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Open Recommendations (74 total)

Environmental Protection: Action Needed to Ensure EPA's Enforcement and Compliance Activities Support Its Strategic Goals

GAO-21-82
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance should incorporate lessons learned from the initial effort to engage earlier and more continuously with states when developing the office's plan for how EPA will work with states on future national initiatives. (Recommendation 2)
Open
EPA concurred with this recommendation and said it would take steps to implement it. In July 2023, EPA officials told us that the agency is still in the process of selecting the National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives for fiscal years 2024-2027. We will provide updated information when we confirm what actions EPA has taken in response to this recommendation.

Water Quality: Agencies Should Take More Actions to Manage Risks from Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia

GAO-22-104449
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency
Priority Rec.
The Administrator of EPA, working with the other members of the working group, should develop an interagency framework, including prioritizing water bodies and identifying resource needs, to expand monitoring of freshwater HABs and hypoxia. (Recommendation 3)
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation and the benefit of an interagency framework to expand monitoring of freshwater HABs and hypoxia. EPA stated in March 2024 that it was collaborating with NOAA and other member agencies of the working group to develop a framework to expand monitoring and forecasting of freshwater HABs and hypoxia. This framework will identify resource needs for freshwater monitoring and forecasting as well as prioritize water bodies in which to expand freshwater monitoring and forecasting capabilities. EPA also stated that this framework would be completed in June 2024. We will continue to follow up on these efforts.

Wildfire Smoke: Opportunities to Strengthen Federal Efforts to Manage Growing Risks

GAO-23-104723
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Director of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation should work with EPA's tribal, state, and local partners to evaluate options for providing incentives for and supporting wildfire risk mitigation and establish a plan for implementing appropriate options, seeking additional authority from Congress if needed. (Recommendation 6)
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation and asked for clarification, which we provided in the report. In November 2023, EPA signed a memorandum of understanding with USDA, the Department of the Interior, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to coordinate on issues related to wildland fire and air quality. The memorandum identifies as a focus area the need to identify and evaluate barriers to prescribed burning, including clear communication to Tribal, state, and local governments to clarify federal guidance, approval authority, and interpretation of the Clean Air Act. The memorandum also includes as a focus exploring intersections between Tribal cultural burning and the air quality management system and identifying barriers and opportunities. We will continue to track the results of these and other related EPA efforts and provide updated status information, as appropriate.

Cybersecurity: Agencies Need to Fully Establish Risk Management Programs and Address Challenges

GAO-19-384
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency
Priority Rec.
The Administrator of EPA should establish a process for conducting an organization-wide cybersecurity risk assessment. (Recommendation 40)
Open
The Environmental Protection Agency did not state whether or not it concurred with this recommendation. As of March 2024, EPA officials stated that they were continuing to plan for an organization-wide cybersecurity risk assessment, but that due to a recent programmatic delay, the planned date of February 2024 had been delayed 6-8 months. EPA officials added that they were in the process of updating an internal procedure to address ongoing risk assessment activities. We are continuing to follow up with EPA to verify whether implementation has occurred.

Recycling: Building on Existing Federal Efforts Could Help Address Cross-Cutting Challenges

GAO-21-87
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Director of EPA's Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery should develop an implementation plan for conducting a study and developing recommendations for administrative or legislative action regarding the effect of existing public policies, and the likely effect of modifying or eliminating such incentives and disincentives, upon the reuse, recycling, and conservation of materials, as required by RCRA. (Recommendation 1)
Open – Partially Addressed
In its written agency comments, EPA agreed that the identified actions in GAO's recommendations from December 2020 can help improve the recycling system. On November 15, 2021, EPA released its final National Recycling Strategy. This strategy committed EPA to conducting a study of different policies to determine their effectiveness toward addressing the challenges facing the recycling system. In December 2022, EPA notified GAO that it had initiated a study to examine the impacts of different policies, incentives, and disincentives on driving a circular economy, including a review of existing domestic and international policies related to recycling. According to EPA, the final report will include recommendations on effective policies or administrative actions. EPA indicated that it expects to complete the report by June 2024. We plan to follow up with EPA about this recommendation when the study is complete. At that time, we will determine whether EPA has attained any financial or other benefits from these actions. By conducting this study, EPA will address a RCRA requirement and may obtain important information to inform potential policy options.

