If You Have Office of Inspector General
A Complaint, RePre^ntative
Get In Touch
With Us Region 1
Richard J. Walsh
Region 2
George B. Markham
Region 3
Charles Moraglia
Region 4
John V. Zacharias
Region 5
Roger Smith
Region 6
Rodman J. Redard
Region 7
Gene Barnhart
Region 8
Kenneth J. Wilk
Region 9
Kenneth F. Heard
Region 10
Norman H. Brand
Headquarters
Paul Olson
Hotline
Number
223-3851
264-0399
597-9421
257-2618
C 53 -2486
729-2709
758-6126
327-5388
556-2365
399-7180
472-7146
        United States       June 1980
        Environmental Protection   OPA42/0
        Agency
SER&  Introducing
        the
        Off ice of
        Inspector
        General
        to EPA
        Employees

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What is the    In these times of spiraling inflation
Office of      and increased public attention to
Inspector      governmental spending, it's vital that
General?      every Federal Government dollar be
              spent wisely. Recognizing this, in
              October 1978 Congress passed the
              Inspector General Act of 1978—
              Public Law 95-452—which created
              Offices of Inspector General in the
              Environmental Protection Agency
              and 12 other Federal agencies.
                This brochure explains all about
              EPA's Office of Inspector General:
              what  we do, why we do it, and—
              most  important of all—how you can
              help!
             i
What's Your  i Simply put, the purpose of the Office
Objective     I of Inspector General is to:
              • Promote economy, efficiency, and
              effectiveness in the administration
              of EPA's programs and operations;
              and
              • Prevent and detect fraud, waste,
              mismanagement, and abuse in
              EPA's programs and operations.,

How Do You   One of the best ways is by
Do That?      conducting frequent audits and
              investigations of all EPA programs
              and operations, looking  at both
              internal and external activities. We
              spend much of our time conducting
              audits and  investigations of the
              wastewater treatment plant
              construction grant program, to
              which EPA devotes nearly 90
              percent of its annual budget.
                 The Inspector General also has
               responsibility for reviewing existing
               and proposed legislation and
               regulations, and for making
               recommendations concerning their
               impact. The Inspector General is in
               continual contact with the
               Administrator and Deputy
               Administrator on a wide range of
               issues important to EPA and its
               employees.
                 Twice each year, we send a formal
               report to the Congress, through the
               Administrator and Deputy Adminis-
               trator, informing them of the results
               of our audits and investigations and
               bringing the Congress up to date on
               our progress in promoting economy
               and combating fraud, abuse, mis-
               management, and waste at EPA.

How Can I     If you ever see, or become aware of,
Help?          any
               • Violations of laws or  regulations,
               • Mismanagement,
               • Gross waste of funds,
               • Abuses of authority, or
               • Substantial danger to public
               health and safety/

               please let us know!
                 We have representatives in Head-
               quarters and each EPA  Region; their
               names are listed on the last page of
               this brochure. The employees of the
               Office of Inspector General will
               listen to your complaint and do
               everything possible to resolve it.

I'd Rather      Fine. Just dial the "Whistleblowers
Phone In My   Hotline" telephone number  in your
Complaint     Region (listed on the final page
               of this brochure). We'll treat your
               allegation just as we would  if you'd
               stopped  by in person.
Couldn't
Complaining
Like That Get
Me Into
Trouble?
What If You
Can't Prove
My
Complaint Is
Valid?
NO) In fact, if you phone in a
complaint, you don't even have to
leave your name. But we hope you
will identify yourself so that we can
follow up on your information and
get back in touch with you, if
necessary, for more details. We will
protect your  identity throughout any
investigation unless you agree to
"going public" or (in rare cases) the
Inspector General determines that
disclosing your identity is
unavoidable  during the course of  the
investigation.

Unfortunately, that does happen
from time to time. But as long as
you don^t make a complaint knowing
that it's false (or, in the words of the
Inspector General Act, "with willful
disregard for its truth or falsity"), you
will be protected in every possible
way.

If you have any remaining  questions
about the Office of Inspector
General,  we'll  be happy to answer
them. Please call the Assistant
Inspector General for Audits, on FTS
557-5076, or the Assistant Inspector
General for Investigations, on FTS
245-3090.

Thank You For Your Cooperation!
               Inez Smith Reid
               Inspector General

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