholders to further our oversight mission, including Departmental program officials, grant recipients, state inspectors and auditors general, and state attorneys general.
- Facilitating oversight through data analytics and risk assessments.
- Engaging in fraud prevention and detection activity related to IIJA and IRA program areas, including orphaned wells, abandoned mine lands, western water, and wildland fire.
Read more about our IIJA and IRA-related work, findings, and recommendations in our report database.