Fraud, Staffing Levels Concern EPA Watchdog in Tracking Grants

Local governments and other groups getting federal funding for the first time under the infrastructure and climate laws are at heightened risk of fraud, said the EPA’s top watchdog, whose office is launching new efforts to detect suspicious activity.

“There’ll be inexperienced participants in government funding,” Sean O’Donnell, inspector general at the Environmental Protection Agency, told Bloomberg Law. “And there’ll be inexperienced participants in contracting, and that will make them more susceptible to fraud.”

The inspector general’s office recently started a data analytics team that is developing an algorithm to detect high-risk audits, state revolving fund loans, and construction projects, ...