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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	15-B-0014
November 10, 2014
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
The Office of Inspector General
(OIG) issued a report on the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) purchase
card program, Ineffective
Oversight of Purchase Cards
Results in Inappropriate
Purchases at EPA, on March 4,
2014. The Deputy Inspector
General requested that OIG's
Office of Audit conduct this
audit to determine whether OIG
purchased items that should
not have been purchased or did
not comply with either EPA or
OIG policies.
This report addresses the
following OIG goal:
• Be responsible stewards of
taxpayers dollars.
Ineffective Oversight of Purchase Cards Resulted in
Improper Purchases at EPA OIG
What We Found
The EPA OIG needs to improve and comply with
internal controls for purchase cards. Our review of 48
high risk transactions found that 46 transactions had
internal control weaknesses or recordkeeping issues.
Reviews of $62,012 in
OIG purchases found
that $36,488 met the
definition of improper
purchases.
We did not find any fraudulent or prohibited transactions. Purchases totaling
$36,488 were improper, as defined by Office of Management and Budget Circular
A-123, because they were outside the cardholder's authority or should not have
been made under administrative requirements. This does not mean that items
purchased with the cards could not have been purchased if proper procedures
were followed. Internal control weaknesses included:
•	Availability of funding not verified prior to placing order.
•	Approving official prior approval not obtained.
•	Third party verification by other than cardholder or approving official
not provided.
Internal control weaknesses occurred in part because the OIG purchase card
procedure is not consistent with the EPA's Contracts Management Manual. As a
result, EPA OIG purchase card holders and approvers who rely on the OIG
purchase card procedure are unaware what is required to comply with EPA
policies. When internal controls are not followed, it increases the risk of
fraudulent, prohibited and improper purchases.
Recommendations
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566 2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oiq.
The full report is at:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2014/
20141110-15-B-0014.pdf
We recommend that the Deputy Inspector General:
1.	Update the OIG purchase card procedure.
2.	Issue a memorandum and meet with OIG purchase cardholders and
approving officials to discuss the results of this audit.
3.	Verify that OIG cardholders and approving officials completed the EPA
mandatory supplemental purchase card training.
4.	Appoint an OIG acquisition professional who has purchase card authority.
5.	Update the procedure on firearms and law enforcement equipment.
6.	Institute follow-up actions to hold individuals accountable for improper
purchases identified in the audit.
7.	Conduct an assessment of compliance with the revised OIG purchase card
procedure 6 months after it is issued.
The OIG agreed with all of the recommendations and provided corrective actions
and completion dates to address all of the draft report's recommendations.

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