o^fcD ST/if.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	21-E-0033
^	\ Office of Inspector General	December 7,2020
Isszz;
¦... At a Glance
Why We Did This Evaluation
We conducted this evaluation
to determine whether the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's laboratory
consolidation efforts in Athens,
Georgia; Corvallis, Oregon; and
Ann Arbor, Michigan, are within
cost and on schedule.
Based on its March 2015
Synthesis Report of the US
EPA Laboratory Enterprise
Evaluation, the EPA concluded
that it could realize
approximately $409 million in
avoided costs and savings over
30 years. The Synthesis Report
included actions and options
regarding which laboratory
facilities to consolidate or
co-locate. As the Agency's
central planner and
coordinator, the Office of
Mission Support's Real
Property Services Division is
responsible for the oversight of
laboratory consolidation efforts.
EPA Needs to Improve Its Planning and Management
of Laboratory Consolidation Efforts
What We Found
The EPA needs to improve how it plans and
manages its laboratory consolidation efforts.
For the three projects we reviewed, we found
that the Office of Mission Support did not:
• Develop a master plan to guide the Ann
Arbor laboratory consolidation effort. As
of February 2020, the Agency had
expended over $2 million for this project
without having a master plan.
Without improved management
controls, the EPA risks
continued cost overruns and
delays in its laboratory
consolidation efforts.
Overruns and delays will
reduce the Agency's potential
avoided costs and savings of
approximately $409 million
over 30 years.
• Document key decisions related to laboratory consolidation activities.
As a result, the Agency did not have documentation explaining why projects were
delayed or why it incurred over $8 million in cost overruns for the Corvallis and
Athens laboratory consolidation efforts.
The development and implementation of procedures and detailed requirements
for managing laboratory consolidation efforts would reduce the risk of excessive
cost overruns and delays. Better management of the projects could also help the
EPA meet its goal of reducing the number of leases and cost of facility
management, which would allow the Agency to direct resources to core
environmental work.
This evaluation addresses the
following:
•	Operating efficiently and
effectively.
This evaluation addresses a top
EPA management challenge:
•	Complying with key internal
control requirements (data
quality).
Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions
We recommend that the assistant administrator for Mission Support develop and
implement procedures that include detailed requirements for planning and
managing laboratory consolidation efforts. These requirements should address
developing master plans and program requirements, tracking and updating cost
and schedule estimates, and maintaining decisional documentation.
The EPA agreed with our recommendation. The recommendation is resolved with
corrective action pending,
Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.
List of OIG reports.

-------