GAO-05-746R Hazardous Waste Programs 

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 

Superfund appropriation.2 

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 

 

1

GAO, Superfund Program: Current Status and Future Fiscal Challenges, GAO-03-850 (Washington,

D.C.: July 31, 2003). 

2

GAO, 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). 

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548 
Page 2 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. 

 

3

GAO-03-850, GAO-04-475R, and GAO-04-787R. 4

We adjusted the current year dollars for inflation using the Gross Domestic Product (Chained) Price 

Index, with 2004 as the reference year.
Page 3 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 
Enclosure I 

Page 4 GAO-05-746R Hazardous Waste Programs 

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

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 

Brownfieldsc 0e 1 2 8 37 89 91 92 91 95 167 170 164 

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 

Brownfieldsc 0e 1 2 9 42 100 100 100 96 99 170 170 161 

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. a

For purposes of this analysis, we excluded all emergency supplemental appropriations designated specifically for homeland 

security purposes. 

b

Superfund program funding is the enacted appropriations excluding amounts designated for the Brownfields, ATSDR, and NIEHS 

programs. 

c

Brownfields funding includes amounts received through the Superfund appropriations for fiscal years 1993 through 2002 and 

direct appropriations for fiscal years 2003 through 2005. 

d

ATSDR 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. 

e

The 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. 

f

We adjusted the current year dollars for inflation using the Gross Domestic Product (Chained) Price Index, with 2004 as the 

reference year.
Enclosure II 

Page 5 GAO-05-746R Hazardous Waste Programs 

Expenditures for the Superfund, Brownfields, ATSDR, and NIEHS Programs, Fiscal Years 1993 

through 2004 a, e

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. 

a

For purposes of this analysis, we excluded all expenditures related to emergency supplemental appropriations designated 

specifically for homeland security purposes. 

b

Superfund 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. 

c

For 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. 

d

NIEHS expenditures for fiscal years 1993 through 1997 are not available. The NIEHS expenditure data are current as of March 

2005. 

e

For ATSDR, expenditure data were not readily available. Amounts presented are obligations against current year funding. 

f

We adjusted the current year dollars for inflation using the Gross Domestic Product (Chained) Price Index, with 2004 as the 

reference year. 

(360545)

Dollars in millions 

 Fiscal years 

 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Expenditures in current year dollarse

Superfund 

expendituresb $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 

expenditures c c c c c c 9 25 47 68 74 14 

NIEHS 

expenditures d d d d d

61 63 63 63 70 73 23 

ATSDR 

obligationse

60 67 69 59 64 74 76 70 75 78 82 73 

Expenditures in constant 2004 dollarse,f

Superfund 

expendituresb $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 

expenditures c c c c c c

10 27 50 71 75 14 

NIEHS 

expenditures d d d d d

68 70 68 67 73 74 23 

ATSDR 

obligationse 73 80 81 68 72 83 84 76 79 81 84 73