Department of Homeland Security
 

Use of American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act Funds by the U.S. Coast Guard for the 

Alteration of Bridges Program 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 

OIG-12-09 November 2011
 
 

 

 

Office of Inspector General 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security 

Washington, DC 20528 

November 18, 2011 

MEMORANDUM FOR:	 Rear Admiral Stephen P. Metruck 

Assistant Commandant for Resources,

 Chief Financial Officer 

Anne L. Richards 

Assistant Inspector General for Audits 

FROM: 

SUBJECT:	 Use of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds by 

the U.S. Coast Guard for the Alteration of Bridges 

Program 

Attached for your information is our final letter report, Use of American Recovery and 


Reinvestment Act Funds by the U.S. Coast Guard for the Alteration of Bridges Program. 


We incorporated your formal comments in the final report.
 

We determined that the U.S. Coast Guard was administering American Recovery and 


Reinvestment Act funds for the Alteration of Bridges program according to program plans 


and requirements. The report contains no recommendations. Therefore, no further 


response to the Office of Inspector General regarding this report is required.
 

Consistent with our responsibility under the Inspector General Act, we are providing
 

copies of our report to appropriate congressional committees with oversight and 


appropriation responsibility over the Department of Homeland Security. The report will 


be posted on our website.
 

Should you have any questions, please call me, or your staff may contact 


John E. McCoy II, Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Audits, at (202) 254-4100. 

Background 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) appropriated to 

the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) $2.75 billion for, among other purposes, 

preserving and stimulating economic growth in the United States. Of that amount, the 

U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) received $240 million, of which $142 million was for 

alteration or removal of obstructive bridges, as authorized by section 6 of the TrumanHobbs Act (T-H Act). The Recovery Act stipulated that USCG “shall award the funds to 

those bridges that are ready to proceed to construction” and that funds remain available 

for obligation until September 30, 2010. 

Section 3 of the T-H Act authorizes bridges to be altered if such alteration is “necessary 

in order to render navigation through or under [said bridge] reasonably free, easy, and 

unobstructed.” The act also requires that the alteration “be reasonably necessary for the 

purposes of navigation.” The act provides for federal funding to alter lawfully 

constructed railroad or publicly owned bridges that allowed for the reasonable needs of 

navigation at the time of construction, but no longer do so because the character of 

navigation has changed. Under the T-H Act, USCG issues an Order to Alter to owners of 

bridges that are unreasonable obstructions to navigation. According to Title 33 U.S. 

Code, Section 516, USCG pays the U.S. government’s share of the costs necessary for 

the bridge owner to comply with the order. The government’s share is based on an 

“apportionment of cost” calculation and requires the bridge owner to fund such “part of 

the cost as is attributable to the direct and special benefits which will accrue to the bridge 

owner as a result of the alteration.” 

Typically, Congress appropriates federal funds for the Alteration of Bridges Program 

under the T-H Act each year with the stipulation that the funds will remain available until 

expended. USCG will authorize the design of a project, but normally will not authorize 

the award of a construction contract by the bridge owner until Congress has appropriated 

sufficient funds to complete the project. The amounts appropriated in a single year have 

not been large enough to fund any one construction project. 

To help federal agencies manage Recovery Act funds, the Office of Management and 

Budget issued Memorandum M-09-15, Updated Implementing Guidance for the 

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The memorandum requires federal 

agencies to submit plans for each program funded by the Recovery Act. The plan must 

include information on goals and objectives of the program; kinds and scope of activities 

to be performed; delivery schedule; measures of program outputs, outcomes, and 

efficiency; and program monitoring processes. DHS issued its “Alteration of Bridges 

Expenditure Plan” on April 3, 2009. USCG subsequently issued its “Alteration of 

Bridges Program-Specific Recovery Act Plan” on May 14, 2009. Finally, USCG 

provided DHS with an updated expenditure plan on March 16, 2010. 

Page 1 
 

 

 

Results of Review 

USCG is administering the Recovery Act Alteration of Bridges program according to 

plans and requirements. USCG’s status report to DHS shows outlays to bridge owners of 

approximately $107.6 million, or 75.8% of Recovery Act Alteration of Bridges funds, as 

of June 30, 2011. For the quarter ending June 30, 2011, bridge owners reported funding 

202.61 jobs with Recovery Act funds. 

Alteration of Bridges Project Awards and Status 

USCG obligated the $142 million to the four Recovery Act bridge alteration projects by 

September 30, 2010.1 USCG selected the four projects because they were construction 

ready and because adding Recovery Act funds to previous T-H Act project appropriations 

of $129.2 million provided sufficient funds to complete the projects. Table 1 lists the 

projects and funding. 

Table 1. Funding of Recovery Act Alteration of Bridges Projects 

Bridge Project State 

Federal Share of Project 

Recovery Act 

Funds 

Previous 

Appropriations Total Funds 

Burlington Bridge Iowa $36,445,756 $26,778,889 $63,224,645 

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Bridge Illinois 30,037,955 16,949,117 46,987,072 

Mobile Bridge Alabama 14,614,808 53,094,541 67,709,349 

Galveston Causeway Bridge Texas 60,901,481 32,357,375 93,258,856 

Total $142,000,000 $129,179,922 $271,179,922 

The Alteration of Bridges program’s latest spending plan forecasts that the Recovery Act 

funds will be expended by March 31, 2012. Table 2 lists Recovery Act obligations, 

outlays, jobs, and the percentage of projects completed. 

