We requested comments on a draft of this report from the Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency. Data in the central financial systems are insufficiently detailed, and are sometimes inaccurate or incomplete. Further, the records management systems do not provide for the efficient retrieval of supporting cost and work-performed documentation, which, if not located, can result in unrecovered costs. Data Problems Impede the Efficiency of Cost Recovery

EPA staff need accurate and complete financial data to efficiently and effectively pursue cost recovery actions. EPA has no assurance that its application controls are sufficient to prevent these data quality problems. Conclusions

EPA’s financial and records management systems do not efficiently support cost recovery, a critical business process that is vital to the continued existence of the Superfund program. To evaluate the extent to which EPA’s planned information systems modifications could improve the efficiency of cost recovery efforts, we (1) applied relevant segments of the information systems audit methodology published by the EDP Auditors Foundation, (2) interviewed officials from several EPA headquarters offices in Washington, D.C., and from EPA regional offices involved in developing new information systems or modifications to existing systems, and (3) reviewed and analyzed documents on EPA’s actions, including documentation on users’ requirements, feasibility, costs, benefits, and detailed specifications pertaining to the agency’s efforts to enhance and develop system capabilities to support cost recovery.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the adequacy of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) information systems that support the Superfund cost recovery process, focusing on whether planned modifications to the information systems will improve the efficiency of EPA cost recovery efforts.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) EPA financial and records management systems do not provide all the detailed cost information EPA staff need for the Superfund cost recovery process; (2) EPA staff have to conduct excessive manual searches and reconciliations to gather the needed data, which prolongs the cost recovery process; (3) EPA financial management systems are not sophisticated enough to cope with the complexity of certain transactions and the data contained in the systems are not always accurate; (4) EPA internal controls to prevent inaccurate data entry are inadequate and undocumented; and (5) although planned information systems modifications will improve cost information collection and retrieval, EPA needs to do more to enhance its records management capabilities.