Hazardous Waste Programs: Information on Appropriations and	 
Expenditures for Superfund, Brownfields, and Related Programs	 
(30-JUN-05, GAO-05-746R).					 
                                                                 
Our July 2003 report on the status of the Environmental 	 
Protection Agency's (EPA) Superfund program included, among other
things, data on the program's appropriations and expenditures for
fiscal years 1993 to 2002. In February 2004, we issued a report  
updating that information and, in May 2004, we broke down the	 
appropriations data, reporting the amounts for the Superfund	 
program as well as amounts designated for EPA's Brownfields	 
program, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry	 
(ATSDR), and the National Institute of Environmental Health	 
Sciences (NIEHS) that had previously been included in the	 
Superfund appropriation. Superfund program operations are funded 
by appropriations from the Superfund trust fund. Historically, a 
tax on crude oil and certain chemicals and an environmental tax  
on corporations were the primary sources of revenues for the	 
fund; however, the authority for these taxes expired in 1995. The
trust fund continues to receive revenues in the form of cost	 
recoveries, interest on the fund balance, fines and penalties,	 
and general revenue fund appropriations. EPA's Brownfields	 
activities to clean up and redevelop underutilized industrial	 
properties were funded under the Superfund appropriation until	 
the Brownfields program appropriations were changed, based upon  
the Congress' passage of the Small Business Liability Relief and 
Brownfields Revitalization Act in January 2002. Since fiscal year
2003, the Brownfields program has been funded through EPA's	 
Environmental Program Management and State and Tribal Assistance 
Grants appropriations, rather than Superfund. ATSDR and 	 
NIEHS--both under the Department of Health and Human		 
Services--are responsible for certain Superfund-related 	 
activities. ATSDR is responsible for carrying out health-related 
activities; and NIEHS is responsible for basic research and	 
worker training and education programs. Since fiscal year 2001,  
the Congress has provided ATSDR and NIEHS with funding for these 
activities directly, rather than through the Superfund program.  
Our three reports primarily focused on the Superfund program and 
included information on ATSDR, NIEHS, and the Brownfields program
only for those fiscal years when their hazardous waste-related	 
activities were funded through the Superfund program		 
appropriations. To supplement the information in these reports,  
Congress asked us to determine the total funding and expenditure 
levels for EPA's Superfund and Brownfields programs and the	 
Superfund-related programs of the ATSDR and NIEHS for fiscal	 
years 1993 to 2005.						 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-05-746R					        
    ACCNO:   A28637						        
  TITLE:     Hazardous Waste Programs: Information on Appropriations  
and Expenditures for Superfund, Brownfields, and Related Programs
     DATE:   06/30/2005 
  SUBJECT:   Appropriated funds 				 
	     Environmental monitoring				 
	     Federal funds					 
	     Financial management				 
	     Funds management					 
	     Hazardous substances				 
	     Pollution control					 
	     Financial analysis 				 
	     EPA Brownfields Economic Development		 
	     Initiative 					 
                                                                 
	     Superfund Program					 

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GAO-05-746R

United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548

June 30, 2005

The Honorable John J. Duncan, Jr.
Chairman, Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
House of Representatives

Subject: Hazardous Waste Programs: Information on Appropriations and
Expenditures for Superfund, Brownfields, and Related Programs

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Our July 2003 report on the status of the Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) Superfund program included, among other things, data on the
program's appropriations and expenditures for fiscal years 1993 to 2002.1
In February 2004, we issued a report updating that information and, in May
2004, we broke down the appropriations data, reporting the amounts for the
Superfund program as well as amounts designated for EPA's Brownfields
program, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and
the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) that had
previously been included in the

2

Superfund appropriation.

Superfund program operations are funded by appropriations from the
Superfund trust fund. Historically, a tax on crude oil and certain
chemicals and an environmental tax on corporations were the primary
sources of revenues for the fund; however, the authority for these taxes
expired in 1995. The trust fund continues to receive revenues in the form
of cost recoveries, interest on the fund balance, fines and penalties, and
general revenue fund appropriations.

EPA's Brownfields activities to clean up and redevelop underutilized
industrial properties were funded under the Superfund appropriation until
the Brownfields program appropriations were changed, based upon the
Congress' passage of the Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields
Revitalization Act in January 2002. Since fiscal year 2003, the
Brownfields program has been funded through EPA's

1GAO, Superfund Program: Current Status and Future Fiscal Challenges,
GAO-03-850 (Washington,
D.C.: July 31, 2003).
2GAO, Superfund Program: Updated Appropriation and Expenditure Data,
GAO-04-475R
(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 18, 2004) and GAO, Superfund Program: Breakdown of
Appropriation Data,
GAO-04-787R (Washington, D.C.: May 14, 2004).

