Summary: Although the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is providing billions of dollars in grants each year to build publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities, Congress does not have assurance that these are properly planned, designed, and constructed. Grantees, usually municipalities contributing from 5 percent to 25 percent of project funding, are expected to provide such assurance. However, they generally rely on consulting engineers to develop accurate, complete, and cost effective designs. They rely also on the engineer and construction contractor to assure that construction complies with detailed plans and specifications.
Because EPA lacks criteria on federal funding of aesthetic features in waste treatment plants, plants have been constructed with a wide variety of architectural features ranging from relatively austere buildings to plants with elaborate and costly aesthetic features. Of 24 operational waste treatment plants reviewed, five could not meet design criteria because of design deficiencies. Seventeen of the 48 projects reviewed experienced delays, increased costs, and inferior workmanship as a result of ineffective controls during the construction phase. If properly enforced, recently promulgated EPA regulations that establish criteria for determining whether a contractor is responsible should help to assure selection of qualified contractors.
