Audit: DOE-OIG-26-32

April 9, 2026

Improvements Are Needed in Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Management of Professional and Consultant Services Agreements

Since 1943, the Regents of the University of California have managed Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) for the Department of Energy's Office of Science. LBNL's mission is to expand the frontiers of knowledge and deliver solutions for science and humankind. In support of this mission, LBNL acquires consultants to provide independent expert advisory and/or assistance services of a technical or professional nature on a fee or per diem basis. LBNL uses subcontracts to commit resources and formalize its relationships with consultants.

We initiated this audit to determine whether LBNL managed its professional and consultant services agreements in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and contract requirements.

We found that LBNL did not manage its professional and consultant services agreements in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and contract requirements. Specifically, we found that LBNL: (1) entered into professional and consultant services agreements that did not meet the Federal Acquisition Regulation definition; (2) did not always obtain required conflicts-of-interest disclosures; (3) entered into consultant agreements with former Laboratory employees in contradiction to its policy; (4) retained consultants for longer than 5 years; (5) determined price reasonableness exclusively on the General Services Administration's labor rates tool; (6) paid invoices from consultants that often lacked sufficient detail to support the services rendered; and (7) may have paid unallowable travel costs. Finally, LBNL did not ensure segregation of duties within the procurement and oversight of professional and consultant services agreements.

We attributed these issues to weaknesses in LBNL's internal policies and procedures, failure to adhere to internal policies and procedures, and misalignment of internal policy to Department policies. These weaknesses limit LBNL's ability to provide reasonable assurance that professional and consultant services agreements comply with laws and regulations and that only allowable costs are incurred and claimed.

To address the issues identified in this report, we have made 10 recommendations that, if fully implemented, should help ensure that professional and consultant services agreements are managed in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and contract requirements.

• DOE-OIG-26-32.pdf (827.66 KB)