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<br />037t <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />In addition to the preparation of individual audit reports, <br />the Office of the Inspector General is required to submit . <br />regular semi-annual reports to the Secretary and to the <br />Congress, including, among other things, a summary of the major <br />audits which have remained "open," or unresolved, for more than <br />6 months. <br /> <br />In its first semi-annual report after the Reagan <br />Administration assumed office, the Office of the Inspector <br />General summarized their completed, but unresolved, Reclamation <br />project audits with the following observation: <br /> <br />[SJubstantially more attention is required in the <br />planning and management of all aspects of these <br />projects to assure that the beneficiaries, rather than <br />the general taxpayers, bear the burden for <br />reimbursable water and power costs. This fundamental <br />principle of reclamation law has not been followed <br />consistently. Consequently, some projects have <br />resulted in substantial subsidies to project <br />beneficiaries through low water and power rates.~/ <br /> <br />An audit of Reclamation project accounts is considered an <br />"internal" audit, as contrasted with "external" audits of the <br />records of others, such as consultants on construction firms <br />holding contracts with the government. Internal audits have <br />the potential to draw attention to those agency practices with <br />broader implications for waste and inefficiency, in addition to <br />verifying the accuracy of the agency's bookkeeping. <br /> <br />OMB Circular A-73 requires each Inspector General to <br />develop an annual audit plan, laying out the priorities, staff <br />resources, and expected benefits of audit activity. Priorities <br />are recommended to the IG from the agencies themselves as <br />well. BuRec has usually sought to emphasize construction <br />contract audits. The final judgment is the IG's, however, and <br />every audit plan usually contains audits that the Assistant <br />Secretaries have not requested. <br /> <br />7he audit work plans prepared by Inspectors General Brown <br />and Mulberry show a shift in priorities away from internal <br />auditing for Land and Water Resources, the division of the <br />department made up of the Bureau of Land Management and the <br />Bureau of Reclamation. For the three years FY 79-81, Inspector <br />General Brown proposed to allocate 35 staff years on such <br /> <br />~/U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of the <br />Inspector General, Semiannual Report on Operations of the <br />Office of Inspector General, October 1, 1980-March 31, 1981, <br />April 30, 1981, pp. 58-59. <br /> <br />5 <br />