                      GAO-05-746R Hazardous Waste Programs

Environmental Program Management and State and Tribal Assistance Grants
appropriations, rather than Superfund. ATSDR and NIEHS-both under the
Department of Health and Human Services-are responsible for certain
Superfundrelated activities. ATSDR is responsible for carrying out
health-related activities; and NIEHS is responsible for basic research and
worker training and education programs. Since fiscal year 2001, the
Congress has provided ATSDR and NIEHS with funding for these activities
directly, rather than through the Superfund program.

Our three reports3 primarily focused on the Superfund program and included
information on ATSDR, NIEHS, and the Brownfields program only for those
fiscal years when their hazardous waste-related activities were funded
through the Superfund program appropriations. To supplement the
information in these reports, you asked us to determine the total funding
and expenditure levels for EPA's Superfund and Brownfields programs and
the Superfund-related programs of the ATSDR and NIEHS for fiscal years
1993 to 2005.

As enclosure I shows, total funding for the Superfund and Brownfields
programs and the Superfund-related programs of the ATSDR and NIEHS, in
current year dollars, remained relatively constant from fiscal year 1993
to fiscal year 2005. In inflationadjusted dollars, however, the total
funding for these programs decreased from about $1.9 billion in fiscal
year 1993 to about $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2005.4 Enclosure II shows
information on expenditures for these programs for fiscal years 1993
through 2004. For fiscal years 1993 through 1998, the Brownfields
expenditures are included within the Superfund expenditures and cannot be
readily separated because, according to EPA, the Brownfields expenditures
were not tracked separately in the agency's financial system. Also, NIEHS'
expenditure records prior to fiscal year 1998 are no longer available
because of its records retention policies. Furthermore, obligation data
are presented for ATSDR because expenditure data were not readily
available. Nevertheless, although incomplete, the available expenditure
data indicate that, similar to the funding data, from fiscal year 1993
through 2004, the expenditures were relatively constant, in current year
dollars; but, in inflation-adjusted dollars, they fluctuated over the
period.

In preparing this report, we relied on our prior work on EPA's Superfund
program, supplemented where appropriate through discussions with EPA,
ATSDR, and NIEHS budget officials. We determined that the appropriations
and expenditure data were sufficiently reliable for our analysis through
our interviews with agency officials and reviews of the agencies'
financial statement audit reports. We conducted our review from February
through May 2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing
standards.

3GAO-03-850, GAO-04-475R, and GAO-04-787R.
4We adjusted the current year dollars for inflation using the Gross
Domestic Product (Chained) Price
Index, with 2004 as the reference year.

                  Page 2 GAO-05-746R Hazardous Waste Programs

We provided ATSDR, NIEHS, and EPA with a draft of this report for their
review and comment. ATSDR and NIEHS did not provide comments while EPA
provided technical comments, which we have incorporated in this report as
appropriate.

                                   _ _ _ _ _

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce its contents
earlier, we plan no further distribution of this report until 5 days after
the issue date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to the
appropriate congressional committees; the Administrator, EPA; the
Secretary of Health and Human Services; and other interested parties. We
will also make copies available to others upon request. In addition, the
report will be available at no charge on the GAO Web site at
http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions concerning this report, please
call me at (202) 512-3841. Key contributors to this report were Jerry
Laudermilk, Judy Pagano, and Vincent P. Price.

Sincerely yours,

John B. Stephenson Director, Natural Resources

and Environment

Enclosures

                  Page 3 GAO-05-746R Hazardous Waste Programs

Enclosure I

a

Funding for the Superfund, Brownfields, ATSDR, and NIEHS Programs, Fiscal Years
                               1993 through 2005

