§3353 — Title 31 Money and Finance | U.S. Code

Summary

Each year, the Inspector General for every executive agency must check whether the agency is following the improper‑payments rules and send a report to the agency head, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Comptroller General. The Inspector General (the agency’s watchdog) does the checking. The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (the group that helps Inspectors General) must run or use a public website to post those reports. Within 180 days, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) must write rules for a uniform report format and require Inspectors General to review agencies’ risk assessments, payment‑estimate methods, and action plans, say whether agencies identified the real causes of improper payments, and include recommendations. If an agency is found not in compliance for one year, the agency head must send Congress a plan with measurable milestones, name a senior official who is responsible, and set up an accountability system with incentives or consequences. If the same program is out of compliance for 2 consecutive fiscal years, the agency must give OMB extra proposals and OMB may require the agency to use additional funding (using reprogramming or asking Congress if needed). If out of compliance for 3 consecutive fiscal years, within 30 days the agency head must give Congress and the Comptroller General either reauthorization and statutory change proposals or a description of actions and a timeline. If out of compliance for 4 or more consecutive fiscal years, within 30 days the agency head must give Congress a report showing what was done each year, which past steps are still being used, any new fixes, and a timeline to reach compliance. Agencies must also send Congress and the Comptroller General a list of noncompliant programs and planned fixes. OMB may run pilot programs to test accountability tools. Existing guidance from the 2012 law stays in effect but OMB may update it.

Title 31, §3353

Money and Finance — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Each fiscal year, the Inspector General of each executive agency shall—

(A)determine whether the executive agency is in compliance; and

(B)submit a report on the determination made under subparagraph (A) to—

(i)the head of the executive agency;

(ii)the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate;

(iii)the Committee on Oversight and Reform of the House of Representatives; and

(iv)the Comptroller General of the United States.

(2)The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (in this subsection referred to as the “Council”) shall develop a public central website, or make use of a public central website in existence on the date of enactment of this section, to contain individual compliance determination reports issued by Inspectors General under paragraph (1)(B) and such additional information as determined by the Council.

(3)Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, in consultation with the Council and with consideration given to the available resources and independence of individual Offices of Inspectors General, shall develop and promulgate guidance for the compliance determination reports issued by the Inspectors General under paragraph (1)(B), which shall require that—

(A)the reporting format used by the Inspectors General is consistent;

(B)Inspectors General evaluate and take into account the adequacy of executive agency risk assessments, improper payment estimates methodology, and executive agency action plans to address the causes of improper payments;

(C)Inspectors General take into account whether the executive agency has correctly identified the causes of improper payments and whether the actions of the executive agency to address those causes are adequate and effective;

(D)Inspectors General evaluate the adequacy of executive agency action plans on how the executive agency addresses the causes of improper payments; and

(E)as part of the report, Inspectors General include an evaluation of executive agency efforts to prevent and reduce improper payments and any recommendations for actions to further improve that prevention and reduction.

(4)Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this section, the Council shall, with consideration given to the available resources and independence of individual Offices of Inspectors General, develop and promulgate guidance that specifies procedures for compliance determinations made by the Inspectors General under paragraph (1)(A), which shall describe procedures for Inspectors General—

(A)to make the determinations consistent regarding compliance; and

(B)to evaluate—

(i)for compliance with the requirement described in section 3351(2)(B), the risk assessment methodology of the executive agency, including whether the audits, examinations, and legal actions of the Inspector General indicate a higher risk of improper payments or actual improper payments that were not included in the risk assessments of the executive agency conducted under section 3352(a);

(ii)for compliance with the requirement described in section 3351(2)(C), the accuracy of the rate estimates and whether the sampling and estimation plan used is appropriate given program characteristics;

(iii)for compliance with the requirement described in section 3351(2)(D), the corrective action plans and whether the plans are adequate and focused on the true causes of improper payments, including whether the corrective action plans are—

(I)reducing improper payments;

(II)effectively implemented; and

(III)prioritized within the executive agency;

(iv)the adequacy of executive agency action plans to address the causes of improper payments;

(v)executive agency efforts to prevent and reduce improper payments, and any recommendations for actions to further improve; and

(vi)whether an executive agency has published an annual financial statement in accordance with the requirement described in section 3351(2)(A).

