The Office of Federal Assistance Education & Engagement (OFAEE) is one of five offices within the Office of Ports & Waterways.

 The office provides technical assistance and program support to internal (program staff) and external stakeholders (transportation and maritime non-federal entities) to help them maintain compliance, mitigate non-compliance risks, reduce internal and external audit findings, and to improve transparency and accountability in the use of Federal funds. The major responsibilities of this office are summarized in the core technical assistance areas of responsibilities.  

Mission: To deliver quality, customer-focused technical assistance, and program support services to Federal and private sector stakeholders to assistance them in maintaining compliance and successful implementation of Department of Transportation and Maritime Administration Discretionary Grant programs.

Vision:  Our program will be known as the model of excellence within the Federal Government for its innovative strategies to target areas of non-compliance through education and continuous improvement.

Our Goal:  To provide technical assistance to Office of Ports & Waterways discretionary grant program stakeholders to help them effectively mitigate non-compliance risks, reduce audit findings, and ultimately improve transparency and accountability in use of Federal award funds.

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Core Technical Assistance Areas

In pursuit of this mission, we provide core technical assistance to – 

• Conduct Educational Outreach Activities:  The Office perform educational outreach activities for financial assistance stakeholders (transportation & maritime industry public entities), and program stakeholders (USDOT departmental and MARAD) to increase awareness of the Federal laws, regulations, policies, procedures, and program requirements pertaining to MARAD discretionary grant programs and the Federal award.  The Office also provides educational tools to these stakeholders to assist them in maintaining compliance and minimize non-compliance risks with their federal awards.
• Monitor and ensure compliance with the Single Audit Act requirements:  Pursuant to OMB Circular A-50 & 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F – Audit Requirements requires financial assistance recipients to conduct Single Audits when federal expenditures exceed $1M during the recipient’s annual fiscal year.  The recipient is required to conduct a single audit or program audit and upload a copy of the audit report to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC) website.  This Office monitors the FAC on a monthly basis for audit reports submitted by MARAD financial assistance recipients; and reviews the report for program audit findings and trends that may impact successful completion of DOT/MARAD grant projects.  The Office also identifies targeted areas for future educational outreach opportunities; and works closely with the agency and departmental audit liaisons to ensure audit findings are resolve and close out in a timely matter.
• Assess and Improve Effectiveness and Efficiencies of Ports & Waterways Operations:  The Office reviews program policies, procedures, and business processes to improve program and administrative operations. It also develops administrative standard operation procedures (SOP) to document internal business processes and procedures; conducts internal quality control reviews to determine the effectiveness of programs and make improvement recommendations; and develops outcome-based performance measures (program evaluation) for programs.
• Provide Program Compliance Support:  The Office provides program support within the Office of Ports & Waterways to maintain compliance with OMB Circular A-123 Management's Responsibility for Enterprise Risk Management and Internal Controls and the Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act of 1982 (FMFIA) requirements. The Office serves as designated internal controls officers for the Office of the Associate Administrator for Budget and Programs/Chief Financial Officer who has delegated authority for implementing OMB Circular A-123 and FMFIA requirements. 
• Provide Program Support for Audit Engagements, and departmental and agency grant policy data requests:  The Office provides program support to ensure accurate, complete, and timely responses are provided for audit and compliance engagement requests.  Audit engagements may include General Accountability Office (GAO), Department of Transportation (DOT) Office of Inspector General (OIG), and MARAD’s Office of Financial Policy and Compliance.  The Office also responds to ad-hoc departmental grant related data call requests for financial assistance grants and cooperative agreements; and serves as the Office of Ports & Waterways representative on departmental inter-agency teams, committees, and working groups.

Contact Us:

US/DOT Maritime Administration
Office of Federal Assistance Education & Engagement
1200 New Jersey Avenue S.E. 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20590
United States
Email:  FederalAssitanceEducation@dot.gov
Business Hours: 8:00am-5:00pm EST, M-F