EPA proposed the Next Generation Compliance initiative in fiscal year  2012 to capitalize on advanced technical capabilities and efficiencies in  enforcement and compliance. In developing this new initiative, EPA  stated that it wanted to go beyond its traditional enforcement approach of  inspecting individual entities and make available, among other things,  new and more complete enforcement and compliance information. EPA Has Taken Steps under Next Generation Compliance to Increase Transparency and Accountability

Since introducing its Next Generation Compliance initiative in fiscal year  2012, EPA has taken four primary steps to increase transparency and  accountability in enforcement and compliance. According to EPA  documents and officials, these steps provide greater access to data under  EPA-regulated programs and make regulated entities more accountable  to the public. First, EPA formed an electronic reporting task force in December 2011 to  provide recommendations for converting from existing paper-based  reporting requirements to electronic reporting. Second, the agency formed a work group in April 2012 to identify  advanced emissions and pollutants monitoring technology and evaluate  how the agency can better use such technology. In September 2012, EPA formed a work group to advance the  use of Next Generation compliance tools in EPA settlement agreements. Fourth, the agency has increased the public availability of the  enforcement and compliance information it currently has available. For example, in January 2012, EPA  released a Clean Water Act Discharge Monitoring Report Pollutant  Loading Tool on its ECHO website to provide the public with information  about pollutants that are released into local waterways. EPA Has Not Developed a Strategic Plan for Its Next Generation Compliance Initiative

EPA has not developed a strategic plan to integrate Next Generation  Compliance into its enforcement and compliance program. EPA has  prepared a brief overview document and some slides that provide basic  information on the initiative’s five components, but these documents are  general in nature and provide little specificity regarding EPA’s plans,  goals, or performance measures related to Next Generation Compliance. We have previously  reported that strategic planning for activities below the agencywide  level— such as planning for individual divisions, programs, or initiatives—  is a leading practice for successful agencies. Table 1 lists five selected leading practices in  federal strategic planning and their characteristics. For example, without proper  planning, EPA may pursue emissions monitoring technologies that not all  regulated entities—especially the growing numbers of smaller facilities— can fully utilize, thereby requiring EPA to rely on costly individual facility  inspections with its limited resources. Without a strategic plan incorporating  selected leading practices, EPA may face challenges in helping ensure  that the initiative will achieve its long-term goals of improving compliance  and obtaining greater health and environmental benefits from the  agency’s regulations. Also, without such a plan to direct its Next Generation  Compliance initiative, EPA could waste valuable resources, time, and  effort and cannot be certain that it effectively integrates the initiative into  its overall enforcement and compliance program. Recommendations for Executive Action

To better integrate Next Generation Compliance into its overall  enforcement and compliance program and ensure that the initiative will  achieve the goals EPA envisions for it, we recommend that the  Administrator of EPA direct the Assistant Administrator of OECA to take  the following two actions:
Develop a schedule for completing, in a timely manner, a strategic  plan for Next Generation Compliance; and
Ensure that this strategic plan incorporates selected leading practices  in federal strategic planning, as appropriate, and describes how Next  Generation Compliance is to be integrated into the enforcement and  compliance program.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) oversees many environmental programs that seek to protect public health and the environment. Substantial noncompliance with these regulations and increasing budget pressures, among other things, led EPA to propose a new enforcement and compliance initiative in fiscal year 2012. This new initiativeNext Generation Complianceattempts to capitalize on advances in emissions and pollutants monitoring and information technology. Among other things, EPA expects Next Generation Compliance to provide new and more complete enforcement and compliance information and promote greater public transparency and accountability.
GAO was asked to review (1) actions EPA has undertaken in Next Generation Compliance to increase enforcement and compliance transparency and accountability and (2) the extent to which EPA is developing a strategic plan to integrate Next Generation Compliance into its enforcement and compliance program. To conduct this work, GAO reviewed Next Generation Compliance documents and interviewed selected EPA officials.

What GAO Found

Since introducing its Next Generation Compliance initiative in fiscal year 2012, EPA has taken four primary steps to increase transparency and accountability in enforcement and compliance. According to EPA documents and officials, these actions will provide greater access to data under EPA-regulated programs and make regulated entities more accountable to the public. In this regard, EPA
formed an electronic reporting task force in December 2011 to provide recommendations for converting from existing paper-based reporting requirements to electronic reporting;
established a work group in April 2012 to identify advanced emissions and pollutants monitoring technology and evaluate how the agency can better use such technology;
formed a work group in September 2012 to advance the use of new compliance tools in its enforcement activities, such as in settlement agreements with entities that are found in noncompliance with regulations; and
increased the public availability of the enforcement and compliance information it currently has available by, among other actions, placing a tool on its enforcement website that allows the public to obtain information about pollutants that are released into local waterways.
EPA has not developed a strategic plan to integrate Next Generation Compliance into its enforcement and compliance program. EPA has prepared some documents on the initiative and its components, but these documents are general in nature and provide little specificity regarding EPA's plans related to Next Generation Compliance. GAO has previously reported that strategic planning for activities below the agencywide level is a leading practice for successful agencies. EPA acknowledges the need for an overall plan for Next Generation Compliance. Developing a plan that incorporates selected leading practices for federal strategic planning could help EPA more effectively integrate Next Generation Compliance into its enforcement and compliance program and promote greater public transparency. Without a strategic plan incorporating these leading practices, EPA may face challenges in helping to ensure that its initiative will achieve its long-term goals of improving compliance and obtaining greater health and environmental benefits from the agency's regulations. Additionally, without a strategic plan to direct its Next Generation Compliance initiative, EPA could waste valuable resources, time, and effort. For example, without proper planning, EPA may pursue emissions monitoring technologies that not all regulated entities--especially the growing numbers of smaller facilities--can fully utilize, thereby requiring EPA to rely on costly individual facility inspections with its limited resources.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that EPA (1) develop a schedule for completing a strategic plan for its Next Generation Compliance initiative in a timely manner and (2) incorporate selected leading practices in federal strategic planning in the plan. EPA agreed with GAO's recommendations.