Re: [CPEO-BIF] EPA's Inspector General reviews All Appropriate Inquiries reports

[Peter Strauss <petestrauss1@comcast.net>]

Barry:

You're statement sounds a bit strong.  The IG's report was aimed at  
EPA: not having a system in place to review and/or verify the findings  
of the EPs. Have you had experience when Certified Environmental  
Professions (EP) have wrongly certified properties to be in  
compliance?  As a lawyer, what have you done when you find this is the  
case? What Is the legal recourse for parties that believe that a site  
was wrongly-certified?

For full disclosure, I am a lapsed Certified Environmental  
Professional - I let my CA certification go because I don't prepare  
AAI-type reports.

Peter Strauss
On Feb 15, 2011, at 11:50 AM, Trilling, Barry wrote:

> Having seen this curse spread in both the public and private  
> sectors, I favor the enactment of legislation or promulgation of  
> regulation that will give EPA and state agencies the authority to  
> issue monetary sanctions and/or lift the license to practice of so- 
> called environmental professionals who certify compliance with the  
> regulatory standard when it is far from the truth to do so.   
> Corporate officials who certify statements submitted to EPA are  
> subject to criminal penalties; these folks who louse up the process  
> for everyone else and endanger human health and the environment by  
> doing so should also be subject to punishment.
>
> Barry J. Trilling
>  W I G G I N  A N D  D A N A
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org [mailto:brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org 
> ] On Behalf Of Lenny Siegel
> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 2:24 PM
> To: Brownfields Internet Forum
> Subject: [CPEO-BIF] EPA's Inspector General reviews All Appropriate  
> Inquiries reports
>
> [This new reports finds that EPA does not normally review All
> Appropriate Inquiries reports submitted by Brownfields Assessment
> grantees, and that those reports often do not meet the legal
> requirements under the AAI rule. What can and should be done to  
> improve
> the quality of those reports? What can and should be done to ensure  
> that
> AAI reports prepared for other purposes meet the legal requirements?
> Does anyone have evidence of serious on-the-ground consequences of  
> poor
> AAI documentation?- LS]
>
>
> EPA Must Implement Controls to Ensure Proper Investigations Are
> Conducted at Brownfields Sites
>
> U.S. EPA Office of Inspector General
> Report No. 11-P-0107
> February 14, 2011
>
> At a Glance
>
> What We Found
>
> EPA does not review AAI [All Appropriate Inquiries] reports  
> submitted by
> grantees to assure that they comply with federal requirements. Rather,
> EPA has relied on the environmental professional conducting the AAI to
> self-certify that requirements are met. Of the 35 AAI reports we
> reviewed, from three EPA regions, none contained all the required
> documentation elements. This occurred because the Agency does not have
> management controls requiring EPA project officers to conduct  
> oversight
> of AAI reports. Management controls regarding EPA oversight of
> Brownfields grants funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment  
> Act
> of 2009 (ARRA) are also missing. EPA has issued specific guidance and
> management controls for ARRA grant activities. However, the guidance  
> and
> controls do not address oversight of AAI reports.
>
> Because of EPA's lack of oversight and reliance on environmental
> professionals' self-certifications, AAI investigations not meeting
> federal requirements may go undetected by Agency staff. The Office of
> Inspector General found instances of noncompliance that were not
> detected by Agency staff. Improper AAI investigations introduce risk
> that the environmental conditions of a property have not been properly
> or adequately assessed, which may lead to improper decisions about
> appropriate uses of brownfields properties. Ultimately, threats to  
> human
> health and the environment could go unrecognized.
>
> Noncompliant AAI investigations may result in future grant denials and
> possible government reimbursement. The AAI reports the OIG reviewed  
> were
> generated from $2.14 million in grant awards. If conditions merit, EPA
> is authorized to take back funds from noncompliant grantees. The OIG
> questions the value of the reports we reviewed.
>
> What We Recommend
>
> We recommend that EPA establish accountability for compliant AAI
> reports, to include those conducted under ARRA Brownfields grants;
> develop a plan to review AAI reports to determine the reports'
> compliance with AAI documentation requirements; and establish criteria
> to determine whether noncompliant grantees should return federal grant
> money. The Agency did not clearly agree or disagree with OIG
> recommendations. In its final response to the report, the Agency needs
> to agree or disagree with recommendations and, as appropriate,  
> provide a
> corrective action plan to address the recommendations.
>
>
>
> To download the full 19-page 140 KB report, go to
> http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2011/20110214-11-P-0107.pdf
>
> --
>
>
> Lenny Siegel
> Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
> a project of the Pacific Studies Center
> 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
> Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
> Fax: 650/961-8918
> <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
> http://www.cpeo.org
>
>
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