The author of the article is referred to the EPA multiple times but never contacts the EPA.
because that would defeat the point that Obama wasn't technically right about who he should contact!
anyway this isn't just a government problem. not really even a bureaucracy problem! I see it happen all the time. for instance, when I bought a computer from Best Buy a couple years ago, the keyboard didn't work properly. so I called, they said "bring the keyboard back, we'll replace it on the spot for free." I did that, and was bounced between four different "departments" or whatever because no one I talked to had responsibility for replacing keyboards or had any idea who did. took about half an hour for something that actually took them about 30 seconds once I eventually found the right guy.
tl;dr this isn't government only, most people don't really have a clue on things they're supposed to know about!