U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General	19-P-0146
£	May 7, 2019
At a Glance
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Why We Did This Project
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA's)
Office of Inspector General
(OIG) conducted this audit to
determine whether the EPA is
being fiscally responsible when
awarding interagency
agreements (lAs) to the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
(USACE) for Superfund work.
We also sought to determine
whether the EPA is meeting
planned expectations for time,
costs and outcomes in its use
of USACE I As.
The EPA's Superfund program
is responsible for cleaning up
some of the nation's most
contaminated land and for
responding to environmental
emergencies, oil spills and
natural disasters. The EPA
accomplishes Superfund goals
through a variety of
mechanisms, including lAs.
An IA is a written agreement
between federal agencies that
allows an agency needing
supplies or services to obtain
them from another agency. As
of June 2018, the EPA had
over $3 billion in active
Superfund lAs with the USACE.
This report addresses the
following:
• Operating efficiently and
effectively.
Corrective Actions and Additional Guidance
Have improved EPA's Fiscal Responsibility
over Superfund Interagency Agreements
The agency's corrective
actions in response to
the OIG's 2007 audit of
Superfund lAs directly
contributed to improved
fiscal responsibility
over USACE lAs.
What We Found
We found that the EPA has enhanced its fiscal
responsibility over the management of lAs with the
USACE since we conducted a prior audit of USACE
lAs in 2007. The agency implemented corrective
actions in response to the recommendations in our
2007 report (Report No. 2007-P-00021. EPA Can
Improve Its Managing of Superfund Interagency
Agreements with U.S. Corps of Engineers, issued
April 30, 2007). The EPA also issued additional guidance regarding the
management of lAs. As a result, the agency has policies and procedures in place
for awarding and managing lAs and is adequately documenting justifications for
using USACE lAs for Superfund work.
In addition, the EPA has an effective system in place for monitoring IA projects in
terms of time, cost and outcomes. Our audit sample of 20 Region 2 lAs found
that the region has been meeting time, cost and outcome expectations when
managing its USACE lAs. Region 2 and the EPA's Office of Land and
Emergency Management, which administers the agency's Superfund program,
use the following tools to manage lAs with the USACE:
•	Annual feedback surveys.
•	Monthly progress reports and invoices.
•	Bimonthly and weekly meetings and site visits.
•	Integrated Grants Management System and project files.
We found that the agency is being fiscally responsible and adequately managing
its USACE lAs for Superfund work. As a result, we make no new
recommendations.
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391
or OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.aov
List of OIG reports.

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