United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2003-10-03 monographic deposited born digital 41 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-114R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-114R P0b002ee18038f7cb f:d04114r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-114R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-114R GAO-04-114R Administrative costs Claims processing Erroneous payments Internal controls Questionable payments Trust funds Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Correspondence A08659 The Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (Fund) is a $1 billion fund authorized by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) to pay for (1) federal removal actions, (2) certain claims for uncompensated removal costs and damages,and (3) natural resource damage and restoration activities resulting from oil spills or the substantial threat of oil spills to the waters or shorelines of the United States. The Fund is administered by the National Pollution Funds Center (NPFC) of the U.S. Coast Guard. In May 2002, our Office of General Counsel reported on legal issues and limitations of the Fund and concluded that certain administrative costs were inappropriately being paid out of the Fund. In light of this conclusion, we reviewed the internal controls over disbursements from the Fund. Specifically, we reviewed the Fund to determine whether (1) the design of internal controls over the claims process provides reasonable assurance that improper payments will not occur or will be detected in the normal course of business and (2) internal controls over the claims process are operating as designed to help ensure proper payment of claims. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-114R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-114R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-114R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-114R.pdf GAO-04-114R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-114R Correspondence GAO-04-114R; U.S. Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Center: Claims Payment Process Was Functioning Effectively, but Additional Controls Are Needed to Reduce the Risk of Improper Payments; Administrative costs Claims processing Erroneous payments Internal controls Questionable payments Trust funds Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund Volume 104 Page 484 104 Stat. 484