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	\	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2005-P-00027
£	nffironflncnorW^onoral September 27, 2005
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Office of Inspector General
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Review
The Chairman of the House
Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure asked us to
evaluate whether the
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) held
supervisors and their project
officers accountable for grants
management responsibilities.
Background
In July 2004, EPA's Acting
Assistant Administrator for
Administration and Resources
Management testified before
Congress regarding EPA's
actions to address grants
management weaknesses.
One of EPA's goals was to
increase accountability among
grants management staff.
For further information,
contact our Office of
Congressional and Public
Liaison at (202) 566-2391.
To view the full report,
click on the following link:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2005/
20050927-2005-P-00027.pdf
Catalyst for Improving the Environment
EPA Managers Did Not Hold Supervisors and
Project Officers Accountable for Grants
Management
What We Found
Although the Agency has made some progress to establish accountability,
managers did not sufficiently hold supervisors and project officers accountable for
grants management because there is no process to measure most grants
management activity. Managers and supervisors generally did not discuss grants
management responsibilities during year-end evaluations. In the limited cases
where grants management weaknesses were identified, managers did not
effectively communicate these weaknesses to staff.
As a result, systemic grants management weaknesses that the Office of Inspector
General and the Government Accountability Office have reported on for the past
several years continue to exist.
What We Recommend
We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Administration and
Resources Management work with Assistant Administrators and Regional
Administrators to: (1) establish a process to measure project officer, supervisor,
and manager performance against grant management requirements to form the
basis for performance ratings and discussions; (2) ensure managers and
supervisors review and discuss grants management during performance
evaluations as appropriate; and (3) ensure that the weaknesses identified in a
management review or self-assessment are communicated to the appropriate
project officer and supervisor.
EPA agreed with the recommendations and provided an outline of its action plan
in its response. EPA needs to provide more detail on specific actions it plans to
take to implement the recommendations and the milestone dates for completing
those actions.

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