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Report Contributors:
Jee W. Kim
Eric Lewis
Rodney Rice
Andre von Hoyer, II
Abbreviations
EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
MATS Management Audit Tracking System
OIG Office of Inspector General
OLEM Office of Land and Emergency Management
ORD Office of Research and Development
Cover photo: Cleanup at residential property at Libby Asbestos Superfund site. (EPA photo)
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
18-P-0074
January 24, 2018
Why We Did This Review
We assessed the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA's) actions to
address recommendations in
two Office of Inspector General
(OIG) reports:
• No. 2007-P-00002. EPA
Needs to Plan and
Complete a Toxicity
Assessment for the Libby
Asbestos Cleanup, issued
December 5, 2006.
• No. 13-P-0221. Better
Planning, Execution and
Communication Could
Have Reduced the Delays
in Completing a Toxicity
Assessment of the Libby,
Montana, Superfund Site,
issued April 17, 2013.
The Deputy Administrator,
Assistant Administrator for
Land and Emergency
Management, Assistant
Administrator for Research and
Development, and Region 8
Regional Administrator were
responsible for completing the
recommendations in these
reports.
This report addresses the
following:
• Cleaning up and revitalizing
land.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oia.
Follow-Up Review: EPA Completed OIG
Recommendations for Superfund Site
in Libby, Montana
What We Found
The EPA took corrective
actions that enabled the Libby
toxicity assessment to be
completed with transparency
and that provided
stakeholders with important
human exposure information.
In 2006, we reported that the EPA had not
completed a toxicity assessment of amphibole
asbestos in Libby, Montana, to determine a
safe level for human exposure. In 2013, we
conducted a follow-up review to determine
why the EPA did not meet its planned
milestones for completing the toxicity
assessment. We concluded that the EPA
could have made better progress in completing its work through improved
communication, planning and execution of actions.
The OIG's 2006 report contained two recommendations. The EPA completed
Recommendation 2 before we issued our 2006 report, but Recommendation 1,
which called for the funding and execution of the toxicity assessment, still
remained incomplete when we published our 2013 follow-up report. During this
current review, we verified that the EPA completed the agreed-upon corrective
actions for Recommendation 1 in December 2014 by releasing the toxicity
assessment report.
The OIG's 2013 report contained nine recommendations. The EPA completed
five of these recommendations shortly after we issued our 2013 report. During
this current review, we concluded that the EPA completed the agreed-upon
corrective actions for the remaining four recommendations, which called for
updating stakeholders on significant risks to milestones, establishing a charter,
ensuring that interagency agreement contracts are within the scope of the
interagency agreement, and developing a priority list for research work.
By completing these outstanding recommendations, the agency was able to
issue the toxicity assessment, make determinations on the effectiveness of the
EPA's cleanup, and assess whether additional remedial actions were required.
Furthermore, the EPA achieved these actions with transparency to stakeholders.
There are no recommendations in this report.
Agency Response and OIG Evaluation
The agency did not have any comments. The OIG has no additional comment.
Listing of OIG reports.
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UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
January 24, 2018
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: Follow-Up Review: EPA Completed OIG Recommendations
for Superfund Site in Libby, Montana
Report No. 18-P-0074
FROM: Arthur A. Elkins Jr.
TO: Barry Breen, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator
Office of Land and Emergency Management
Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science
Office of Research and Development
Doug Benevento, Regional Administrator
Region 8
This is our report on the subject review conducted by the Office of Inspector General of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The project number for this review was OPE-FY17-0027.
EPA officials reviewed our draft findings and had no comments.
Because this report contains no recommendations, you are not required to respond to this report.
However, if you submit a response, it will be posted on the OIG's public website, along with our
memorandum commenting on your response. Your response should be provided as an Adobe PDF file
that complies with the accessibility requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as
amended. The final response should not contain data that you do not want to be released to the public;
if your response contains such data, you should identify the data for redaction or removal along with
corresponding justification.
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We will post this report to our website at www.epa.gov/oig.
