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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
14-N-0358
September 25, 2014
Why We Did This Review
The purpose of this review was
to report on compliance with
the set of criteria the Office of
Inspector General (OIG) of the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) uses to ensure
quality in reports issued by its
Office of Audit and Office of
Program Evaluation for
consistency with generally
accepted government auditing
standards. We also sought to
assess any trends or issues
related to possible non-
compliance with quality
standards and identify areas in
which quality processes can be
improved.
This report addresses the
following EPA goal or
cross-agency strategy:
• Embracing EPA as a high-
performing organization.
Quality Control Review of EPA Office of
Inspector General Reports Issued in Fiscal Year 2013
What We Found
Monitoring of quality
controls is an ongoing,
periodic assessment of
work to ensure
compliance with the
OIG's system of quality
control.
During fiscal year 2013, the OIG continued to
make improvements regarding documentation of
workpaper reviews. Supervisory reviews were
better documented, including the supporting
workpapers for the draft and final reports. In
addition, staff are responding to the Product Line
Director and Project Manager comments, and
clearance by the Product Line Director/Project Manager is documented in the
review sheets and notes.
Nonetheless, we noted the following areas where improvements should be
made:
•	Workpapers should not be unnecessarily lengthy.
•	Indexing should be updated at various stages.
•	Use of draft agency documents should be better managed and attributed.
•	Dates used to define the scope of work should be more standardized.
Suggestions for Improvement
We suggest that the OIG reinforce to staff the Project Management Handbook
requirements to:
•	Include as part of the workpaper preparation and review processes that
each workpaper addresses only one audit or evaluation step or sub-step.
•	Include the proper elements on indexing.
•	Specify that reports should clearly attribute draft sources and verify that
the sources contain the most up-to-date information.
•	Properly report the beginning and end dates for all reports.
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/2014/
20140925-14-N-0358.pdf

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