Laws & Regulations

Report: Early Warning Report: Main EPA Headquarters Warehouse in Landover, Maryland, Requires Immediate EPA Attention

Report #13-P-0272, May 31, 2013. Our initial research at the EPA’s Landover warehouse raised significant concerns with the lack of agency oversight of personal property and warehouse space at the facility.

Report: Corrective Action Plan Needed in Order to Fully Comply With the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act

Report #13-P-0175, March 11, 2013. EPA did not comply with the IPERA because the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Agency Financial Report (AFR) did not include all required elements of a corrective action plan.

Report: EPA’s International Program Office Needs Improved Strategic Planning Guidance

Report #13-P-0386, September 9, 2013. The EPA’s OITA needs additional strategic planning guidance to better manage anticipated environmental outcomes of foreign grants.

Report: EPA Needs to Continue to Improve Controls for Improper Payment Identification

Report #14-P-0171, April 10, 2014. EPA's FY 2013 Agency Financial Report reported inaccurate information for the SRF and grant payment streams.

Report: EPA Needs to Track Whether Its Major Municipal Settlements for Combined Sewer Overflows Benefit Water Quality

Report #15-P-0280, September 16, 2015. By tracking environmental results, the EPA can show how the $32 billion that communities are spending to address discharges of untreated sewage and contaminated storm water improves water quality.

Report: Internal Control Lessons Learned for Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Appropriations Act Funds

Report #13-P-0351, August 22, 2013. EPA has controls in place to manage Sandy relief funds as described in the agency’s internal control plan (dated March 28, 2013),

Report: Congressionally Requested Information on EPA Utilization of Integrated Risk Information System

Report #13-P-0127, January 31, 2013. 85 percent of the EPA survey respondents reported that they have used IRIS as their primary source for cancer values and 81 percent have used IRIS as their primary source for non-cancer values.

Report: Cloud Oversight Resulted in Unsubstantiated and Missed Opportunities for Savings, Unused and Undelivered Services, and Incomplete Policies

Report #14-P-0332, August 15, 2014. Improved oversight could help the EPA achieve objectives for the millions spent for cloud services and identify potential cost savings.

Report: The EPA Should Assess the Utility of the Watch List as a Management Tool

Report #13-P-0435, September 30, 2013 . The agency runs the risk of maintaining a management tool that does not assist in tracking facilities with long-standing significant violations and has limited transparency and utility to the public.

Report: Fiscal Years 2013 and 2012 Financial Statements for the Pesticides Reregistration and Expedited Processing Fund

Report #15-1-0180, July 10, 2015. We noted a material weakness in internal controls.

Report: Early Warning Report: National Service Center for Environmental Publications in Blue Ash, Ohio, Spent $1.5 Million to Store Excess Publications

Report #14-P-0132, March 11, 2014. The EPA could put over $1.5 million to better use by reducing its inventory of excess publications at the NSCEP.

Report: Impact of EPA’s Conventional Reduced Risk Pesticide Program Is Declining

Report #14-P-0322, July 24, 2014. The number of newly registered reduced risk pesticides may continue to decline unless the EPA can reduce barriers to participation.

Report: EPA Does Not Adequately Follow National Security Information Classification Standards

Report #14-P-0017, November 15, 2013. EPA’s national security information could be improperly classified without improved procedures.

Report: Projected Emission Reductions Overstated and Buy American Requirements Not Met Under EPA Award to the Tennessee Department of Transportation

Report #13-R-0321, July 19, 2013. TDOT followed most applicable laws, regulations, and terms and conditions of the cooperative agreement - with the exception of the Buy American requirements of the Recovery Act.

Report: EPA Oversight Addresses Thermal Variance and Cooling Water Permit Deficiencies But Needs to Address Compliance With Public Notice Requirements

Report #13-P-0264, May 23, 2013. Since the 1980s, EPA has had an oversight process, known as Permit Quality Reviews (PQRs), to promote permit quality and ensure a reasonable degree of national consistency with regard to core program requirements.

Report: EPA Should Increase Fixed-Price Contracting for Remedial Actions

Report #13-P-0208, March 28, 2013. EPA continues to rely on high risk cost-reimbursement contracts and time-andmaterials task orders in the Superfund remedial program.

Report: EPA Is Not Recovering All Its Costs of the Lead-Based Paint Fees Program

Report #13-P-0163, February 20, 2013. EPA is not recovering all its costs of administering the lead-based paint program.

Report: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Site Visit of Combined Sewer Overflow Detention Facility, City of Goshen, Indiana

Report #13-R-0092, January 8, 2013. We conducted a site visit of the Recovery Act project to build a new combined sewer overflow detention facility in the City of Goshen, Indiana, in December 2011.

Report: Internal Controls Needed to Control Costs of Emergency and Rapid Response Services Contracts,as Exemplified in Region 6

Report #14-P-0109, February 4, 2014. Improper application of general and administrative rates resulted in higher costs to the government.

Report: Ineffective Oversight of Purchase Cards Resulted in Improper Purchases at EPA OIG

Report #15-B-0014, November 10, 2014. Reviews of $62,012 in OIG purchases found that $36,488 met the definition of improper purchases.