NEPPS: Implementing Performance Partnerships

State and Tribal participation in performance partnerships is voluntary and involves the development of Performance Partnership Agreements (PPAs) and/or Performance Partnership Grants (PPGs). 

PPAs are agreements that formally recognize that all partners have unique capacities, interests, and priorities. PPAs can range from a general statement about how the state or Tribe and EPA will work together as partners (perhaps identifying joint priorities that will be addressed) to comprehensive, multi-program documents that detail each party's roles and responsibilities. 

PPAs can also serve as the work plans for PPGs. PPGs are a type of assistance agreement where recipients may combine funds from two or more eligible environmental grant programs into a single grant.

Elements of Effective PPAs

Successful PPAs typically include the following key elements:

•    A description of environmental conditions, priorities, and strategies;
•    Performance measures for evaluating environmental progress;
•    A process for jointly evaluating how well the PPA is working and an agreement to implement any needed improvements;
•    A description of the process for mutual accountability, including a clear definition of the roles of each party in carrying out the PPA and an overview of how resources will be deployed to accomplish the work; and
•    A description of how the priorities in the PPA align with those in EPA’s Strategic Plan and the state or Tribe’s own strategic (or other related) plan.

Benefits of a PPG

Under traditional environmental program grants, states and Tribes receive funds to implement various water, air, waste, pesticides, and toxic substances programs. Environmental program grant funds can only be spent on activities that fall within the statutory and regulatory boundaries of that program. By combining two or more of their environmental program grants into a PPG, states and Tribes can perform and report on the grant activities under one work plan.

The regulations governing all state and Tribal environmental grant programs including PPGs are published in 40 CFR Part 35. By entering into a PPG, recipients can take advantage of a range of flexibility in administering their grant, such as:

•    Reducing administrative burden by allowing states to meet match requirements as a whole rather than by individual program, streamlining paperwork and accounting requirements, and allowing funding of cross-cutting projects;
•    Eliminating cost share requirements for Tribes;
•    Fostering joint planning and priority setting by requiring consideration of EPA and state or Tribe priorities in developing grant work plans;
•    Allowing grant work plans to be organized by environmental program area or by function (permitting, monitoring, inspections, etc.); and
•    Promoting results-oriented environmental programs by recognizing that both outcome and output measures are needed for management purposes.

As provided in Public Law (PL) 104-134 and PL 105-65, only programs funded through the Categorical State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) Appropriation can be considered for a PPG. These Categorical grant programs must be approved by the EPA Administrator in order to be eligible for inclusion in PPGs.

There are currently 18 grant programs that have been determined as eligible for inclusion in a PPG. Those programs, which provide competitive and/or non-competitive grants, are:

In the past, there have been other EPA grant programs that were listed as eligible for inclusion in a PPG. Due to those programs being discontinued, inactive, or lacking appropriations, they are excluded from the table above. Examples include:
•    Multipurpose Grants to States and Tribes
•    Multimedia Sector Program Grants
•    Water Quality Cooperative Agreements (CWA §104(b)(3))