IG: EPA lacks procedures to find right staffing levels

Budget

IG: EPA lacks procedures to find right staffing levels

A newly-released EPA Inspector General\'s audit found that the agency lacks the internal controls it needs to make sure its workforce is aligned with its missions.

Federal News Network Staff

December 31, 2010 4:17 pm

< a min read

By Jared Serbu
Reporter
Federal News Radio

The Environmental Protection Agency lacks the policies and procedures it needs to ensure that its staffing levels are appropriate for the agency’s workload, the agency’s inspector general found in a December 20 audit report.

EPA’s Office of Budget “does not currently use workload data to determine (staffing) levels because it does not have a current Agency workload model,” the IG reported. “EPA had historically used workload models to develop workforce estimates; however, these models were last updated in the 1980s and are no longer used.”

The report notes that office of Office of Management and Budget policy mandates that “employment levels should reflect budget proposals and assumptions concerning workload, efficiency, proposed legislation, interagency reimbursable arrangements, and other special staffing methods.”

In its response to the report, EPA officials called the IG’s conclusions “faulty” and asserted that the agency is in full compliance with OMB guidance. The agency also replied that it is in the process of preparing a two-part workload benchmarking study.