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State hazmat grants under scrutiny

By Peter Eisler

USA Today

December 19, 2008

WASHINGTON — "Gross mismanagement and waste" undermine a Department of Transportation grant program that gives states millions of dollars to improve responses to hazardous materials spills, according to a senior official's request for an inspector general's investigation.

The request raises concerns about insufficient oversight of the Hazardous Materials and Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grants program, which is set to double its spending this year after disbursing more than $175 million since 1993 to help states and communities prepare and implement emergency response plans. An internal memo seeking the investigation, obtained by USA TODAY, says the program fails to follow guidelines for how grants are to be awarded and used.

"There are substantial and systemic problems within the HMEP grants program," says the memo by David Lehman, director of the Office of Hazardous Materials Planning and Analysis in the department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. "There are limited or no external controls to ensure grant funds are appropriately spent and … many examples of possible gross mismanagement and waste."

The program, funded by federal fees on hazmat shippers and carriers, provides grants to help develop state and local plans for responding to spills or other releases of hazardous materials. The grants also pay for emergency response training for firefighters and other personnel who would handle such incidents. It is slated to distribute $28 million in grants in the 2009 fiscal year.

Lehman and other officials at Transportation and the inspector general's office declined to comment on the investigation request, which noted that internal efforts to examine the grants operation met "resistance" from program managers and grantees.

However, Ted Willke, associate administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, said he had seen the request and noted that the agency already is reviewing the grants program internally. That will include looking at the need for regular audits of grantees — something the investigation request says is not happening now.

"This is a critical program … (that) has had a lot of scrutiny," Willke said. "In most cases this is the only money that is available for (local) planning … and the only (training) money that is available for the vast majority of firefighters in this country."

Among the concerns cited in the request:

· The grant program has no formal procedures for reviewing grant applications, and all applicants receive a grant.

· Grantees spend grant money on unauthorized activities, such as setting up and traveling to conferences, or organizing drills to prepare for terrorist attacks involving nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

Willke said the grant program has defined criteria for how grant money can be spent. The administration's internal review, he added, will focus on "internal controls and … oversight of the program to be sure that it is meeting our purposes."