**GAO-04-459**                      Published: Mar 31, 2004. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2004.                  

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## Highlights

Grants and contracts constitute over two-thirds of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) budget. In fiscal year 2003, EPA awarded $3.6 billion in grants directed by Congress, $656 million in grants awarded at its own discretion, and $934 million in contracts. Under the Federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act of 1977, whether EPA should award a grant or a contract depends upon the principal purpose of the award. In this context, GAO was asked to determine (1) the trends over the last 11 years on EPA's expenditures on discretionary grants and contracts and the types of goods and services obtained by each and (2) the extent to which EPA has and follows procedures for deciding when to use grants or contracts.

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## Topics

Natural Resources and Environment

BeneficiariesContractsDiscretionary grantsEnvironmental monitoringGrant administrationGrant award proceduresGrantsInternal controlsContract administrationComparative analysisDecision makingEvaluation criteria