^tDsrx
• A v
iSi
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
12-P-0312
March 1, 2012
Why We Did This Review
Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) guidance for
implementing the 2010
Improper Payments Elimination
and Recovery Act (IPERA)
specified responsibilities of
agencies and inspectors general.
Agencies are required to report
on improper payments, and
inspectors general are required
to determine whether the agency
is in compliance with IPERA.
As the Inspector General for the
U.S. Chemical Safety and
Hazard Investigation Board
(CSB), the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Office of
Inspector General undertook this
review of CSB's compliance
with IPERA.
Background
Each year, the federal
government wastes billions of
taxpayer dollars on improper
payments to individuals,
organizations, and contractors.
Despite efforts to reduce
improper payments, agencies
reported an estimated
$125 billion in improper
payments for fiscal year 2010.
For further information, contact
our Office of Congressional and
Public Affairs at (202) 566-2391.
The full report is at:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2012/
20120301 -12-P-0312.pdf
U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
Should Determine the Cost Effectiveness of
Performing Improper Payment Recovery Audits
What We Found
The CSB was not fully compliant with the reporting requirements of IPERA.
IPERA requires agencies to periodically review all programs and activities that
may be susceptible to significant improper payments. CSB is required to:
•	Publish and post on its website the Performance and Accountability
Report (PAR) for the most recent fiscal year
•	Identify programs and activities that are susceptible to significant
improper payments, defined as gross improper payments exceeding
2.5 percent of program outlays and $10 million of all program or activity
payments made during the fiscal year reported, and conduct a specific
risk assessment for each identified program
•	Determine the cost effectiveness of conducting recovery audits on each
program and activity of the agency that expends $ 1 million or more
annually
According to the Office of Management and Budget, beginning with the fiscal
year 2011 annual reporting period, inspectors general should evaluate the
accuracy and completeness of agency reporting, to include reviewing agency
improper payment reporting in the agency's annual PAR and determining
compliance with IPERA. As required, the CSB did publish its PAR on its
website, and because the CSB does not meet the minimum risk assessment
threshold, it is not required to perform the risk assessment. However, the CSB
had not determined the cost effectiveness of performing recovery audits for each
of its programs or activities that expend $1 million or more annually. Because
the CSB did not undertake an analysis to make that determination, it may be
failing to identify and recover improper payments that could be used to further
its mission of chemical accident prevention. Further, we were unable to evaluate
the accuracy and completeness of the CSB's reporting as well as CSB's
performance in preventing, reducing, and recapturing improper payments.
What We Recommend
We recommended that the CSB's Director of Financial Operations conduct an
analysis to determine the cost effectiveness of performing recovery audits on all
activities with annual outlays in excess of $ 1 million, and provide it to the
Inspector General as required by Office of Management and Budget
Memorandum M-l 1-16, Part I B. CSB concurred with our recommendation and
has completed its analysis.

-------