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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	20-P-0173
Office of Inspector General	May 20 2020
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Project
We conducted this audit to
determine whether the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's Scientific Integrity
Policy is being implemented as
intended to ensure SI
throughout the EPA.
Specifically, we examined
(1)	the extent and type of
employee SI concerns,
(2)	employee awareness of the
SI Policy, (3) reasons potential
violations might not be
reported, and (4) the process
by which the Agency responds
to and resolves allegations of
SI violations.
The EPA's SI Policy was
released in February 2012 and
covers an array of areas, from
quality standards for scientific
products to communication with
the public. The SI Policy
describes the expectation that
all EPA employees will adhere
to the terms of the Policy,
including affirmatively reporting
Policy breaches. The SI Policy
also assigns specific
responsibility for its
implementation to the SI
Committee, which is composed
of members from all EPA
regions and program offices.
This report addresses the
following:
• Improving EPA research
programs.
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.
Further Efforts Needed to Uphold Scientific
integrity Poiicy at EPA
Improving implementation of
the SI Policy will enable the EPA
to more effectively carry out its
mission to protect human health
and the environment.
What We Found
The results of our 2018 agencywide survey
on SI—which received 4,320 responses
(a 23.5 percent response rate)—showed that
3,987 respondents were aware of or had
some familiarity with the SI Policy. Among
those respondents with a basis to judge, the
majority (56 percent; 1,025 of 1,842) were satisfied with the overall
implementation of the EPA's SI Policy. The survey also revealed some concerns
with specific aspects of SI at the EPA, including dissatisfaction with the EPA's
culture of SI (59 percent; 1,425 of 2,402) and the release of scientific information
to the public (57 percent; 1,049 of 1,842).
While our 2018 survey results provide only a snapshot in time, comparing them
with the EPA's 2016 SI survey suggests areas that have improved and areas in
need of improvement. Our 2018 survey results demonstrate higher levels of
awareness of the SI Policy and how to report a potential SI violation. However,
our survey revealed lower measures of perceived leadership support of SI and
of satisfaction with the review and clearance of scientific documents.
Also, while the SI Committee, including the scientific integrity official, have
implemented many Policy requirements and identified actions to improve SI at
the EPA, we found that procedures to address potential violations were not
finalized, mandatory training was not tracked, annual reporting was not timely,
and the release of scientific products was not supported by a centralized
clearance system. With improvements in these areas, the SI Committee could
more consistently implement the SI Policy across the EPA.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the EPA's deputy administrator lead an effort to examine the
causes associated with the SI concerns identified in our survey and communicate
the results to Agency employees, including planned actions to address the
causes. We also made 11 recommendations to the EPA science advisor,
including developing procedures for addressing and resolving allegations of SI
violations, communicating the outcomes of reports of SI violations, and improving
the release of scientific information to the public.
The Agency agreed with our recommendations and provided acceptable
corrective actions. Two recommendations have been completed, and the others
are resolved with corrective actions pending.
List of OIG reports.

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