&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
EPA 540-K-93-001
PB93-963301
September 1993
Superfund Technical
Assistance Grants
Office of Emergency and Remedial Response
Hazardous Site Control Division (5203G)
Quick Reference Fact Sheet
Publication 9230.1-05/FSA
WHAT IS THE
TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
GRANT
PROGRAM?
Background of the Program: In 1980, the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)—otherwise known as
"Superfund"—established a trust fund for the cleanup of hazardous waste sites in
the United States. CERCLA was modified and extended when Congress passed
the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). The
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for administering the
Superfund Program.
An important aspect of the Superfund program is citizen involvement at the
local level in decision-making that relates to site-specific cleanup actions. For
this reason, community outreach activities are underway at each of the approxi-
mately 1,200 sites that are presently on the National Priorities List (NPL). The
NPL is EPA's published list of the most serious hazardous waste sites nation-
wide that have been identified as potential threats to the environment.
Recognizing the importance of community involvement and the need for citizens
living near NPL sites to be well-informed, Congress included provisions in SARA to
establish a Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) Program, intended to promote public
involvement in decisions on site-specific cleanup strategies under Superfund.
Decisions concerning cleanup activities at NPL sites should be based on a range of
technical considerations. These might include:
• Studies of site conditions.
* The nature of the wastes involved.
• The technologies available for performing the necessary cleanup actions.
The TAG Program provides funds for qualified citizens' groups affected by a
Superfund site to hire independent technical advisors to help them understand and
comment on site-related information, and thus participate in cleanup decisions.
Since the first TAG was awarded in 1988, more than $6 million has been awarded
directly to grassroots groups.
Basic Provisions of the TAG Program:
» Grants of up to $50,000 are available to community groups for the purpose
of hiring a technical advisor to interpret site-related technical information.
Additional funding may be available for unusually large or complex sites.
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USES OF
TECHNICAL
ASSISTANCE
GRANTS
« The group is required to contribute matching funds, whether in cash or
donated services or supplies, equal to 20 percent of the total project costs.
« The group must state what it intends to do with TAG funds.
« Only one TAG is available for each NPL site.
Citizen groups may use grant funds to hire technical advisors to help them
understand existing information about the site or information developed during the
Superfund cleanup process.
You can use TAG funds to pay a technical advisor to:
» Review site-related documents, whether produced by EPA or others.
• Meet with the TAG group to explain technical information.
* Provide assistance in communicating the group's site-related concerns.
* Interpret technical information for the community.
* Participate in site visits, when possible, to gain a better understanding of
cleanup activities.
• Travel to meetings and hearings related to the situation at the site.
You also can use TAG funds to hire someone to administer the grant (see "Managing
Your Grant," page 4).
You cannot use TAG funds to develop new information (for example, to conduct
additional sampling) or to support legal actions in any way, including the prepara-
tion of testimony or the hiring of expert witnesses.
WHO MAY
APPLY FOR A
GRANT?
Eligible groups are made up of people whose health, economic well-being, or
enjoyment of the environment are potentially threatened.
Any group applying for a TAG must be nonprofit and incorporated (formed a legal
corporation) or working toward incorporation under applicable state laws. Appli-
cations are encouraged from:
• Groups that have a genuine interest in learning more about the technical
aspects of a nearby Superfund site.
• Groups committed to sharing site information with the entire affected
community.
For example, such groups could be:
» Community groups formed to address site-related issues.
• Existing citizens' associations.
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» Environmental or health advocacy groups that have been active at the site.
• Coalitions of such groups formed to deal with community concerns about
the Superfund site and its impact on the surrounding area.
Groups that are not eligible for grant funds are:
• Potentially responsible parties—individuals, municipalities, or companies
(such as facility owners or operators, or transporters or generators of
hazardous waste) potentially responsible for, or contributing to, the
contamination problems at a Superfund site.
» Academic institutions.
• Political subdivisions.
• Groups, such as counties or cities, established or supported by government.
HOW TO
APPLY FOR
A GRANT
Requirements and Evaluation Criteria; When applying for a TAG, your group
must provide information to EPA (or to your state, if it is administering the TAG
Program) to determine if your group meets specific administrative and management
requirements. As part of the standard application, your group also must include a
description of its history, goals, and plans for the technical assistance funds.
In general, your group must demonstrate that it is aware of the time commitment,
resources, and dedication needed to successfully manage a TAG. Factors particu-
larly important in evaluating an application include:
• Your ability to manage the grant in compliance with EPA rules.
• The degree to which the members' health, economic well-being, and enjoy-
ment of the environment are potentially threatened by a hazardous waste site.
» Your plans for the TAG funds and the technical advisor's services.
« Your commitment and ability to share the information provided by the
technical advisor with others in the community.
» The degree to which your group represents individuals in the community.