                                         Dollars in millions
                                                   Fiscal years
              1993   1994   1995   1996   1997   1998   1999   2000   2001   2002   2003   2004   2005 
                               Program funding in current year dollars
Superfundb  $1,467 $1,379 $1,224 $1,195 $1,239 $1,279 $1,273 $1,178 $1,179 $1,175 $1,265 $1,258 $1,247 
Brownfields     0e      1      2      8     37     89     91     92     91     95    167    170    164 
     c                                                                                          
  ATSDRd        60     67     69     59     64     74     76     70     75     78     82     73     76 
  NIEHSd        52     53     59     52     54     61     63     63     63     70     76     78     80 
Total    $1,579 $1,500 $1,354 $1,314 $1,394 $1,503 $1,503 $1,403 $1,408 $1,418 $1,590 $1,579 $1,567 
                              Program funding in constant 2004 dollarsf
Superfundb  $1,797 $1,654 $1,437 $1,377 $1,403 $1,431 $1,406 $1,275 $1,247 $1,220 $1,290 $1,258 $1,223 
Brownfields     0e      1      2      9     42    100    100    100     96     99    170    170    161 
     c                                                                                          
  ATSDRd        73     80     81     68     72     83     84     76     79     81     84     73     75 
  NIEHSd        64     64     69     60     61     68     70     68     67     73     78     78     78 
Total    $1,934 $1,799 $1,589 $1,514 $1,578 $1,682 $1,660 $1,519 $1,489 $1,473 $1,622 $1,579 $1,537 

Source: EPA, ATSDR, and NIEHS data.
aFor purposes of this analysis, we excluded all emergency supplemental
appropriations designated specifically for homeland
security purposes.
bSuperfund program funding is the enacted appropriations excluding amounts
designated for the Brownfields, ATSDR, and NIEHS

programs.
cBrownfields funding includes amounts received through the Superfund
appropriations for fiscal years 1993 through 2002 and
direct appropriations for fiscal years 2003 through 2005.
dATSDR and NIEHS funding includes amounts received through the Superfund
appropriations for fiscal years 1993 through 2000
and direct appropriations for fiscal years 2001 through 2005.
eThe amount designated for the Brownfields program in fiscal year 1993 was
$0.15 million in current year dollars and $0.18 in
constant year 2004 dollars.
fWe adjusted the current year dollars for inflation using the Gross
Domestic Product (Chained) Price Index, with 2004 as the
reference year.

                  Page 4 GAO-05-746R Hazardous Waste Programs

Enclosure II

 Expenditures for the Superfund, Brownfields, ATSDR, and NIEHS Programs, Fiscal
                          Years 1993 through 2004 a, e

                                      Dollars in millions
                                                Fiscal years
               1993   1994   1995   1996   1997   1998   1999   2000   2001   2002   2003   2004 
                             Expenditures in current year dollarse
 Superfund                                                                                       
expenditures                                                                              
     b       $1,329 $1,473 $1,460 $1,305 $1,361 $1,337 $1,512 $1,502 $1,406 $1,344 $1,501 $1,389
Brownfields       c      c      c      c      c      c                                           
expenditures                                                9     25     47     68     74     14
NIEHS          d      d      d      d      d                                                  
expenditures                                        61     63     63     63     70     73     23
ATSDR                                                                                         
obligations                                                                               
     e           60     67     69     59     64     74     76     70     75     78     82     73
                            Expenditures in constant 2004 dollarse,f
 Superfund                                                                                       
expenditures                                                                              
     b       $1,628 $1,766 $1,715 $1,504 $1,541 $1,496 $1,670 $1,626 $1,487 $1,396 $1,531 $1,389
Brownfields       c      c      c      c      c      c                                           
expenditures                                               10     27     50     71     75     14
NIEHS          d      d      d      d      d                                                  
expenditures                                        68     70     68     67     73     74     23
ATSDR                                                                                         
obligations                                                                               
     e           73     80     81     68     72     83     84     76     79     81     84     73

Source: EPA, ATSDR, and NIEHS data.

Note: Totals are not shown because the data are incomplete and include
both expenditures and obligations, which cannot
appropriately be combined.
aFor purposes of this analysis, we excluded all expenditures related to
emergency supplemental appropriations designated
specifically for homeland security purposes.
bSuperfund expenditures include amounts from resources authorized to be
spent only for specific sites identified in settlement
agreements and exclude expenditures from resources transferred to Science
and Technology and Inspector General accounts.
The Superfund expenditure data are current as of March 2005.
cFor fiscal years 1993 through 1998, Brownfields expenditures are included
with the Superfund expenditures and were not
separately tracked. The Brownfields expenditure data are current as of
April 2005.
dNIEHS expenditures for fiscal years 1993 through 1997 are not available.
The NIEHS expenditure data are current as of March
2005.
eFor ATSDR, expenditure data were not readily available. Amounts presented
are obligations against current year funding.
fWe adjusted the current year dollars for inflation using the Gross
Domestic Product (Chained) Price Index, with 2004 as the
reference year.

(360545)

                  Page 5 GAO-05-746R Hazardous Waste Programs
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