UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460

OFFICE OF
INSPECTOR GENERAL

August 28, 2017
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:

Project Notification:
Audit of EPA’s Adherence to Policies, Procedures and Oversight Controls
Pertaining to the Administrator’s Travel
Project No. OA-FY17-0382

FROM: 

John Trefry, Director, Forensic Audits 

Office of Audit 


TO: 

David Bloom, Acting Chief Financial Officer

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to
begin preliminary research on the EPA’s adherence to policies, procedures and oversight controls
pertaining to the Administrator’s travel to Oklahoma. This assignment is being initiated based on
congressional requests and a hotline complaint, all of which expressed concerns about Administrator
Pruitt’s travel—primarily his frequent travel to and from his home state of Oklahoma at taxpayer
expense.
Our objectives will be to determine the following:
  The frequency, cost and extent of the Administrator’s travel that included trips to Oklahoma,
through July 31, 2017.
  Whether applicable EPA travel policies and procedures were followed for Administrator Pruitt’s
travel that included trips to Oklahoma, as well as other EPA staff and security personnel
traveling with or in advance of Administrator Pruitt.
  Whether EPA policies and procedures are sufficiently designed to prevent fraud, waste and
abuse with the Administrator’s travel that included trips to Oklahoma.
To accomplish these objectives, we will review supporting documentation and conduct interviews with
management and staff to determine whether the EPA followed applicable policies and practices, and
complied with federal requirements. The OIG plans to work with the EPA’s Cincinnati Finance Center
and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to obtain needed information. Applicable generally
accepted government auditing standards will be used in conducting our work. The anticipated benefits of
this project are to improve operational efficiency.

 We anticipate starting our work in late August. We will contact the audit coordinator to arrange a
mutually agreeable time to discuss our objectives and the purpose of the audit. We would also be
particularly interested in any areas of concern that you may have. We will answer any questions you
may have about the project process, reporting procedures, methods used to gather and analyze data, and
what we should expect of each other during the course of the project. Throughout the project, we will
provide updates on a regular basis through a monthly meeting or via email, phone or video conference.
We respectfully note that the OIG is authorized by the Inspector General Act of 1978 to have timely
access to personnel and all materials necessary to complete its objectives. We will request your
resolution if an agency employee or contractor refuses to provide requested records to the OIG, or
otherwise fails to cooperate with the OIG. We may report unresolved access matters to the
Administrator and include the incident in the Semiannual Report to Congress.
I will supervise the project, and the Project Manager will be Angela Bennett. Should you or your staff
have any questions, please contact me at (202) 566-2474 or trefry.john@epa.gov, or Angela Bennett at
(404) 562-9844 or bennett.angela@epa.gov.

cc:  Scott Pruitt, Administrator
Ryan Jackson, Chief of Staff
Henry Darwin, Chief of Staff for Operations
Kevin Chmielewski, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations
Kevin Minoli, Acting General Counsel
Bobbie Trent, Agency Follow-Up Coordinator
Troy Lyons, Associate Administrator, Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations
Liz Bowman, Acting Associate Administrator for Public Affairs
Julia Valentine, Acting Director, Office of Media Relations, Office of Public Affairs
Howard Osborne, Associate Chief Financial Officer
Jeanne Conklin, Controller, Office of the Controller, Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Arthur A. Elkins Jr., Inspector General
Charles Sheehan, Deputy Inspector General
Alan Larsen, Counsel to the Inspector General
Kevin Christensen, Assistant Inspector General for Audit
Carolyn Copper, Assistant Inspector General for Program Evaluation
Patrick Sullivan, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations
Edward Shields, Acting Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Management
Richard Eyermann, Deputy Inspector General for Audit
Jennifer Kaplan, Deputy Inspector General for Congressional and Public Affairs
Jeffrey Lagda, Congressional and Media Liaison, Office of Inspector General
Tia Elbaum, Congressional and Media Liaison, Office of Inspector General