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*. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	19-P-0155
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\ Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
Why We Did This Project
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Office
of Inspector General (OIG)
received numerous
congressional requests and
hotline complaints expressing
concerns about former EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt's
travel, as well as that of those
traveling with him. The
objectives of this audit were to
determine the frequency, cost
and extent of the former
Administrator's travel through
December 31, 2017; whether
the Federal Travel Regulation
and applicable EPA travel
policy and procedures were
followed; and whether the
EPA's policy and procedures
were sufficiently designed to
prevent fraud, waste and abuse
with the Administrator's travel.
This report addresses the
following:
•	Compliance with the law.
•	Operating efficiently and
effectively.
Actions Needed to Strengthen Controls over the
EPA Administrator's and Associated Staff's Travel
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBPOSTINGS@epa.gov.
List of OIG reports.
What We Found
The OIG identified 40 trips and $985,037 in costs
associated with the former Administrator's travel for
the 10-month period from March 1, 2017, to
December 31, 2017. This covered 34 completed and six
canceled trips and included costs incurred not only by
the former Administrator but by his Protective Service
Detail (PSD) and other staff. Of the 40 trips, 16 included
travel to, or had stops in, Tulsa, Oklahoma—the location
of the former Administrator's personal residence.
Actions need to be
taken to strengthen
controls over
Administrator travel
to help prevent the
potential for fraud,
waste and abuse.
We estimated excessive costs of $123,942 regarding the former Administrator's
and accompanying PSD agents' use of first/business-class travel because the
exception that allowed for the travel accommodation was granted without
sufficient justification and, initially, without appropriate approval authority.
Although the EPA's travel policy is sufficiently designed to prevent fraud, waste
and abuse and is consistent with the Federal Travel Regulation, we found that
the policy did not initially outline who had the authority to approve the
Administrator's travel authorizations and vouchers.
We also found that not all applicable provisions of the Federal Travel Regulation
and/or EPA travel policy were followed. We identified:
•	Improper granting of first/business-class exceptions.
•	Unjustified use of non-contract air carriers.
•	Improper approval of lodging costs above per diem.
•	Missing detailed support for trips with stops in Tulsa.
•	Improper approval of international business-class travel.
•	Inaccurate and incomplete international trip reports.
The former Administrator's use of military/chartered flights was justified and
approved in accordance with the Federal Travel Regulation and EPA policy.
Recommendations and Agency Response
We recommend that the agency determine whether the estimated excessive
airfare of $123,942 and any additional costs through the former Administrator's
resignation in July 2018 should be recovered; implement controls to verify that
requirements are met for the use of first/business-class travel; enforce
requirements for use of a city-pair contract carrier; confirm adequate cost
comparisons; and clarify requirements for preparing international trip reports and
verify for accuracy and completeness. Of the report's 14 recommendations, we
consider the agency's planned corrective actions acceptable for four of the
recommendations while the other 10 are unresolved.

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