May 18, 2004

Audit Report on Management Controls Over Administration of the WERC Project

In response to Congressional direction, the Department funded WERC (A Consortium for Environmental Education and Technology Development). WERC is headquartered at New Mexico State University and sponsors activities at this university and others. The project supports various environmental efforts including education, outreach, research, and student-level design contests. Funding began in 1990 and, through August 2003, and Department of Energy has provided over $56 million to the project. Under the new cooperative agreement, initiated in 2001, the Department is required to fund the project at $2.5 million per year through 2007. Funding is provided by Environmental Management and the project is administered by the Environmental Restoration Deivision at the Nationial Nuclear Security Administration Service Center located in Albuquerque, New Mexico.