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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
20-P-0203
June 30, 2020
Why We Did This Project
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Office of
Inspector General conducted
this audit to determine whether
the Safer Choice program
effectively meets its goals and
whether the program achieves
quality standards through its
product qualification, renewal,
and required audit processes.
The Safer Choice program is a
voluntary program designed to
prevent pollution by working
with manufacturers, retailers,
nongovernmental
organizations, and other
stakeholders to encourage the
use of safer chemicals in
products. All certified Safer
Choice products must provide
full ingredient disclosure, meet
criteria established by the EPA,
and undergo regular audits
conducted by third-party
profilers. TPPs are responsible
for conducting on-site audits,
desk audits, and renewal audits
to ensure program and label
compliance for all Safer Choice
partners and products.
This report addresses the
following:
• Ensuring the safety of
chemicals.
EPA's Safer Choice Program Would Benefit
from Formal Goals and Additional Oversight
Enhancements in the Safer
Choice audit process will
ensure that consumers and
businesses are purchasing
products that are safer for
people and the environment.
What We Found
The EPA's Safer Choice program does not
have formal goals included in the FY 2018-
2022 U.S. EPA Strategic Plan, and the program
has not reported results for fiscal years 2018-
2019. However, the program does have
internal, non-outcome-oriented goals, which it is
generally achieving. The Safer Choice
program's goal is to add 200 Safer Choice products to the program and
25 chemicals to the Safer Chemical Ingredients List each year. In FY 2019, the
Agency added 265 products and 24 chemicals. By not including formal goals for
the Safer Choice program in Agency reports while continuing to receive
congressional funding and support, the EPA limits not only accountability to
Congress and the public, but also the extent that the program can use
performance management information to make policy, budget, and management
decisions.
The EPA's Safer Choice program has general controls in place for the required
Safer Choice audit process. The EPA reviews audit summaries and corrective
actions provided by TPPs. However, the Agency does not routinely review all
supporting documentation, relying on TPPs to review and retain these
documents. Additionally, the Safer Choice program does not have procedures in
place to conduct any formal performance reviews of TPPs or oversight reviews of
TPP partner audits. Without periodic audit oversight, including full reviews of
supporting documents and formal performance reviews of TPPs, the EPA risks
approving products that do not comply with the Safer Choice Standard.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the assistant administrator for Chemical Safety and Pollution
Prevention develop and publish adequate Safer Choice program goals and
performance measures, establish and implement procedures for formal audit
oversight of TPPs, amend its memorandums of understanding with TPPs to
require performance reviews conducted by the EPA, and collect and document
TPP audit supporting information.
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.
List of OIG reports.
The EPA did not provide acceptable planned corrective actions for two
recommendations, and we consider these recommendations unresolved. For
three recommendations, the Agency provided acceptable planned corrective
actions, and we consider these recommendations resolved with corrective
actions pending.

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