At a Glance: EPA Met or Exceeded Most Internal Climate Change Goals, But Data Quality and Records Management Procedures Need Improvement


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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
14-P-0325
July 29, 2014
Why We Did This Review
The congressional Bicameral
Task Force on Climate Change
requested that we assess
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) implementation
of policies that address climate
change at EPA facilities to
ensure the EPA was meeting
requirements.
To address this request, we
evaluated the EPA's
implementation of requirements
under Executive Order 13514,
"Federal Leadership in
Environmental, Energy, and
Economic Performance." To
meet the requirements of the
order, the EPA developed a
2012 Strategic Sustainability
Performance Plan that
identified its progress in
meeting internal agency goals
related to greenhouse gas
emissions, among others.
We also reviewed the EPA's
implementation of EPA Office
of Inspector General (OIG)
recommendations made in
2011 to adjust its greenhouse
gas reductions goal based on
funding and project status.
This report addresses the
following EPA goals or
cross-agency strategies:
•	Addressing climate change
and improving air quality.
•	Working toward a
sustainable future.
For further information,
contact our public affairs office
at (202) 566-2391.
The full report is at:
www.epa.qov/oiq/reports/2014/
20140729-14-P-0325.pdf
EPA Met or Exceeded Most Internal Climate
Change Goals, But Data Quality and Records
Management Procedures Need Improvement
Most Climate Change Goals Met
Improving data quality and
records management
procedures can support
confidence in the reliability
of EPA's progress reports
on its climate change goals.
The EPA adhered to most climate change
requirements for federal agencies. With a few
exceptions, the EPA provided documentation to
support its reported 2012 accomplishments. The
EPA exceeded its climate change goals and
requirements related to water use, greenhouse
gas emissions and renewable energy. The EPA was one of only three agencies
out of 25 reporting that received a green scorecard on the OMB sustainability
scorecard for fiscal year (FY) 2013 and has achieved a green scorecard the last
3 years. In addition, the EPA voluntarily tracks and reports data for its leased
buildings that are 50,000 square feet or larger. In response to the
recommendation from the 2011 OIG report, the EPA incorporated a review of its
greenhouse gas reduction goals as part of its annual Strategic Sustainability
Performance Plan submission, and it agreed to make adjustments to the overall
reduction goal as needed. Since the agency is on track to meet its 2020
greenhouse gas reduction goals and it has developed a process to revise the
goals, we believe this prior OIG recommendation has been addressed.
Areas Where Improvements Are Needed
We identified several internal control weaknesses in the EPA's data quality
assurance procedures and adherence to its Records Management Policy that
need to be addressed. The agency relies heavily on a contractor to collect water
and energy data used in the 2012 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan and
also relies on the contractor to perform its own quality assurance review of data
presented in the plan, which, due to EPA inattention, could increase the
likelihood that inaccurate data gets overlooked. Further, we identified data errors
in the plan. The agency also lacks sufficient internal controls for electronic
stewardship and data center accomplishments reported in the plan. Additionally,
we identified areas where the EPA was not in full compliance with the agency's
Records Management Policy. Specifically, EPA accomplishment data reported in
the 2012 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan related to fleet management,
waste diversion and acquisitions have not been appropriately maintained and
documented.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the agency establish procedures to conduct a quality
assurance review of Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan data provided by
the contractor and EPA program offices. We also recommend that the agency
develop and implement procedures for maintaining and securing records
associated with production of the annual Strategic Sustainability Performance
Plan in accordance with the EPA's Records Management Policy. The agency
agreed with our recommendations and provided a corrective action plan.

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