Drinking Water: EPA Could Use Available Data to Better Identify Neighborhoods at Risk of Lead Exposure

GAO-21-78
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency
Priority Rec.
EPA's Assistant Administrator for Water should develop a strategic plan that meets the WIIN Act requirement for providing targeted outreach, education, technical assistance, and risk communication to populations affected by the concentration of lead in public water systems, and that is fully consistent with leading practices for strategic plans. (Recommendation 3)
Open
In March 2023, EPA reiterated its disagreement with our recommendation and stated that it believes the agency has satisfied WIIN Act requirements. However, we maintain that the recommendation is still warranted because EPA's Strategic Plan for Targeted Outreach to Populations Affected by Lead does not address all of the WIIN Act's requirements and does not meet leading practices for strategic plans. For example, EPA's plan does not address education, technical assistance, or risk communication. Rather, the plan only discusses actions to disseminate information to households after EPA has learned of certain lead action level exceedances. EPA officials stated that the agency had also developed a proposed National Primary Drinking Water Regulation to implement ways to protect citizens from lead in drinking water. However, the proposed regulation is not a strategic plan and does not include all of the elements required by the WIIN Act for the strategic plan. Implementing our recommendation would give EPA greater assurance that it has effectively planned for how to communicate to the public the risks of lead in drinking water.

Water Quality: Agencies Should Take More Actions to Manage Risks from Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia

GAO-22-104449
Show
1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency
Priority Rec.
The Administrator of EPA, working with the other members of the working group, should develop an interagency framework, including prioritizing water bodies and identifying resource needs, to expand forecasting of freshwater HABs and hypoxia. (Recommendation 4)
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA stated in March 2024 that it was collaborating with NOAA and other member agencies of the working group to develop a framework to expand monitoring and forecasting of freshwater HABs and hypoxia. This framework will identify resource needs for freshwater monitoring and forecasting as well as prioritize water bodies in which to expand freshwater monitoring and forecasting capabilities. EPA also stated that this framework would be completed in June 2024. We will continue to follow up on these efforts.

Lake Pontchartrain Basin: Additional Transparency and Performance Management Could Improve EPA's Restoration Program

GAO-23-105547
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The EPA Administrator, in updating the comprehensive conservation and management plan, should collaborate with relevant stakeholders to ensure that the plan reflects the current state of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin and includes performance measures. (Recommendation 3)
Open
EPA agreed with this recommendation. In August 2023, the Management Conference Executive Committee announced selections in response to a Request for Proposals to update the Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP). According to EPA, the primary goal of revising the CCMP is to assess the status and condition of the Basin, as well as to develop easily tracked performance measures and milestones. The agency estimates the collaborative revision process to take about two years. According to EPA, following the approval of a new CCMP, the Management Conference will review and revise the CCMP for agency approval every five years.

Critical Infrastructure Protection: Sector-Specific Agencies Need to Better Measure Cybersecurity Progress

GAO-16-79
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency To better monitor and provide a basis for improving the effectiveness of cybersecurity risk mitigation activities, informed by the sectors' updated plans and in collaboration with sector stakeholders, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency should direct responsible officials to develop performance metrics to provide data and determine how to overcome challenges to monitoring the water and wastewater systems sector's cybersecurity progress.
Open
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to develop and implement activities in support of the water and wastewater sector's cybersecurity such as a cyber-attack risk assessment tool and cybersecurity training for sector partners. The 2015 water and wastewater sector-specific plan calls for assessing performance and reporting on sector cybersecurity progress; however, the plan does not state specific measures. EPA officials recognize the challenge of developing consensus-based performance metrics for the sector. In June 2022, officials stated that they had confirmed the water sector's continued opposition to developing and collecting metrics data. In addition, officials stated that EPA had not been able to use results from self-assessment products or other cybersecurity tools to collect and report cybersecurity improvements from the water sector's use of the NIST Framework. At present, water sector facilities are not required to report this information and water utility owners and operators have expressed a reluctance to disclose this information voluntarily. Officials stated that EPA expects to gain further information from the regulatory approach under development. While its efforts are important, EPA officials did not provide evidence of specific sector-related performance metrics.

Recycling: Building on Existing Federal Efforts Could Help Address Cross-Cutting Challenges

GAO-21-87
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Environmental Protection Agency The Director of EPA's Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery should develop an implementation plan for conducting a study and developing recommendations for administrative or legislative action regarding the necessity and method of imposing disposal or other charges on packaging, containers, vehicles, and other manufactured goods to reflect the cost of final disposal, the value of recoverable components of the item, and any social costs associated with nonrecycling or uncontrolled disposal, as required by RCRA. (Recommendation 2)
Open – Partially Addressed
In its written agency comments, EPA agreed that the identified actions in GAO's recommendations from December 2020 can help improve the recycling system. On November 15, 2021, EPA released its final National Recycling Strategy. This strategy committed EPA to conducting a study of different policies to determine their effectiveness toward addressing the challenges facing the recycling system. In April 2022, EPA stated that it had initiated a study regarding the necessity and method of imposing disposal or other charges on packaging, containers, vehicles, and other manufactured goods to reflect the cost of final disposal, the value of recoverable components of the item, and any social costs associated with nonrecycling or uncontrolled disposal, as required by RCRA. In December 2023, EPA stated that it anticipates completing the study by June 2024. We plan to follow up with EPA about this recommendation when the study is complete. At that time, we will determine whether EPA has attained any financial or other benefits from these actions. By conducting this study, EPA will address a RCRA requirement and may obtain important information to inform potential policy options.
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