Inhofe demands EPA grant transparency in letter to Office of Environmental Information nominee

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), who serves as the chairman of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee, recently made another plea for more transparency in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) grants program.

“For more than a decade, I have called for efforts to improve the integrity of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) grants programs, including EPA’s online grants database,” Inhofe wrote in a letter sent to EPA Chief Information Officer Ann Dunkin. “While EPA has taken some steps to increase transparency and accountability within the grants program, the current grants database is not user-friendly and lacks significant information about EPA grants.”

Duncan is the nominee for the EPA’s assistant administrator for the Office of Environmental Information,

Inhofe previously asked Dunkin for a commitment on improving the EPA’s grants database at a June 11 hearing, in response to the database appearing to have missing information about some grants awarded and not having information to cover grants for the past 10 years.

“EPA’s grants program constitutes more than 40 percent of the Agency’s annual budget, so it is equally important to ensure grant information is publicly available and comprehensive,” Inhofe said in the letter.