To better understand EPA’s initiatives and strategy to implement them, several congressional committees asked that we provide a broad overview of EPA’s reinvention efforts, focusing on (1) what the initiatives are and how the agency is structured to carry them out and (2) what key issues need to be addressed for these initiatives to have their intended effect. The Administrator recently announced her decision to create the Office of Reinvention to provide overall direction and support for the agency’s reinvention efforts and to lead certain key initiatives. In addition, (1) EPA’s program offices participate in agencywide initiatives and have generated some of their own medium-specific initiatives and (2) each of EPA’s regional offices has established varied structures and strategies to implement both the EPA-wide and program-specific initiatives. Issues to Address If Reinvention Efforts Are to Succeed

Many of EPA’s reinvention efforts are consistent with GPRA’s goal of focusing on achieving results, as well as with the recommendations of GAO and other organizations to achieve a more integrated, cost-effective approach toward environmental protection. However, our contacts with EPA headquarters and regional staff; state, industry and environmental organization officials; and other stakeholders in the environmental regulatory process—together with the experiences of other organizations that have attempted to achieve fundamental change—suggest that the agency faces significant hurdles that must be addressed effectively if reinvention is to succeed: • Key stakeholders in the reinvention process have expressed concern over the large number of complex and demanding initiatives currently being undertaken, as well as confusion over the underlying purpose of some of the agency’s major initiatives. • EPA has had difficulty achieving “buy-in” among the agency’s rank and file, which have grown accustomed to prescriptive, medium-by-medium regulation during the agency’s 27-year history. • The agency has had difficulty achieving agreement among external stakeholders, including federal and state regulators and industry and environmental organization representatives—particularly when stakeholders perceive that unanimous agreement is required before progress can be made. • The agency’s process for resolving miscommunication and other problems involving EPA headquarters staff, regional staff, and other stakeholders does not distinguish between problems that require the attention of senior management and those that should be resolved at lower levels within the agency. • EPA has an uneven record in evaluating the success of many of its initiatives. In addition, the current prescriptive, medium-specific environmental laws impose requirements that have led to and tend to reinforce many of the existing regulatory and behavioral practices that EPA is seeking to change. As a consequence, the agency will be limited in its ability to truly “reinvent” environmental regulation within this existing legislative framework.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined: (1) what the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) reinvention initiatives are and how EPA is structured to carry them out; and (2) what key issues need to be addressed for these initiatives to have their intended effect.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) EPA maintains that its reinvention initiatives seek to reduce paperwork and eliminate obsolete rules, make it easier for businesses to comply with environmental laws, use innovation and flexibility to achieve better environmental results, or engage states, tribes, communities, and citizens in partnerships to protect public health and the environment; (2) in February 1997, the Administrator announced her decision to create an Office of Reinvention, which will provide overall direction and support for EPA's reinvention initiatives; (3) in addition: (a) EPA's program offices participate in agencywide initiatives and have generated some of their own, more medium-specific initiatives; and (b) each of EPA's regional offices has established varied structures and strategies to implement both the EPA-wide and program-specific initiatives; (4) while many of EPA's reinvention efforts are consistent with both the Government Performance and Results Act's goal of focusing on achieving results and with past recommendations by GAO and other organizations to achieve a more integrated, cost-effective approach toward environmental protection, EPA faces significant challenges that must be addressed effectively if reinvention is to succeed: (a) key stakeholders in the reinvention process have expressed concern over the large number of complex and demanding initiatives now being undertaken, as well as confusion over the underlying purpose of some of EPA's major initiatives; (b) EPA has had difficulty achieving "buy-in" among the agency's rank and file, who have grown accustomed to prescriptive, medium-by-medium regulation during EPA's history; (c) EPA has had difficulty achieving agreement among external stakeholders particularly when they perceive that unanimous agreement is required before progress can be made; (d) EPA's process for resolving miscommunication and other problems involving EPA headquarters staff, regional staff, and other stakeholders does not distinguish between problems that require the attention of senior management and those that should be resolved at lower levels; and (e) EPA has an uneven record in evaluating the success of many of its initiatives; (5) in addition, the current prescriptive, medium-specific environmental laws impose requirements that have led to, and tend to reinforce, many of the existing regulatory and behavioral practices that EPA is seeking to change; and (6) as a consequence, EPA will be limited in its ability to reinvent environmental regulation within the existing legislative framework.