Most Superfund Spending Is for Support Activities

The share of total Superfund expenditures for contractor cleanup work declined from about 48 percent in fiscal year 1996 to about 42 percent in fiscal year 1998. 1.) Expenditure Mix Varies Among Regions and Headquarters Units

Over the 3-year period of our analysis, the mix of spending for contractor cleanup work, site-specific support, and non-site-specific support varied substantially among EPA’s regions and headquarters units. 2.) However, our analysis also identified substantial variation among the regions in the mix of their expenditures. Site-specific support spending ranged from a low of 12 percent in EPA’s New York region to a high of 29 percent in EPA’s Kansas City region. Three of the more than 100 categories accounted for over 60 percent of all Superfund support costs (both site-specific and non-site-specific). EPA’s non-site-specific spending was more concentrated in these three administrative categories than its site-specific spending. For the three regions, most of the non-site-specific spending was on personnel items—such as management, administrative, and secretarial support—and general support activities, such as financial management, facility management, public affairs, and contract management. The Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance had non-site-specific expenditures for items such as overall program direction; policy development; and budgetary, financial and administrative support. The Director of the Superfund office responsible for resources and information management provided a summary of the activities EPA undertakes to manage Superfund spending, including: monitoring whether regions and units obligate funds at the expected rate and in accordance with the agency’s operating plan; conducting midyear reviews that focus on program accomplishments, contracts and grants, and resources management; reviewing contract management issues in all regions on a 3-year cycle; and monitoring inactive contracts to identify and deobligate funds that are no longer needed. Recommendation

In order to better identify opportunities for potential cost savings, we recommend that the Administrator, EPA, require the Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response to expand the monitoring of Superfund expenditures to regularly analyze the breakdown of expenditures in terms of contractor cleanup work, site-specific spending, and non-site-specific spending. In a letter from EPA’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response, EPA disagreed with our characterization that EPA’s activities fall into three groups—contractor cleanup costs, site-specific support, and non-site-specific support—and stated that this division gives the erroneous impression that site-specific and non-site-specific support do not contribute substantially to the achievement of cleanups. The purpose of our analyses was to disaggregate Superfund expenditures to provide more detailed information on the specific functions served by this spending. To determine what activities were carried out with EPA’s cleanup support spending, particularly its non-site-specific spending, we used the IFMS information. To ascertain how EPA monitors and analyzes its regions’ and headquarters units’ spending of Superfund resources, particularly for contractor cleanup work, site-specific support, and non-site-specific support, we met with EPA headquarters officials. Additional copies are $2 each.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Superfund Program expenditures, focusing on: (1) the relative shares of Superfund expenditures for contractor cleanup work, site-specific support, and non-site-specific support; (2) the activities carried out with the EPA's cleanup support spending, particularly its non-site-specific spending; and (3) EPA's efforts to monitor and analyze how its regions and headquarters units spend Superfund resources, particularly the distribution of expenditures among contractor cleanup work, site-specific support, and non-site-specific support.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) over the last 3 years, the share of total Superfund expenditures for contractor cleanup work was about 45 percent in fiscal year 1998; (2) over this period, expenditures for non-site-specific support were about 38 percent, whereas those for site-specific support were about 17 percent; (3) however, GAO found substantial variation among EPA's regions in the shares of their expenditures devoted to each of these cost categories; (4) for example, spending for non-site-specific support ranged from a low of 14 percent in EPA's Boston region to 30 percent in EPA's San Francisco region; (5) EPA spends its support funds predominately on administrative activities; (6) although EPA classifies its Superfund expenditures into over 100 separate activity categories, GAO found that over 60 percent of all Superfund support expenditures (both site-specific and non-site-specific) were accounted for by three activities--general support and management, general enforcement support, and remedial support and management; (7) moreover, almost 80 percent of EPA's non-site-specific spending was concentrated on these three administrative activities; (8) for the three regions that GAO reviewed in detail, these non-site-specific expenditures were primarily personnel expenses for activities such as management, administrative and secretarial support, financial management, public affairs, and contract management; (9) for the three headquarters units that GAO reviewed in detail, this spending was on items such as rent, information management, facilities operations and maintenance, program and policy development, and budgetary, financial, and administrative support; (10) EPA monitors the Superfund spending of its regions and headquarters units in several ways, including tracking whether funds are obligated at the expected rate and in compliance with the approved operating plan, and monitoring program accomplishments; (11) however, EPA does not monitor or analyze the expenditures of its regions and units in terms of the relative shares of contractor cleanup costs, site-specific support costs, and non-site-specific support costs; and (12) conducting such analyses would provide EPA with an additional tool to identify potential cost savings in Superfund spending.