EPA’s Lead Service Line Funding Deeply Flawed, Watchdog Says (1)

Sloppy data gathering and a lack of internal checks have led to nearly $1 billion in questioned costs under the EPA’s lead service line replacement program, the agency’s internal watchdog said on Tuesday.

The report from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General casts a pall over one of the Biden administration’s key environmental wins.

But the EPA pushed back firmly, saying in a response included in the report it had “consistently raised concerns” throughout the audit about how the watchdog was gathering and evaluating evidence, but those complaints were largely ignored.

The inspector general said the EPA shouldn’t ...