Message to EPA Employees from Administrator Zeldin: Fighting waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer resources (February 7, 2025)
Colleagues,
Working at the EPA and advancing our shared mission of protecting human health and the environment is a public trust. I am honored to be part of the team. One of the ways we ensure accountability deserving of the public's trust is through review and oversight. This important work enables us all to be more effective in achieving the agency's mission with the resources and authorities provided by Congress.
I take our responsibility very seriously and am committed to fighting waste, fraud, and abuse alongside you. In my confirmation hearing, I promised the agency would be accountable for every dollar. I, as most Americans, was deeply troubled to see the video of a previous EPA appointee talking about tossing “gold bars off the Titanic.” This well documented account of potential waste, fraud and abuse of hard-earned American taxpayer dollars warrants further attention and oversight. We have a responsibility not only to be good stewards of our earth, but of the taxpayer resources with which we are entrusted.
This work ties into the valuable role the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) play. The OIG is an independent office within the EPA and, to meet its statutory mandate under the Inspector General Act, the OIG requires information and assistance from EPA managers and staff on a regular basis. The GAO is an independent, non-partisan agency that examines how taxpayer dollars are spent and provides Congress and federal agencies with objective, non-partisan, fact-based information to help the government save money and work more efficiently.
I continue to expect all employees to report waste, fraud, and abuse to the OIG. When appropriate, I encourage you to elevate your concerns within the agency and to the Administrator’s office as well. The types of conduct that should be reported include theft of EPA funds, misuse of contract or grant funds, misuse of EPA equipment or assets for personal gain, falsification of EPA reports or records, serious employee misconduct, or participation in EPA program fraud. Each employee taking the responsibility to report appropriate activity to the OIG is one of the most important and successful means the OIG has for identifying and stopping wrongdoing. Information can be reported to the OIG by contacting the OIG at OIG_Hotline@epa.gov or 1 (888) 546-8740. You may always request anonymity.
In addition, there are resources regarding whistleblower protections. There is a suite of resources available to whistleblowers, from a whistleblower protection coordinator to confidentiality protections to assistance with perceived retaliation after making protected disclosures.
The agency must make every effort to support and enable the oversight functions of the OIG and GAO to identify waste, fraud, and abuse, and improve accountability and efficiency at the EPA. Please know there is an open-door policy to communicate with the Administrator’s office. I thank you for your cooperation and commitment to upholding the public’s trust in the important work we perform every day to deliver clean air, clean land, and clean water to every American.
Sincerely,
Administrator Lee Zeldin