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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
18-P-0222
July 20, 2018
Why We Did This Project
We conducted this audit to
accomplish two objectives:
•	Identify the controls put in
place by the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) for use during
the fiscal year 2017
Presidential Green Chemistry
Challenge Awards (PGCCA)
to prevent the use of
unverified, self-reported
results for agency reporting
purposes.
•	Assess the EPA's actions to
address recommendations in
Office of Inspector General
(OIG) Report No. 15-P-0279.
EPA's Presidential Green
Chemistry Challenge Awards
Program Lacks Adequate
Support and Transparency
and Should Be Assessed for
Continuation, issued
September 2015.
The PGCCA Program is
sponsored by the EPA's Office of
Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention to promote the
environmental and economic
benefits of developing and using
green chemistry by recognizing
industry innovations.
This report addresses the
following:
•	Operating efficiently and
effectively.
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oia.
EPA Completed OIG Recommendations for the
Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards Program
but Lacks Controls over Use of Unverified Results
What We Found
In 2015, we reported that award
results submitted to the EPA's
Pollution Prevention Program from
PGCCA recipients were not
adequately supported or
transparent. Specifically, we found
that PGCCA results were self-reported by award recipients, were not verified or
validated by the agency, and were included as metrics in agency reports
detailing the Pollution Prevention Program's performance and goals.
The OIG's 2015 report contained nine recommendations. During this current
audit, we verified that the EPA completed the agreed-upon corrective actions
for seven of these recommendations. The remaining two recommendations
were not considered in this current audit; the EPA completed one before we
issued our 2015 report, and the EPA and OIG later agreed that the other
recommendation was not applicable.
By completing these outstanding recommendations, the EPA discontinued the
use of unverified PGCCA results in its Pollution Prevention Program
performance metrics, developed a program logic model that communicates how
PGCCA contribute to Pollution Prevention Program goals, and established
internal metrics that track program outputs and provide future direction for the
PGCCA Program. However, we found that the EPA lacked documented internal
controls to prevent the use of PGCCA results in agency performance metrics.
Without documented controls, there is a risk that unverified PGCCA results
could be used as part of future agency metrics (for example, if and when new
staff become involved with the PGCCA Program).
We also found that the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention
disagreed with the OIG about the requirements regarding supporting
documentation for completed corrective actions.
Recommendation and Planned Agency Corrective Action
We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Chemical Safety and
Pollution Prevention establish and document internal controls to prevent the
use of PGCCA results in Pollution Prevention Program performance metrics.
The EPA agreed with our recommendation and provided an acceptable
planned corrective action and completion date.
The EPA discontinued the use of
unverified PGCCA results in agency
performance metrics, but a lack of
documented controls presents risk that
these data may be used in the future.
Listing of OIG reports.

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