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Open Recommendations (93 total)

New Chemicals Program: EPA Needs a Systematic Process to Better Manage and Assess Performance

GAO-25-106839
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Administrator of EPA should ensure that NCD, as it finalizes its strategic plan, addresses relevant key practices for managing and assessing the New Chemicals Program, including involving stakeholders and identifying resources. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Environmental Protection Agency The Administrator of EPA should ensure NCD implements a systematic process that aligns the division's performance management approach with key management and assessment practices. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Textile Waste: Federal Entities Should Collaborate on Reduction and Recycling Efforts

GAO-25-107165
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Administrator of EPA, in conjunction with NIST, OSTP, NSF, and the U.S. Departments of State and Energy, should establish an interagency mechanism to coordinate federal efforts on textile circularity, reducing textile waste, and advancing textile recycling in the US. This interagency mechanism should identify and involve federal participants and should consider leading collaboration practices, including clearly defining common outcomes and identifying data and resource needs. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Environmental Protection Agency The Assistant Administrator of EPA's Office of Land and Emergency Management should identify and communicate federal financial resources (such as grants and other funding opportunities) and assistance that are available to encourage and support efforts by states, local governments, and organizations to reduce textile waste and advance textile recycling. (Recommendation 7)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Internet of Things: Federal Actions Needed to Address Legislative Requirements

GAO-25-107179
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency should direct the CIO to complete the covered IoT inventory within the revised time frame it has proposed. (Recommendation 6)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Small Business Research Programs: Agencies Identified Foreign Risks, but Some Due Diligence Programs Lack Clear Procedures

GAO-25-107402
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency should ensure that the SBIR/STTR program office and the Office of National Security develop and document agreed-upon procedures for requesting analytical support and sharing information—including classified information, as applicable—to support due diligence reviews. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Hazardous Waste: EPA Should Take Additional Actions to Encourage Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities to Manage Climate Risks

GAO-25-106253
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management should develop and provide training and technical assistance to help EPA regions and authorized states implement recent guidance on using existing authorities and requirements to manage climate risks to TSDFs. (Recommendation 1)
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA reported that it issued a guidance memorandum in June 2024 that calls for EPA regions and authorized states to consider climate risks in the hazardous waste permitting process for TSDFs, among other things, and is in the process of developing four webinar trainings to assist EPA regions and authorized states in implementing this guidance. EPA also noted that the webinars will be widely available to states and the public and grouped by the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest sections of the country, so they may also target climate impacts of particular concern in distinct parts of the United States. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.
Environmental Protection Agency The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management, together with other relevant EPA offices and EPA regions, should assess the current RCRA TSDF standards and requirements to determine if they will be sufficient to manage climate risks and, if one or more of them need to be updated to ensure they remain protective of human health and the environment, develop a plan for any revisions or updates. (Recommendation 6)
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA reported that it is assessing the current RCRA TSDF regulations as part of its efforts to develop a rulemaking for RCRA permitting that it plans to publish in 2025. EPA stated it is considering proposing specific provisions to address climate risk as part of this rulemaking. EPA stated that provisions may include requirements to assess and address climate change risk as part of facility permit applications; modify permits if climate change risk at a facility changes; implement facility design and operation standards to mitigate risk; and use portions of a federal standard to define flood risk requirements. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.
Environmental Protection Agency The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management, together with other relevant EPA offices and regions, should identify and communicate additional financial resources and assistance from federal resilience funding sources that may be available to authorized states and TSDFs. (Recommendation 9)
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA stated that it is using funds provided through the Inflation Reduction Act to support RCRA climate training, climate vulnerability screening, and facility mapping to support climate assessments at facilities. Further, EPA reported that it will continue to work to identify federal resilience funding sources that may be available to support consideration of climate change at TSDFs. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.

Hazardous Waste: EPA Should Take Additional Actions to Encourage Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities to Manage Climate Risks

GAO-25-106253
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management, in consultation with EPA regional offices, should develop and implement monitoring metrics and assess whether and how authorized states and TSDFs are managing climate risks to TSDFs in RCRA permitting and oversight efforts. (Recommendation 4)
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA stated that it has directed authorized states to start providing information on how potential climate risks were considered in permitting for TSDFs and that this information will be incorporated in the states' grant work plans and annual reports as grants are renewed in fiscal years 2025 through 2027. Further, EPA said that, by May 2026, it plans to compile and summarize information from state grant annual reports on how potential climate risks were considered in RCRA permitting for TSDFs. Then, by May 2027, EPA plans to develop a procedure for monitoring and assessing on an ongoing basis how authorized states and TSDFs are managing climate risks to TSDFs. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.
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