*	' U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	13-P-0435
§	\ Office of Inspector General	September 30, 2013
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
We sought to determine
how the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) uses
the Watch List as a tool to
target enforcement actions and
whether there are opportunities
for improvement.
Used by the EPA since 2004,
the Watch List is designed to
provide EPA regions and states
with a list of facilities that are in
significant violation of
environmental laws and that
appear not to have been
addressed by timely and
appropriate enforcement.
The Watch List initially was
just used as an in-house
management tool, but in 2011
the EPA made its data
available to the public.
This report addresses
the following EPA theme:
• Embracing EPA as a high
performing organization.
The EPA Should Assess the Utility of the
Watch List as a Management Tool
For further information,
contact our public affairs office
at (202) 566-2391.
The full report is at:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2013/
20130930-13-P-0435.pdf
What We Found
According to the EPA, the Watch List is a management tool used to identify
long-standing significant violations. However, through interviews, regional
questionnaires, and data analysis, we found that:
•	Use of the Watch List differs among headquarters and regional enforcement
programs.
•	Trends in the number of facilities on the Watch List differ among
enforcement programs.
•	EPA staff suggest multiple opportunities for improvement in the Watch List.
•	The public version of the Watch List has limited search capabilities and
information.
Wthout a proper assessment of the Watch List, the agency runs the risk of
maintaining a management tool that does not assist in tracking facilities with long-
standing significant violations, has limited transparency and utility to the public,
and does not meet the needs of EPA users.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
assess the Watch List's utility as a management tool. If the agency determines
that the tool is useful, it should:
•	Ensure that Watch List criteria are consistent with relevant enforcement
response policies, and reassess criteria to determine relevance.
•	Develop an approach for identifying and/or removing facilities on the list that
have been referred elsewhere or are under a consent decree.
•	Improve transparency of the publicly available Watch List to allow users to
search and receive information similar to what is available internally.
•	Identify and implement other improvements to the Watch List identified in
the EPA's assessment.
The agency agreed with the recommendation to assess the Watch List by
September 30, 2014. If the agency decides to retain the list, it will act on the
remainder of the recommendations by December 30, 2014. The
recommendations are resolved with corrective actions pending.

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