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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
12-P-0453
May 4, 2012
Why We Did This Review
This review responds to a
hotline complaint on alleged
misuse of Clean Water Act
(CWA) Section 106 funds in
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Region 8. The
complaint alleged that Region 8:
(1) withheld funds meant for
tribal programs; (2) provided
funds to the U.S. Geological
Survey and used funds for a
water quality database that
neither benefitted tribes nor had
their approval; and (3) provided
ineffective tribal support by
separating decision making
between two offices.
Background
CWA Section 106 authorizes
EPA to provide federal
assistance (in the form of water
pollution control program
grants) to Indian tribes to
establish and implement
ongoing water pollution control
programs. There are 23 tribal
governments in Region 8
eligible to receive CWA Section
106 water pollution control
program grants.
For further information, contact
our Office of Congressional and
Public Affairs at (202) 566-2391.
The full report is at:
www.epa.gov/oiq/reports/2012/
20120504-12-P-0453. pdf
Alleged Misuse of Tribal Clean Water Act
Section 106 Funds in EPA Region 8
What We Found
On the first allegation, we found that Region 8 funded tribal Section 106
programs based on the region's review of tribal work plans and did not
inappropriately withhold funds. Region 8 frequently determined that tribal work
plans did not warrant the level of funds requested and, therefore, did not award
all program funds to the tribes.
On the second allegation, Region 8 provided evidence that both the interagency
agreement and water quality database benefit the tribes. However, Region 8
does not have an effective method for gaining tribal approval to use Section 106
funds for special projects/associated program support costs.
On the third allegation, we found that Region 8 properly followed Agency
guidance by housing regional program managers separately from the regional
grants management office, but there were opportunities for improvement. The
region had taken steps to improve cross-office coordination and communication
before we started our review.
What We Recommend
We recommend that the Office of Water develop guidance on the use of
Section 106 tribal grants funds for associated program support costs, similar to
that developed by EPA's Office of Air and Radiation for Clean Air Act Section
105. We also recommend that Region 8 develop guidance to formalize the
process by which the region gains approval from tribes for associated program
support costs funded with Section 106 program funds. Further, we recommend
that Region 8 evaluate the effectiveness of the region's team approach to tribal
technical assistance—as part of regional guidance—by querying tribal Regional
Operations Committee members and making adjustments as needed based on
tribal feedback.
Planned Agency Corrective Actions
The Office of Water and Region 8 concurred with our recommendations and
described planned actions to address our recommendations. Our
recommendations remain unresolved pending planned completion dates on
actions to address our recommendations.

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