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*. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	13-p-0386
ro	Offino r»f Incnortnr	September 9, 2013
At a Glance
!JSB~	Office of Inspector General
Why We Did This Review
The objective of this evaluation
was to determine how the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) ensures that
environmental and human
health goals are achieved
through partnerships with
international entities. We
focused on (1) the statutory
authority by which the EPA
awards international grants,
(2)	anticipated environmental
outcomes of foreign grants, and
(3)	tools in place to manage
outcomes and measures for
grants. We focused on
activities of the EPA's Office of
International and Tribal Affairs
(OITA), which awards grants to
support international activities.
This report addresses the
following EPA Themes:
•	Addressing climate change
and improving air quality.
•	Taking action on toxics and
chemical safety.
•	Working toward a
sustainable future.
EPA's International Program Office
Needs Improved Strategic Planning Guidance
For further information, contact
our Office of Congressional and
Public Affairs at (202) 566-2391.
What We Found
The EPA has the statutory authority to conduct international activities and has
several tools in place to help ensure that its partnerships with international
entities achieve environmental and human health goals. However, the EPA's
OITA needs additional strategic planning guidance to better manage anticipated
environmental outcomes of foreign grants.
The EPA has the legal authority to award international and foreign grants under:
(1) specific international grant authorities, and (2) research and demonstration
authorities that are supplemented by the National Environmental Policy Act.
Further, the EPA uses a combination of grants management tools, such as the
Integrated Grants Management System and project officers, to help manage
outcomes and measures.
Although OITA collects environmental outcome/output information, OITA has not
incorporated the information into a comprehensive strategic planning document.
Also, the allocation of resources for planned activities is not described within
OITA's current strategic planning documents. OITA's strategic planning guidance
needs to be updated to provide greater accountability and justification for the
international activities and grants that OITA manages. This would help assure
that OITA's grants align with the EPA's goals of advancing public health and
environmental improvement and that EPA resources are properly allocated.
Recommendations and Planned Corrective Actions
We recommend that the assistant administrator for OITA develop strategic
planning guidance to document how OITA links its achieved outcomes for
international and foreign grant activities to its strategic plan goals, the process
used by OITA to allocate resources for its international and foreign grant
activities, and how OITA's international and foreign grant activities align with the
EPA's overall goals.
The agency concurred with our findings and recommendation. The agency
provided corrective actions and an estimated completion date that meet the intent
of the recommendation. The recommendation is resolved and open with
corrective actions ongoing. No further response to this report is required.
The full report is at:
www.epa.qov/oiq/reports/2013/
20130909-13-P-0386.pdf

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