CSB challenges OIG findings on audit follow-up process

Washington – Chemical Safety Board Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso has disputed the findings of an audit report from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General, saying OIG was intruding on the agency’s “policy prerogatives.”

OIG issued a report (.pdf file) Feb. 1 stating CSB lacked a follow-up process to ensure implementation of OIG recommendations. An earlier OIG report (.pdf file) found that CSB did not address 34 recommendations from OIG and the Government Accountability Office in a timely manner. Among its claims are that CSB took four years after the corrective action date to complete four of the issues and ineffectively completed 13 recommendations.

Moure-Eraso contended that his agency has an adequate audit tracking system. He wrote in his response that OIG was “simply mistaken” about the level of documentation and actions CSB should take to address its recommendations and was imposing “bureaucratic burdens” on CSB rather than making helpful recommendations.