Report 2010-101 Recommendations and Responses in 2013-041

Report 2010-101: Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery: Deficiencies in Forecasting and Ineffective Management Have Hindered the Beverage Container Recycling Program

Department Number of Years Reported As Not Fully Implemented Total Recommendations to Department Not Implemented After One Year Not Implemented as of 2012-041 Response Not Implemented as of Most Recent Response
Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery 3 18 5 4 2

Recommendation To: Resources Recycling and Recovery, Department of

The department should weave benchmarks, coupled with metrics to measure the quality of its activities, into the strategic plan for the beverage program to allow it to better measure progress in meeting goals.

Response

The CalRecycle management team engaged stakeholders in examining Chapter 476 (AB341, Statutes of 2011) goals as well as how to begin addressing the structural deficit in the Beverage Container Recycling Program's (BCRP) Special Fund. As a result of these meetings CalRecycle submitted a Finance Letter in spring 2013 which was approved by the Legislature as part of the 2013 Budget Act. The program will incorporate these efforts into a comprehensive and detailed strategic plan that will take final form in 2014.


Recommendation To: Resources Recycling and Recovery, Department of

The department should ensure that the strategic plan incorporates all relevant activities of the beverage program.

Response

The CalRecycle management team engaged stakeholders in examining Chapter 476 (AB341, Statutes of 2011) goals as well as how to begin addressing the structural deficit in the Beverage Container Recycling Program's (BCRP) Special Fund. As a result of these meetings CalRecycle submitted a Finance Letter in spring 2013 which was approved by the Legislature as part of the 2013 Budget Act. The program will incorporate these efforts into a comprehensive and detailed strategic plan that will take final form in 2014.


Recommendation To: Resources Recycling and Recovery, Department of

To improve management of its fraud investigations, the department should take the following actions: Formalize the approach used to analyze recycling data for potential fraud and develop criteria for staff to use when deciding whether to refer anomalies for investigation. Because DORIIS will be a central data source for recycling activities once it is implemented, the department should continue with its plan to automate the review of recycling data within DORIIS to identify potential fraud.

Response

CalRecycle, Division of Recycling, Recycling Program Enforcement Branch (RPEB) currently produces, on a daily basis, a rules based Fraud Detection Report (FDR) for anomaly detection of disbursement transaction data. This report is automatically generated by the Division of Recycling Integrated Information System (DORiis). This report detects known indicators/ patterns of fraud using the primary reporting form recyclers used to report purchases and movement of CRV beverage containers. RPEB management uses the report to effectively assign investigative and inspection resources to potential high-value fraud targets identified on the FDR. The FDR identifies anomalous and/or suspect transactions before they are invoiced for CRV payment reimbursement. This provides RPEB the opportunity to place suspect transactions on hold, as needed, until the supporting documentation can be reviewed for accuracy and completeness by RPEB field investigators. The FDR generated from DORiis provides CalRecycle with the ability to mitigate CBCRF losses associated with fraudulent transactions on a pre-payment basis. CalRecycle has applied the above tools and processes and has documented this in a policy and procedures manual that was completed in December, 2012.


Recommendation To: Resources Recycling and Recovery, Department of

To improve oversight of grants and ensure that the intended value is received from the grant funds it awards, the department should do the following: For recipients of market development grants that are unable to meet the goals of their grants, maintain contact with grantees after the project is completed to determine if the goals may ultimately be achieved.

Response

The Department surveyed recipients of the five closed Market Development Expansion (MDE)Grants that the Department determined were unable to meet their project goals. These surveys were conducted in January/ February 2012 along with follow-up contact to fully determine whether these five recipients untilmately achieved the goals. The Department will continue to survey MDE grant recipients that do not complete their grant objectives with the same survey.


Current Status of Recommendations

All Recommendations in 2013-041