An investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General, a company watchdog position, found that the EPA shelled out almost $500,000 in unapproved bonuses for nearly a decade.

According to the IG's report that was released on Friday, between 2006 and 2013 the environmental agency handed out $481,819 in unauthorized bonus money to 11 EPA employees.

Fox News reported that company bonuses are supposed to be an incentive for employees who have gotten other job offers and are also supposed to be reauthorized every year.

However, the IG found that bonuses for 10 of the EPA officials were not reauthorized or even reviewed, which is a requirement, according to federal regulations and EPA policies.

The IG attributed the 11 unauthorized bonuses to confusion and inefficient management, as well as employee and manger incompetence with regards to following up on notices, Fox reported.

After senior EPA official John Beale defrauded the EPA out of almost $900,000 by claiming fraudulent travel expenses and taking unauthorized retention bonuses for more than a decade, the IG launched an internal investigation.

The IG found that Beth Craig, director of Climate Protection Partnerships at the Office of Air and Raditation, had approved almost $200,000 of Beale's falsified time and travel expenses because she didn't do her due diligence in verifying the reports. Craig was not terminated and is still an employee for the environmental agency.

In December, Beale was sentenced to serve 32 months in jail, according to the Washington Free Bacon.

According to the IG's report, one EPA employee, who had only been approved for a one-year retention bonus, was paid $77,204 in bonuses over the course of five years. Another employee had been promoted in 2009 and should have been ineligible for a bonus but he still got paid $105,000 during a four-year period.

Currently, no EPA employee receives retention bonuses, the IG reported.