The National Institutes of Health Did Not Always Administer Superfund Appropriations During Fiscal Year 2015 in Accordance With Federal Requirements

During fiscal year 2015, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) did not always administer Superfund appropriations in accordance with applicable Federal requirements. NIH generally obligated and disbursed Superfund appropriations; however, NIH had not (1) always ensured that Superfund grantees complied with grant terms and conditions, (2) properly recorded Superfund grant disbursements in the NIH accounting system, and (3) always resolved audit findings contained in grantee audit reports.

We recommended that NIH (1) issue new or updated guidance related to grant monitoring; (2) provide additional training to grants management personnel; (3) formalize procedures for identifying and resolving improper account balances in NIH's accounting system; and (4) update guidance to require reconciliations between NIH's database for tracking audit reports and audit report information that the National External Audit Review Center generates.

NIH partially concurred with our recommendations.