The Flow Of The River: Performance on Capitol Hill

When I was a staffer on Capitol Hill I used to meet with federal agencies to convince them to adopt clear performance measures. At one such meeting an official said, “We’ll adopt clear performance standards as soon as Congress does.” I responded, “Congress already has a clear performance standard, it’s called ‘re-election.’”

But that doesn’t mean Congress pays attention to the government’s performance as much as it could. Take, for instance, EPA’s 2008 budget. The Senate and House of Representatives are headed to providing $574 million and $887 million more, respectively, than the President’s request for $7.2 billion. That’s a lot of unrequested money. Nonetheless, both the Senate and House cut funding for Regional Geographic Initiatives (RGI) by approximately $5 million or 50 percent.

What is RGI? This is funding used by EPA’s Regional offices for ‘special projects.’ That sounds fishy, but I’m a believer in RGI. In the two years I’ve been at EPA, when I have found a program that seems to get great results for not much money and I ask how it is funded, the answer is often “RGI.”

RGI is successful for three reasons. First, it is tailored to address the worst problems in particular areas. Second, it can fund innovative solutions. Finally, a small amount of RGI funds go a long way because they provide a ‘seal of approval’ that convinces others to contribute a lot more money.

Not convinced? Here are a few examples of RGI projects:

Washington DC has a lead poisoning problem. RGI provided $100,324 to train over 1200 DC caregivers to prevent lead poisoning in children. The project also tested 172 high-risk kids and two of the kids had elevated levels of lead. This program is being copied in Philadelphia and Baltimore.
Milwaukee is fighting a stormwater pollution problem. RGI gave $100,000 to convert a large paved school playground to a rain garden and outdoor laboratory. The project reduces runoff and educates kids.
Most Montanans get their drinking water from wells. They also use a lot of septic tanks that can contaminate those wells. $15,000 from RGI produced educational materials, which are now being used in seven counties, to show people how to protect their well water.
Even without the recent fires, California’s got air pollution problems. RGI provided $100,000 in incentives for ships docked in San Francisco to burn cleaner fuels. So far 41 ships have participated resulting in a reduction of over 26 tons of air pollution.
The state of Washington and Canada are trying to get a handle on how to restore Puget Sound and the Georgia Basin. $45,000 from RGI has gone toward the development of a system to track human health and environmental conditions.