Sound Contract Management Needed at the Environmental Protection Agency
T-RCED-89-8: Published: Feb 23, 1989. Publicly Released: Feb 23, 1989.
Additional Materials:
- Full Report:
Contact:
GAO discussed its review of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) contracting activities. GAO noted that EPA: (1) heavily relied on contractor support to accomplish its mission, with contract obligations exceeding $1 billion, about one-third of its total budget; (2) spent the most contract dollars on its Superfund program, with estimated obligations at $655 million; (3) increased its contracting budget and management staff, but decreased its number of contracts; (4) established its Alternative Remedial Contract Strategy to increase competition, expedite awards, and decentralize Superfund contract oversight responsibility to contracting personnel in regional offices; (5) consistently experienced such contracting problems as noncompetitive subcontract awards, inadequate government cost estimates, lack of sound contract management controls, cost overruns, rewards for inadequate contractor performance, heavy reliance on cost-plus-fee contracts, improper sole-source awards, and underreporting of its use of consultant contracts; and (6) has taken some steps to correct these weaknesses, although continued emphasis on contract completion at the expense of sound contract management could continue to result in contracting problems.
Jan 19, 2021
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Federal Rulemaking:
Selected EPA and HHS Regulatory Analyses Met Several Best Practices, but CMS Should Take Steps to Strengthen Its AnalysesGAO-21-151: Published: Dec 17, 2020. Publicly Released: Jan 19, 2021.
Jan 13, 2021
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Department of Energy Contracting:
Improvements Needed to Ensure DOE Assesses Its Full Range of Contracting Fraud RisksGAO-21-44: Published: Jan 13, 2021. Publicly Released: Jan 13, 2021.
Dec 16, 2020
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Data Governance:
Agencies Made Progress in Establishing Governance, but Need to Address Key MilestonesGAO-21-152: Published: Dec 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 16, 2020.
Dec 9, 2020
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2020 Census:
The Bureau Concluded Field Work but Uncertainty about Data Quality, Accuracy, and Protection RemainsGAO-21-206R: Published: Dec 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 9, 2020.
Dec 3, 2020
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2020 Census:
Census Bureau Needs to Assess Data Quality Concerns Stemming from Recent Design ChangesGAO-21-142: Published: Dec 3, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 3, 2020. -
2020 Census:
Census Bureau Needs to Ensure Transparency over Data QualityGAO-21-262T: Published: Dec 3, 2020. Publicly Released: Dec 3, 2020.
Nov 30, 2020
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Federal Buying Power:
OMB Can Further Advance Category Management Initiative by Focusing on Requirements, Data, and TrainingGAO-21-40: Published: Nov 30, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 30, 2020.
Nov 24, 2020
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Disaster Response:
Agencies Should Assess Contracting Workforce Needs and Purchase Card Fraud RiskGAO-21-42: Published: Nov 24, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 24, 2020.
Nov 23, 2020
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Federal Contracting:
Actions Needed to Improve Department of Labor's Enforcement of Service Worker Wage ProtectionsGAO-21-11: Published: Oct 29, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 23, 2020.
Nov 18, 2020
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Federal Telework:
Key Practices That Can Help Ensure the Success of Telework ProgramsGAO-21-238T: Published: Nov 18, 2020. Publicly Released: Nov 18, 2020.
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