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Letters

Acting Inspector General Mary Kendall Response to Chairman Hastings' Request for Information on the Department of the Interior's Renewable Energy Programs

Dear Mr. Chairman:

This responds to your letter of May 30, 2012, in which you requested the following information...

The lists you requested are enclosed. We also enclose lists of other energy-related IG reviews that are not specifically focused on renewable energy, as these reflect a significant body of our work. You will notice that an evaluation conducted in 2010 on renewable energy was suspended following a meeting with the Department to discuss our Draft Report. We had endeavored to conduct a comprehensive review of all of the Department's renewable/alternative energy efforts across bureaus. After conducting some follow up work subsequent to our meeting with the Department, we concluded that we could not verify all the information provided to us by the Department on such a comprehensive level without undertaking considerably more field work. Since our data was already dated at the time we met with the Department to discuss the draft, we chose, instead, to focus our attention on more manageable size efforts in which we could be confident of the timeliness and accuracy of our findings, and make more meaningful recommendations. We did this beginning with the Climate Friendly Parks, Program Startup, and BLM Renewable Energy Evaluations. We also have evaluations ongoing in Geothermal Hydraulic Fracturing and Climate Change. We have Underground Injection Control and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Renewable Energy Program in our plan for late Fiscal Year' 12 and Fiscal Year '13. In conducting these more focused, individual efforts, if we find crosscutting programmatic weaknesses, overlap, or opportunities for improving management efficiencies, we will roll these up in a more comprehensive compilation report.

Read the entire letter HERE.