OFFICE OF 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

CARES Act Flash Report 

October 2020: Where’s the Money? 

The DOI received 

$909.7 million 

under the CARES Act to 

respond to impacts from 

COVID-19: 

• $453 million for the Bureau of 

Indian Affairs (BIA) 

• $157.4 million for DOI 

operations (Office of the 

Secretary (OS))* 

• $69 million for the Bureau of 

Indian Education (BIE) 

o $153.7 million for the BIE 

transferred from the 

U.S. Department of Education 

• $55 million for the Office of 

Insular Affairs (OIA) 

• $12 million for the Bureau of 

Reclamation (BOR) water 

resources 

• $8.1 million for the BOR policy 

and administration 

• $1 million for the Office of 

Inspector General (OIG) 

• $500,000 for the BOR Central 

Utah Project Completion Act 

(CUPCA) 

* The OS transferred funds to the U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service (FWS), National Park 

Service (NPS), Bureau of Land Management 

(BLM), Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), and 

Office of Wildland Fire (OWF). In addition, 

OWF funds were transferred to BLM, FWS, 

and NPS child accounts within the OS. 

Figure 1 includes a breakdown of the 

transferred funds. The OS may transfer 

additional funds within the DOI in the 

future. 

DOI CARES Act Funds as of October 31, 2020 

On March 27, 2020, the President signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, 

and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). To date, the CARES Act has provided 

the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) with $909.7 million, which includes 

direct apportionments of $756 million to support the needs of DOI programs, 

bureaus, Indian Country, and the Insular Areas, and a $153.7 million transfer from 

the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to the BIE. This report includes the DOI’s 

progress as of October 31, 2020 (see Figure 1), a new highlighted vendor, and 

updated information on the DOI’s accomplishment of CARES Act milestones 

(see page 3). 

Figure 1: Funding Status as of October 31, 2020 

Business 

Area 

Appropriation/ 

Transfer ($) 

Expenditures 

To Date ($) 

Obligations 

To Date ($) 

BIA 453,000,000 387,629,594 

(85.6%) 

420,195,881 

(92.8%) 

OS* 143,580,000 902,572 

(0.6%) 

2,666,896 

(1.9%) 

FWS 3,585,000 996,213 

(27.8%) 

1,335,349 

(37.2%) 

NPS 5,467,000 1,580,517 

(28.9) 

1,854,108 

(33.9%) 

BLM 4,053,000 960,852 

(23.7%) 

1,399,939 

(34.5%) 

OWF 

BOR 

265,000 

450,000 

0 

(0%) 

0 

0% 

241,460 

(91.1%) 

0 

0% 

BIE 69,000,000 55,450,401 

(80.4%) 

59,742,666 

(86.6%) 

BIE (ED) 153,750,000 104,841,713 

(68.2%) 

123,528,571 

(80.3%) 

OIA 55,000,000 6,438,904 

(11.7%) 

42,627,375 

(77.5%) 

BOR (Water) 12,000,000 5,011,306 

(41.8%) 

5,092,915 

(42.4%) 

BOR (Policy) 8,100,000 1,688,993 

(20.9%) 

1,688,993 

(20.9%) 

OIG 1,000,000 665,908 

(66.6%) 

665,908 

(66.6%) 

BOR (CUPCA) 500,000 1,110 

(0.2%) 

28,617 

(5.7%) 

Totals $909,750,000 $566,168,083 

(62.2%) 

$661,068,678 

(72.7%) 

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2021-FIN-004 • Issued December 15, 2020 1 
Top 5 Recipients 

• Navajo Nation Tribal 

Government ($12,577,400) 

• Government of Guam 

($12,039,565) 

• Mississippi Band of Choctaw 

Indians ($9,553,410) 

• Cherokee Nation 

($9,131,601) 

• Government of the U.S. Virgin 

Islands ($7,863,776) 

Example CARES Act Program 

The Oneida Nation of Wisconsin 

has set aside approximately 23 

percent of its CARES Act funds to 

create the Oneida Nation COVID19 Pandemic Relief Assistance 

Program. Through the program, 

adult members in need will 

receive one-time payments of 

$1,000 for assistance with 

mortgage or rental payments, 

utility payments, 

telecommunications (e.g., Wi-Fi 

access and laptops), medical care, 

food, employment and training, 

childcare, and transportation. The 

Oneida Nation has also created an 

Educational COVID-19 Relief Fund 

to assist students who have had a 

decrease in financial aid, have 

been affected by unemployment, 

or whose educational goals have 

been altered by the pandemic. 

Details on Award Types 

DOI programs and bureaus have made funds available via contracts and 

grants/financial assistance awards (see Figure 2). 

Figure 2: Award Types Used as of October 31, 2020* 

Total Percentage of 

Award Type Value ($) Total Value 

Grant/financial assistance 

award 605,801,188 91.6 

Contracts and supplies 27,516,876 4.2 

Other (e.g., equipment, 

personnel) 27,750,614 4.2 

Totals $661,068,678 100% 

* The DOI adjusted some of the obligations to reflect proper classification as not 

related to CARES Act. 

COVID-19 vs. CARES Act Expenditures 

As of October 31, 2020, CARES Act charge card expenditures totaled 

$4.3 million, and COVID-19-related purchases (not charged to CARES Act 

funds) totaled $11.9 million (see Figure 3). The DOI may make future 

adjustments to some of these COVID-19 expenditures to reflect the use of 

CARES Act funds as more transactions are reviewed for proper classification. 

