US Environment Agency Suffers From Inadequate Management Practices

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suffers from inadequate management practices in overseeing $4 billion in grants it disburses every year, a Government Accountability office (GAO) report said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The EPA collects some information from grantees twice — once in a performance report and once in a database — because the agency uses the information for different purposes, the GAO pointed out.

"Grants comprised about half of EPA's budget in 2015, or about $4 billion," the report stated on Monday. However, "GAO found that certain practices may hinder EPA's ability to efficiently monitor some results and increase administrative burden."

Also, "GAO's review of grantee performance reports found issues that may hinder EPA's ability to efficiently identify factors affecting grantee results," the report continued.

The GAO recommended that the EPA reduce duplicative reporting that it should incorporate data quality controls for performance reports into its planned web-based portal.