In 1990, EPA had five special Superfund accounts containing a total balance of $1.9 million. As of May 31, 2008, there were 819 special accounts holding $1.1 billion.
In a recent report, the EPA Inspector General noted that management of the accounts is "fragmented and uncoordinated." Of concern was that this has lead to missed opportunities to remediate sites, including some at which human exposure was a problem. There was also such a lack of visibility that neither EPA, OMB, nor Congress could know how the moneys in the special accounts were being spent, if at all. The report noted that even EPA did not know whether the funds were being properly managed.