U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
Compliance with the law
Operating efficiently and effectively
EPA Law Enforcement
Availability Pay Properly
Certified but Controls over
Process Could Be Improved
Report No. 19-P-0001
November 6, 2018

-------
Report Contributors:	Angela Bennett
Darren Schorer
John Trefry
Abbreviations
CFR	Code of Federal Regulations
CID	Criminal Investigation Division
EPA	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
LEAP	Law Enforcement Availability Pay
MARS	Monthly Activity Reporting System
OCEFT	Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training
OECA	Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
OIG	Office of Inspector General
U.S.C.	United States Code
Cover Images: The images, prepared by EPA OIG, depict LEAP certification (left) and
needed improvements over reporting controls (right).
Are you aware of fraud, waste or abuse in an
EPA program?
EPA Inspector General Hotline
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (2431T)
Washington, DC 20460
(888) 546-8740
(202) 566-2599 (fax)
OIG Hotline@epa.gov
Learn more about our OIG Hotline.
EPA Office of Inspector General
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (2410T)
Washington, DC 20460
(202) 566-2391
www.epa.gov/oiq
Subscribe to our Email Updates
Follow us on Twitter @EPAoig
Send us your Project Suggestions

-------
tfED srA/.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	19-P-0001
^ l.-m	Offino r>f Incnortnr fionoi-al	November 6, 2018
<
33
•	UiOi 111V11 Ul 111 ICr 11 Id I I I UlUl/U
_mm^ \ Office of Inspector General
SSzZJ
At a Glance
\ <
*1 PRO^
Why We Did This Project
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA),
Office of Inspector General
(OIG), conducted this audit to
determine whether criminal
investigators in the EPA's
Office of Criminal Enforcement,
Forensics and Training
(OCEFT) properly record Law
Enforcement Availability Pay
(LEAP) hours in compliance
with federal requirements and
EPA policies and procedures.
Criminal investigators are
provided premium pay or LEAP
for being available for
unscheduled duty beyond their
regular 40-hour workweek
based on the needs of the
employing agency. To earn
LEAP, criminal investigators
must average, on an annual
basis, 2 hours of unscheduled
duty per regular workday.
This report addresses the
following:
•	Compliance with the law.
•	Operating efficiently and
effectively.
EPA Law Enforcement Availability Pay Properly Certified
but Controls over Process Could Be Improved
Send all inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or visit www.epa.gov/oiq.
Listing of OIG reports.
Criminal investigators
worked an average of
2 hours of unscheduled
duty per regular workday
to meet annual certification
requirements for 2017.
What We Found
We found that EPA criminal investigators
complied with federal requirements for LEAP
annual certification. Our sample results showed
that the criminal investigators worked an average
of 2 hours of unscheduled duty per regular
workday as required. With one exception, annual
certifications were completed and approved for
fiscal year 2017. The one exception occurred because the system used to
capture monthly LEAP activities did not allow for an electronic certification for a
criminal investigator who worked a partial year. Additionally, a hard-copy
certification was not submitted for approval.
We identified controls over the reporting of LEAP hours and the annual
certification process that could be improved. We found that:
•	Monthly activity reports were not always submitted and approved as
required by the Monthly Activity Reporting System procedures manual.
•	Supervisors did not approve most annual certifications by October 10, 2017,
as required by OCEFT's premium pay policy.
•	Five of 12 criminal investigators selected from our sample incorrectly
excluded workdays from their substantial hours calculation.
We could not determine why criminal investigators and supervisors were not
following the submission and approval requirements for the monthly activity
reports. The untimely approval of certifications resulted from delays in the update
of approval officials and submission of untimely and incomplete monthly activity
reports by the criminal investigators. Continued late submissions and approvals
can lead to delays in the quarterly assessment and annual certification process.
While the criminal investigators met annual certification requirements for 2017,
untimely submittals and approvals, as well as incorrectly excluded workdays, put
criminal investigators at risk of not meeting future certification requirements; put
supervisors at risk of making erroneous approvals; and increase the risk for
fraud, waste and abuse.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the agency (1) enforce compliance with required time frames
for monthly activity reports, (2) implement controls to improve the timeliness of the
annual certification process, and (3) enforce compliance with the substantial
hours requirement. The agency agreed with Recommendations 1 and 2 and
provided sufficient corrective actions and completion dates. The OIG revised
Recommendation 3, and the agency agreed with the revised recommendation
and provided a sufficient corrective action and completion date.

