U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL 

Catalyst for Improving the Environment 

Site Inspection Report 

American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act Site Inspection 

of the Water Distribution System, 

Village of Buckeye Lake, Ohio 

 Report No. 10-R-0079 

 March 10, 2010 
Report Contributors:	 David I. Kim 

 Leah Nikaidoh 

 Darren Schorer 

Cover photo: Construction on the water distribution system in the Village of Buckeye Lake, 

Ohio. (EPA OIG photo) 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 10-R-0079 

March 10, 2010 Office of Inspector General 

At a Glance 

Catalyst for Improving the Environment 

Why We Did This Review 

The U.S. Environmental 

Protection Agency, Office of 

Inspector General conducts 

site visits of American 

Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act clean water and drinking 

water projects. We selected 

the water distribution system 

project at the Village of 

Buckeye Lake, Ohio, for 

review. 

Background 

The Village received a 

$6,615,297 loan from the Ohio 

Environmental Protection 

Agency and the Ohio Water 

Development Authority under 

the Drinking Water State 

Revolving Fund program. 

This loan included $5,000,000 

in Recovery Act funds for 

principal forgiveness. The 

Village will construct water 

lines, a water storage tank, and 

a booster station. The Village 

will also install meters. 

For further information, 

contact our Office of 

Congressional, Public Affairs 

and Management at 

(202) 566-2391. 

To view the full report, 

click on the following link: 

www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2010/ 

20100310-10-R-0079.pdf 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Site 

Inspection of the Water Distribution System, 

Village of Buckeye Lake, Ohio 

What We Found 

We conducted an on-site inspection at the Village of Buckeye Lake, Ohio, in July 

2009. As part of our inspection, we toured the project, interviewed Village 

representatives and contractor personnel, and reviewed documentation related to 

Recovery Act requirements. 

Based upon our site inspection, nothing came to our attention that would require 

action from the Village or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460 

OFFICE OF 

INSPECTOR GENERAL 

March 10, 2010 

MEMORANDUM 

SUBJECT:	 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

Site Inspection of the Water Distribution System, 

Village of Buckeye Lake, Ohio 

Report No. 10-R-0079 

FROM: Melissa M. Heist 

Assistant Inspector General for Audit 

TO:	 Bharat Mathur 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

This is our report on the subject site visit conducted by the Office of Inspector General of 

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report summarizes the results of our site 

inspection of the water distribution system project at the Village of Buckeye Lake, Ohio. 

We performed this site inspection as part of our responsibility under the American Recovery and 

Reinvestment Act. The purpose of our site inspection was to determine the Village’s compliance 

with selected requirements of the Recovery Act pertaining to the Drinking Water State 

Revolving Fund program. The Ohio Environmental Projection Agency approved the Village’s 

project. The Village received a $6,615,297 loan, including $5,000,000 in Recovery Act funds 

for principal forgiveness. 

The estimated cost of this report – calculated by multiplying the project’s staff days by the 

applicable daily full cost billing rates in effect at the time – is $44,572. 

Action Required 

Because this report contains no recommendations, you are not required to respond to this report. 

We have no objections to the further release of this report to the public. This report will be 

available at http://www.epa.gov/oig. If you or your staff have any questions regarding this 

report, please contact Robert Adachi at (415) 947-4537 or adachi.robert@epa.gov, or Leah 

Nikaidoh at (513) 487-2365 or nikaidoh.leah@epa.gov. 
10-R-0079 

Purpose 

The purpose of our review was to determine whether the Village of Buckeye Lake, Ohio, 

complied with requirements for subrecipients of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 

funds under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program. 

Scope and Methodology 

Due to the time-critical nature of Recovery Act requirements, we did not perform this 

assignment in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. We did not 

perform certain steps that would allow us to obtain information to assess the Village’s internal 

controls and any previously reported audit concerns. As a result, we do not express an opinion 

on the adequacy of the Village’s internal controls or compliance with all federal, State, or local 

requirements. 

