PRIA, Government Policy, Made Personal

Summary

Sponsors must keep the records the Secretary of Transportation requires. Those records can show how grant money was spent, the total cost of the project or program, other sources of funding, and anything that helps an audit. The Secretary and the Comptroller General may audit or examine those records. If an independent audit is made, the sponsor must send a certified copy to the Secretary within 6 months after the end of the fiscal year the audit covers. The Comptroller General may report audit results to Congress for the prior fiscal year. The Secretary can require an audit to get a grant and must review the recordkeeping and reporting rules each year to keep them as small as needed. The Secretary or the Comptroller General cannot withhold information from a congressional committee that is entitled to it.

Title 49, §47121

Transportation, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Records.—

A sponsor shall keep the records the Secretary of Transportation requires. The Secretary may require records—

(1)that disclose—

(A)the amount and disposition by the sponsor of the proceeds of the grant;

(B)the total cost of the plan or program for which the grant is given or used; and

(C)the amounts and kinds of costs of the plan or program provided by other sources; and

(2)that make it easier to carry out an audit.

(b)Audits and Examinations.—

The Secretary and the Comptroller General may audit and examine records of a sponsor that are related to a grant made under this subchapter.

(c)Authority of Comptroller General.—

When an independent audit is made of the accounts of a sponsor under this subchapter related to the disposition of the proceeds of the grant or related to the plan or program for which the grant was given or used, the sponsor shall submit a certified copy of the audit to the Secretary not more than 6 months after the end of the fiscal year for which the audit was made. The Comptroller General may report to Congress describing the results of each audit conducted or reviewed by the Comptroller General under this section during the prior fiscal year.

(d)Audit Requirement.—

The Secretary may require a sponsor to conduct an appropriate audit as a condition for receiving a grant under this subchapter.

(e)Annual Review.—

The Secretary shall review annually the recordkeeping and reporting requirements under this subchapter to ensure that they are the minimum necessary to carry out this subchapter.

(f)Withholding Information From Congress.—

This section does not authorize the Secretary or the Comptroller General to withhold information from a committee of Congress authorized to have the information.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 47121(a)49 App.:2217(a) (1st sentence).Sept. 3, 1982, Pub. L. 97–248, § 518, 96 Stat. 693. 47121(b)49 App.:2217(b) (1st sentence). 47121(c)49 App.:2217(c). 47121(d)49 App.:2217(b) (last sentence). 47121(e)49 App.:2217(a) (last sentence). 47121(f)49 App.:2217(d). In subsections (a)–(d), the word “sponsor” is substituted for “recipient of a grant under this chapter” and “recipient” for clarity. In subsection (a), before clause (1), the words “The Secretary may require records” are substituted for “including records” for clarity. In clause (1), before subclause (A), the word “fully” is omitted as surplus. In subsection (b), the words “or any of their duly authorized representatives” are omitted as surplus because of 49:322(b) and 31:711. The words “may audit and examine” are substituted for “shall have access for the purpose of audit and examination” to eliminate unnecessary words. The words “books, documents, papers” are omitted as being included in “records”. In subsection (e), the words “minimum necessary to carry out” are substituted for “that such requirements are kept to the minimum level necessary for the proper administration of” to eliminate unnecessary words. In subsection (f), the words “or any officer or employee under the control of either of them” are omitted as surplus because of 49:322(b) and 31:711.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1996—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 104–316, in first sentence, substituted “Secretary” for “Comptroller General”, in second sentence, substituted “The Comptroller General may” for “Not later than April 15 of each year, the Comptroller General shall”, and struck out at end “The Comptroller General shall prescribe

Regulations

necessary to carry out this subsection.”

§47121 Records and Audits