Audit: DOE-OIG-25-22

June 12, 2025

Paycheck Protection Program Loans at the Hanford Site

Congress enacted the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020. The CARES Act, Section 3610, clarifies that reimbursement requests must be reduced by any credits received from other COVID-19 relief programs, including Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. There were 258 companies that collectively received forgiveness for more than $300 million of PPP loans at the Hanford Site. In addition, the Department of Energy paid the companies about $14 million in Section 3610 safety pay from 2020 through 2022.

Given the risk, we initiated this audit to determine if Hanford Site contractors were paid by the Department for the same costs that were covered by the Small Business Administration’s relief programs.

We found that 43 companies certified the need for PPP loan forgiveness after already billing and receiving payment from the Hanford Site for work performed. These companies received $11.9 million in loan forgiveness paid by the Small Business Administration for costs that were already paid to those companies for work performed. We are coordinating with law enforcement and legal counterparts to pursue appropriate remedies for the duplicate payments.

Additionally, we questioned approximately $2.2 million in payments received by companies working at the Hanford Site. These companies received the approximately $2.2 million to cover labor payments from the CARES Act, Section 3610, funds and then received loan forgiveness under the PPP for those same labor costs, thereby obtaining twice the appropriate amount of Federal funding. The Department should seek credit for the remaining unsettled costs in question.

Without implementing strong internal controls, communication, and labor monitoring during COVID-19, the Department did not ensure it conducted its due diligence to protect the Government’s interest and taxpayer dollars.

To address the issues identified in this report, we have made six recommendations that, if fully implemented, should help ensure that the Department’s safeguards reduce future risks associated with similar programs and protect taxpayer funds.