NEPPS: Implementing Performance Partnerships

State participation in performance partnerships is voluntary. There are many variations in the scope and content of Performance Partnership Agreements (PPAs) and how they are funded by Performance Partnership Grants (PPGs) and other grant funds. Individual PPAs can range from a general statement about how the state 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. 

Some PPAs meet relevant statutory and regulatory requirements and also serve as the work plans for PPGs or other EPA grants. In a few cases, the PPA contains a more general discussion of the working relationship between EPA and the state rather than a discussion of priorities and programs.

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's own strategic (or other related) plan.

 Most states have unique environmental priorities and program implementation needs. Each EPA-state partnership negotiation takes into account the particular capacities, needs, and interests of that state. 

Benefits of a PPG

Under traditional environmental program grants, sometimes called "categorical" grants, states 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 are able to perform and report on the grant activities under one workplan.

PPGs are a type of assistance agreement where recipients may combine funds from categorical grants to accomplish their public health and environmental priorities, so long as recipients meet the award requirements of each categorical grant that is to be combined into the PPG. The 19 categorical grants eligible for PPGs are a mixture of continuing environmental program grants and competitive project grants. Eligible recipients can combine two or more of the following 19 categorical grants programs identified in EPA's State and Tribal Assistance Grants (STAG) appropriation into a PPG.

Regulations governing all state and tribal environmental program grants including PPGs are published in 40 CFR Part 35. By entering into a PPG, states and tribes can take advantage of a range of flexibility in administering their grant, such as:

• Reducing administrative burden by allowing states and tribes to meet match requirements as a whole rather than by individual program, streamlining paperwork and accounting requirements, and allowing funding of cross-cutting projects;
• 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.

There are currently 19 environmental program grants eligible for inclusion in a PPG. Those grants are:

In the past, there have been other EPA grant programs that were eligible for inclusion in a PPG. Due to those programs being discontinued or inactive, they were excluded in the table above. Examples include:

• Multimedia Sector Program Grants
• Water Quality Cooperative Agreements (CWA §104(b)(3))