Finding Text
FINDING 2025-004 Information on the federal program: Subject: Drinking Water State Revolving Fund – Internal Controls Federal Agency: Environmental Protection Agency Federal Program: Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Assistance Listing Number: 66.468 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 2025 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Financing Authority Compliance Requirement: Procurement Audit Finding: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: a. Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) " 2 CFR 200.318(a) states: "The non-Federal entity must use its own documented procurement procedures which reflect applicable State, local, and tribal laws and regulations, provided that the procurements conform to applicable Federal law and the standards identified in this part." 2 CFR 200.320 states in part: "The non-Federal Entity must use one of the following methods of procurement. . . . b. Procurement by small purchase procedures. Small purchase procedures are those relatively simple and informal procurement methods for securing services, supplies, or other property that do not cost more than the Simplified Acquisition Threshold. If small purchase procedures are used, price or rate quotations must be obtained from an adequate number of qualified sources " Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the Town to ensure compliance with requirements related to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and Procurement compliance requirements as part of the Build America Buy America (BABA) requirement. Cause: The Town’s procurement review process was not designed or implemented to ensure that all applicable BABA requirements were incorporated into contracts subject to BABA. Specifically, the review process focused on the American Iron and Steel requirements and did not adequately consider the additional domestic preference requirements applicable to manufactured products and construction materials. As a result, the respective contracts did not include provisions addressing all applicable BABA requirements. Effect: The failure to include the BABA requirements within the respective contracts placed the Town at risk of noncompliance with the grant agreement and the procurement compliance requirements. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: Crowe sampled two contracts that were subject to the procurement compliance requirements. Only one of the two contracts were subject to the Build America Buy America (BABA) requirements. Crowe noted that in that contract, management included contractual provisions addressing the American Iron and Steel requirements; however, the contract did not include provisions addressing the manufactured products and construction materials requirements applicable under BABA. As a result, the procurement control did not operate effectively to ensure that all applicable BABA requirements were incorporated into the respective contracts. Additionally, management was unable to provide sufficient supporting documentation demonstrating that construction materials used in the project were produced in the United States in accordance with applicable BABA requirements. Further, the documentation provided did not allow for a determination of the portion of total project costs attributable to construction materials as compared to iron and steel. Accordingly, Crowe was unable to determine whether the project complied with the applicable BABA requirements, resulting in a material weakness finding. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No. Not a repeat finding Recommendation: We recommend the Town strengthen its procurement and contract review procedures to ensure that all applicable Build America, Buy America Act (BABA) requirements are identified and incorporated into contracts prior to execution. Such procedures should include consideration of the domestic preference requirements applicable to iron and steel, manufactured products, and construction materials. Management should also establish procedures to obtain and retain sufficient supporting documentation demonstrating compliance with applicable BABA requirements, including documentation necessary to substantiate that covered materials and products were produced in the United States. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.