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*. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	20-P-0245
f AA \ Office of Inspector General	August 10,2020
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At a Glance
Why We Did This Project
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Office of
Inspector General conducted
this audit to determine whether:
1.	The EPA's use of
assignments under the
Intergovernmental
Personnel Act is in
accordance with federal
requirements and Agency
policy and procedures.
2.	The IPA assignments
achieved their purpose.
The IPA allows for the
temporary assignment of
personnel between the federal
government and eligible
nonfederal organizations, such
as state and local
governments, colleges and
universities, and Indian tribal
governments. Our audit
focused on EPA employees on
IPA assignment to external
organizations from June 1,
2016, through May 31, 2019.
This report addresses the
following:
•	Operating efficiently and
effectively.
•	Compliance with the law.
This project addresses a top
EPA management challenge:
•	Complying with internal control
(policies and procedures).
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.
EPA Needs to Strengthen Controls Over
Required Documentation and Tracking of
Intergovernmental Personnel Act Assignments
The Agency lacks controls to
verify that documents are
submitted and maintained as
required, as well as a reliable
system to track employees on
IPA assignment.
What We Found
The EPA's use of assignments under the IPA
complied with applicable statutory and
regulatory requirements and with IPA
guidance issued by the U.S. Office of
Personnel Management. However, the
Agency did not always comply with
documentation requirements contained in its
Intergovernmental Personnel Act Policy and Procedures Manual (IPA). The
Agency also did not enforce the Manual's requirement that assignments be
terminated if annual progress reports are not submitted.
Our analysis of 18 IPA assignment files found that many required documents
were missing. This lack of documentation occurred because the Agency does not
have adequate controls to verify that documents required by the Manual are
submitted and maintained. In addition, the Manual has not been updated for over
20 years. Without an updated Manual, staff may not fully understand the
Agency's IPA process and requirements. And without the required
documentation, management cannot effectively determine whether the IPA
assignments are progressing as planned or have achieved their purpose. For
example, although we found that nine of the 12 completed IPA assignments met
their overall purpose, we were unable to make a determination on the remaining
three completed assignments due to missing documentation.
Furthermore, the Agency lacks a reliable process to track EPA employees on IPA
assignment. As a result, it cannot accurately determine the number of employees
on IPA assignment at any given time, nor can it accurately and reliably report on
IPA assignments.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the assistant administrator for Mission Support update the
Agency's Intergovernmental Personnel Act Policy and Procedures Manual (IPA)
to reflect relevant and appropriate requirements, strengthen controls over IPA
assignment documentation and tracking, and enforce requirements for
noncompliance with IPA requirements. The Agency agreed with the
recommendations and provided acceptable planned corrective actions and
estimated completion dates. We consider the recommendations resolved with
corrective actions pending.
List of OIG reports.

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