Report 2013-122 Recommendations
When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below, is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor's assessment of auditee's response based on our review of the supporting documentation.
Recommendations in Report 2013-122: California Department of Toxic Substances Control: Its Lack of Diligence in Cost Recovery Has Contributed to Millions in Unbilled and Uncollected Costs (Release Date: August 2014)
| Recommendations to Legislature | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | Recommendation | Status |
| 6 | To improve the department's efforts to recover its costs promptly, the Legislature should revise state law to allow the department to use a higher interest rate for late payments. For example, the department could be allowed to use an interest rate similar to that used by the Board of Equalization. |
Legislation Enacted |
| 7 | To improve its ability to more effectively recover costs, the Legislature should give the department the authority to require financial information from potentially responsible parties. |
Legislation Enacted |
| Recommendations to Toxic Substances Control, Department of | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | Recommendation | Status |
| 1 | To ensure that it maximizes opportunities to recover its costs, by January 2015, the department should develop a reporting function in its project management database to track and monitor the statute of limitations expiration dates for its projects. |
Fully Implemented |
| 2 | To improve the accuracy of the outstanding costs in its billing system, by January 2015, the department should establish a process to track its settlement agreements to ensure that department staff can verify they have updated information for outstanding costs that reflects all adjustments made for settlements paid and reduced in the billing system. |
Fully Implemented |
| 3 | To ensure that it maximizes the recovery of its costs from responsible parties, by October 2014, the department should do the following: - Establish processes to monitor and verify that responsible party searches are properly reviewed and approved according to its procedures. |
Fully Implemented |
| 4 | To ensure that it maximizes the recovery of its costs from responsible parties, by October 2014, the department should do the following: - Develop written procedures for updating and monitoring its collection letter log. |
Fully Implemented |
| 5 | To ensure that it maximizes the recovery of its costs from responsible parties, by October 2014, the department should do the following: - Continue its plan to update policies and procedures for using liens whenever appropriate. |
Fully Implemented |
| 8 | To ensure it loads only accurate billing data into FI$Cal, the department should continue evaluating projects with outstanding costs in its billing system to meet the July 2015 implementation date. |
Fully Implemented |
| 9 | To improve the accuracy of its outstanding costs related to the CLEAN loan program and federal grants, the department should do the following: - Follow through with its plan to update its written procedures to include the changes in billing procedures for the CLEAN loan program. |
Fully Implemented |
| 10 | To improve the accuracy of its outstanding costs related to the CLEAN loan program and federal grants, the department should do the following: - Continue to identify and remove outstanding costs for the federal grants when it determines it has already received funding. |
Fully Implemented |
| 11 | The department should continue to resolve its questions about its authority to write off outstanding costs under $5,000. To the extent that it determines it cannot write off outstanding costs, it should pursue collecting the costs. |
Fully Implemented |