The NRC Office of the Inspector General (OIG) was established as a statutory entity on April 15, 1989, in accordance with the 1988 amendments to the Inspector General Act of 1978. A summary and the text of this law, as well as other key laws that govern OIGsʼ operations, are provided below.
- Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended by the Inspector General Act Amendments of 1988 (Summary below, full text version)
- Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, Public Law 110-409 (Full text version)
Inspector General Act
This Act established the NRC Office of the Inspector General. The IG Act states that the purpose of offices of Inspectors General is to provide independent and objective units to conduct and supervise audits and investigations relating to agency programs and operations.
Under the statute, the OIG is also directed to provide leadership and coordination and to recommend policies to prevent and detect fraud and abuse in agency programs and operations.
To accomplish these objectives, the OIG establishes policy for audits and investigations relating to all NRC programs and operations and conducts, supervises, and coordinates these audits and investigations. Further, the OIG reviews existing and proposed statutes, regulations and policies to evaluate their effect on economy and efficiency in the agency and on the prevention of fraud and abuse and recommends changes as appropriate. (Full text version)
Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE)
In October 2008, the Presidentʼs Council on Integrity and Efficiency previously established under Executive Order was abolished and replaced by provisions of the Inspector General Reform Act (Act). The Act established a new entity, the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE), which is an interagency council headed by a Chairperson, an Inspector General and an Executive Chairperson, the Deputy Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
The CIGIE comprises presidentially and agency-head appointed Inspectors General, with a mission to address integrity, economy and effectiveness issues that transcend individual government agencies and to increase the professionalism and effectiveness of personnel by developing policies, standards, and approaches to aid in the establishment of a well trained and highly skilled workforce in the offices of Inspectors General.
The functions and duties of the Council include to:
- Continually identify, review, and discuss areas of weakness and vulnerability in federal programs and operations with respect to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement;
- Develop plans for coordinated, governmentwide activities that address fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement and promote economy and efficiency in federal programs and operations. These plans include interagency and inter-entity audit, investigations, and evaluation programs and projects to deal efficiently and effectively with those problems concerning fraud and waste that exceed the capability or jurisdiction of an individual agency;
- Develop policies that will aid in the maintenance of a corps of well trained and highly skilled OIG personnel;
- Maintain one or more training academies for the professional training of auditors, investigators, inspectors, evaluators, and other OIG personnel;
- Submit recommendations of individuals to the appropriate appointing authority to fill Inspector General vacancies; and,
- Maintain an Integrity Committee to receive, review and refer for investigation allegations of wrongdoing that are made against Inspectors General and staff members.