Biden admin relied on questionable data to send $3 billion for key initiative

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used unverified data in the process of sending billions of taxpayer dollars to states in 2023 to advance one of the agency's signature initiatives, according to a body agency control.

Directed by EPAthe Biden administration is aiming replace nearly all lead pipes in the US within about ten years. The EPA sent 3 billion dollars to states to advance this initiative in 2023, but the agency used unverified data to determine how much money should go to certain states, meaning some states likely got too much or too little given their respective levels of necessity, according to one memorandum released Wednesday by the EPA's Office of Inspector General.

The funds in question come from the bipartisan infrastructure bill of 2021, officially known as the Infrastructure Jobs and Investment Act (IIJA), according to the text of the memo. The law opened up $15 billion to be spent on the lead pipe replacement initiative over a five-year period.

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“EPA has been trusted to allocate billions of taxpayer dollars for mainline replacement with the expectation of need-based allocation to states,” EPA Inspector General Sean O'Donnell. said of the report. “Insufficient internal controls to verify the data resulted in allocations that did not represent each state's needs and, if not addressed, the Agency risks using unreliable data for future replacement funding of the main service line IIJA”.

The EPA does not agree with some of the inspector general's findings, stating that he used the best available data to determine appropriate funding levels and that adequate safeguards are in place to protect against waste. However, the inspector general's memo paints a different picture.

“The results of our initial assessment show that EPA did not have internal controls in place to verify this [Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (DWINSA)] data collected and sent. EPA directed states to use their “best professional judgment'' when reviewing data from the main service line before submitting the data to EPA,” the inspector general's note states .” EPA, for its part, did not take reasonable steps to verify the data submitted by the state to identify anomalies or discrepancies. In addition, EPA did not request supporting documentation from public water systems or states about how the systems collected the main service line data or how the states reviewed that data.”

Inaccuracies in the EPA data included an inflated count of lead service lines in two states, according to the inspector general's memo. The document did not identify these two states.

The inspector general's office said it met with EPA officials to convey its concerns about the lead pipe replacement program and that the EPA has taken some steps to address the problems identified. However, the inspector general's office added that the agency could do more to correct the data reliability issues and that there is still a chance that the EPA will not allocate IIJA lead pipe funds under the needs of states in the future.

The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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