-------
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
THE INSPECTOR GENERAL
November 6, 2018
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT: EPA Law Enforcement Availability Pay Properly Certified
but Controls over Process Could Be Improved
Report No. 19-P-0001
FROM: Charles J. Sheehan
Acting Inspector General
TO:
Susan Bodine, Assistant Administrator
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
This is our report on the subject audit conducted by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The project number for this audit was OA-FY18-0075.
This report contains findings that describe the problems the OIG has identified and corrective actions the
OIG recommends.
In accordance with EPA Manual 2750, your office provided acceptable corrective actions and estimated
completion dates for the three recommendations. All recommendations are resolved and no final
response to this report is required. However, if you submit a response, it will be posted on the OIG's
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 further 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.
We will post this report to our website at www.epa.gov/oig.

-------
EPA Law Enforcement Availability Pay
Properly Certified but Controls over Process
Could Be Improved
19-P-0001
Table of C
Purpose		1
Background		1
Federal Requirements		1
EPA Policies and Procedures		2
Responsible Office		3
Prior Reports		3
Scope and Methodology		4
Results		4
Submission and Approval of MARS Reports Are Not Timely		6
Annual Certifications Are Not Timely		7
Regular Workdays Improperly Excluded from Substantial Hours Calculation		8
Differences Between Hours Recorded in MARS and PeoplePlus Noted		8
Conclusion		9
Recommendations		9
Agency Comments and OIG Evaluation		10
Status of Recommendations and Potential Monetary Benefits		11
Appendices
A Agency's Comments	 12
B Distribution	 15

-------
Purpose
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has audited the EPA Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics
and Training's (OCEFT's) Law Enforcement Availability Pay (LEAP) reporting.
The audit's objective was to determine whether OCEFT properly recorded LEAP
hours in compliance with federal requirements and EPA policies and procedures.
This audit was initiated based on concerns raised in the OIG's audit of the
Administrator's Protective Service Detail (Report No. 18-P-02391 which
identified compliance issues related to the recording and monitoring of LEAP
hours by criminal investigators assigned to the Administrator's Protective Service
Detail.
Background
OCEFT is an office within the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance (OECA). OCEFT investigates violations of environmental laws,
provides a broad range of technical and forensic services for civil and criminal
investigative support, and provides counsel on legal and policy matters. OCEFT
includes the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), the Professional Integrity and
Quality Assurance program, the National Enforcement Investigations Center, and
the Legal Counsel Division. Most of the criminal investigators subject to this
audit, including those providing protective services to the Administrator, are in the
CID, with some criminal investigators in the Professional Integrity and Quality
Assurance program.
Criminal investigators are provided LEAP for being available for unscheduled
duty beyond their regular 40-hour workweek. LEAP provides an additional
25 percent of the rate of basic pay for the position. To earn LEAP, criminal
investigators must average, on an annual basis, 2 hours of unscheduled duty per
regular workday. OCEFT uses the Monthly Activity Reporting System (MARS)
to record all hours worked, including LEAP hours. As of November 29, 2017,
OCEFT had 157 criminal investigators receiving LEAP.
Federal Requirements
Criminal investigators, in accordance with 5 U.S.C. § 5545a, Availability Pay for
Criminal Investigators, are provided premium pay, or LEAP, for being available
for unscheduled duty beyond their regular 40-hour workweek based on the needs
of the employing agency. Per 5 U.S.C. § 5545a(a)(3), unscheduled duty is defined
as "hours of duty a criminal investigator works, or is determined to be available
for work that are not (A) part of the 40 hours in the basic workweek of the
investigator; or (B) overtime hours paid."
Per 5 CFR § 550.182(c), Unscheduled Duty, for a criminal investigator to be
considered eligible for LEAP, the work performed "must be officially ordered or
19-P-0001
1

