EPA's Superfund TAG Program

Grants Benefit Citizens But Administrative Barriers Remain Gao ID: T-RCED-93-1 November 10, 1992

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Technical Assistance Grant Program provides local communities with up to $50,000 to hire advisers to help them understand the technical aspects of hazardous waste site cleanups. Although the program appears to be helping foster public understanding of and involvement in cleanups of local Superfund sites, problems with public outreach, grants management, and administration may be hampering public participation in the program. To its credit, EPA's recent efforts to streamline the procurement procedures appear to be a step in the right direction. These actions alone, however, are not enough. Limited public outreach efforts and administration barriers continue to dog the program. Moreover, with program reauthorization imminent, clarifying how program recipients may use the grant moneys and how the Superfund Accelerated Cleanup Model may affect the program could minimize additional concerns in the future.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

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