Rural Development

Patchwork of Federal Water and Sewer Programs Is Difficult to Use Gao ID: RCED-95-160BR April 13, 1995

This briefing report provides additional information on issues raised in a July 1994 GAO report entitled Rural Development: Patchwork of Federal Programs Needs to Be Reappraised (GAO/RCED-94-165). GAO discusses (1) the federal programs providing assistance to rural areas for building, expanding, or repairing water and wastewater facilities; (2) similarities in and differences between the programs' objectives and eligibility criteria; (3) problems that rural areas have encountered in dealing with these federal programs; and (4) views of groups representing rural areas concerning the possible consolidation or elimination of some of these programs.

GAO found that: (1) there are 17 different programs administered by eight federal agencies designed to help rural areas construct, expand, or repair water or wastewater facilities; (2) the 17 programs have the common objectives of improving rural areas' economy and infrastructure and helping rural areas achieve healthy living conditions; (3) eligibility criteria for the programs vary considerably, such as the minimum age and maximum population requirements; (4) rural areas face difficulties in utilizing the programs, including coordinating funding from programs with differing timetables, contending with duplicative requirements when multiple programs are used to finance projects, and coping with requirements that hold small projects to the same standards as large projects; and (5) groups representing rural areas agree that federal rural assistance needs to be reformed to give states and local areas more involvement, although they are concerned that state governments may not respond to communities' needs.



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