Laws & Regulations

Report: To Ensure Greater Use of Scientific Equipment, the Office of Research and Development Should Use an Enterprise Approach to Property Management

Report #15-P-0115, March 16, 2015. By not effectively managing property, 30 percent of a sample of scientific equipment sat idle in three laboratories.

Report: EPA Did Not Identify Volkswagen Emissions Cheating; Enhanced Controls Now Provide Reasonable Assurance of Fraud Detection

Report #18-P-0181, May 15, 2018. After uncovering VW's emissions fraud, the EPA's light-duty vehicle compliance program added controls to effectively detect and prevent noncompliance—a precursor to potential fraud.

Report: EPA Established a Web Management Program, but Improvements Are Needed in Deploying Web Analytics

Report #22-P-0013, December 20, 2021. Without fully implementing web analytics, the EPA could be without vital usage information to meet the needs of the public, regulatory agencies, industries, and other stakeholders when conveying environmental issues.

Report: EPA Needs to Justify How It Is Using Title 42 Hiring Authority

Report #15-P-0109, March 5, 2015. The EPA's Office of Research and Development's justification for using its Title 42 hiring authority to fill positions is ambiguous.

Report: EPA Can Improve Its Preparation and Use of Independent Government Cost Estimates for Superfund Contracts

Report #10-P-0065, February 16, 2010. EPA can improve its Superfund IGCEs and the corresponding cost estimating process.

Report: Independent Sampling Generally Confirms EPA’s Data at the Jones Sanitation Superfund Site in New York

Report #09-P-0243, September 23, 2009. In April 2008, the OIG obtained groundwater and surface water samples from the Jones Sanitation Superfund Site and nearby areas, and conducted a site inspection.

Report: Agreed-Upon Procedures on EPA’s Fiscal Year 2009 First Quarter Financial Statements

Report #09-2-0161, June 8, 2009. We compared the statements with EPA’s crosswalk, recomputed them for mathematical accuracy, and compared them with balances separately generated by us. Except for immaterial rounding differences, the amounts agreed.

Report: Pandemic Highlights Need for Additional Tribal Drinking Water Assistance and Oversight in EPA Regions 9 and 10

Report #21-E-0254, September 27, 2021. The coronavirus pandemic negatively impacted the oversight and assistance that Regions 9 and 10 provide to the tribal drinking water systems under their purview.

Report: ENERGY STAR Program Integrity Can Be Enhanced Through Expanded Product Testing

Report #10-P-0040, November 30, 2009. Almost all of the ENERGY STAR products in our test sample met, and in most cases exceeded, the program’s performance standards.

Report: EPA Should Stop Providing Estimates of Total Labor Hours to Contractors

Report #09-P-0229, September 9, 2009. For 6 of the 22 contracts we reviewed, EPA provided the contractor with the government’s estimate for total labor hours prior to receiving the contractor’s proposal.

Report: EPA Should Delay Deploying Its New Acquisition System until Testing Is Completed

Report #09-P-0197, July 20, 2009. OAM did not comply with EPA’s System Life Cycle Management policy and procedure while developing the new EPA Acquisition System (EAS).

Report: EPA Needs to Improve Internal Controls to Increase Cost Recovery

Report #09-P-0144, April 27, 2009. Within a sample of removal actions we reviewed, EPA collected from responsible parties approximately 11 percent ($31.4 of $294.5 million) of the Federal Government’s costs for conducting the removal actions.

Report: EPA Needs to Improve Its Efforts to Reduce Air Emissions at U.S. Ports

Report #09-P-0125, March 23, 2009. While EPA has issued air emissions regulations for most port sources, EPA’s actions to address air emissions from large oceangoing vessels in U.S. ports have not yet achieved the goals for protecting human health.

Report: Measuring and Reporting Performance Results for the Pollution Prevention Program Need Improvement

Report #09-P-0088, January 28, 2009. The P2 Program’s data provided in response to the OMB PART assessment generally addressed the PART questions and supported the moderately effective rating received.

Report: EPA Plans for Managing Counter Terrorism/ Emergency Response Equipment and Protecting Critical Assets Not Fully Implemented

Report #09-P-0087, January 27, 2009. EPA has progressed in implementing the counter terrorism/emergency response (CT/ER) initiatives, but is behind schedule in implementing the Radiation Ambient Monitoring (RadNet) System.

Report: Improvements Needed to Validate Reported ENERGY STAR Benefits

Report #09-P-0061, December 17, 2008. Reported ENERGY STAR benefits represented one-half of EPA’s total greenhouse gas emissions avoided in 2006.

Report: EPA’s California Waiver Decision on Greenhouse Gas Automobile Emissions Met Statutory Procedural Requirements

Report #09-P-0056, Dec 9, 2008. Administrator Johnson conducted a notice and hearing phase and based his decision to deny the waiver on one of the three criteria set out in Section 209(b); therefore, he satisfied the procedural statutory requirements.

Report: EPA Needs Definitive Guidance for Recovery Act and Future Green Reserve Projects

Report #10-R-0057, February 1, 2010. EPA has not provided clear and comprehensive guidance to States for how to determine the eligibility of green reserve projects.

Report: EPA Needs to Comply with the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act and Improve Its Oversight of Exported Never-Registered Pesticides

Report #10-P-0026, November 10, 2009. EPA is not complying with FIFRA Section 17(a) which is, in part, intended to notify the government of an importing country that a potentially hazardous pesticide was imported into that country.

Report: EPA Needs to Improve Continuity of Operations Planning

Report #10-P-0017, October 27, 2009. EPA has limited assurance that it can successfully maintain continuity of operations and execute its mission essential functions during a significant national event such as a pandemic influenza outbreak.