Summary

GAO evaluated the Department of Energy's (DOE) program to provide grants under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, focusing on: (1) DOE decisions on who received grants and for what activities; (2) the level of assistance provided; and (3) DOE grant administration and oversight.

The act provides that state and public participation in the nuclear waste repository program is essential to promote public confidence in the safety of radioactive waste disposal. Financial assistance grants to the affected parties are a way to ensure this participation. DOE has used its discretionary funding authority to award grants to second-repository states, national associations, and Indian tribes. The guidelines, which provide general policy guidance for grant awards and administration of the repository programs, have not ensured consistent decisions on who receives grants and what activities are funded. In some instances, DOE decisions on grant awards have been influenced more by budgetary considerations than by grantees' needs. GAO believes that: (1) incorporating consideration of grantees' projected needs into program budget planning could help DOE more realistically anticipate those needs; (2) congressional oversight of the financial assistance program could be better facilitated if DOE presented specific budget estimates on the funding it expected to provide for the first and second repository programs and other parties; and (3) with more realistic budgets, DOE could focus on grantee application merits in making funding judgments. Although DOE regulations describe the grantee requirements and provide an opportunity to request a waiver of the requirements, grantees have neither consistently complied with nor requested waivers of the requirements, and DOE has not enforced them.