EPA’s in-house watchdog is launching an audit of the agency’s use of tens of millions of dollars in community air quality monitoring grants set aside by Congress in recent years, according to a newly released project announcement memo.
EPA’s inspector general said in the memo that the audit’s purpose is to determine whether the grants “achieve their required terms and conditions” on schedule, with results that could help pinpoint “operational efficiencies.”
The findings could also address challenges for grant recipients “to complete projects designed to enhance air pollution monitoring in and near underserved communities,” Michael Davis, a director in the inspector general’s audit office, wrote to EPA air chief Joe Goffman and Kimberly Patrick, the principal deputy assistant administrator at the Office of Mission Support.
While the announcement does not spell out the review’s exact purview, EPA two years ago awarded some $53 million to 132 separate projects via money allotted in the 2021 American Rescue Plan, aimed at addressing the Covid-19 pandemic, and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
