In a report to Congress entitled:"Superfund: A More Vigorous and Better Managed Enforcement Program Is Needed," the GAO made the following observations:
Because cost recovery has been considered a low priority within EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency] and received limited staff resources, it has faltered. To provide a systematic approach for implementing its Superfund enforcement initiatives, EPA should establish long-term, measurable goals for implementing the Administrator's Superfund strategy and identify the resource requirements that will be needed to meet these long-term goals.
GAO also makes other recommendations to improve EPA's enforcement activities.
Discussion Issues
a. How would the GAO go about developing evidence to reach the conclusion that cost recovery has been a low priority within the EPA?
b. Why is it important to the EPA, Congress, and the GAO that the EPA establish long-term, measurable goals? How would the establishment of such goals facilitate future audits of the EPA?
c. Based on the conclusions identified earlier, would you consider the work performed on the EPA by the GAO to be an audit? Explain why or why not.
d. In what substantive ways does it appear that the audit work of the GAO differs from that of the public accounting profession?