tf£D sr^
	\ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency	2006-P-00013
£	nffironflncnorW^onoral	February 28, 2006
l$SR7i
0*. U.S. Environmental Protecti
Office of Inspector General
» SY/ 1
At a Glance
Catalyst for Improving the Environment
why we Did This Review ep^ Ca/7 Better Manage Superfund Resources
We performed this review in
response to a congressional
request to evaluate Superfund
expenditures at headquarters
and the regions.
Background
The Superfund program was
created in 1980, and since that
time and through FY 2003,
over 1,500 of the Nation's
highest priority hazardous
waste sites have been cleaned
up or are undergoing cleanup.
However, the Superfund Trust
Fund has decreased over the
years, and in FY 2004 and
FY 2005, all Superfund
appropriations came from
general tax revenue rather than
the Trust Fund. Recent
studies have reported
shortages in funding needs for
Superfund, and have identified
needed improvements in how
the program is managed.
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:
What We Found
We provide answers to congressional questions about EPA's Superfund program
expenditures. We also identify numerous opportunities for EPA to more
effectively manage its existing Superfund resources, its program, and direct more
resources to cleanup. EPA needs to overcome challenges in accounting for
Superfund resources, understanding the program's resource needs, and
decentralized management of the Superfund program.
Several obstacles have prevented EPA from efficiently and effectively managing
the Superfund program for performance and adequately accounting for Superfund
resources. EPA has been unable to allocate and manage Superfund resources for
cleanup as efficiently and effectively as possible because of the way the Agency
accounts for program resources, manages by functions, supplements the program
with other funds, relies on an outdated workload model, and maintains
unliquidated Superfund obligations and funds in special accounts. Closely
aligning offices that support the Superfund program, and producing program
performance and cost data, have been limited because EPA disperses the
responsibility for allocating and managing program resources.
What We Recommend
We recommend changes that will help EPA overcome these obstacles and better
manage its Superfund resources. We recommend actions that enable the Agency
to direct additional funds to Superfund cleanup. We recommend a specific action
Congress could take to help improve the Superfund program. The Agency is
developing a plan to implement our recommendations.
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2006/
20060228-2006-P-00013.pdf

-------