The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued a June 16th Notice of Evaluation (“Notice”) addressing:
EPA’s Screening of Environmental Violations that the Regulated Community Self-Reports via the eDisclosure System
See Project No. OSRE-FY21-0212.
The Notice is transmitted from Patrick Gilbride, Director, OIG Office of Special Review and Evaluation to Lawrence Starfield, Acting Assistant Administrator, EPA Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
OIG states that it is going to evaluate EPA’s efforts to:
. . . screen environmental violations that the regulated community self-reports via the EPA’s eDisclosure system.
The OIG Notice also indicates that it will address what it describes as a “top management challenge” which is described as:
. . . complying with key internal control requirements (data quality).
EPA operates an automated eDisclosure system that it has previously stated enables businesses to “quickly be able to get some of their more routine types of disclosures resolved.” Additional described rationale for the system is that the large number of violations that have been self-disclosed to EPA has “taxed the agency’s ability to promptly resolve all pending disclosures.”
The eDisclosure system provides entities the opportunity to disclose potential violations through the eDisclosure portal that may qualify for one or two types of automated treatment – Category 1 or Category 2. Each of the categories describes specific statutes and/or violations that may be disclosed pursuant to this system.
OIG states in the Notice that its objective is to:
. . . determine whether the EPA’s process for screening self-reported violations through its eDisclosure system is effective and ensures that significant concerns, such as criminal conduct and potential imminent hazards, are addressed by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
A copy of the Notice can be downloaded here.
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