-------
approved." This definition includes work performed without specific supervisory
preapproval. Further, 5 CFR § 550.182(d) states that to be considered available
for work, the agency must determine that the investigator is "generally and
reasonably accessible to perform unscheduled duty." The agency will direct the
criminal investigator to be available during designated periods.
To be eligible for LEAP, 5 U.S.C. § 5545a(d) requires that the criminal
investigator average 2 or more hours of unscheduled duty per regular workday on
an annual basis. Per 5 CFR § 550.183(a), the average is computed by dividing the
total unscheduled duty hours for the annual period by the number of regular
workdays; 5 CFR § 550.183 refers to this as the "substantial hours" requirement.
The hours include unscheduled duty hours worked and hours the investigator is
available to work.
Per 5 U.S.C. § 5545a(a)(4), a regular workday is "each day in the investigator's
basic workweek during which the investigator works at least 4 hours that are not
overtime hours." Further, 5 CFR § 550.183(b) states that the regular workday
excludes unscheduled duty hours compensated by LEAP, hours engaged in
agency-approved training, hours traveling under official travel orders and hours
on approved leave. In accordance with 5 CFR § 550.183(c), total unscheduled
duty hours include any unscheduled duty hours on a regular workday and any
unscheduled duty hours actually worked by a criminal investigator on days that
are not regular workdays.
Also, 5 U.S.C. § 5545a(e)(l) requires that "[e]ach criminal investigator receiving
availability pay under this section and the appropriate supervisory officer ... make
an annual certification to the head of the agency that the investigator has met, and is
expected to meet, the requirements" to average 2 hours of unscheduled duty hours
per regular workday.
EPA Policies and Procedures
Policy No. OCEFT-P-002, Premium Pay for OCEFT GS-1811 Criminal
Investigators, issued June 29, 2012, addresses LEAP. The policy states that
criminal investigators are "generally responsible for recognizing, without
supervision, circumstances which require them to perform unscheduled duty,
based on the needs of the mission." Criminal investigators are also responsible for
determining which unscheduled duty hours and regular workdays are included in
the annual average. The policy states managers should verify that the majority of
unscheduled hours recorded by criminal investigators are actual work hours rather
than availability status. Availability status is assigned by the supervisor and
should be assignment-specific during a defined period. OCEFT's policy requires
supervisors to assess their criminal investigators' unscheduled duty hours on at
least a quarterly basis to verify that the criminal investigators are averaging
2 hours of unscheduled duty per regular workday.
19-P-0001
2

-------
Each criminal investigator receiving LEAP must make an annual certification that
he or she has met the 2-hour-per-day substantial hours requirement for the
previous year and is expected to continue to meet the requirement during the
upcoming 1-year period. Prior to signing the annual certification, the supervisor
must review the criminal investigator's unscheduled duty hours reported in
MARS for the period October 1 through September 30 to verify that the
substantial hours requirement has been met. The certification must be approved
by the criminal investigator's supervisor. Criminal investigators and their
supervisors must make the certifications through the CID's deputy director by
October 10 of each year. The deputy director must transmit the annual
certifications to the director no later than October 17 of each year. The annual
certifications must be documented on an electronic form. If a supervisor is unable
to make the annual certification on an electronic form, a hard-copy form may be
used.
OCEFT's CID developed MARS to record all hours, including LEAP, worked by
criminal investigators. MARS is considered a management tool and is separate
from PeoplePlus—the EPA's official timekeeping system. The CID's Monthly
Activity Reporting System Purpose, Requirements and Procedures Manual, dated
January 1, 2008, provides guidance on completing MARS reports and the
responsibilities of the criminal investigators and their supervisors, as well as
requirements for submissions and approvals.
Responsible Office
The EPA's OCEFT is responsible for setting policy and providing guidance for
criminal investigators who receive LEAP for unscheduled duty.
Prior Reports
As a result of a hotline complaint, the OIG conducted an audit of the EPA
Administrator's Protective Service Detail. The complaint alleged timekeeping
irregularities and potential salary cap violations by agents assigned to the
Administrator's Protective Service Detail.
As a result of its initial work, the OIG issued a report on September 27, 2017,
Management Alert: Controls Failed to Prevent Employee from Receiving
Payment in Excess of Statutory Limit (Report No. 17-P-0410). The purpose was to
notify the agency that an internal control weakness had resulted in an
unauthorized payment to a Protective Service Detail agent.
The OIG's full report on the Administrator's Protective Service Detail,
EPA Asserts Statutory Law Enforcement Authority to Protect Its Administrator
but Lacks Procedures to Assess Threats and Identify the Proper Level of
Protection (Report No. 18-P-0239). was issued on September 4, 2018. The OIG
noted similar issues with the reporting and monitoring of LEAP hours as
19-P-0001
3

