EPA suffers from weak oversight

One EPA IT project cost an extra $3.7 million and took a year longer than originally planned. Another was stretched out an additional two years at an additional cost of $2.8 million. Why? That's what the agency's Inspector General wanted to find out. A report released last week identifies familiar issues for government CIOs, as reported in a Federal Computer Week story.

The “EPA’s Office of Environmental Information did not sufficiently oversee [IT] projects to ensure they met planned budgets and schedules,” according to an assessment by several members of the IG’s office.

... Part of the problem is that current IT policies do not require the chief information officer to review program performance, the report states. Auditors recommended revising OEI policies and demanding more documentation from IT managers.

 The agency's IT department said they agreed with the recommendations.