Within the OIG, the national ombudsman will report to a newly created Assistant Inspector General for Congressional and Public Liaison. Prior to the reorganization, the ombudsman had authority to determine which cases warrant further investigation. Recordkeeping and accountability. According to officials from the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response and the OIG and draft operating procedures for the ombudsman, the investigative aspects of the ombudsman function will be assigned to the OIG and the regional ombudsmen will respond to inquiries and have a role in informally resolving issues between the agency and the public before they escalate into complaints about how EPA operates. Issues Raised by EPA’s Reorganization of the Ombudsman Function

EPA’s reorganization of the ombudsman function does not fully address the issues we raised in our July 2001 report and, as noted in our subsequent testimonies, raises some new concerns as well. First, several aspects of EPA’s reorganized ombudsman function are not consistent with existing professional standards for ombudsmen. However, under EPA’s reorganization, the national ombudsman will not be able to exercise independent control over budget and staff resources, even within the general constraints that are faced by federal agencies. While the national ombudsman will be consulted about the hiring, assignment, and supervision of staff, overall authority for staff resources and the budget allocation rests with the Assistant Inspector General for Congressional and Public Liaison, to whom the ombudsman reports. OIG officials pointed out that the concern our July 2001 report raised about control over budget and staff resources was closely linked to the ombudsman’s placement within the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. Specifically, the role of an ombudsman typically includes program operating responsibilities, such as helping to informally resolve program-related issues and mediating disagreements between the agency and the public. With the ombudsman function a part of the OIG, the Inspector General can no longer independently audit and investigate that function, as is the case at other federal agencies where the ombudsman function and the OIG are separate entities. In addition, as we recommended, EPA’s ombudsman function now has written criteria for selecting and prioritizing cases for investigation and, by virtue of its relocation to the OIG, will be adopting many of that office’s existing procedures for tracking, documenting, and reporting the results of investigations and summarizing annual activities in a public report. Recommendations for Executive Action

To ensure that EPA’s national ombudsman (1) is consistent with what the ombudsman community and the public have come to expect from that position and (2) does not adversely affect the independence of the agency’s OIG, we recommend that the Administrator, EPA, reconsider placement of the national ombudsman in the OIG. ABA’s standards clearly define the ombudsman’s role as including certain responsibilities that have been omitted from the OIG’s conception of the ombudsman function. To identify issues raised by the reorganization, we followed up on preliminary observations provided in our testimony of June 2002 and July 2002. We also reviewed legislation applicable to Inspector General offices and other relevant GAO reports.
Why GAO Did This Study

Federal ombudsmen help their agencies be more responsive to the public through the impartial investigation of citizens' complaints. Professional standards for ombudsmen incorporate certain core principles, such as independence and impartiality. In July 2001, GAO reported that key aspects of EPA's hazardous waste ombudsman were not consistent with professional standards, particularly with regard to independence. (See GAO-01-813 .) Partly in response to GAO's recommendations, EPA reorganized its ombudsman function and removed the national ombudsman from the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. GAO made preliminary observations on these changes in testimony in June and July 2002. (See GAO-02-859T and GAO-02-947T). This report provides information on (1) the current status of EPA's reorganization of the ombudsman function and (2) issues identified in our prior report and testimonies that have not yet been addressed.

What GAO Found

EPA's national ombudsman now reports to a newly created Assistant Inspector General for Congressional and Public Liaison within the Office of Inspector General (OIG), unlike other federal agencies whose ombudsmen report to the highest levels of the agency. Control over the budget and staff resources for EPA's ombudsman is held by the Assistant Inspector General and not the ombudsman. Similarly, overall responsibility for the work performed by the OIG rests with the Inspector General; the ombudsman no longer has the authority to decide which complaints warrant further review, as was the case prior to the reorganization. Regarding the recordkeeping and accountability aspects of the ombudsman function, OIG officials say that they will likely adopt many of the office's existing procedures for tracking, documenting, and reporting the results of investigations. While EPA's reorganization addresses some of the concerns raised in GAO's July 2001 report and subsequent testimonies, other issues remain. For example, EPA removed the national ombudsman from the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, whose decisions the ombudsman was responsible for investigating. However, the ombudsman still will not be able to exercise independent control over budget and staff resources as called for by relevant professional standards. Relocating the ombudsman to the OIG also raises some new issues regarding (1) the extent to which the position will function as a "true" ombudsman in interactions with the public and (2) the potential impact of the reorganization on the OIG's role. Although the role of an ombudsman typically includes program operating responsibilities, such as helping to informally resolve disagreements between the agency and the public, for legal reasons such responsibilities have been omitted from the ombudsman's role within the OIG. In addition, with the ombudsman function a part of the OIG, the Inspector General can no longer independently audit and investigate that function, as is the case at other federal agencies where the ombudsman and the OIG are separate entities.