(b)(1)(A)If an executive agency is determined by the Inspector General of that executive agency not to be in compliance under subsection (a) in a fiscal year with respect to a program or activity, the head of the executive agency shall submit to the appropriate authorizing and appropriations committees of Congress a plan describing the actions that the executive agency will take to come into compliance.

(B)The plan described in subparagraph (A) shall include—

(i)measurable milestones to be accomplished in order to achieve compliance for each program or activity;

(ii)the designation of a senior executive agency official who shall be accountable for the progress of the executive agency in coming into compliance for each program or activity; and

(iii)the establishment of an accountability mechanism, such as a performance agreement, with appropriate incentives and consequences tied to the success of the official designated under clause (ii) in leading the efforts of the executive agency to come into compliance for each program or activity.

(2)(A)If an executive agency is determined by the Inspector General of that executive agency not to be in compliance under subsection (a) for 2 consecutive fiscal years for the same program or activity, the executive agency shall propose to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget additional program integrity proposals that would help the executive agency come into compliance.

(B)(i)If the Director of the Office of Management and Budget determines that additional funding would help an executive agency described in subparagraph (A) come into compliance, the head of the executive agency shall obligate additional funding, in an amount determined by the Director, to intensified compliance efforts.

(ii)In providing additional funding under clause (i)—

(I)the head of an executive agency shall use any reprogramming or transfer authority available to the executive agency; and

(II)if after exercising the reprogramming or transfer authority described in subclause (I), additional funding is necessary to obligate the full level of funding determined by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget under clause (i), the executive agency shall submit a request to Congress for additional reprogramming or transfer authority.

(3)If an executive agency is determined by the Inspector General of that executive agency not to be in compliance under subsection (a) for 3 consecutive fiscal years for the same program or activity, the head of the executive agency shall, not later than 30 days after the date of that determination, submit to the appropriate authorizing and appropriations committees of Congress and the Comptroller General of the United States—

(A)(i)reauthorization proposals for each program or activity that has not been in compliance for 3 or more consecutive fiscal years; and

(ii)proposed statutory changes necessary to bring the program or activity into compliance; or

(B)if the head of the executive agency determines that clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A) will not bring the program or activity into compliance, a description of the actions that the executive agency is undertaking to bring the program or activity into compliance and a timeline of when the compliance will be achieved.

(4)If an executive agency is determined by the Inspector General of that executive agency not to be in compliance under subsection (a) for 4 or more consecutive fiscal years for the same program or activity, the head of the executive agency shall, not later than 30 days after such determination, submit to the appropriate authorizing and appropriations committees of Congress a report that includes—

(A)the activities taken to comply with the requirements for 1, 2, 3, 4, or more years of noncompliance;

(B)a description of any requirements that were fulfilled for 1, 2, or 3 consecutive years of noncompliance that are still relevant and being pursued as a means to bring the program or activity into compliance and prevent and reduce improper payments;

(C)a description of any new corrective actions; and

(D)a timeline for when the program or activity will achieve compliance based on the actions described within the report.

(5)Each executive agency shall submit to the appropriate authorizing and appropriations committees of Congress and the Comptroller General of the United States—

(A)a list of each program or activity that was determined to not be in compliance under paragraph (1), (2), (3), or (4); and

(B)actions that are planned to bring the program or activity into compliance.

(c)The Director of the Office of Management and Budget may establish 1 or more pilot programs that shall test potential accountability mechanisms with appropriate incentives and consequences tied to success in ensuring compliance with this section and eliminating improper payments.

(d)The guidance required to be provided under section 3(b) of the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, as in effect on the day before the date of enactment of this section—

(1)shall continue to be in effect on and after the date of enactment of this section; and

(2)may be modified as determined appropriate by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The date of enactment of this section, referred to in subsecs. (a)(2) to (4) and (d), is the date of enactment of Pub. L. 116–117, which was approved Mar. 2, 2020. section 3(b) of the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012, referred to in subsec. (d), is section 3 of Pub. L. 112–248, Jan. 10, 2013, 126 Stat. 2390, which was formerly set out in a note under section 3321 of this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 116–117, § 3(a)(3), Mar. 2, 2020, 134 Stat. 133.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

Committee on Oversight and Reform of House of Representatives changed to Committee on Oversight and Accountability of House of Representatives by House Resolution No. 5, One Hundred Eighteenth Congress, Jan. 9, 2023.

§3353 Compliance