EPA has not “consistently” fulfilled its responsibility to ensure proper use of federal funds for wastewater and pollution control projects, the agency’s independent watchdog said Thursday.
EPA’s Office of Water in recent years did not always monitor annual reviews of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which provides low-cost financing for various water quality projects, according to a new report from the EPA Office of Inspector General.
The agency’s 10 regional offices are required to submit reviews detailing how states are administering the funds. But EPA failed to ensure that the reviews complied with the program’s requirements, making the money more susceptible to misuse or fraud, OIG said.
The Office of Inspector General initiated the audit to ensure EPA was prepared to handle an influx of cash that the revolving fund recently received from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The audit assessed the period between 2019 and 2021, and EPA has since taken steps to fix past mistakes, the watchdog said.
