EPA Underreported Spending Amounts by Billions, Watchdog Says

The Environmental Protection Agency underreported $7 billion worth of fiscal 2022 spending on a federal website, the agency’s internal watchdog said on Tuesday.

The shortcomings “led to taxpayers being initially misinformed about the EPA’s spending, and policy makers who relied on the data may not have been able to effectively track federal spending,” according to the agency’s Office of Inspector General.

Sean O’Donnell, who leads the inspector general’s office, has repeatedly voiced concerns about waste, fraud, and abuse in the unprecedented sums of money the EPA has recently gotten under the 2021 infrastructure law and 2022 climate law.

The ...