Laws & Regulations

Report: Audit of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Cooperative Agreement 2A-00E85701 Awarded to the Greater Lansing Area Clean Cities

Report #14-R-0088, January 9, 2014. GLACC awarded contracts with conflicts of interest, resulting in questioned costs of $805,759.

Report: CSB's Fiscal Year 2012 Management Challenges

The EPA Office of Inspector General is beginning work to update our list of areas we consider to be the key management challenges confronting the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.

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: EPA Needs to Improve Safeguards for Personally Identifiable Information

Report #14-P-0122, February 24, 2014. The lack of stronger privacy program processes and procedures places the EPA’s sensitive PII at a greater risk of compromise and misuse.

Report: Complaints Regarding Debris Management at the West, Texas, Fertilizer Plant Explosion Have Been Addressed

Report #14-P-0123, February 24, 2014. Debris from a fertilizer plant explosion was moved without EPA or TCEQ knowledge but is being managed. A water main break existed under the debris but has been addressed. The debris was found to be non-hazardous.

Report: Ineffective Oversight of Purchase Cards Results in Inappropriate Purchases at EPA

Report #14-P-0128, March 4, 2014. The EPA began taking action to improve the oversight of purchase cards and is considering other improvements.

Report: EPA Did Not Conduct Thorough Biennial User Fee Reviews

Report #14-P-0129, March 4, 2014. The EPA may not have recovered all program costs and collected millions of dollars that could have been available to reduce the federal budget deficit.

Report: Unless California Air Resources Board Fully Complies With Laws and Regulations, Emission Reductions and Human Health Benefits Are Unknown

Report #14-R-0130, March 6, 2014. CARB did not fully comply with the Energy Act and cooperative agreement requirements, resulting in potential overpayment of $8,866,000.

Report: National Association of State Departments of Agriculture Research Foundation Needs to Comply With Certain Federal Requirements and EPA Award Conditions to Ensure the Success of Pesticide Safety Education Programs

Report #14-P-0131, March 10, 2014. We questioned $571,626 of potentially unallowable costs.

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: EPA’s Information Systems and Data Are at Risk Due to Insufficient Training of Personnel With Significant Information Security Responsibilities

Report #14-P-0142, March 21, 2014. The EPA places its information systems and data at risk due to an organizational structure that has not specified required duties and responsibilities to ensure personnel are trained on key information security roles.

Report: EPA Needs to Improve Management of the Cross-Media Electronic Reporting Regulation Program in Order to Strengthen Protection of Human Health and the Environment

Report #14-P-0143, March 21, 2014. An absence in management controls could lead the EPA to receive electronic documents that are unacceptable in administrative or judicial enforcement proceedings.

Report: Quick Reaction Report: EPA Oversight Needed to Ensure Beach Safety in U.S. Virgin Islands

Report #14-P-0155, March 31, 2014. The lapse in sampling of USVI beaches created risk that the public was exposed to unsafe levels of bacteria and the environment may have been endangered.

Report: Improvements to EPA Policies and Guidance Could Enhance Protection of Human Study Subjects

Report #14-P-0154, March 31, 2014. The EPA can enhance its human studies by improving how it obtains approval for studies; how it communicates risk to people who participate in EPA studies; and how it addresses adverse events in its guidance.

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: U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Did Not Comply With the Do Not Pay Requirements for Improper Payments

Report #14-P-0172, April 10, 2014. Risk of improper payments is increased because CSB did not implement the preventative measures required by IPERIA.

Report: The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Complies With the Federal Information Security Management Act (Fiscal Year 2013)

Report #14-P-0181, April 10, 2014. The CSB has an information security program in place that is functioning as designed; the CSB takes information security weaknesses seriously.

Report: EPA Needs to Demonstrate Whether It Has Achieved the Goals It Set Under the National Petroleum Refinery Initiative

Report #14-P-0184, April 15, 2014. By determining the outcomes of the NPRI, the EPA can strengthen the likelihood of success for future initiatives and sustain the desired benefits.

Report: EPA Needs to Clarify Its Claim of “No Net Loss” of Wetlands

Report #14-P-0191, April 16, 2014. The EPA can improve performance reports by indicating that achieving “no net loss” is based on the assumption that all mitigation projects will meet performance standards.

Report: Chemical Import Data May Help EPA Identify Facilities That Need to File or Update Risk Management Plans

Report #14-N-0239, April 28, 2014. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may want to use chemical import data to help determine whether facilities have a sufficient RMP in place.