	Improving Agencywide Management

Our past work has identified several major management challenges at  EPA, including ensuring consistent environmental enforcement and  compliance, addressing human capital issues, and improving the  development and use of environmental information. Addressing human capital issues. Transforming EPA’s Processes for Assessing and Controlling Toxic Chemicals

EPA’s ability to effectively implement its mission of protecting public  health and the environment depends on credible and timely assessment of  the risks posed by toxic chemicals. However, EPA has failed to  develop sufficient chemical assessment information to determine whether  it should establish controls to limit public exposure to many chemicals  that may pose substantial health risks. Because of the importance of this  issue, and the lack of progress in implementing much-needed change to  TSCA, in January 2009 we added transforming EPA’s processes for  assessing and controlling toxic chemicals to our list of high-risk areas  needing added attention by Congress and the executive branch. Improve Implementation of the Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act, a comprehensive federal law that regulates air pollution  from stationary and mobile sources, was passed in 1963 to improve and  protect the quality of the nation’s air. In recent years, our work has identified several key challenges in  implementing the Clean Air Act, and made recommendations to EPA  intended to enhance the effectiveness of its clean air programs. EPA also faces a number of challenges related to clean air regulatory  decisions that have been vacated or remanded to the agency by the courts. EPA partners with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as  nongovernmental organizations, to develop and implement approaches  that can reduce pollution in our nation’s significant water bodies. In addition, in coming years among the most daunting water pollution  control problems will be those faced by the nation’s water utilities in  grappling with the multibillion-dollar costs of upgrading aging and  deteriorating infrastructures and building new ones to serve a growing  population. Of note, EPA will receive $6 billion in additional water  infrastructure funding from the recently passed stimulus bill. Speeding the Pace of Cleanup at Superfund and Other Hazardous Waste Sites

In 1980, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response,  Compensation, and Liability Act, establishing the Superfund program and  giving the federal government the authority to respond to chemical  emergencies and to clean up hazardous waste sites on private and public  lands. Furthermore, citing  competing priorities and lack of funds, EPA has not implemented a 1980  statutory mandate under Superfund to require businesses handling  hazardous substances to demonstrate their ability to pay for potential  environmental cleanups—that is, to provide financial assurances. We have previously reported that the federal government’s approach to  climate change has been ad hoc, not comprehensive, and not well  coordinated across government agencies. Specifically, the federal  government lacks a comprehensive approach for targeting federal  research dollars at the development and deployment of low-carbon  technologies. EPA’s mission is, without question, a difficult  one: its policies and programs affect virtually all segments of the economy,  society, and government, and it is in the unenviable position of enforcing  myriad inherently controversial environmental laws and maintaining a  delicate balance between the benefits to public health and the  environment with the cost to industry and others. Reducing Pollution in the Nation’s Waters

Environmental Health: EPA Efforts to Address Children’s Health Issues  Need Greater Focus, Direction, and Top-Level Commitment. Speeding the Pace of Cleanup at Superfund and Other Hazardous Waste Sites

Electronic Waste: Harmful U.S. Exports Flow Virtually Unrestricted  Because of Minimal EPA Enforcement and Narrow Regulation.
Why GAO Did This Study

The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) overarching mission is to protect human health and the environment by implementing and enforcing environmental laws intended to improve the quality of the nation's air and water and to protect its land. EPA's policies and programs affect virtually all segments of the economy, society, and government. As such, it operates in a highly complex and controversial regulatory arena. In recent years, GAO has identified several key challenges EPA faces and corrective actions that would enable the agency to more effectively accomplish its mission. GAO was asked to identify challenges at EPA that hinder its ability to implement its programs effectively, based on prior GAO work. These challenges include (1) improving agencywide management, (2) transforming EPA's processes for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals, (3) improving implementation of the Clean Air Act, (4) reducing pollution in the nation's waters, (5) speeding the pace of cleanup at Superfund and other hazardous waste sites, and (6) addressing emerging climate change issues.

What GAO Found

EPA faces the following challenges that hinder its ability to implement its programs effectively: (1) improving agencywide management, (2) transforming EPA's processes for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals, (3) improving implementation of the Clean Air Act, (4) reducing pollution in the nation's waters, (5) speeding the pace of cleanup at Superfund and other hazardous waste sites, and (6) addressing emerging climate change issues. EPA has launched various initiatives to address crosscutting general management issues, including environmental enforcement and compliance, human capital management, and the development and use of environmental information. However, these initiatives have generally fallen considerably short of their intended results. EPA has failed to develop sufficient chemical assessment information to limit public exposure to many chemicals that may pose substantial health risks. In January 2009, GAO added a new issue--the need to transform EPA's process for assessing and controlling toxic chemicals--to its list of high-risk areas warranting increased attention by Congress and the executive branch. EPA faces many important challenges related to implementation of the Clean Air Act, including those highlighted by GAO regarding its coordination with other federal agencies, analyses of health impacts from air pollution, and delays in regulating mercury and other air toxics. EPA also faces challenges relating to numerous regulatory proposals that have been overturned or remanded by the courts. EPA partners with federal, state, and local agencies and others to reduce pollution in the nation's waters. Among the most daunting water pollution control problems, the nation's water utilities face billions of dollars in upgrades to aging and deteriorating infrastructures that left unaddressed can affect the quality of our water. EPA will receive $6 billion in additional water infrastructure funding from the recently passed stimulus bill. Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, better known as Superfund, in 1980, giving the federal government the authority to ensure the cleanup of hazardous waste sites both on private and public lands. Nonetheless, several key management problems have not been resolved since that time. For example, citing competing priorities and lack of funds, EPA has not implemented a 1980 statutory mandate under Superfund to require businesses handling hazardous substances to provide financial assurances to pay for potential environmental cleanups. In GAO's view, the federal government's approach to climate change has been ad hoc and is not well coordinated across government agencies. For example, the federal government lacks a comprehensive approach for targeting federal research dollars toward the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies.