Office of Inspector General

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

At a Glance

22-P-0046
May 17, 2022

Why We Did This Audit

The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Office of
Inspector General conducted this
audit to determine whether the
EPA implemented agreed-upon
corrective actions in response to
OIG Report No. 18-P-0221.
Management Weaknesses
Delayed Response to Flint Water
Crisis, issued July 19, 2018, as
well as whether those actions
effectively addressed the
identified program deficiencies.

After Flint, Michigan, switched its
drinking water supply in
April 2014, inadequate treatment
of the water exposed residents to
lead. Due to EPA, state, and city
oversight lapses, this
contamination was not identified
or mitigated in a timely manner.
To improve the EPA's oversight
of state drinking water programs
and response to drinking water
emergencies, our 2018 report
issued nine recommendations:
five jointly to the Offices of Water
and Enforcement and
Compliance Assurance, one to
the Office of Water, and three to
EPA Region 5.

This audit supports EPA
mission-related efforts:

•	Ensuring clean and safe water.

•	Compliance with the law.

•	Operating efficiently and
effectively.

This audit addresses a top EPA
management challenge:

•	Integrating and leading
environmental justice, including
communicating risks.

Address inquiries to our public
affairs office at (202) 566-2391 or
OIG WEBCOMMENTS@epa.gov.

List of OIG reports.

The EPA Needs to Fully Address the OIG's 2018 Flint
Water Crisis Report Recommendations by Improving
Controls, Training, and Risk Assessments

What We Found

The EPA certified that it completed corrective
actions to address all nine recommendations
issued in our 2018 report. However, the EPA's
corrective actions for three recommendations—

Recommendations 1, 6, and 8—did not fully
address the identified deficiencies in oversight.

Specifically:

•	The Office of Water did not establish controls to require that states are
monitoring water system compliance with all Lead and Copper Rule
requirements.

•	The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance could not confirm
who received training on Safe Drinking Water Act tools and authorities.

•	The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance did not incorporate
functions into its Report a Violation system to assess risks associated with
citizen tips and to track resolution of these tips.

The Safe Drinking Water Act gives the EPA emergency authority to act when a
contaminant may present an "imminent and substantial endangerment" to
human health and when the appropriate state and local authorities have not
acted to protect the public. Because the EPA did not fully implement corrective
actions addressing the 2018 OIG report, residents whose homes are served by
lead service lines may continue to be exposed to lead in drinking water, EPA
personnel may not be familiar with how to employ Safe Drinking Water Act tools
and authorities, and citizens' tips may not be effectively monitored and used to
alert the EPA of public health concerns.

Recommendations and Planned Agency Corrective Actions

In response to this follow-up audit, the Office of Water began requiring EPA
regions to annually review whether states monitor water system compliance
with the Lead and Copper Rule. We therefore consider the corrective action for
Recommendation 1 of our 2018 report complete. To fully address
Recommendations 6 and 8 of our 2018 report, we make two recommendations
for the assistant administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to
document Safe Drinking Water Act training attendance and to enhance the
Report a Violation system to assess and track citizen tips. The EPA agreed with
the training recommendation, which is resolved with corrective actions pending.
Based on the Agency's response to our draft report, we revised the
recommendation related to the Report a Violation system; that recommendation
is unresolved with resolution efforts in progress. Where appropriate, we revised
the report based on technical comments provided by the EPA.

Without complete
oversight of the drinking
water program, the public's
health is still at risk from
lead in drinking water.

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