Environmental Protection: Factors Contributing to Lengthy Award Times for EPA Grants Page: 3 of 19
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United States
General Accounting Office
Washington, D.C. 20548
Resources, Community, and
Economic Development Division
B-282807
July 14, 1999
The Honorable James T. Walsh
Chairman, Subcommittee on VA, HUD,
and Independent Agencies
Committee on Appropriations
House of Representatives
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relies heavily on grants to
carry out its mission of protecting human health and safeguarding the
natural environment. These grants, which EPA awards to states, tribes,
localities, and academic institutions, provide assistance for projects that
range from conducting environmental research to constructing
wastewater treatment facilities.1 A significant portion of EPA's budget is
used to fund grants. For fiscal year 1999, for example, EPA projected that it
would use about $4 billion, or 53 percent of its $7.6 billion budget, for
grants.
EPA's grant award process consists of a series of steps that generally
begins when the agency receives its annual appropriation2 and ends when
it awards a grant to a recipient. As part of this process, a grant applicant
must prepare and submit a detailed grant application, and EPA and the
grantee agree on a work plan that describes the tasks to be performed, as
well as specific commitments and deliverables.
EPA funds two broad categories of grants-"agency-requested" and
"congressionally directed." Agency-requested grants implement ongoing
environmental programs and fund other executive-branch priorities.
Congressionally directed grants originate in EPA's appropriations acts and
in the committee reports accompanying the acts. These acts and reports
direct the agency to fund specific projects out of its appropriations.
Because o f your interest in the timeliness o f EPA's grant award process,
you asked us to identify (1) the number and dollar value of the
1In this report, the term "grants" includes both grants and cooperative agreements. Grants provide
organizations with financial assistance to carry out programs without substantial federal involvement.
Cooperative agreements provide financial assistance with substantial federal involvement. Both grants
and cooperative agreements are included in the broader category of "assistance agreements."
2The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) makes EPA's appropriations available through an
allotment process. We used OMB's allotment date as the starting point in calculating how long it takes
EPA to award a grant.GAO/RCED-99-204 Timeliness of EPA Grant Awards
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United States. General Accounting Office. Environmental Protection: Factors Contributing to Lengthy Award Times for EPA Grants, report, July 14, 1999; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc290865/m1/3/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.