Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) issues concerning the operational control and ownership of a hazardous waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio; (2) whether the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Ohio have complied with regulations for approving and modifying incinerator permits; and (3) EPA ability to ensure that human health and the environment are protected during the operation of the incinerator.

GAO found that: (1) several of the companies that made up the original partnership have changed, as well as the operational responsibility for the facility; (2) although the corporate partners have changed several times and all of the partners are now owned by the same corporation, the company's ownership has not changed; (3) EPA has generally followed regulatory requirements in permitting the incinerator; (4) EPA has not required the company to provide an engineering analysis to show that its proposed flood protection devices would be able to withstand a 100-year flood; (5) EPA has not conducted an alternative site analysis as required by a federal executive order on floodplain development; (6) EPA and the public could benefit from increased public participation in the permitting process; (7) EPA has established performance standards that the incinerator must meet when burning hazardous wastes and has required the facility to conduct a test to determine whether the incinerator could meet those standards before beginning full-scale operations; and (8) because of community concerns, EPA has gone beyond program requirements and is conducting a two-phase health risk assessment.