The Application Process: EPA may award only one TAG per Superfund site. To
make sure that all eligible groups have an equal opportunity to compete for a
single TAG, EPA has an application process that includes the following steps:
• Send EPA a letter stating your desire to apply and naming the site(s)
involved. If work at the site is underway or scheduled to begin, EPA will
send you the Superfund TAG Handbook: Applying for a Grant and the Super-
fund TAG Handbook The Application Forms with Instructions and inform
others in the community that a group is interested in applying for a TAG.
• Other interested groups then have 30 days to contact the original applicant
to form a coalition and submit one application-
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• If groups are unable to form a coalition, EPA will accept separate applications
from all groups for an additional 30-day period.
« EPA then may award a grant to the group that best meets the evaluation
criteria.
At unusually large or complex sites, more than $50,000 in funding maybe necessary
to enable citizens to participate effectively in decisions related to site activities. In
such cases, TAG recipients may request additional funding.
CHOOSING A
TECHNICAL
ADVISOR
When choosing a technical advisor after the TAG is awarded, you should consider
the kind of technical advice your group needs most and whether a prospective
advisor has the variety of skills necessary to provide all of the advice needed, A
technical advisor must have:
» Knowledge of hazardous or toxic waste issues and experience working on
hazardous or toxic waste problems.
• Academic training in relevant scientific and technical fields.
* The ability to translate technical information into terms understandable to
lay persons.
* Experiencemrnakingte<±nicalpresentationsandworldngwithcornmunity
groups.
» Good communication skills.
You may use your TAG funds to hire more than one technical advisor if your group
wants a combination of skills at a particular site. For example, a group maybe unable
to find a single advisor experienced in both hydrology and epidemiology, two of the
skills most needed at its site. Another approach would be to hire a consulting firm
that has experience in all the needed areas. The Superfund TAG Handbook: Procure-
ment—Using TAG Funds details the process of hiring a technical advisor and
identifies related issues that citizens' groups may wish to consider.
MANAGING
YOUR GRANT
You must routinely keep track of how you spend TAG funds. In general, you must:
• Establish an accounting system and keep appropriate records.
« Submit reimbursement forms to EPA for the money to pay the technical
advisor (each form must show that the group met the required 20 percent
contribution).
» Prepare and submit quarterly progress reports to EPA.
TAG funds may be used to hire someone with the appropriate skills to administer
the grant. However, to ensure that TAG funds are used primarily for the interpre-
tation and communication of site^related technical data, these costs may not exceed
20 percent of the total TAG project costs.
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ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
Your EPA Regional Office is ready to answer any questions that you may have.
For further information, please contact your EPA Regional Office. Copies of the
four booklets that together make up the Superfund Technical Assistance Grant
Handbook are available free of charge by contacting the EPA Regional Office for
your state (see map on back cover). The volume entitled Superfund Technical
Assistance Grant (TAG) Handbook: The Application Forms with Instructions contains
sample forms and instructions to assist you in preparing a TAG application.
EPA Superfund Offices
EPA Headquarters
Office of Emergency & Remedial
Response (5203G)
401 M Street, SW
Washington, DC 20460
(703) 603-8840
EPA Region 1 (HPC-CAN7)
John F. Kennedy Federal Building
Boston, MA 02203
(617) 223-5534
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont
EPA Region 2 (2-IPD)
26 Federal Plaza
New York, NY 10278
(212) 264-7054
New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico,
Virgin Islands
EPA Region 3 (3-EA-21)
841 Chestnut Building
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 597-9817
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland,
Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia
EPA Region 4 (4WD-SSRB)
345 Courtland Street, NE
Atlanta, GA 30365
(404) 347-2234
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky,
Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee
EPA Region 5 (P-19-J)
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604-3507
1-800-621-8431
Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota,
Ohio, Wisconsin
EPA Region 6 (6H-MC)
1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200
Dallas, TX 75202-2733
(214) 655-6617
Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico,
Oklahoma, Texas
EPA Region 7 (PBAF)
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101
(913) 551-7003
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska
EPA Region 8 (8 HWM-SM)
99918th Street, Suite 500 '
Denver, CO 80202
(303) 293-1870
Colorado, Montana, North Dakota,
South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming
EPA Region 9 (H-l-1)
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 744-2175
Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii,
Nevada, American Samoa
EPA Region 10 (HW-117)
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206) 553-1090
Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Alaska
Superfund/RCRA Hotline
(800) 424-9346
or (703) 920-9810 in the Washington, DC,
metropolitan area (for information on
programs)
National Response Center
(800) 424-8802 (to report releases of oil and
hazardous substances)
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EPA Superfund Offices
Boston
New York
'Philadelphia
Washington, D.C.
SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency (5203G)
Washington, DC 20460
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
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