The National Institutes of Health Administered Superfund Appropriations During Fiscal Year 2021 in Accordance With Federal Requirements

Why OIG Did This Audit

The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) established the trust fund known as Superfund. The CERCLA requires the Inspector General of a Federal organization with Superfund responsibilities to audit all uses of the fund in the prior fiscal year (FY).

To meet this requirement, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducts an annual audit of the Superfund program at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (the Institute), to determine whether NIH administered Superfund appropriations in accordance with applicable Federal requirements.

How OIG Did This Audit

Our audit covered $81 million of obligations and $99 million of disbursements related to the FYs 2016 through 2021 Superfund appropriations that occurred from October 2020 through September 2021. We also (1) analyzed cumulative obligations totaling $473 million and cumulative disbursements totaling $392 million and (2) assessed NIH's efforts to ensure grantee compliance with financial, performance, and audit reporting requirements.

What OIG Found

During FY 2021, NIH administered Superfund appropriations in accordance with applicable Federal requirements. Specifically, NIH obligated and disbursed Superfund appropriations in accordance with Federal laws and in similar proportions to prior years. In addition, the Institute's monitoring of Superfund grants generally ensured that grantees met requirements for financial, performance, and audit reporting.

What OIG Recommends

This report contains no recommendations.