-------
identified in this report. The Administrator's Protective Service Detail report
made no recommendations regarding LEAP because the issues are being
addressed in this report.
Scope and Methodology
We conducted our audit from November 2017 to July 2018 in accordance with
generally accepted government auditing standards issued by the Comptroller
General of the United States. Those 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 the findings and conclusions
presented in this report.
To determine whether OCEFT properly records LEAP hours in compliance with
federal requirements and EPA policies and procedures, we performed the following:
•	Interviewed OCEFT and CID officials to obtain an understanding of the
forms and processes used to record and monitor unscheduled duty hours.
•	Obtained OCEFT's policy on premium pay for criminal investigators and
the CID's MARS procedures manual.
•	Selected a judgmental sample of 40 (out of 157) criminal investigators and
reviewed their MARS annual certifications for October 1, 2016, through
September 30, 2017, to determine whether the certifications:
o Were submitted and approved by October 10, 2017.
o Included data for all months.
o Documented that the criminal investigator met the substantial
hours requirement.
•	Obtained data from PeoplePlus for 12 of the 40 sampled criminal
investigators and reconciled that data with MARS data.
•	Obtained MARS pay period detail reports for selected months to review
whether days excluded from substantial hours met the criteria from
5 U.S.C. § 5545a(a)(4).
Results
OCEFT criminal investigators documented, through annual certifications, that
they met the substantial hours requirement for LEAP. As illustrated in Figure 1,
our sample showed that 39 of the 40 criminal investigators had approved
certifications for fiscal year 2017.
19-P-0001
4

-------
Figure 1: Investigators' annual certifications
Approved
39
Not approved
k 1
Source: OIG image.
The one exception occurred because the system used to capture monthly LEAP
activities did not allow for an electronic certification for a criminal investigator
who worked a partial year. Additionally, a hard-copy certification was not
submitted for approval.
Although the criminal investigators met the certification requirements, OCEFT
did not consistently follow its policies and procedures in the reporting and
certification process. Specifically, we identified that:
•	MARS reports were not always submitted by the 10th day of the following
month and approved by the end of the month as required by the MARS
procedure manual.
•	Supervisors did not approve most of the 40 sampled annual certifications
by October 10, 2017, as required by OCEFT's premium pay policy.
•	Criminal investigators incorrectly excluded workdays from the substantial
hours calculation.
We also noted that pay-related hours (regular and overtime, leave, etc.) recorded
in MARS did not always reconcile with the hours recorded in PeoplePlus.
OCEFT stated that delays in the approval of annual certifications resulted from
issues with MARS and the submission of untimely and incomplete MARS reports
by criminal investigators. We could not determine why the submission and
approval of the monthly activity reports were not timely. OCEFT stated that
criminal investigators are not required to reconcile MARS and PeoplePlus
because the systems are used for different purposes. While these issues did not
impact the criminal investigators meeting their annual certifications for 2017,
untimely submittals and approvals and inaccurate reporting of pay-related hours
put the criminal investigators at risk of not meeting annual certification
19-P-0001
5

