Green grants. (Bureaucratic Spending Spree).THE ENVIRONMENTAL Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and (EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. ) is legendary for tangling up businesses in red tape. Yet when it comes to passing out millions in taxpayer money, it exhibits a casual, devil may-care attitude. In 1999 the agency passed out $1.3 billion of its $7.5 billion budget in grants and contracts, often in complete disregard of the federal government's competitive bidding process. A May 2001 report from the EPA'S Office of the Inspector General Office of the Inspector General (or OIG) is a common sub-agency within cabinet-level agencies of the United States federal government and serves as auditing and investigative arm of the agency's programs focused on identifying waste, fraud and abuse. (QIG) discovered that the "EPA often awards non-competitive assistance agreements to recipients based on the unsupported belief that those recipients were the only entities capable of performing the work." That's bureaucratese bu·reau·crat·ese n. A style of language characterized by jargon and euphemism that is used especially by bureaucrats: for, "It gave the money to friends." To justify the awards, the envirocrats retreat to the boilerplate retort that recipients were "uniquely qualified." In March 2002 the QIG returned to find that sweetheart deals accounted for "1 out of every 5 dollars of the $1 billion" the EPA awarded in 1999 and 2000. Suspicious that the agency was using taxpayer money to fund groups that were "uniquely qualified" to lobby for more money for the EPA, the Landmark Legal Foundation The Landmark Legal Foundation is non-profit 501(c)3 conservative legal advocacy group, with a $1 million annual budget. The President is Mark Levin. Through litigation and direct interfacing with government agencies, they advance a platform of limited government. took the agency to court in September 2000 to force it to disclose grant recipients. Some highlights of the $2 billion awarded noncompetitively since 1993 included $47,000 to help the Seattle Mariners start a recycling program at their new $500 million ballpark, $1,500 for academics to design a solid waste board game called the "Can Man Game," and $379 million to senior citizen groups to recruit and pay senior citizens to work for the EPA. The agency even funds its ostensible enemies, providing $2 million in grants to the National Association of Homebuilders This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. and $4.9 million to the Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a New York City-based, non-profit non-partisan international environmental advocacy group, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Beijing. Founded in 1970, NRDC today has 1. , both of which have sued the agency in the past. The EPA claims to be on the road to reform. "The agency has become much more sensitive of the need for competition in grants," Howard Corcoran, head of the EPA grants office, told the Associated Press. |
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