The Environmental Protection Agency has made progress reforming its grant program under a 2003 grants management plan, but the Government Accountability Office has said weaknesses remain in implementation and accountability.
EPA has faced challenges for years managing its grants, which make up more than half the agency’s budget — about $4 billion — annually, but weaknesses continue to hamper effective grants management in four areas, according to GAO-06-774T.
It said that while the EPA has strengthened its award process through more competition and by issuing new policies and guidance to improve the awarding of grants, the agency’s own reviews found that staff sometimes do not fully document their assessments of grantees’ cost proposals.
GAO also said it identified that problem in one region, and said lack of documentation may hinder EPA’s ability to be accountable for the reasonableness of a grantee’s proposed costs, but noted that the agency is reexamining its cost review policy.
EPA and GAO both determined that the agency does not always document ongoing monitoring, which is critical for determining if a grantee is on track in meeting its agreement.
The report said that for fiscal 2005, the agency closed out just 37 percent of its grants within 180 days after the grant project ended, as required by its policy, and that it did not always close out grants properly in the regional files reviewed by GAO.
According to a 2006 Office of Management and Budget assessment, the agency needs to continue its concerted efforts to achieve results from grants.
