EPA OIG Encourages Better Oversight of Mobile Phones

A report released Friday from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) revealed a need for the Office of Information Technology Operations (OITO) to improve oversight of mobile phones. A lack of oversight resulted in the agency being billed $12,000 over two years for unused mobile phone services.

According to the report, the OITO did not:

·       Require justification for mobile phone use.

·       Determine whether the program and regional offices had standard operating procedures in place for the management of mobile phones.

·       Confirm that the required acknowledgment forms were signed and completed before processing mobile phone orders.

·       Inform all agency mobile phone users about what types of calls do not count toward the agency’s monthly ceiling of mobile voice and data limits.

The OITO claimed management of the phone system was the responsibility of each program office and region; however, the OIG found that the OITO retained primary oversight responsibility.

The OITO does send quarterly utilization reports to program offices and regions with data regarding no-use, low-use, and high-use mobile phones, but program and regional offices are not required to provide justification for no-use phones. The audit only found that four of 23 mobile device administrators provide that justification to the OITO. The OITO does not request justifications for high-use mobile phones.

Furthermore, 11 of the 23 mobile device administrators lacked written standard operating procedures for mobile phone management. Six of the 23 had only partial standard operating procedures. The report indicates that the OITO failed to provide oversight to ensure administrators maintained standard operating procedures.

The OIG made three recommendations to the agency:

1.       Establish internal controls that implement the oversight responsibilities outlined in CIO-2150.4-P-01.1.

2.       Update the agency’s mobile device intranet site to include information on the types of calls that do not count against the EPA’s monthly mobile voice and data limits.

3.       Update the utilization reports to track calls that do not count against the EPA’s monthly mobile voice and data limits to establish baseline information and make subsequent improvements.

The EPA agreed with the recommendations and completed corrective actions for issues two and three. The EPA has provided the OIG with a plan and estimated completion date for recommendation one.