EPA’s internal watchdog said he was uneasy over the complexity of the agency’s “green bank” program and the potential for fraud, though Democrats pushed back in a hearing Thursday.
At the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing, Inspector General Sean O’Donnell drew on his previous time as a prosecutor of financial crimes at the Justice Department in outlining his concerns around the agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
The $27 billion program, created as part of the Inflation Reduction Act, aims to spur investment in projects focused on clean energy and other environmental priorities. EPA has been working in recent months to get the money out the door before an Oct. 1 deadline in the law.
O’Donnell said EPA officials are keeping him and his office apprised of how they’re carrying out the program — including enlisting a private bank to serve as a pay agent — but he’s still apprehensive.