-------
requirements; put supervisors at risk of making erroneous approvals; and increase
the risk for fraud, waste and abuse.
Submission and Approval of MARS Reports Are Not Timely
The monthly activity reports in MARS were not always submitted by the
10th workday of the following month and approved by the end of the month, as
required by the MARS procedure manual. Our sample of MARS reports for
40 criminal investigators showed that 36 percent of the MARS reports were
submitted in excess of 10 days and up to 90 days after the end of the month, and
11 percent were submitted in excess of 90 days after the end of the month. Also,
28 percent of the reports were approved by the supervisor in excess of 10 days and
up to 90 days after submission by the criminal investigator, and 15 percent were
approved in excess of 90 days after being submitted. Table 1 provides details.
Table 1: MARS reports submitted and approved in excess of requirements
Timeframes
No. of reports
Percentage
Submitted as required
253
53%
Submitted in excess of 10 days and up to 90 days
168
36
Submitted in excess of 90 days
54
11
Total reports submitted
475
100%
Approved within 10 days or fewer after submittal
268
57%
Approved in excess of 10 days and up to 90 days
after submittal
135
28
Approved in excess of 90 days after submittal
72
15
Total reports approved
475
100%
Source: OIG summary of data from OCEFT MARS reports.
The MARS procedure manual requires criminal investigators to report all time in
MARS by the 10th workday of the following month. All supervisors are required
to review and approve entries in MARS for their criminal investigators by the end
of the month in which the entries were submitted. The hours recorded in MARS
are the basis for criminal investigators' annual certification that they met the
2-hour-per-day unscheduled duty hour requirement.
OCEFT's policy requires supervisors to assess their criminal investigators'
unscheduled duty hours on at least a quarterly basis to verify that the criminal
investigators are averaging 2 hours of unscheduled duty per regular workday.
OCEFT stated that supervisors monitor criminal investigators time throughout the
year and assess criminal investigators' LEAP hours on a quarterly basis.
The timely recording and approving of criminal investigators' hours—including
LEAP hours—on a monthly basis is important to maintaining the relevance and
value of MARS as a management tool. The continued lack of timeliness in the
submission and approval of hours in MARS could result in supervisors not
identifying issues with LEAP hours prior to the annual certification. In addition,
19-P-0001
6

-------
these delays could potentially impact the accuracy of hours recorded because of
extended time lags, which could lessen the criminal investigators' recollection of
their activities.
Annual Certifications Are Not Timely
Although annual certifications showed that the 2 hours of unscheduled duty hours
per regular workday were met, only two of the 40 certifications were approved by
supervisors by October 10, 2017, as required by the premium pay policy. One
certification was never approved by the supervisor, and two certifications were
approved by the supervisor even though they did not include data for all months.
OCEFT acknowledged that there are delays in the criminal investigators submitting,
and the supervisors signing, the electronic version of the annual certification.
OCEFT stated that there have been numerous personnel changes and MARS does
not always reflect the current approver. As a result, criminal investigators will print a
hard copy and forward it to the supervisor for signature. OCEFT also said delays can
result because MARS will not allow the supervisor to approve the annual
certification for any employee who has one or more monthly unapproved MARS
reports. As noted above, criminal investigators submitted 47 percent of the monthly
reports in excess of 10 days and up to 90 days after a month ended, and 11 percent
were submitted in excess of 90 days.
OCEFT told us during the audit that if a criminal investigator has not submitted a
monthly report, the annual certification still can be erroneously approved; this
occurred for one annual certification with missing data. OCEFT said that the
system should not have allowed for the approval of annual certifications with
missing data, and OCEFT is taking steps to correct the issue, including notifying
all approving supervisors of this anomaly. In addition, OCEFT is providing
training for criminal investigators and supervisors on premium pay, including
LEAP, and the requirement for supervisors to approve and submit annual
certifications to their deputy director by October 10.
OCEFT said that the one criminal investigator without a signed certification was
not employed as a criminal investigator for a full year, and MARS currently does
not allow supervisors to electronically approve annual certifications for criminal
investigators who worked a partial year. The certification submitted by the
criminal investigator documents that the criminal investigator averaged 2 hours of
unscheduled duty per regular workday for the months worked. However, the
certification was not approved by the supervisor as required by 5 U.S.C. §
5545a(e)(l). OCEFT acknowledged that a signed hard copy for a partial-year
certification would be a solution if the supervisor cannot electronically sign.
Timely, complete and accurate submittal of monthly MARS reports would help
prevent delays in the approval of the annual certifications, which are often caused
by incomplete or incorrect submittals.
19-P-0001
7

