Testimony. Observations on the Environmental Protection Agency's Budget Request for Fiscal Year 1991.

摘要

There is now widespread agreement that the nation has reached a crossroads in environmental policy and that fundamental changes must be made in the way we deal with environmental problems. In response to these heightened expectations for strong environmental action, the fiscal year 1991 budget request proposes $5.6 billion for EPA. This proposal includes a 12 percent increase in EPA's operating budget--from $1.92 billion to $2.15 billion--cited as one of the largest increases for any federal agency. The remainder of the proposed budget for EPA primarily supports the agency's Superfund and Wastewater Construction Grants programs. Because of the extent and magnitude of our environmental problems and the level of resources available to EPA, the agency needs to more effectively direct its resources to the most pressing problems and to look for opportunities to better leverage private, state, and local funds to adequately deal with them. Based on our 1988 management review of EPA, we recommended a number of actions that EPA could employ to better manage its resources.