A coalition of local communities surrounding the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is apparently back in the good financial graces of the Energy Department after repaying nearly $16,000 in grant money.
Earlier this year, the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) repaid the agency $15,767 for expenditures questioned in a September 2019 report by the DOE Office of Inspector General. The payment has been received by the Energy Department, RCLC Executive Director Eric Vasquez said in a Monday email.
The IG report urged DOE’s Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center (EMCBC) in Cincinnati to determine if the agency was due reimbursement for up to $300,000 of grant money received by RCLC from June 30, 2015, through June 30, 2018. The IG, along with probes in New Mexico, have questioned past bookkeeping practices by the coalition and whether the organization improperly used federal money for lobbying.
After providing the department with additional financial records from the tenure of prior RCLC executive director Andrea Romero, now a state representative in New Mexico, the $15,767 reimbursement figure was agreed upon, Vasquez said.
The RCLC consists of nine local and tribal governments around the DOE national laboratory. It typically gets half of its $200,000 annual budget from local members, with the rest coming from the Energy Department.
The EMCBC in 2015 awarded the RCLC a five-year, $500,000 grant to promote environmental protection, economic development, and regional planning. The IG questioned justification for $300,000 of the $500,000 paid out during the period. Now that the coalition has squared up its books, it anticipates seeking a new federal grant.
“Yes, we believe the RCLC is well positioned to reapply for the grant. Oversight and financial controls have been completely rebuilt and are exceptionally robust,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez and the firm CPLC New Mexico recently decided against seeking another two-year term as executive director for the regional coalition. Vasquez will leave the post at the end of the month, and the RCLC board should review a request for proposals for a new executive director at its Sept. 11 meeting, he said.
