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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
2005-P-00017
June 7, 2005
Catalyst for Improving the Environment
Why We Did This Review
We conducted this review in
response to a congressional
request to evaluate the
administrative and program
costs being used to carry out
the Brownfields program and
identify options to reduce
administrative costs. This
report includes answers to five
specific questions.
Background
In January of 2002, the
President signed the Small
Business Liability Relief and
Brownfields Revitalization
Act. This Act created a new
Brownfields program fostering
Brownfields redevelopment,
and authorized up to
$250 million per year through
Fiscal Year 2006 to implement
the new program. Estimates
indicate there are between
450,000 and a million
Brownfields sites that need to
be assessed and cleaned up.
For further information,
contact our Office of
Congressional and Public
Liaison at (202) 566-2391.
To view the full report,
click on the following link:
www.epa.qov/oiq/reports/2005/
20050607-2005-P-00017.pdf
EPA Can Better Manage Brownfields
Administrative Resources
What We Found
We provide answers to congressional questions about EPA's Brownfields
program: the distribution and type of staff; budget for Fiscal Year 2003 and 2004;
grant and contract management responsibilities and workload; the number and
type of Brownfields conferences; and the workload model used to staff the
program.
In evaluating this data, we determined that EPA's ability to effectively manage
Brownfields resources is challenged by policy and organizational impediments.
Because the authority for Brownfields resources is dispersed, offices with
responsibility for program resources are not in alignment in their efforts to define
and track Brownfields costs, and staff resources cannot be accounted for and
efficiently utilized. Close alignment of offices that support the Brownfields
program is needed to effectively and efficiently manage program resources.
We also found that EPA expends significant financial and personnel resources on
Brownfields outreach at conferences and meetings, without evaluating or
prioritizing these efforts. An analysis of these efforts offers the potential to
identify savings.
What We Recommend
We recommend the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response, with assistance from other accountable Assistant
Administrators, as appropriate: (1) more closely align themselves in support of an
accountable entity effectively to distribute, manage, account for, and optimize
Brownfields resources, consistent with program needs and goals; (2) define
Brownfields administrative and programmatic payroll costs and establish a system
to identify and track them; (3) provide documentation to account for all Fiscal
Year 2003 administrative resources; (4) revise the regional staffing model to
support current workload, develop a workload model for allocation of Brownfields
headquarters staff, and develop a schedule for regularly updating the workload
model; (5) evaluate Brownfields staff that are not certified Project Officers to
determine how many should become certified, and take necessary steps to
complete their certification; (6) hold the EPA-sponsored Brownfields conference
once every two years rather than annually; and (7) develop a process to evaluate
conferences and meetings to determine which conferences or meetings
Brownfields staff need to attend. The Agency did not agree or disagree with our
recommendations, and in several cases, disagreed with our analysis.

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