Analysis of Office of Inspector General Policies and Procedures Addressing CIGIE Quality Standards - U S Environmental Protection Agency - Bog

EPA OIG has policies and procedures or other guidance to satisfy Silver Book requirements in all except one area. The one area lacking guidance pertains to training for the auditors and evaluators and the responsibility of key managers to ensure their staff members have the skills necessary to match the OIG's needs. We noted that 21 of the 28 policies and procedures reviewed, or 75 percent, are past the required review date prescribed by EPA OIG Policy 001, OIG Directives System. Of those 21 that are out of date, 48 percent are at least 3 years overdue for review/update. We concluded that our Policy 503, Allegations Against OIG Employees (last approved September 2001), needs to be updated to be consistent with current law and provisions. Further, we concluded that additional policies and procedures need to be assessed by the responsible offices to determine whether they are subject to Silver Book requirements or are sufficient to meet those requirements. These policies and procedures cover management challenges; annual plans; training provided to the Agency on fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement; and the need for independent external peer reviews.