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OFFICE OF 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

U.S.DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

CARES Act Flash Report 

July 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)

DOI CARES Act Funds as of July 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 to the BIE. This report includes the DOI’s progress as of July 

31, 2020 (see Figure 1), a new highlighted recipient, and updated 

information on the DOI’s accomplishment of CARES Act milestones 

(see page 3). 

Figure 1: Funding Status as of July 31, 2020 

Business Appropriation Expenditures Obligations 

Area /Transfer ($) To Date ($) To Date ($) 

BIA 453,000,000 357,194,006 397,136,256 

(78.9%) (87.7%) 

• $153.7 million for the BIE OS* 144,865,000 779,864 2,165,940 

transferred from the U.S. (0.5%) (1.5%) 

Department of Education FWS 3,585,000 505,243 714,742 

(14.1%) (19.9%) 

• $55 million for the Office of NPS 5,197,000 1,113,802 1,505,938 Insular Affairs (OIA) (21.4%) (29.0%) 

BLM 3,753,000 604,966 882,554 • $12 million for the Bureau of (16.1%) (23.5%) Reclamation (BOR) water

resources BIE 69,000,000 51,273,325 52,500,716 

(74.3%) (76.1%) 

• $8.1 million for the BOR BIE 153,750,000 86,471,541 98,364,179 

policy and administration (Education) (56.2%) (64.0%) 

• $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),

and Bureau of Land Management

(BLM). Figure 1 includes a breakdown

of the transferred funds.

OIA 55,000,000 1,338,269 42,627,375 

(2.4%) (77.5%) 

BOR (Water) 12,000,000 981,124 1,068,125 

(8.2%) (8.9%) 

BOR (Policy) 8,100,000 1,668,010 1,668,010 

(20.6%) (20.6%) 

OIG 1,000,000 382,834 382,834 

(38.3%) (38.3%) 

BOR 500,000 0 0 

(CUPCA) (0%) (0%) 

$502,312,984 $599,016,669 Totals $909,750,000 (55.2%) (65.8%) 

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2020-FIN-059 • Issued August 17, 2020 1 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 5 Recipients 

• Government of Guam

($12,039,565)

• Navajo Nation Tribal

Government ($11,054,465)

• Mississippi Band of Choctaw

Indians ($9,521,410)

• Cherokee Nation

($9,055,454)

• Government of the U.S.

Virgin Islands ($7,863,776)

Example CARES Act Program 

The MCBI school district, 

Choctaw Tribal Schools, will offer 

wi-fi at all tribal schools, which 

includes six elementary, one 

middle, and one high school. 

External hotspots are being 

placed at each of the schools to 

provide access for anyone in the 

building as well as a substantial 

distance outside of the building. 

If the shelter-in-place orders 

require the district to use 

distance learning, the students 

will be able to connect to the 

internet from the parking lot if 

needed. Choctaw Tribal Schools 

is also working toward the goal 

of providing every student with a 

digital device to assist with 

homework or distance learning. 

School administrators are also 

training parents and students on 

how to use Google Classroom. 

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 July 31, 2020 

Total % of 

Award Type Value ($) Total Value 

Grant/financial assistance 

award 584,518,187 97.6 

Contracts and supplies 9,835,550 1.6 

Other (e.g., equipment, 

personnel) 4,662,932 0.8 

Totals $599,016,669 100% 

Highlighted Recipient – Mississippi Band of Choctaw 

Indians (MBCI) 

The MBCI—the only federally recognized Tribe in the State of 

Mississippi—has more than 11,000 members across 35,000 acres in 10 

different counties. CARES Act funding from BIA and BIE appropriations 

will help provide much needed aid to the MBCI for tribal government, 

welfare assistance, and short- and long-term education needs assistance. To 

date, the MBCI has tested 3,289 members, with 1,017 positive tests and 73 

total deaths. The MBCI’s website is regularly updated with information on 

executive orders, public notices, and COVID-19 case numbers. On July 17, 

2020, the Tribal Chief issued a public notice on the continued delay in 

reopening tribal Government offices. On July 31, 2020, the MBCI Tribal 

Chief issued the 15th extension to its shelter-in-place order, which expires at 

8:00 a.m. on August 7, 2020. Most employees are on administrative leave to 

prevent the spread of the virus and employees who are working will be 

granted hazard pay. 

COVID-19 vs. CARES Act Expenditures 

As of July 31, 2020, CARES Act charge card expenditures totaled $3.2 

million and COVID-19-related purchases (not charged to CARES Act funds) 

totaled $9.1 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 get reviewed for proper classification. 

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

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

BIA 1,171,504 2,593,689 3,765,193 

BLM 403,607 1,045,189 1,448,796 

BOR 713,543 6,167 719,710 

FWS 115,595 1,110,308 1,225,903 

NPS 851,340 3,869,121 4,720,460 

Other* 0 489,550 489,550 

Totals $3,255,589 $9,114,024 $12,369,613 

*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.

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2020-FIN-059 • Issued August 17, 2020 2 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Significant Milestones 

The CARES Act requires agencies 

to submit reports by certain 

deadlines, and the 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. 

The CARES Act established the 

Pandemic Response 

Accountability Committee 

(PRAC) to coordinate and 

support inspectors general in 

performing CARES Act oversight. 

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. This milestone is 

accomplished through the 

DATA Act. Information 

required to be submitted by 

agencies is publicly available 

on USASpending.gov. 

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. To date, we have identified $9,114,024 in charge card 

charges with the COVID identifier. 

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

Secretary of the Interior and Indian tribes for making 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 participants 

representing Indian County and Alaska Native villages on funding 

determinations. 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. A July 7 injunction prevents ANCs 

from receiving the funds as tribal nations appeal the ruling. 

June 9 By this date, the DOI needs to assess and adjust existing reporting and 

audit deadlines, considering how to balance existing statutory and 

regulatory compliance requirements with the new workload associated 

with the COVID-19 crisis. The DOI has assessed impacts to current 

DOI reporting and audits, including a GAO audit, annual audit, and 

DATA Act reporting and noted that all were still on target. 

June 25 Not later than 90 days after enactment of the CARES Act, the DOI must 

submit to the PRAC a plan describing how the covered funds will be 

spent. The DOI submitted the required plan to the PRAC on July 

16. 

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

2021, 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 review progress during quarterly status 

reviews on performance goals and is also informed in near real time of 

various performance developments. On July 26, the Office of 

Planning and Performance Management notified us that it is 

developing a performance reporting methodology to meet this 

requirement. 

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

recipient of covered funds exceeding $150,000 shall submit a report on 

use of the funds to the DOI and the PRAC. As part of this requirement, 

the DOI in coordination with the PRAC and the OMB must provide 

“user-friendly” means for recipients to meet this requirement. 

Information required to be reported by the DOI and recipients is 

publicly available on USASpending.gov (which will soon have new 

tools to search and display COVID-19 spending data) and 

Pandemic.oversight.gov. 

July 21 The DOI must submit 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 has not yet confirmed the certifying individual and the data is 

still being populated within USASpending.gov. 

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 publicly available on a website established by the PRAC to †All dates 

2020 foster greater accountability and transparency in the use of covered 

funds. See updates to the July 10 milestone, above. 

CARES Act Flash Report • No. 2020-FIN-059 • Issued August 17, 2020 3