The Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) Grants Program provides technical and financial assistance to states, territories, and Indian tribes and their subdivisions to prepare and train for hazardous materials incidents. In the 2005 budget cycle, the Office of Management and Budget reviewed the program using the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART). The PART review found that HMEP-supported local activities may be insufficiently linked to the Department of Transportation's long-term hazmat incident goal, and that the program lacks independent evaluations to identify potential areas for improvement.

This report has been commissioned as a first step in determining the extent of the links between the HMEP Grants Program and the DOT hazardous materials program, and in identifying opportunities to strengthen these links. It presents findings from an assessment of the linkages between Departmental goals and funded local activities. The assessment draws on a "logic model" that was developed to illustrate the workings of the program, as well as a review of actual grantee activities based on documentation and interviews with a subset of 16 grantees. Information from the interviews has also been compiled to present a comparison of grantees' approaches to program management, including aspects of the sub-grant and prioritization process, recordkeeping, and statelocal communication. The final section of the report draws on these findings to present a set of recommendations on effective practices for improving the alignment between grantee activities and program goals.

Overall, this assessment found that nearly all of the HMEP-supported local activities reviewed were tied to the program and Departmental hazmat incident goal through an interconnected series of linkages, as outlined in the logic model. However, there were two exceptions, in Alaska and Texas, where unique local circumstances have given rise to slightly different approaches. Differences in grantees' administration of the program also suggest a number of effective management practices that should be considered by grantees where relevant:

• A more formal prioritization process for local project applications;
• An overarching, statewide planning and/or training strategy to help state goals "cascade" down to local activities;
• The use of measures of effectiveness for Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs);
• Frequent communication and outreach between state and local organizations to share information and expertise;
• Greater local awareness of the program, with more participation and project applications from LEPCs;
• More use of computerized record-keeping; and
• Greater consistency in annual reports to the federal Office of Hazardous Materials Safety.

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