Us Insular Areas: Opportunities Exist to Improve Interior’s Grant Oversight and Reduce the Potential for Mismanagement

Mittal, Anu K. (2010). Us Insular Areas: Opportunities Exist to Improve Interior’s Grant Oversight and Reduce the Potential for Mismanagement (Report). Washington, DC: Government Accountability Office. p. 75.

• Has attachment: File:3AFPSI9C.pdf

Abstract: The U.S. insular areas of American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) face serious economic and fiscal challenges and rely on federal funding to deliver critical services. The Department of the Interior (Interior), through its Office of Insular Affairs (OIA), provides roughly $70 million in grant funds annually to increase insular area self-sufficiency. GAO and others have raised concerns regarding insular areas' internal control weaknesses, which increase the risk of grant fund mismanagement. GAO was asked to determine (1) whether previously reported internal control weaknesses have been addressed and, if not, to what extent they are prevalent among OIA grant projects; (2) the challenges, if any, insular areas face in implementing OIA grant projects; and (3) the extent to which OIA has taken action to improve grant project implementation and management. GAO reviewed a random sample of 173 OIA grant files, conducted site visits, and interviewed OIA and insular area officials.