EPA's Review of Applications for a Water Research Grant Did Not Follow All Review Procedures and Lacked Transparency

The STAR program of ORD's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) funds research grants and graduate fellowships in numerous environmental science and engineering disciplines through a competitive solicitation process and independent peer review. The program engages scientists and engineers in targeted research that complements EPA's intramural research program and those of its partners in other federal agencies. STAR research is funded through RFAs that are derived from the ORD Strategic Plan and from research plans for specific topics developed by ORD. RFAs are prepared in cooperation with other parts of the Agency and concentrate on areasof special significance to the EPA mission. Once applications are received by the Agency in response to an RFA, NCER conducts a multi-stage review process to determine which applications it will recommend for funding. According to EPA, STAR research is currently focusing on the health effects of particulate matter, drinking water, water quality, global change, ecosystem assessment and restoration, human health risk assessment, endocrine disrupting chemicals, pollution prevention and new technologies, children's health, and socio-economic research.