New Audit Announcements

During 2017 and 2018, natural disasters seriously affected the national transportation infrastructure. Hurricanes in 2017—Harvey, Maria, and Irma—were three of the five costliest hurricanes on record to hit the U.S., with damages totaling about $265 billion.

 

The Department of Transportation (DOT) and its operating administrations (OA) provide emergency aid through the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) public transportation emergency relief (ER) programs. To aid recovery efforts during 2018 and 2019, Congress enacted two supplemental appropriations for FHWA and FTA ER programs totaling over $3 billion and $340 million, respectively.

 

Due to the size of this investment and the speed required for disaster and related emergency relief, we are initiating an audit of DOT’s emergency relief funding. Our audit objective will be to assess DOT’s controls over the use of its emergency relief program funds, to include DOT’s controls over the distribution of appropriated funds under Public Laws 115-123, and 116-20.