Evaluation of the Environmental Protection Agency's Inspector General Audit of Superfund Expenditures and Implementation of the Inspector General's Recommendations

In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed an audit, conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Inspector General, of fiscal year (FY) 1982 expenditures from the Hazardous Substances Response Trust Fund (Superfund) to determine the reasonableness of the objectives, scope, and methodology used by the Inspector General in performing the audit and to determine what corrective actions EPA has taken in response to the audit findings and recommendations.

GAO found that the objectives, scope, and methodology used in the audit were acceptable with one exception; about $22.5 million in interagency agreements relating to Superfund expenditures were not audited. GAO was informed that the audits of interagency agreements were not completed because of time constraints and that they would be completed in FY 1984. GAO also found that EPA has begun to take action in response to the recommendations, but it was too early to judge the effectiveness of those actions.