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Follow-Up Review: EPA Completed
OIG Recommendations for
Superfund Site in Libby, Montana
18-P-0074
Table of C
Purpose 1
Background 1
Responsible Offices 1
Scope and Methodology 1
Results of Review 2
Conclusion 3
Agency Response and OIG Evaluation 3
Appendix
A Distribution 4
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Purpose
We conducted this review to follow up on the status of corrective actions taken by
the Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM),1 the Office of Research
and Development (ORD), and Region 8 of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) in response to recommendations in the following two Office of
Inspector General (OIG) reports:
• No. 2007-P-00002. EPA Needs to Plan and Complete a Toxicity
Assessment for the Libby Asbestos Cleanup, issued December 5, 2006.
• No. 13-P-0221. Better Planning, Execution and Communication Could
Have Reduced the Delays in Completing a Toxicity Assessment of the
Libby, Montana, Superfund Site, issued April 17, 2013.
Background
The OlG's 2006 Report
The EPA designated the Libby, Montana, site a national priority in the Superfund
program in 2002. In 2006, in response to inquiries by the two U.S. Senators from
Montana, the OIG conducted a review of the EPA's cleanup activities of asbestos
material in Libby. The resulting OIG report made two recommendations to the
Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response and the
Regional Administrator for Region 8.
The OlG's 2013 Report
The OIG conducted a follow-up review to assess why the agency did not meet its
projected dates to complete the OlG's 2006 recommendations. The OIG issued its
follow-up report in 2013 and made nine additional recommendations to the
Deputy Administrator, Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency
Response, Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, and Regional
Administrator for Region 8.
Responsible Offices
OLEM, ORD and Region 8 were responsible for completing the outstanding
recommendations in the OlG's 2006 and 2013 reports.
Scope and Methodology
We performed our current review from August 2017 through December 2017.
This follow-up review assessed the status of the outstanding recommendations
1 In 2015, the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response was reorganized and renamed the Office of Land and
Emergency Management.
18-P-0074
1
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from the previous two reports about the Libby Superfund site: Recommendation 1
from the 2006 report and Recommendations l.a, 2.a, 4 and 5 from the 2013 report
(Tables 1 and 2). For these recommendations, we verified whether information
about the corrective actions recorded in the EPA's Management Audit Tracking
System (MATS) matched documentation provided to us by the EPA. For
Recommendation 4, we also collected and reviewed three Region 8 interagency
agreements and contracts. We did not review the other recommendations from the
two reports because Recommendation 2 from the 2006 report was completed prior
to the issuance of the report and Recommendations l.b, l.c, 2.b, 3.a and 3.b from
the 2013 report were completed shortly after the report was issued.2
We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted
government auditing standards. These standards require that we plan and perform
the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis
for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objective. We believe that the
evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions
based on our audit objective.
Results of Review
The EPA reported in MATS that it completed corrective actions for
Recommendation 1 from the 2006 report and for Recommendations l.a, 2.a, 4
and 5 from the 2013 report. Our review verified that the EPA's information in
MATS was consistent with the documentation provided to us by OLEM, ORD
and Region 8, as shown in Tables 1 and 2.
Table 1: EPA corrective actions for outstanding 2006 report recommendation
Outstanding recommendation
No.
Action recommended
Status of recommendation
1
The EPA fund and execute a
comprehensive amphibole
asbestos toxicity assessment to
determine (1) the effectiveness
of the Libby removal actions,
and (2) whether more actions
EPA corrective action taken
The agency released the Toxicological Review of Libby Amphibole Asbestos in
December 2014. Region 8 released the Site-wide Human Health Risk
Assessment for the Libby Superfund Site in November 2015.
OIG review of corrective action
are necessary. The toxicity
assessment should include the
effects of asbestos exposure on
children. The EPA Science
Advisory Board should review
the toxicity assessment and
report to the Office of the
Administrator and the Libby
Community Advisory Group
whether the proposed toxicity
assessment can sufficiently
protect human health.
Per agency staff, the toxicological review was performed to evaluate the toxicity
of Libby amphibole asbestos in general. Employing the results of the
toxicological review, the health risk assessment evaluated the risk of human
exposure in Libby and whether the EPA's removal actions had been effective.
