GAO provided an update on its Environmental Protection issue area plan for fiscal years 1998-2000.

GAO plans to examine: (1) the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) progress in directing its resources to areas where they can have the greatest impact in protecting the environment and public health; (2) the information Congress needs for reauthorizing key environmental statutes, such as Superfund and the Clean Water Act; and (3) EPA and state implementation of environmental programs and efforts to forge more cost-effective, performance-based approaches to environmental protection.