-------
Regular Workdays Improperly Excluded from Substantial Hours
Calculation
Our analysis showed that five out of 12 criminal investigators included in our
sample improperly identified regular workdays as excludable days in their
substantial hours calculation. The exclusion of the regular workdays is inconsistent
with substantial hours requirements in 5 CFR § 550.183 and Section 3.2(a)(ii) of
OCEFT's premium pay policy. The requirements provide that substantial hours are
computed by dividing the total unscheduled duty hours for the annual period by the
number of regular workdays. A regular workday is defined in 5 U.S.C. §
5545a(a)(4), 5 CFR § 550.183(b) and Section 3.2(a)(ii) of OCEFT's premium pay
policy as each day in a criminal investigator's basic workweek during which the
investigator works at least 4 hours, excluding overtime and LEAP hours, training
and travel hours, leave, and other excused absences.
Based on our review of MARS pay period detail reports, the five criminal
investigators recorded at least 4 hours on a given day to either investigation or
management/supervisory activity. Although these hours meet the definition of a
regular workday, the criminal investigators excluded the days from their
substantial hours calculation. These improper exclusions show a lack of
understanding on the part of the criminal investigators of the requirements, as
well as the need for additional controls to verify the accuracy of excludable days.
Had OCEFT verified the accuracy of the excludable days based on the supporting
MARS pay period detail reports or monthly activity summaries, these improper
exclusions would have been detected.
Excluding days that meet the definition of a regular workday will reduce the number
of unscheduled hours a criminal investigator will need to work to meet the annual
average. This could potentially result in a criminal investigator not meeting the
substantial hours requirement. We recalculated the annual average for the
five criminal investigators who excluded days in which they worked 4 hours and
found that they still maintained an annual average of 2 unscheduled hours per regular
workday. Nonetheless, OCEFT should enforce compliance with the substantial hours
requirements to prevent problems with future certifications.
Differences Between Hours Recorded in MARS and PeoplePlus Noted
Although MARS and PeoplePlus are separate systems used for different purposes,
both systems record the use of pay-related hours. Our review identified differences in
pay-related hours recorded in MARS and PeoplePlus. We judgmentally selected and
reviewed total hours for 12 of the 40 sampled criminal investigators and found that
for six of the 12 investigators the hours recorded in MARS did not reconcile with
PeoplePlus. Our reconciliation included regular hours, paid leave, overtime and
compensatory time. We could not reconcile LEAP hours because PeoplePlus is not
used to record LEAP hours. The difference between the two systems ranged from
8 to 56 hours and resulted from differences in overtime and compensatory hours.
We believe that MARS is adequate to support LEAP hours despite the differences
19-P-0001
8

-------
between hours recorded in MARS and PeoplePlus; the requirement to provide a
separate certification for LEAP mitigates the difference from non-LEAP hours.
OCEFT's policy does not require criminal investigators or their supervisors to
reconcile hours between MARS and PeoplePlus. OCEFT stated that MARS is not
a payroll system, and the MARS procedures manual states that MARS does not
replace the PeoplePlus reporting requirement. The CID considers MARS to be a
management tool to allow CID management to evaluate resource allocations,
including identifying work that does not add value to the mission or align with
demand. While the OIG acknowledges that the differences between MARS and
PeoplePlus are not significant enough to impact the value of using MARS as a
management tool, reconciliation of the two systems would provide management
with a more accurate summary of the criminal investigators' total time and help
reduce the risk of errors in the calculation of excludable days.
Conclusion
Although criminal investigators documented that they met the substantial hours
requirement for LEAP, OCEFT did not consistently follow its policies and
procedures in the LEAP reporting and certification process. Criminal investigators
and supervisors did not always submit and approve monthly MARS reports within
the time frames required by OCEFT policy. Supervisors did not always approve
annual certifications by October 10, 2017, as required by OCEFT policy. In
addition, some criminal investigators incorrectly excluded workdays from their
substantial hours calculation. While these issues did not impact the criminal
investigators' meeting their annual certifications for 2017, failing to follow all
applicable policies and procedures puts the criminal investigators at risk of not
meeting annual certification requirements; puts supervisors at risk of making
erroneous approvals; and increases the risk for fraud, waste and abuse.
Recommendations
We recommend that the Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance
Assurance:
1.	Enforce compliance by the criminal investigators to submit, and the
supervisors to approve, the monthly activity reports supporting Law
Enforcement Availability Pay within the required time frames in the
Monthly Activity Reporting System Purpose, Requirements and
Procedures Manual.
2.	Implement controls to improve timeliness of the annual certification
process for Law Enforcement Availability Pay.
3.	Require the Director, Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and
Training, to enforce compliance with the substantial hours requirement
19-P-0001
9