Figure 3: Charge Card Purchase Amounts as of October 31, 2020* 

Bureau CARES Act ($) COVID-19 ($) Total ($) 

BIA 1,730,177 4,087,119 5,817,296 

BLM 575,406 1,696,400 2,271,806 

BOR 853,970 8,316 862,286 

FWS 235,544 1,140,884 1,376,428 

NPS 932,359 4,179,390 5,111,749 

Other† 0 802,361 802,361 

Totals $4,327,456 $11,914,470 $16,241,926 

* The DOI adjusted some of the expenditures to reflect proper classification as 

not related to COVID. 

† This includes departmental offices, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 

the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, the Office of Surface 

Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Highlighted Vendor – National Opinion Research Center 

Using transferred ED funds, the BIA and BIE entered into a more than $4.5 million 

firm-fixed-price contract with the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) to 

improve distance learning. Through the contract with the NORC, the BIE hopes to 

close the gap between Indian schools and other schools in the U.S. education system 

both for distance learning and overall student performance. Under the contract, the 

NORC will evaluate technology, communications, logistics, education, budget, and 

procedures to determine current limitations in BIE schools’ distance learning programs 

for 53 BIE-operated schools, 130 tribally controlled schools, Haskell Indian Nations 

University, and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute. The NORC will then make 

recommendations to help the BIE create a sustainable plan to improve distance 

learning programs and overall student performance. 

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2021-FIN-004 • Issued December 15, 2020 2 
Significant Milestones 

The CARES Act requires agencie s 

to submit reports by certain 

deadlines, and the U.S. Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

provided further clarification on 

the reporting requirements in its 

Memorandum M-20-21, 

Implementation Guidance for 

Supplemental Funding Provided 

in Response to the Coronavirus 

Disease 2019 (COVID-19), 

issued April 10, 2020. We are 

monitoring these DOI 

milestones. 

Completed Milestones 

Due and completed on June 9: 

The DOI assessed and adjusted 

existing reporting and audit 

deadlines and considered how t o 

balance existing statutory and 

regulatory compliance 

requirements with the new 

workload associated with the 

COVID-19 crisis. 

Due June 25, completed July 16: 

Not later than 90 days after 

enactment of the CARES Act, the 

DOI was to submit to the 

Pandemic Response 

Accountability Committee 

(PRAC) a plan describing how 

the covered funds will be spent. 

Ongoing Milestones 

April 10† Effective the date of OMB Memorandum M-20-21, the DOI must 

identify, track, and anticipate reporting charge card spending related to 

COVID-19. These charge card transactions must use “COVID” as an 

identifier. As of October 31, we have identified $11,914,470 in charge 

card transactions with the COVID identifier. 

April 26 By this date, the Secretary of the Treasury must consult with the Secretary 

of the Interior and Indian tribes about payments totaling $8 billion to 

tribes. Several tribes, including three in Alaska, argued that the allotment 

is not meant for for-profit corporations and should exclusively support 

tribal governments. On April 2 and April 9, Treasury and the DOI 

consulted with more than 3,000 representatives from Indian Country and 

Alaska Native villages. On May 5, the Secretary of the Treasury and 

Secretary of the Interior issued a statement on the path forward for funds 

to tribes, making $4.8 billion available to tribal governments in all States. 

A U.S. District Court ruled that Alaska Native corporations (ANCs) are 

eligible to receive CARES Act funds, but a July 7 injunction prevented the 

ANCs from receiving the funds while tribal nations appealed the ruling. 

On September 25, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit held 

that ANCs are not eligible for funding under Title V of the CARES 

Act. 

October Starting with the June 2020 reporting period through September 30, 2021, 

16 the Deputy Secretary or the Chief Operating Officer must review quarterly 

the progress made on program performance under the CARES Act. The 

Deputy Secretary will conduct quarterly reviews on performance goals 

and is also informed in near real time on various performance 

developments. The Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management 

and Budget issued a memo to heads of bureaus and offices regarding 

CARES Act Quarterly Output/Outcome Reporting Guidance. Assistant 

Secretaries were to turn in bureau reports by October 16. Not all bureau 

reports were received by October 16 for the fourth quarter reporting 

period. The quarterly status review briefing will occur in late 

November or the beginning of December. 

Reporting Milestones Accomplished by Submitting Data 

to USASpending.gov and Pandemicoversight.gov 

June 30 The DOI must report monthly to the OMB, the U.S. Department of the 

Treasury, the PRAC, and the appropriate congressional committees on any 

obligation or expenditure of large covered funds, starting with the June 

2020 reporting period through September 30, 2021. Large covered funds 

are any funds made available in any form (e.g., via grant, cooperative 

agreement, contract, loan, loan guarantee, award, or other mechanism) 

that exceed $150,000. The DOI continues to meet this monthly 

requirement. 

July 10 Not later than 10 days after the end of each calendar quarter, each 

recipient of large covered funds shall submit a report on use of the funds 

to the DOI and the PRAC. The DOI met this requirement for the 

quarter ending September 30. 

July 21 The DOI must submit Digital Accountability and Transparency Act 

(DATA Act) files A, B, and C monthly instead of quarterly, starting with 

the June reporting period. These submissions must be certified by the 

DATA Act Senior Accountable Official or Financial Representative 

Designee for COVID-19-related funding. The DOI certifying official for 

the monthly DATA Act file submissions is the Financial Business 

Management System Business Integration Office Director. The DOI 

continues to meet this monthly requirement. 

July 30 Not later than 30 days after the end of each calendar quarter, the PRAC in 

consultation with the DOI must make the reports by covered recipients 

† All dates publicly available. The DOI met the requirement for the quarter 

2020 ending September 30. 

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2021-FIN-004 • Issued December 15, 2020 3