Why We Did This Report
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General received allegations that Agency officials took retaliatory personnel actions against EPA scientists in the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics. The OIG is the only independent resource in the EPA empowered to investigate concerns regarding retaliation and scientific integrity without fear of interference from the Agency.
Summary of Findings
The OIG received hotline complaints from five EPA scientists who raised multiple allegations of misconduct, including that the Agency took retaliatory actions from 2019 through 2022 after each scientist expressed differing scientific opinions and after they filed hotline complaints with the EPA OIG. We issued five separate reports of investigation, which individually address the specific retaliation allegations made by each scientist. The investigations determined that three out of the five scientists were retaliated against in violation of the EPA's Scientific Integrity Policy after expressing differing scientific opinions. Of these three scientists, we found that one was also retaliated against after engaging in protected activities in violation of the Whistleblower Protection Act. These investigations underscore the indispensable role of the EPA OIG in protecting scientific integrity and whistleblowers at the EPA.