Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the Department of Energy's (DOE) controls over conflicts of interest in subcontracts awarded by its research centers, focusing on: (1) DOE policies and procedures for identifying and avoiding conflicts of interest; and (2) implementation of those policies.
GAO found that: (1) DOE regulations relied on subcontractors' self-reporting for identifying possible conflicts of interest; (2) DOE research centers did not properly implement conflict-of-interest determination policies and procedures; (3) the DOE Albuquerque Operations Office improperly allowed the Los Alamos and Sandia research centers to review subcontracts for conflicts of interest resulting in three cases of possible conflicts of interest; (4) Albuquerque failed to verify the accuracy of subcontractors' certifications; (5) Sandia's practices did not follow DOE regulations or approved procedures; (6) Los Alamos and Sandia failed to document their conflict-of-interest decisions; (7) DOE headquarters and the Albuquerque Operations Office failed to exercise proper oversight to ensure avoidance of conflict of interest; and (8) as a result of this review, Albuquerque began to bring its practices into compliance with DOE regulations. In addition, GAO noted that it was unable to test whether policies and procedures were effective, since Albuquerque had not properly implemented them.