-------
and definition of a regular workday found in 5 U.S.C. § 5545a(a)(4),
5 CFR § 550.183, and Section 3.2(a)(ii) of its premium pay policy by
implementing additional controls to verify the accuracy of excluded days.
Agency Comments and OIG Evaluation
The OIG received comments and corrective actions from OECA as shown in
Appendix A. OECA agreed with the OIG's overall conclusion that all criminal
investigators sampled met the substantial hours requirement despite not
consistently following procedures and policies.
OECA concurred with Recommendations 1 and 2 and agreed to take acceptable
corrective actions. The planned corrective actions and completion dates meet the
intent of both recommendations. Thus, the recommendations are resolved with
corrective actions pending.
The agency disagreed with the OIG's original Recommendation 3 that required
OCEFT to clarify the definition of a regular workday in its premium pay policy,
directive OCEFT-P-002. The agency indicated that it did not agree because the
definition as outlined in the regulations, U.S. Office of Personnel Management
guidance and OCEFT's Premium Pay Directive is clear. Moreover, OCEFT
believes that any possible confusion regarding the definition of a regular workday
was clarified in its February 2018 webinar series and will continue to be clarified
in future trainings. OCEFT proposed alternative language for Recommendation 3
that addressed this point.
The OIG agreed with OCEFT's actions to continue to clarify the definition of a
regular workday in future trainings. However, the OIG did not agree with
OCEFT's proposed alternative language for Recommendation 3, as we believe
that OCEFT should also enforce compliance with the substantial hours
requirements and the definition of a regular workday by implementing controls to
verify the accuracy of excluded days. As such, the OIG further revised
Recommendation 3. OCEFT agreed with the revised recommendation and
provided the OIG an email response stating:
OCEFT shall enforce the substantial hours requirement that an
investigator works a regular workday as defined in 5 U.S.C.
§ 5545a(a)(4), and verify compliance during the CY 2018
certifications. This would have a completion date of 11/30/2018.
OCEFT's planned corrective action and completion date now meet the intent of
Recommendation 3. Thus, the recommendation is resolved with corrective action
pending.
19-P-0001
10

-------
Status of Recommendations and
Potential Monetary Benefits
RECOMMENDATIONS
Rec.
No.
Page
No.
Subject
Status1
Action Official
Planned
Completion
Date
Potential
Monetary
Benefits
(in $000s)
1
9
Enforce compliance by the criminal investigators to submit, and
the supervisors to approve, the monthly activity reports
supporting Law Enforcement Availability Pay within the required
time frames in the Monthly Activity Reporting System Purpose,
Requirements and Procedures Manual.
R
Assistant Administrator for
Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance
10/1/19

2
9
Implement controls to improve timeliness of the annual
certification process for Law Enforcement Availability Pay.
R
Assistant Administrator for
Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance
10/1/19

3
9
Require the Director, Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics
and Training, to enforce compliance with the substantial hours
requirement and definition of a regular workday found in 5 U.S.C.
§ 5545a(a)(4), 5 CFR § 550.183, and Section 3.2(a)(ii) of its
R
Assistant Administrator for
Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance
11/30/18

premium pay policy by implementing additional controls to verify
the accuracy of excluded days.
C = Corrective action completed.
R = Recommendation resolved with corrective action pending.
U = Recommendation unresolved with resolution efforts in progress.
19-P-0001
11

