United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao_comptroller_general legislative 2016-06-23 U.S. Government Publishing Office 1997-03-19 monographic deposited born digital 5 p. GA 1.13:B-262110 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-B-262110 P0b002ee18fd48c45 f:262110 DGPO 2016-06-23 2016-06-23 GAOREPORTS-B-262110 machine generated eng fdlp COMPTROLLERDECISION GAOREPORTS-B-262110 B-262110 Comptroller General Decision

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) should have used a procurement contract rather than a cooperative agreement to obtain support services from the University of Kansas (KU) for an EPA data management conference. If EPA had chosen to use a contract to procure the services, KU would not have been allowed to pay travel and related expenses for non-federal conference attendees. However, since the EPA Assistant Regional Administrator caused the error by choosing an inappropriate funding vehicle, neither the certifying official nor KU should have to repay EPA; both acted in good faith in fulfilling their obligations and neither had a basis for questioning the Assistant Regional Administrator's decision to use the cooperative agreement. ______________________________________________________________________ _____ https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-B-262110/html/GAOREPORTS-B-262110.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-B-262110/pdf/GAOREPORTS-B-262110.pdf GAO/B-262110 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-B-262110 Comptroller General Decision GAO/B-262110; Environmental Protection Agency--Inspector; Title 31 Section 1345 Title 31 Section 3528(a) Title 31 Section 3528(b)(1)(B) Title 31 Section 6303 Title 31 Section 6305(1) 31 U.S.C. 1345 31 U.S.C. 3528(a) 31 U.S.C. 3528(b)(1)(B) 31 U.S.C. 6303 31 U.S.C. 6305(1)