Chesapeake Bay Gateways Program: National Park Service Needs Better Accountability and Oversight of Grantees and Gateways
Highlights
In 1998, Congress passed the Chesapeake Bay Initiative Act to establish a linked network of locations, such as parks, historic seaports, or museums--known as gateways--where the public can access and experience the bay. The National Park Service (Park Service) provides support to the gateways through a related grant program. In 2005, congressional concerns were raised about the Park Service's management of the program. GAO was asked to determine the extent to which the (1) criteria for selecting gateways are transparent and consistently applied; (2) grants have been awarded to support the program goals of conserving and restoring, interpreting, and accessing bay-related resources; and (3) Park Service has taken action to improve program management and oversight. To conduct this work, GAO, among other things, examined Park Service files and interviewed Park Service officials, as well as other officials involved in the program.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
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Department of the Interior | To enhance accountability and oversight, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Director of the Park Service to have the Director of the CBGN take steps to make all criteria used to select gateways publicly available and then consistently apply them. | GAO found that the National Park Service used criteria to select gateways--public access and interpretive locations, such as state or federal parks and historic seaports, linked to create the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network--for entry into the Network that were not always transparent and may not have been consistently applied. As a result, in a September 2006 report, GAO recommended that the Park Service take steps to make all criteria used to select gateways publicly available and then consistently apply these criteria. Based on this recommendation, the Park Service conducted a review and, in consultation with the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network working group, updated these criteria and... posted them to the publicly available Gateways Website. In the future, the Park Service intends to post any additional revisions or clarifications to the criteria on the Website. To ensure consistency, the Park Service applied these updated criteria to the four most recent Gateways nominees and plans to consistently apply them to future nominations.
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Department of the Interior | To enhance accountability and oversight, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Director of the Park Service to have the Director of the CBGN periodically review gateways to determine whether they are meeting the basic requirements for network membership. | GAO found that the National Park Service approved gateways--public access and interpretive locations, such as state or federal parks and historic seaports, linked to create the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network--that did not meet all the selection criteria for entry into the network. As a result, in a September 2006 report, GAO recommended that the Park Service periodically review gateways to determine whether they are meeting the basic requirements for network membership. Based on this recommendation, the Park Service, in conjunction with the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network working group, outlined a procedure for review of all gateways to ensure that they are meeting the requirements laid...
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Department of the Interior | To enhance accountability and oversight, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Director of the Park Service to have the Director of the CBGN develop procedures for resolving identified problems and, where appropriate, removing underperforming gateways from the network. | GAO found that the National Park Service has approved gateways--public access and interpretive locations, such as state or federal parks and historic seaports, linked to create the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network--that did not meet all the selection criteria for entry into the network. As a result, in a September 2006 report, GAO recommended that the Park Service develop procedures for resolving identified problems and, where appropriate, removing under-performing gateways from the network. Based on this recommendation, the Park Service, in conjunction with the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network working group, outlined a procedure for review of all gateways to ensure that they are meeting...
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Department of the Interior | To enhance accountability and oversight, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Director of the Park Service to have the Director of the CBGN develop and implement a process to determine the extent to which grants are effectively meeting program goals. | GAO found that the National Park Service did not have a process in place to determine the effectiveness of its grants in meeting program goals for the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network and its related grant program. Accordingly, in a September 2006 report, GAO recommended that the Park Service develop and implement a process to determine the extent to which grants are effectively meeting program goals. Based upon this recommendation, beginning in October 2006, the Park Service and the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network working group (1) outlined a process for beginning to evaluate the effectiveness of the network in meeting program goals, (2) conducted a quantitative evaluation of the program...
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Department of the Interior | To enhance accountability and oversight, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Director of the Park Service to have the Director of the CBGN ensure that CBGN staff responsible for grant management are adequately trained. |
GAO found that the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network project coordinators, who are responsible for reviewing grant proposals and monitoring the progress of grant projects, were inadequately trained in grant management. As a result, in a September 2006 report, GAO recommended that the National Park Service ensure that Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network staff responsible for grant management are adequately trained. In response to our recommendation, the Park Service sent all of its Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network staff to an Environmental Protection Agency-led training on Grants Administration.
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Department of the Interior | To enhance accountability and oversight, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Director of the Park Service to have the Director of the CBGN ensure that grants are awarded only to applicants who completed grants or to applicants who have demonstrated the capacity for completing a new grant on schedule. | GAO found that the National Park Service had inappropriately awarded Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network grants to applicants with incomplete projects or a lack of capacity to complete grant projects on time. Accordingly, in a September 2006 report, GAO recommended that the Park Service ensure that grants are awarded only to applicants who completed previous grants or to applicants who have demonstrated the capacity for completing a new grant on schedule. In response to the concerns we raised to the Park Service about these inappropriate awards during the course of our audit work, and in line with our recommendation, the Park Service modified its procedures for reviewing and vetting grant...
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Department of the Interior | To enhance accountability and oversight, the Secretary of the Interior should direct the Director of the Park Service to have the Director of the CBGN ensure that grantees submit progress and financial reports in a timely manner. | GAO found that the National Park Service was not stringently enforcing its quarterly grantee reporting requirements for the Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network grant program, despite a commitment in its action plan to do so. We found that, approximately 2 months after the reports were due, only 8 of the 27 files for grants awarded in fiscal year 2005 contained the complete quarterly report for the period we reviewed. As a result, GAO recommended that the Park Service ensure that grantees submit progress and financial reports in a timely manner. In response to our recommendation, the Park Service revised its operating procedures for awarding grants to emphasize the requirement for grantees to...
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