An Audit performed by the Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Inspector General Calvin L. Scovell III, has uncovered serious lag times in the Department’s suspension and debarment procedures, which resulted in millions in stimulus money going to firms that could have been debarred from contracting.

The report, which focused on Operating Administrations (OA)’s (specifically the Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Highway Administration and Federal Transit Administration) ability to decide and report on suspension and debarment regulations and policies, as well as those administration’s actions to exclude inadmissible contractors from obtaining contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements.

The Administrations examined were found to have significant delays in processing and decision times, as well as faulty oversight.

One instance cited in the audit described the FHWA taking 10 months to make a suspension decision regarding companies whose officials were associated with parties that the administration ultimately suspended. During the time taken to resolve the suspension case, the Commonwealth of Kentucky used $24 million in stimulus funds to award contracts to the companies under investigation.

The report also found that the delays tend to be symptomatic of ineffective processes and a failure to assign appropriate priority to suspension and debarment cases.

Scovell’s audit also features a lengthy list of proposed measures to ix the problems discovered, among other suggestions, limiting the FAA’s window of time to produce a decision to 45 days after referral.

The audit was performed between October 2006 and October 2009.