IG: Transportation Dept. Slow to Enforce Suspensions The Transportation Depart-ment’s inspector general says DOT has awarded millions of dollars to contractors after they have been recommended for suspension or debarment. According to the report, department officials often take months to act on the IG’s recommendations, while companies continue to receive new contracts. On average, DOT took 301 days to suspend a company after the IG forwarded a recommendation and 415 days to debar a company that was recommended for debarment. Regulations require those decisions to be made within 45 days. The IG said suspension and debarment proceedings are “one of the Government’s strongest defenses against contract fraud, waste, and abuse.” The report says state officials in Kentucky awarded $24 million in Recovery Act contracts to companies whose officials had been previously recommended for suspension or debarment. In another case, one company was not debarred for more than two years after it pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bribery, and unlawful storage of hazardous materials. The IG said a criminal indictment alone is grounds for suspension, but DOT officials often conduct a time-consuming independent investigation before taking action against an indicted company. In some cases the department tried to minimize damage to contractors by allowing a contractor to show cause why it should not be suspended. However, federal regulations provide that a contractor can ask for reinstatement only after a suspension. “The extra steps [DOT officials] perform—generally without deadlines or monitoring—leave DOT and other Federal agencies vulnerable to doing business with fraudulent or unethical parties and do not ensure those parties will be excluded from gaining future contracts and grants,” the IG said. The IG said DOT often does not enter the names of suspended companies in the Excluded Parties List within five days, as required by regulation. The report says DOT officials put a low priority on suspension and debarment cases. In response, department officials said they have taken steps to speed up the process and monitor cases to make sure they are acted upon in a timely manner.