^tDsx * O \ IŪ * U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General At a Glance 15-P-0001 October 6, 2014 Why We Did This Review The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Inspector General (OIG), initiated this audit to determine whether the EPA's fleet program is in accordance with federal fleet requirements for vehicle operations, acquisitions and utilization. Federal agencies are to use government vehicles to fulfill their mission. The Federal Management Regulation sets forth requirements governing the economical and efficient management and control of motor vehicles that the government owns, leases commercially, or leases through the General Services Administration fleet. This report addresses the following EPA goal or cross-agency strategy: Embracing EPA as a high- performing organization. Send all inquiries to our public affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or visit www.epa.gov/oia. The full report is at: www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2015/ 20141006-15-P-0001.pdf EPA's Fleet Management Program Needs Improvement What We Found The EPA's oversight of its fleet management program needs improvement. The OIG identified three areas that reinforce the need for more oversight: If oversight of the EPA's fleet is not improved, the $6 million- per-year program could be ineffective and inefficient in supporting the agency's mission and reporting data to the federal system, and could place taxpayer funds at risk. The EPA has not finalized or issued guidance documentation to manage the fleet in over 5 years. Fleet managers were not following program requirements and federal regulations for vehicle emission testing, tracking vehicle usage, and ensuring operator responsibilities. The EPA lacks documentation to support its approval of law enforcement vehicles in home-to-work status. Without adequate oversight of the fleet program, the agency is not ensuring that the $6 million-per-year program is efficient and effective to perform the agency's mission, and is placing taxpayer funds at risk. We also found that the EPA should increase monitoring of data within the agency's fleet information system, known as the Automotive Statistical Tool (AST). We identified missing, incomplete or incorrect information in the fleet system. In addition, user data input from one report or screen in the AST is not reported consistently in other system reports. The EPA has not developed or issued an AST manual or a list of procedures to ensure users correctly input information into the system. The AST-programmed data checks are not effective in identifying differences in varying system reports. If data in the EPA's fleet information system is not accurate, the agency is at risk of reporting errors to the federal information system. Recommendations and Planned Corrective Actions The OIG recommended that the Assistant Administrator for Administration and Resources Management: Finalize and issue the Fleet Management Manual to ensure that fleet managers operate programs within the agency's policies and procedures. Require fleet managers to perform vehicle emission testing, use a tracking system for vehicle usage, and require operators to acknowledge responsibilities. Require fleet managers with law enforcement vehicles to confer with the Office of Administration and Resources Management to ensure the agency has an acceptable level of documentation to meet reporting requirements. Develop and issue an AST manual or a list of procedures for users to help ensure data input is correct in the system. The agency agreed with our recommendations and provided corrective actions. ------- |