Watchdog notes ‘substantial’ challenges ahead for Interior

By Michael Doyle | 10/31/2024 04:15 PM EDT

The Office of Inspector General looked at grant oversight, deferred maintenance backlogs and other tough tasks ahead for the department.

The Interior Department.

Interior Department headquarters in Washington. Francis Chung/POLITICO

Whoever becomes the next president will face a boatload of budgetary and management challenges at the Interior Department, spelled out by the agency’s watchdog in a report made public Thursday.

The knotty issues identified by Interior’s latest Office of Inspector General annual report include “substantial risks regarding grant oversight,” “challenges in managing complex energy operations,” continued deferred maintenance backlogs and the ever-rising costs associated with handling wildfires.

The 26-page report issued by Inspector General Mark Lee Greenblatt is in part a greatest hits album, formally called a “statement summarizing the major management and performance challenges” facing the department. It cites numerous specific audits and reports issued over the past year, topped with some overview and a recognition of the department’s complexity.

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“DOI must balance competing priorities, such as considering different and potentially competing land uses like conservation, energy production, recreation, forestry, and habitat protection,” the report notes, adding that “these substantive priorities often overlap across multiple DOI bureaus, sometimes leading to a decentralized approach.”

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