Summary

The Energy Department (DOE) generally complied with federal regulations and its own procedures in awarding grants to study future uses of the Superconducting Super Collider's assets. GAO's review of DOE's grant award processes did not disclose any departures from applicable regulations and procedures in selecting the grantees and making the grants. However, when notifying applicants that they had not been chosen, DOE did not follow its regulation that applicants be told in writing that they could ask for more detailed information on DOE's decision. Instead, DOE officials assumed that they would be contacted by the unsuccessful applicants if more information was desired. The 11 solicited grants that DOE awarded varied in terms of the funding and technical support provided to the grantees because the scope, nature, and complexity of the studies varied although the grants were generally comparable in timing. The grantees generally received the level of funding and technical support they requested and were generally satisfied with the amount of support they received. Although grantees residing in Texas had the obvious advantage of being near the collider site, no other advantages for Texas grantees were identified.

GAO found that: (1) although DOE generally complied with federal regulations and department procedures in awarding grants to study future uses of the collider project's assets, DOE did not notify unsuccessful grant applicants in writing that they could request additional detailed information on grant decisions as required; (2) DOE officials assumed that the unsuccessful applicants would contact them if any additional information was desired; (3) although most of the DOE grants varied in funding and technical support because of their scope, nature, and complexity, most of the grants were comparable in timing; (4) the grantees were generally satisfied with the the level of funding and technical support they requested and received; and (5) although grantees residing in Texas had the obvious advantage of being located near the collider's site, no other advantages were identified for Texas grantees.