Table 2. Bridge Project Status as of June 30, 2011 

Bridge Project 

Recovery Act Funds 

Jobs* 

Percentage of 

Obligation Outlays Project Completed 

Burlington Bridge $36,445,756 $36,445,756 .10 94 

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Bridge 30,037,955 29,472,286 64.40 80 

Mobile Bridge 14,614,808 14,614,808 0.00 77 

Galveston Causeway Bridge 60,901,481 27,051,243 138.11 38 

Total $142,000,000 $107,584,093 202.61 

*

Represents jobs reported by recipients for the quarter ending June 30, 2011. 

1 USCG does not deliver funds to the bridge owner via a federal contract, grant, or loan. Instead, USCG 

reimburses the bridge owner based on an agreed-upon allocation of project costs. Bridge owners bear the 

costs of any alterations or modifications included in alteration plans that are for their direct or special benefit. 

Page 2 
Management Comments and OIG Analysis 

We obtained written comments on a draft of the report from the Assistant Commandant 

for Resources, Chief Financial Officer. USCG agreed with our report and did not have 

any additional comments. We have included a copy of USCG’s response in appendix A. 

Page 3 
Appendix A 

Purpose, Scope, and Methodology 

Our objective was to determine (1) whether USCG was administering Recovery Act 

funds for the Alteration of Bridges program according to program plans and requirements 

and (2) the status of the program funds and projects. To address our objective, we— 

 Reviewed applicable laws, regulations, and USCG’s policies, procedures, and 

internal directives used to administer and monitor the Alteration of Bridges 

program; 

 Interviewed USCG officials and Alteration of Bridges program staff to obtain 

information on the administration, management, and oversight of the Recovery 

Act bridge alteration projects; 

 Reviewed project files for two of the four Recovery Act bridge alteration projects; 

and 

 Reviewed USCG monitoring of project performance and recipient reporting to 

determine compliance with program guidelines and requirements. 

We conducted this audit from January through June 2011 in Washington, DC, pursuant to 

the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, and according to generally accepted 

government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the 

audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 

findings and conclusions based upon our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence 

obtained provides a reasonable basis for the findings and conclusions based upon our 

audit objectives. 

We appreciate the efforts by USCG management and staff to provide the information and 

access necessary to accomplish this review. 

Page 4 
 

Appendix B 

Management Comments to the Draft Letter Report 

Page 5
 

ColTllTUllldanl U.S. Department o~. 2100 Second Sueet, S.W.• Stop 7245

Homeland Security United States Coast Guald Washington, DC 20593

StaffSymbol:CG-8ll

United States Phone: (202) 372·3533

F",,: (202) 372-2311 Coast Guard

7501

SfP -1 2011

From: Reply to Audit Manager,

Attn of: Mark Kulwicki

(202) 372-3533

To: Anne L. Ric ards

Assistant Inspector General for Audits

Subj: DHS OIG REPORT ON USE OF AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT

ACT FUNDS BY THE U.S. COAST GUARD FOR THE ALTERATION OF

BRIDGES PROGRAM

Ref: (a) DHS OIG Draft Report dated August 2, 2011

1. Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on Department ofHomeland Security

(DHS) Office ofInspector General's (lOG's) Draft Report 11-062-AUD-DHS entitled, "Use of

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Funds by the U.S. Coast Guard for the Alteration of

Bridges Program."

2. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) appreciates the efforts ofthe OIG to document

current administering offour alterations ofbridge projects supported by the American Recovery

and Reinvestment Act funds.

3. The USCG agrees with the findings ofthe report and has no comments.

4. If you have any questions, my point of contact is Mr. Mark Kulwicki who can be reached at

(202) 372-3533.

#

Copy: Roger LaRouche, Director,

Jerome Fiely, Audit Manager

Shawn Cosman, Auditor
Appendix C 

Major Contributors to this Report 

Roger LaRouche, Director 

Jerome Fiely, Audit Manager 

Shawn Cosman, Auditor 

Gloria Medina-Ortiz, Referencer 

Page 6 
Appendix D 

Report Distribution 

Department of Homeland Security 

Secretary 

Deputy Secretary 

Chief of Staff 

Deputy Chief of Staff 

General Counsel 

Executive Secretariat 

Director, GAO/OIG Liaison Office 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Policy 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Public Affairs 

Assistant Secretary for Office of Legislative Affairs 

Under Secretary for Management 

DHS Component Liaison, USCG 

Departmental Recovery Act Coordinator 

Office of Management and Budget 

Chief, Homeland Security Branch 

DHS OIG Budget Examiner 

Congress 

Congressional Oversight and Appropriations Committees, as 

appropriate 

Page 7 
 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND COPIES 

To obtain additional copies of this report, please call the Office of Inspector General 

(OIG) at (202)254-4100, fax your request to (202)254-4305, e-mail your request to our 

OIG Office of Public Affairs at DHS-OIG.OfficePublicAffairs@dhs.gov, or visit our OIG 

websites at www.dhs.gov/oig or www.oig.dhs.gov. 

OIG HOTLINE 

To report alleged fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement, or any other kind of criminal 

or noncriminal misconduct relative to Department of Homeland Security programs and 

operations: 

• Call our Hotline at 1-800-323-8603 

• Fax the complaint directly to us at (202)254-4292 

• E-mail us at DHSOIGHOTLINE@dhs.gov; or 

• Write to us at: 

DHS Office of Inspector General/MAIL STOP 2600, 

Attention: Office of Investigation - Hotline, 

245 Murray Drive SW, Building 410 

Washington, DC 20528 

The OIG seeks to protect the identity of each writer and caller.