U.S. officials consistently failed to comply with federal regulations when reviewing applications for wind and solar projects on public lands, according to a report by an independent government watchdog published on Thursday.

An audit by the Interior Department's Office of Inspector General found that the Bureau of Land Management did not assess most applicants' technical and financial ability to develop renewable energy projects, maintained incomplete files and failed to screen applications in a timely manner.

President Donald Trump has sought to stymie development of wind and solar projects on federal lands, including by reviewing wind permitting and leasing practices and requiring additional scrutiny of renewable projects on federal lands. The IG's office said its report had been initiated prior to those actions, but that its work may be useful to Interior's efforts to assess agency practices and develop new processes.

The BLM, which is part of the Interior Department, manages 245 million acres of public lands, mostly in Western states.

The Interior watchdog blamed a lack of internal controls and training for the weaknesses and said they put the agency at risk of awarding permits to unqualified entities and prevented it from collecting rents and fees.

The report analyzed 258 right-of-way applications for wind and solar projects on federal lands between 2017 and 2023. A right of way is a permit to use public lands for a specific purpose.

An inspector general is an independent position that conducts audits and investigations into allegations of government waste, fraud and abuse of power. Trump fired the Interior Department's inspector general of five years right after taking office earlier this year. Caryl Brzymialkiewicz, who had been deputy inspector general, is now the acting IG.

The report included 10 recommendations to improve BLM's internal controls. The BLM agreed with nine of them.