Organizational Effectiveness Follow-Up – Environmental Permitting and Compliance

The Office of the Inspector General previously conducted an evaluation of Environmental Permitting and Compliance (EP&C) (Evaluation Report 2016-15366 issued September 28, 2016) to identify strengths and risks that could impact EP&C’s organizational effectiveness. Our final report identified several strengths and risks along with recommendations for addressing those risks. In response to a draft of that report, Tennessee Valley Authority management provided their management decision. The objective of this follow-up evaluation was to assess management’s actions to address risks from our initial organizational effectiveness evaluation. In summary, we determined EP&C has taken actions to address most of the risks outlined in our initial organizational effectiveness evaluation. However, concerns with two managers’ behaviors remained unresolved. Management had taken some actions to address behaviors of one manager but had not addressed the behaviors of the other manger. In addition, employees expressed continued concerns related to the process and database used to request environmental reviews of projects and accountability.