The EPA also under-reported by about $1.2 billion, or 13 percent, its award-level obligations. Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock.com
An inspector general audit has said that the EPA’s reporting fiscal year 2022 spending in USAspending.gov was “not complete or accurate,” including failure to disclose nearly all of nearly $6 billion in spending for award-level outlays.
The EPA also under-reported by about $1.2 billion, or 13 percent, its award-level obligations and “did not report any of its Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act outlays and underreported its coronavirus pandemic-related outlays,” a report said, noting that the portal is the federal government’s official public source of spending information.
Auditors said that while the focus initially was on reporting of spending under that law, the scope was broadened because the issues identified there also applied in general. It said the agency system used for reporting to USAspending.gov was not configured properly, that the issues were not identified in internal system audits, and that the EPA “lacked procedures to detect errors and to confirm the completeness and accuracy of the data that it reported to USAspending.gov.”
The IG said that in light of the audit, the EPA last year corrected its fiscal year 2022 reporting in USAspending.gov and took steps to improve the accuracy and completeness of its future reporting. However, “The lack of complete and accurate reporting led to taxpayers being initially misinformed about the EPA’s spending, and policy-makers who relied on the data may not have been able to effectively track federal spending.”
The report follows similar findings last year made separately by the GAO and by the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee of gaps and reliability issues with data agencies reported on USAspending.gov related to pandemic relief spending.
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