EPA, Funding and Audits: Where Do We Go from Here?

GAO has been reviewing Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) programs in the past years, and has issued about 14 reports dealing with the construction grants program. Some studies dealt with the slow pace at which waste treatment construction grant funds were being obligated. Reasons cited were difficulties associated with program requirements and State and local problems. One report dealt with the role of the consulting engineer and the fact that he is generally not required to guarantee treatment plant performance or cost estimate reliability. Another report advocated the use of value analysis as a means of reducing costs, and it was noted that this technique was not being used by 22 consulting engineering firms visited. Other reports dealt with broader program issues, such as: (1) the need for better data to justify construction of advanced waste treatment plants, (2) the implementation of the National Water Pollution Control Permit Program, (3) the need for better operation and maintenance of waste treatment plants, (4) problems encountered by local communities in financing their share of the plants, and (5) the need to control the cost of the grants program through better administration. In spite of problems, the program was not a failure.