In 1977 Congress passed the Federal Program Information Act. This Act established a comprehensive and centralized foundation for the annual publication of federal domestic assistance programs. The General Services Administration (GSA) maintains the federal assistance information data base from which Assistance Listings are published on beta.SAM.gov and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) is published.

beta.SAM.gov provides detailed, public descriptions of federal assistance listings available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally recognized Indian tribal governments, Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi- public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups, and individuals.

The primary purpose is to assist potential applicants in identifying programs which meet their specific objectives and to provide general information on federal assistance programs.

• For a list of EPA's Discreationary grant programs see EPA Discretionary Grant Programs