-------
Appendix A
Agency's Comments
UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON DC 20460
AUG-7 2018
OFFICE OF
ENFORCEMENT AND
COMPLIANCE ASSURANCE
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT
FROM:
TO:
Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the issues and recommendations in the subject audit
discussion document. Following is a summary of the Agency's overall position, along with its
position on each of the discussion document's recommendations. For those discussion document
recommendations with which the Agency agrees, we have provided corrective actions and
estimated completion dates. For the recommendation with which the Agency does not agree, we
have explained our position and proposed alternative. Additionally, attached are comments in
tracked changes to the discussion document.
Overall the Agency agrees with the OIG's conclusion that all investigators surveyed met the
substantial hours requirement despite not consistently following procedures and policies. The
discussion document should be revised accordingly. The Agency also agrees with
recommendations 1 and 2, concerning monthly activity reports and annual certifications for Law
Enforcement Availability Pay. However, the Agency does not agree with recommendation 3, to
clarify the definition of a regular work day because the definition as outlined in the regulations,
OPM guidance and OCEFT's Premium Pay directive is clear. Moreover, any possible confusion
regarding the definition was clarified in the recent February 2018 webinar series and will
continue to be clarified in future trainings. We have proposed alternative language on this point.
OECA Comments on Discussion Document from Office of Inspector General's
audit, "EPA Law Enforcement Availability Pay Properly Certified, but Reporting
Controls Can Be lmprp<^d,/^jzyect No.	18-00?$ dated July 9, 2019
/
-omrnianco. Assurance
Mark Badalamepte
Senior Resource} (>nieial
Office of Enforc^sjne
Kevin Christensen
Assistant Inspector General for Audits and Evaluation
Office of Inspector
19-P-0001
12

-------
AGENCY'S RESPONSE TO REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS:
Agreement:
No.
Recommendation
Corrective Action(s)
Estimated
Completion by Date,
Quarter and FY
1
Enforce compliance by the
investigators to submit, and the
supervisors to approve, the
monthly activity reports
supporting Law Enforcement
Availability Pay within the
required timeframes in the
Monthly Activity Reporting
System Purpose, Requirements
and Procedures Manual.
1.	Update the Monthly Activity
Reporting System Purpose, Requirements
and Procedures Manual to reflect current
procedures for supervisors' review of
monthly activity reports and institute
controls to monitor.
2.	Train supervisors on updated process.
May 30, 2019
(3rd Quarter FY 2019)
October 1, 2019
(1st quarter 2020)
2
Implement controls to improve
timeliness of the annual
certification process for Law
Enforcement Availability Pay.
Revise MARS reporting to automate
approval and routing of electronic
certification.
October 1, 2019
(1st quarter 2020)
Disagreement:
No.
Recommendation
Response and Intended Corrective
Action(s)
Estimated
Completion by Date,
Quarter and FY
3
Require the Director, Office of
Criminal Enforcement, Forensics
and Training, to clarify in its
directive OCEFT-P-002,
Premium Pay for OCEFT GS-
1811 Criminal Investigators, on
the use of the statutory definition
of a regular workday as a day in
which the investigator works "at
least 4 hours," as specified in 5
U.S.C. § 5545a(a)(4).
Concur with recommendation if revised to
state:
Require the Director, Office of Criminal
Enforcement, Forensics and Training, to
clarify the definition of a regular workday
as a day in which the investigator works
"at least 4 hours," as specified in 5 U.S.C.
§ 5545a(a)(4).
Completed
February 8, 2018
(2nd quarter FY 2018)
via live webinar -
recorded
CONTACT INFORMATION:
If you have any questions regarding this response, please contact Gwendolyn Spriggs, OECA's
Audit Follow Up Coordinator on 202-564-2439, or via email, spriggs.gwendolyn@epa.gov.
19-P-0001
13

-------
cc:
John Trefry, Director, Forensic Audits, OIG
Larry Starfield, PDA A, OECA
Patrick Traylor, DAA, OECA
Henry Barnet, Director, OECA/OCEFT/OECA
Pam Mazakas, Deputy Director, OECA/OCEFT
Gwendolyn Spriggs, OECA AFC
19-P-0001
14

-------
Appendix B
Distribution
The Administrator
Deputy Administrator
Special Advisor, Office of the Administrator
Chief of Staff
Chief of Operations
Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Agency Follow-Up Official (the CFO)
Agency Follow-Up Coordinator
General Counsel
Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
Associate Administrator for Public Affairs
Director, Office of Continuous Improvement, Office of the Administrator
Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Deputy Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Director, Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training,
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Deputy Chief Financial Officer
Associate Chief Financial Officer
Controller, Office of the Controller, Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of the Administrator
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Audit Follow-Up Coordinator, Office of the Chief Financial Officer
19-P-0001
15

-------