an effort to ensure the wise use of taxpayers’ money, the federal government has undertaken major initiatives to evaluate the performance and results of federally funded programs, including research and development (R&D) programs. The initiatives include the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART), developed in 2002. The latter was designed in the context of “performance budgeting” and “performance measurement” and focused on evaluating the efficiency of programs. Evaluation of R&D programs has proved challenging for federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a mission-oriented agency with a substantial research component. All agencies have experienced difficulties in.
