The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog found the agency underreported $7 billion from fiscal spending in 2022 on the federal transparency website.
An audit released Tuesday from the EPA’s Office of Inspector General found the agency underreported $1.2 billion in award obligations and $5.8 billion in award outlays on USAspending.gov, amounting to 12.9% and 99.9%, respectively, of its total contractor spending in 2022.
“The lack of complete and accurate reporting also led to taxpayers being initially misinformed about the EPA’s spending, and policy-makers who relied on the data may not have been able to effectively track federal spending,” the audit reads.
In a statement to the Washington Examiner on Friday, an EPA spokesperson said funding for the 2022 fiscal year was “properly accounted for” and that the unrecorded figure “was an issue transmitting data to USASpending.gov, which has been corrected.”
“EPA welcomes and appreciates the Office of the Inspector General’s oversight and recommendations. EPA properly accounted for FY 2022 funding, which is validated by OIG’s FY 2022 clean unmodified audit opinion of EPA’s financial statements,” an EPA spokesperson said. “This was an issue transmitting data to USASpending.gov, which has been corrected.”
Inspector General Sean O’Donnell has previously raised concerns to Congress about the EPA’s ability to handle the flow of funds into the agency from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure and climate laws.
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“The equation of an agency that is dispensing an unprecedented infusion of dollars, times the large number of recipient organizations struggling with capacity issues, equals an extraordinarily high risk for fraud, waste, and abuse,” O’Donnell stated in March 2023, adding he had to enact hiring freezes in areas such as chemical safety and pollution cleanup. “Risk areas include potential mismanagement of funds, noncompliance with funding requirements, and failure to meet programmatic goals.”
Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget asked for $12 billion for the EPA, a record high that is being targeted by GOP lawmakers. House Republicans approved legislation in November that would cut nearly 40% of the EPA’s budget.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID), chairman of the Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittee and bill author, called the EPA’s reporting issue “completely unacceptable” in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“This EPA is now operating with a record-high budget because of the reckless spending of the prior Democratic Congress,” Simpson said. “The EPA received an unprecedented influx of more than $100 billion outside of the normal appropriations process last Congress, and it is deeply concerning the agency cannot effectively track its funds. The American people deserve transparency in where their taxpayer dollars are going, and I will continue to push for accountability as Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee.”
