U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                   Office of Inspector General

                   At  a   Glance
                                                            09-P-0241
                                                     September 22, 2009
                                                                Catalyst for Improving the Environment
Why We Did This Review

The purpose of this audit was
to determine whether the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has adequately
monitored obligations on
Superfund Cooperative
Agreements.  Our objectives
were to determine the status of
obligations under Superfund
Cooperative Agreements for
selected States, and the
amount of unliquidated
obligations for these States
that could potentially be
deobligated.
Background
A Cooperative Agreement is a
legally binding obligating
document that provides
funding to a State to carry out
or assist with Superfund
removal and/or remedial
activities. Timely review and
deobligation of unneeded
funds allow these funds to be
used on other Superfund
priorities.
For further information,
contact our Office of
Congressional, Public Affairs
and Management at
(202)566-2391.

To view the full report,
click on the following link:
www.epa.qov/oiq/reports/2009/
20090922-09-P-0241 .pdf
EPA Has Improved Efforts to Reduce Unliquidated
Obligations in Superfund Cooperative Agreements,
But a Uniform Policy Is Needed
 What We Found
The regions audited (Regions 3,5, and 8) have implemented effective procedures
to adequately monitor the status of obligations under Superfund Cooperative
Agreements. Those procedures should be used by all regions annually to identify
funds available for deobligation. Also, the Agency has reduced the total amount
of open obligations under Superfund Cooperative Agreements from December 4,
2006, to December 2, 2008.

We identified $331,802 of open obligations in Region 3 that needed to be
deobligated. During our audit, the Agency deobligated $330,370 of that amount.
The Agency deobligated $1,432 less than the amount originally identified for one
agreement because of a final drawdown; that agreement is now closed. The
unliquidated obligations on the remaining agreements for the States reviewed are
necessary for continuing project work. Because the practices for the regions
reviewed have been effective in monitoring obligations and identifying amounts
available for deobligation, we believe an Agency-wide uniform policy to review
unliquidated obligations under Superfund Cooperative Agreements would be
beneficial.
 What We Recommended
We have identified several best practices used by Regions 3, 5 and 8, such as
(1) requiring that States submit detailed reports on the status of each Superfund
site twice a year, (2) requiring that budget officers solicit information from project
officers and other staff twice a year to identify potential funds for deobligations,
and (3) performing a deobligation exercise twice a year for Superfund Cooperative
Agreements. We recommend that EPA's Director, Office of Grants and
Debarment, incorporate these best practices into a uniform policy for reviewing
unliquidated obligations under Superfund Cooperative Agreements in all regions.
The Agency agreed to develop a uniform policy, and we consider its response
acceptable.

-------