Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
EPA's inspector general revealed a "disturbing trend" of improper protocols at the agency, which he said jeopardizes accurate accounting of more than $100 billion from the IRA and IIJA.
Why it matters: The House hearing Thursday came as the agency dramatically expands its programs, creating a greenhouse gas reduction fund and pouring money into replacing lead water pipes, remediating brownfields and deploying electric school buses.
- Republicans are likely to target many of those programs should they win the White House and/or take control of Congress.
- The title of Thursday's hearing by the House Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee: "Holding the Biden-Harris EPA Accountable for Radical Rush-to-Green Spending."
Driving the news: Sean O'Donnell told the subcommittee he had found issues with EPA's accounting of $60 billion from IIJA.
- The IRA provided no additional funding for the IG's office — which, after a decade of stagnant or declining budget cuts, "leaves our office without sufficient capacity" to audit another $40.5 billion, O'Donnell said.
Between the lines: The agency's use of "disparate systems and incompatible data formats" causes "significant delays in gathering information" and "hampers the ability to track programs," O'Donnell said.
- EPA provided inconsistent and incorrect guidance to funding recipients related to auditing rules, he said.
The other side: Democrats called the Republican-led hearing an election-season stunt.
- The EPA is "focused on ensuring that our programs and initiatives are executed effectively, efficiently, and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations," EPA spokesperson Remmington Belford said in a statement.
