FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION 

800 North Capitol Street, N.W. 

Washington, DC 20573 

Inspector General 

 May 19, 2015 

The Honorable Ron Johnson, Chairman 

Committee on Homeland Security and 

 Governmental Affairs 

United States Senate 

328 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Thomas R. Carper, Ranking

 Member 

Committee on Homeland Security and 

 Governmental Affairs 

United States Senate 

513 Hart Senate Office Building 

Washington, DC 20510 

The Honorable Shaun Donovan, Director 

Office of Management and Budget 

725 17th Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20503 

The Honorable Jason Chaffetz, Chairman 

Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform 

United States House of Representatives 

2236 Rayburn House Office Building 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking 

 Member 

Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform 

United States House of Representatives 

2230 Rayburn House Office Building 

Washington, DC 20515 

The Honorable Gene L. Dodaro 

Comptroller General of the United States 

U.S. Government Accountability Office 

441 G Street, NW 

Washington, DC 20548 

SUBJECT: Improper Payments Compliance Report
	

This letter communicates the results of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) Office of 

Inspector General’s (OIG) annual review of the FMC’s compliance with reporting and 

performance requirements regarding improper payments. For fiscal year (FY) 2014, the OIG 

concluded the FMC is in compliance and has met the requirements that are applicable to the 

agency. 

The OIG completed the annual review based on guidance contained in Office of Management and 

Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-123, Appendix C, Requirements for Effective Estimation and 

Remediation of Improper Payments (as modified by OMB M-15-02, October 20, 2014.) Appendix 

C implements requirements from the following: (1) the Improper Payments Information Act of 

2002 (IPIA), as amended; (2) the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010 
 

 

 

(IPERA); (3) the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 

(IPERIA); and (4) Executive Order 13520 - Reducing Improper Payments, November 20, 2009. 

The purpose of IPERA and the related requirements are to improve the federal government’s 

efforts to reduce and recover improper payments. An improper payment is any payment that should 

not have been made or that was made in an incorrect amount. Incorrect amounts are overpayments 

or underpayments that are made to eligible recipients. An improper payment also includes any 

payment that was made to an ineligible recipient or for an ineligible good or service, or payments 

for goods or services not received (except for such payments authorized by law). In addition, when 

an agency's review is unable to discern whether a payment was proper as a result of insufficient or 

lack of documentation, this payment must also be considered an improper payment. 

Each agency inspector general is required to review improper payment reporting in their agency’s 

annual PAR to determine if the agency is in compliance with IPERA. OMB M-15-02 lists six 

requirements an agency must meet, where applicable, to be in compliance with the improper 

payments requirements. The OIG reviewed the agency’s disclosures contained in the FMC’s FY 

2014 PAR posted on the agency’s website for compliance with IPERA and related requirements. 

Specifically, the FMC’s assessment concluded that the agency has not identified any program that 

in and of itself constitutes a high-risk for improper payments. As a result, the FMC assessed all 

of its payments to be low-risk for improper payments. The agency reported a zero improper 

payment rate for FY 2014 and forecasted the same rate for outlying years. The agency is not 

required to publish improper payment corrective action plans or reduction targets. 

The OIG is required to report these results to the FMC Commission; the Committee on Homeland 

Security and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; the Committee on Oversight and Governmental 

Reform of the House of Representatives; the Comptroller General; and the Controller of OMB. 

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me on (202) 523-5863 or 

jhatfield@fmc.gov. Thank you. 

 Sincerely,

 Jon Hatfield 

Inspector General 

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