Priority Area 10:
Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 319 Grant Reporting

Summer 2007: In the FY2008 Section 319 work plan negotiation process, Region 3 clarified that states no longer need to provide an annual summary of Section 106 quarterly reports; plus, a Section 319 annual summary was never required. (Applies to Recommendation W15.)

07/07/2008: An XML upload process was released for the Grant Reporting and Tracking System (GRTS). This process allows states to assemble GRTS data without being logged on. States can then log on and upload files to GRTS directly. This process cuts down on wait time and slow server issues which can occur if entering data one field at a time. In addition, GRTS recently migrated to an Oracle-based database which streamlines data entry and minimizes server issues. (Applies to Recommendation W18.)

07/17/2007 – 07/18/2007: At a meeting of the Partnership and Performance Workgroup of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), states recommended that grant progress reports should be required no more frequently than semi-annually unless there is documented need for more frequent reporting. (Read a September 2007 update on the ECOS State Grant Subgroup (PDF) (1 pg, 29K), which provides an summary of the meeting.)

03/2008: Region 1 confirmed with Massachusetts that the Section 319 implementation projects report is only required annually; the due date is February 15th for all states in the Region. (Applies to Recommendation W18.)

Winter 2007/2008: Region 5 and Minnesota worked together to reduce Section 319 reporting requirements. (Applies to Recommendation W36.)

07/29/2008: The Office of Grants and Debarment (OGD) distributed a draft policy to reduce state reporting burden to the co-chairs of the State Grants Workgroup, a subgroup of the ECOS Partnership and Performance Workgroup.

10/01/2008: OGD's Grants Policy Issuance 08-05: Burden Reduction for State Grants (PDF) (6pp, 65K) became effective.

10/08/2008: OGD sent a memo to EPA's Senior Resource Officials (PDF) (2p, 51K) announcing the new policy.

09/30/2009: OGD expects to confirm implementation by reviewing a random sample of grant awards to ensure the reporting terms and conditions adhere to the policy’s maximum of semiannual reporting (except in the case of poor performers or where otherwise agreed).