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GAO-25-108540 1 (July 28, 2025)

handle is hein.gao/cifimnoff0001 and id is 1 raw text is: G AO S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILTY OFFCE 441 G St. NW Washington, DC 20548 July 28, 2025 Mr. Carter Farmer Chief Information Officer Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20460 Chief Information Officer Open Recommendations: Environmental Protection Agency Dear Mr. Farmer: I am writing to you with respect to your role as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress, GAO's mission is to support Congress in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and help improve the performance and ensure the accountability of the federal government. Our work includes investigating matters related to the use of public funds, evaluating programs and activities of the U.S. Government at the request of congressional committees and subcommittees or on the initiative of the Comptroller General, and as required by public laws or committee reports. Our duties include reporting our findings and recommending ways to increase economy and efficiency in government spending. The purpose of this letter is to provide an overview of the open, publicly available GAO recommendations to EPA that call for the attention of the CIO. We identified recommendations that relate to the CIO's roles and responsibilities in effectively managing IT. They include strategic planning, investment management, and information security. We have previously reported on the significance of the CIO's role in improving the government's performance in IT and related information management functions.1 Your attention to these recommendations will help ensure the secure and effective use of IT at the agency. Currently, EPA has 11 open recommendations that call for the attention of the CIO. Each of these recommendations relates to a GAO High-Risk area: (1) Ensuring the Cybersecurity of the Nation or (2) Improving IT Acquisitions and Management.2 In addition, GAO has designated one of the 11 as a priority recommendation.3 Fully implementing these open recommendations could significantly improve EPA's ability to deter threats and manage its critical systems, operations, and information. I have summarized selected recommendations here. See the enclosure for a full list, and additional details on the recommendations. 1See for example, GAO, Federal Chief Information Officers: Critical Actions Needed to Address Shortcomings and Challenges in Implementing Responsibilities, GAO-18-93 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 2, 2018). 2GAO, High-Risk Series: Heightened Attention Could Save Billions More and Improve Government Efficiency and Effectiveness, GAO-25-107743 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 25, 2025). 3Priority recommendations are those that GAO believes warrant priority attention from heads of key departments or agencies. They are highlighted because, upon implementation, they may significantly improve government operations, for example, by realizing large dollar savings; eliminating mismanagement, fraud, and abuse; or making progress toward addressing a high-risk or duplication issue. Since 2015, GAO has sent letters to selected agencies to highlight the importance of implementing such recommendations. GAO-25-108540 EPA CIO Recommendations Page 1

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