EPA Hasn’t Tracked Coronavirus Grant Exceptions, Watchdog Finds

More than $20 billion in grant funds could be at risk because the EPA hasn’t clearly tracked adjustments to grants given as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the agency’s internal watchdog said Tuesday.

The White House Office of Management and Budget announced 14 adjustments, known as flexibilities, throughout 2020 to give short-term relief to grant recipients that were hampered by the pandemic. Some of the flexibilities to nonprofit groups and others included extensions on expiring awards and salaries needed to keep activities going.

But the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Grants and Debarment didn’t consistently track agency-wide implementation of ...