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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
20-E-0246
August 13, 2020
Why We Did This Project
We conducted this follow-up
evaluation to determine whether
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency adequately
implemented corrective actions
in response to a previous Office
of Inspector General report, EPA
Has Not Reported to Congress
on BEACH Act Progress as
Statutorily Required or Fully
Documented Budget Decisions,
Report No. 18-P-0071. issued
January 18, 2018. Specifically,
we evaluated whether the EPA
submitted the mandated reports
to Congress regarding the
Agency's progress under the
Beaches Environmental
Assessment and Coastal Health
Act of 2000.
The BEACH Act amended the
Clean Water Act to improve the
quality of coastal recreation
waters and for other purposes,
including to protect human
health. Under the Act, the EPA
is required to submit reports
every four years to Congress.
This report addresses the
following:
•	Ensuring clean and safe water.
•	Compliance with the law.
This project addresses a top EPA
management challenge:
•	Fulfilling mandated reporting
requirements.
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.
List of OIG reports.
EPA's 2018 BEACH Act Report to Congress
Does Not Fully Meet Statutory Requirements
What We Found
In our January 2018 report, we found that the EPA
had not reported to Congress on BEACH Act
progress as statutorily required. We recommended
that the EPA submit the mandated reports to
Congress. As part of its corrective actions in
response to our January 2018 report
recommendations, the EPA issued a BEACH Act
report to Congress in July 2018.
In the course of this follow-up evaluation, we found that the EPA's 2018 report to
Congress does not fully meet the reporting requirements of the BEACH Act and
the Plain Writing Act of 2010. The report also does not adhere to federal internal
control principles. Specifically:
•	The report does not evaluate federal and local efforts to implement the
BEACH Act.
•	Although the report lists recommendations for additional water quality criteria
and improved monitoring methodologies, communication of these
recommendations could be improved by using plain language principles,
which would help readers to more easily understand the recommendations.
•	The report recommendations do not specify who needs to take action or
what the barriers to implementation are.
In addition, we concluded that the EPA's Office of Water staff did not reach out
to congressional staff members to inquire about what information Congress
needs from the Agency to make informed decisions regarding the BEACH Act
program. By issuing a report that did not fully meet the requirements of the
BEACH and Plain Writing acts, the EPA missed the opportunity to provide
Congress with the information needed for effective decision-making.
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the assistant administrator for Water develop and adopt a
written strategy to verify that future BEACH Act reports to Congress fully meet
the reporting requirements of the BEACH Act, expectations that federal agencies
comply with the Plain Writing Act, and federal internal control principles. We also
recommend that the EPA submit a report in 2022 that evaluates efforts to
implement the BEACH Act. The Agency disagreed with our recommendations
and did not provide acceptable corrective actions and planned completion dates.
The recommendations are unresolved with resolution efforts in progress.
EPA issuance of
informative BEACH Act
reports would allow
Congress to make
informed program
decisions, improve
program oversight, and
enhance transparency.

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