The health assessment indicated that the cleanup was effective, and the agency
provided a statement indicating that no further remedial actions are necessary
based on these studies.
The toxicological review provided details on the effects of asbestos on children.
The Science Advisory Board provided its assessment of the toxicological review
to the EPA Administrator in January 2013. The toxicological review was
"indirectly" shared with the Libby Community Advisory Group through the health
assessment, which incorporated findings from the toxicological review.
Source: EPA MATS, OIG Report No. 2007-P-00002, information provided by agency personnel, and OIG analysis.
2 The OIG teams that worked on the two reports reviewed and approved the completion of the corrective actions.
18-P-0074 2
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Table 2: EPA corrective actions for outstanding 2013 report recommendations
Outstanding recommendations
Status of recommendations
No.
Actions recommended
1.a
Assistant Administrator for
Solid Waste and Emergency
Response and Region 8
Regional Administrator require
action officials to disclose
significant risks to completing
the Libby Action Plan.
EPA corrective action taken
The agency committed to keeping stakeholders informed of any significant risk
to the completion of project milestones in future updates.
OIG review of corrective action
In 2013, the agency reviewed the milestones, and any changes in dates were
updated in the Libby Action Plan charter. No significant risks to completing the
Libby Action Plan were identified at that time.
2.a
Assistant Administrator for
Solid Waste and Emergency
Response, Assistant
Administrator for Research and
Development, and Region 8
Regional Administrator
establish a charter to define
project roles and
responsibilities for completing
the remaining corrective actions
under the Libby Action Plan.
EPA corrective action taken
The charter was completed on September 27, 2013.
OIG review of corrective action
The charter details roles and responsibilities for completing the remaining
corrective actions under the Libby Action Plan.
4
Region 8 Regional
Administrator ensure that future
contracts issued through
interagency agreements are
within the scope of those
agreements.
EPA corrective action taken
According to Region 8, it ensured that all contracting through interagency
agreements was within scope and adhered to Federal Acquisition Regulations.
OIG review of corrective action
The Region 8 Assistant Regional Administrator of Technical and Management
Services certified that Region 8 ensures that all contracting through
interagency agreements is within scope. OIG reviewed three Region 8
interagency agreements and found that the contracts were within scope.
5
Assistant Administrator for
Research and Development
require the development of a
priority ranking list among
Integrated Risk Information
System assessments, and that
the Assistant Administrator be
informed of any recommended
changes in those priorities. The
rankings should consider
human health consequences.
EPA corrective action taken
ORD maintains a list of five to 10 chemicals to be the highest priority
assessments within the Integrated Risk Information System program.
OIG review of corrective action
ORD provided a September 26, 2013, letter signed by the Principal Deputy
Assistant Administrator of Research and Development that lists six specific
chemicals as highest priority assessments, with human health consequences
as one of the considerations.
Source: EPA MATS, OIG Report No. 13-P-0221. information provided by agency personnel, and OIG analysis.
Conclusion
The EPA's corrective actions enabled the agency to complete the toxicity
assessment of Libby amphibole asbestos, determine a safe level for human
exposure, and provide transparency to stakeholders. The corrective actions satisfy
Recommendation 1 of the OIG's 2006 report and Recommendations l.a, 2.a, 4
and 5 of the OIG's 2013 report. We make no additional recommendations.
Agency Response and OIG Evaluation
The agency did not have any comments. The OIG has no additional comment.
18-P-0074
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Appendix A
Distribution
The Administrator
Chief of Staff
Chief of Operations
Deputy Chief of Operations
Agency Follow-Up Official (the CFO)
Agency Follow-Up Coordinator
General Counsel
Assistant Administrator for Land and Emergency Management
Assistant Administrator for Research and Development and EPA Science Advisor
Regional Administrator, Region 8
Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
Associate Administrator for Public Affairs
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Land and Emergency Management
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science, Office of Research and Development
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Research and Development, Office of Research and
Development
Deputy Regional Administrator, Region 8
Director, Office of Regional Operations
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of the Administrator
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Land and Emergency Management
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Research and Development
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Region 8
18-P-0074
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