We conducted an on-site inspection at the Village during July 28-29, 2009. During our 

inspection, we: 

1.	 Toured the project 

2.	 Interviewed Village and contractor personnel 

3.	 Reviewed documentation maintained by the Village or its contractors on the 

following matters: 

a.	 Buy American requirements under Section 1605 of the Recovery Act 

b.	 Davis-Bacon Act wage requirements under Section 1606 of the Recovery Act 

c.	 Contract procurement 

We suspended this assignment while we conducted work on another Recovery Act audit. This 

suspension delayed our reporting. 

Results of Site Inspection 

Based upon our site inspection, nothing came to our attention that would require action from the 

Village or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. We have summarized specific inspection 

results below. 

Buy American Requirements 

The project is exempt from Buy American requirements. On June 2, 2009, the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency announced a nationwide waiver of Buy American 

requirements for eligible projects where the solicitation of bids was done between 

October 1, 2008, and February 17, 2009. The Village advertised for bids for the 

construction contracts in January and February 2009, prior to signing an assistance 

agreement with the Ohio Water Development Authority (State). The waiver requires the 

recipient to show an objective basis under which the recipient solicited bids in 

anticipation of timely funding. The waiver includes high placement on a priority list as a 

reasonable basis to solicit funds. The State ranked the construction project 11th out of 

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10-R-0079 

158 projects on the 2009 project priority list. The Village had already received funding 

for project design and for a capacity fee to obtain surplus water from another community. 

The advertisement for bids took place within the waiver timeframe and was done in 

anticipation of receiving funding from the State. Therefore, the Village falls under the 

nationwide Buy American waiver and is exempt from the requirements. 

Davis-Bacon Act 

We reviewed the Village’s compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act, and no issues came to 

our attention. To comply with Davis-Bacon Act requirements, contractors signed weekly 

certified payrolls to certify compliance with Davis-Bacon Act rates. The contractors 

submitted certified payroll reports to the Village’s project engineer. The engineer then 

forwarded the payroll reports to the State. We reviewed certified payrolls and verified 

compliance with Davis-Bacon Act rates. 

Contract Procurement 

We reviewed the Village’s procurement of its contractors, and no issues came to our 

attention. The Village hired four construction contractors, one each for the water 

distribution system, water booster station, water tank, and telemetry. These construction 

contracts were solicited using the sealed bid method. The water distribution system and 

water booster station contracts were awarded to the lowest bidder as lump sum contracts. 

The other two solicitations did not have more than one qualifying competing bid each. 

Recommendations 

We have no recommendations. 

Subrecipient’s Response and Office of Inspector General Comment 

On March 4, 2010, we held a conference with the Village to obtain its response to the discussion 

draft report. The Village had no specific comments or corrections to the report. The Village 

discussed the progress to date on completion of the project. The Village stated that it has been 

working for 25 years to get a drinking water system in place, and that the Recovery Act funding 

had an important, positive impact on moving the project forward, which will culminate in 

improved drinking water quality for the community. We had no further comments. 

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Status of Recommendations and 

Potential Monetary Benefits 

POTENTIAL MONETARY 

RECOMMENDATIONS BENEFITS (in $000s) 

Planned 

Rec. Page Completion Claimed Agreed To 

No. No. Subject Status1 Action Official Date Amount Amount 

No recommendations 

1 O = recommendation is open with agreed-to corrective actions pending 

C = recommendation is closed with all agreed-to actions completed 

U = recommendation is undecided with resolution efforts in progress 

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10-R-0079 

Distribution 

Office of the Administrator 

Acting Regional Administrator, Region 5 (Action Official) 

Director, Grants and Interagency Agreement Management Division, Office of Administration 

and Resources Management 

Agency Follow-up Official (the CFO) 

Agency Audit Follow-up Coordinator 

General Counsel 

Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations 

Associate Administrator for Public Affairs 

Audit Follow-up Coordinator, Region 5 

Public Affairs Officer, Region 5 

Mayor, Village of Buckeye Lake, Ohio 

Director, Ohio Environmental Protection Agency 

Acting Inspector General 

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