EPA watchdog to probe infrastructure law grants

By Kevin Bogardus | 04/19/2024 01:44 PM EDT

The review aims to determine whether the agency has “sufficient controls” over its management of grants.

EPA Office of Inspector General.

A sign on the door of EPA's Office of Inspector General, as photographed Feb. 4, 2020. Francis Chung/POLITICO

EPA’s internal watchdog plans to sift through cash awarded by the agency under President Joe Biden’s trademark infrastructure law.

EPA’s Office of Inspector General said in a notice released Thursday that it will begin an audit of the agency’s oversight of grant funds under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act after they were awarded. The law has been a boon for EPA, slating it over $60 billion in the coming years to rebuild water systems, clean up Superfund sites and provide electric school buses.

The watchdog office’s objective for the audit is to see if the agency has “sufficient controls” over its management of grants authorized by the law.

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“The anticipated benefits of this audit include ensuring that grant funds awarded under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act are appropriately monitored so that grant projects achieve intended environmental results,” said the notice, which was signed by Kevin King, director of the Clean Water Investments Directorate in the inspector general’s audit office.

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