Support
Chapter 6:
for
Environmental Results
EPA’s priority for strengtheningits management practices is integral to accomplishing the Agency’senvironmental and human healthgoals. EPA is acknowledged as aleader among federal agencies inlinking resources to performanceand using this information in day-to-day decision making. Similarly,Agency efforts to improve thequality and availability of environmental and human health datahave strengthened programmanagement and priority settingat federal, state, and local levels,and have enhanced informationsharing and understanding of thestate of the environment by thepublic. Agency-wide humancapital initiatives, such asinclusion of a human capitalcross-cutting strategy in theAgency’s
2003 Strategic Plan
,provided the beginningframework for aligning workforceplanning, recruitment, and staff development efforts to meet newchallenges and achieve theenvironmental and health resultsthat the public expects. InFY 2003, EPA made considerableprogress in managing for resultsand in achieving the President’sManagement Agenda
1
(PMA) reforms.
H
IGHLIGHTING
E
XCELLENCE IN
G
OVERNMENT
In FY 2003, EPA was recognized for its leadership in the development of federal eRulemaking, the Central Data Exchange, and for achievements inEnterprise Architecture by:•
Federal Executive Leadership Council 2003 Showcase of Excellence Awards.
•
Grace Hopper Government Technology Leadership Award
from GSA’sFederal Technology Service and Government Executive Magazine.• eGov Government Solutions Center
2003 Pioneer Award
and
Trailblazer Award
.•
Excellence in Enterprise Architecture
from Federal Computer Week, eGov,FEAC Institute and the Enterprise Architecture Program Advisory Board.In July 2003, EPA received a “Green” status score for Financial Performanceunder the PMA by OMB. In fact, EPA was one of only three agencies toreceive this award.In March 2003, EPA received GSA’s
National Design Award for Sustainability
for its operations at Research Triangle Park. The EPA facility serves as amodel for environmental design by incorporating sustainability in its design,construction, and operation.EPA’s OIG received the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency
Award for Excellence in Government
. This award recognizes specific achievementsand innovations to promote improvements in the efficiency andeffectiveness of federal government performance.
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E S U L T S
Fiscal Year 2003 Annual Report, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Strengthening ResultsBased Management
Improving Measurement ofPerformance and Progress
EPA continues to make progress inmanaging for results by integrating performance and financial information and improvingperformance measurement to support moreeffective program management and Agencydecision making. In FY 2003, EPA issued anew, streamlined
2003-2008 Strategic Plan
2
thatsharpened the Agency’s focus on achievingmeasurable environmental results. TheAgency’s five newoutcome-orientedstrategic goals andsupporting objectivesand sub-objectivesemphasize environmental results andreflect the work of states, tribes, andother environmentalpartners. EPA alsoworked to developRegional Plans thatwill include regionalstrategies—informedby state priorities—to accomplish the Agency’snational strategic goals. And EPA continuedto work closely with the EnvironmentalCouncil of the States to strengthen thealignment of Agency and state planning,budgeting, and accountability processes tosupport each other’s priorities, obtain betterresults, and reduce the transaction costs of planning and reporting.EPA also developed fewer, moreoutcome-oriented annual performance goalsthat better measure progress toward environmental and human health results. Agencyefforts in FY 2003 increased the percentageof the Agency’s annual goals and measures thatfocus on environmental outcomes.
3
Inaddition, EPA increased reliance on performance and results data as key decision factors informulating the Agency’s FY 2005 budgetrequest. To complement the Agency’soutcome-based performance measures, EPAalso began developing efficiency measures tobetter assess how program results relate to theresources invested or time spent to achievethose results.EPA’s Environmental Indicators Initiativeseeks to develop better indicators and baselinesfor measuring and tracking the state of theenvironment and to identify and fill data gapsfor more effectively managing the Agency’senvironmental programs. In FY 2003, EPApublished the
Draft Report on the Environment2003,
4
presenting EPA’s first-ever nationalpicture of the U.S. environment. The reportdescribes what EPA does and does not knowabout the current state of the environment atthe national level, highlights the progress theUnited States has made in protecting itsresources, and describes the measures that canbe used to track the status of human healthand the environment.
Linking Resources with Results
EPA’s sustained focus on improving how itmanages for results and uses financial andperformance information in its daily programmanagement and decision making has resultedin government-wide recognition under thePMA. In FY 2003, the Office of Managementand Budget (OMB) recognized EPA as one of three government agencies to earn a “green”status score for Financial Performance, signalingsound financial management practices,evidenced by unqualified (or clean) auditopinions of EPA’s financial statements anddemonstrated use by program managers of financial and performance information in day-to-day decision making.
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OMB also hasacknowledged EPA’s significant accomplishmentsin Budget and Performance Integration byproviding the Agency with progress scores of “green” for each quarter of FY 2003, whilenoting that EPA must develop efficiency
Section 2. Performance Results—Chapter 6. Support for Environmental Results
measures and demonstrate outcome results forits programs evaluated by the PART andimprove PART ratings.
6
In FY 2003, EPA aligned itsperformance-based budget with its five newstrategic goals to ensure sound fiscal andprogram management by creating a direct linkbetween the achievement of environmentalresults and the resources used to achieve them.EPA also enhanced its planning, budgeting,and accounting capabilities by developing anew financial architecture that allows theAgency to track resources across its five newgoals at a finer level of detail (e.g., resourcesused to accomplish a specific aspect of aprogram). In addition, the Agency completedPhase One of its development of ORBIT,which is its financial, administrative, andoperations reporting tool. By providing real-time access to information in four key areas(finance, budget, payroll, and grants) ORBITwill enhance the capability of EPA’s programsto monitor Agency operating activities,conduct trend analysis, and develop andimprove program management strategies. Bymodernizing its financial architecture, EPAintends to increase its capacity for linkingresources to results (refer to
Sustained Progressin Addressing Management Issues
available athttp://www.epa.gov/ocfo/finstatement/2003ar/ 2003ar.htmfor further discussion).To optimize the use of its resources, EPAalso continues to improve its oversight for theaward and administration of assistanceagreements. In FY 2003, EPA developed its firstlong-term Grants Management Plan,
7
whichwill streamline the management of grants,improve competition in the award of grants,strengthen grant oversight, and link grant workplans to environmental outcomes. The plan alsoincludes specific performance targets to measureprogress (see sidebar at right).* EPA also
Performance Measures Planned A ctualTargets Results
Percentage of grantsmanaged by certifiedproject officer.100% 99.7%Percentage of new grants tononprofit recipients subject to the competition order that are competed.30% 75.4%Percentage of activerecipients who receiveadvanced monitoring.*10% 8.7%Percentage of eligible grantsclosed out.99%in 200190%in 200295.7%in 200180.6%in 2002
P
ERFORMANCE
T
ARGETS AND
C
URRENT
R
ESULTS
U
NDER
EPA’
S
G
RANTS
M
ANAGEMENT
P
LAN
* These performance measures are tracked on a calendar year basis.Note: Closeout numbers are not available until 180 days after the end of the fiscal year.
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* In response to the General Accounting Office’s report,entitled
Grants Management: EPA Needs to StrengthenEfforts to Address Persistent Challenges
, the Agency agreedto report on its accomplishments in meeting the goalsand objectives of the Grants Management Plan,beginning with EPA’s
FY 2003 Annual Report.
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Environmental Protection Agency: ar03 chapter6
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