FRESNO, CA (KMJ) – The U.S. Department of Transportation is going to begin a federal audit of California’s high-speed rail project, according to Assemblyman Jim Patterson.
The audit will begin in April and will be completed in addition to the audit that’s ongoing by the California State Auditor.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, since 2009, Congress has appropriated more than $10 billion for the HSIPR program (1). As of December 2017, FRA had disbursed $8.6 billion of those funds. Nearly 39 percent of HSIPR program funding to date has been dedicated to California’s high-speed rail corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, managed by the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA).
Due to the significant funds provided to the CHSRA for high-speed rail, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials requested a review FRA’s risk mitigation and oversight of expenditures.
Officials plan to initially focus work on California’s high-speed rail project and specifically assess FRA’s (1) risk analysis, assessment, and mitigation efforts—particularly regarding the availability of non-Federal matching funds, business plans, and financial reporting—and (2) procedures for determining whether Federal funds expended complied with applicable Federal laws and regulations.
