Given recent scandals in Washington, it might sound superfluous, but the stimulus law devotes $200 million to the federal LUST program. Spelled out in capital letters in bureaucratic reports, like the arrestingly titled Guidance to Regions for Implementing the LUST Provision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 , the acronym can make for amusing, if sophomoric, reading. It is frequently called the 'LUST Recovery Act Program' for short. The guidelines note that 'certain LUST expenditures are subject to the prevailing wage requirements,' spell out 'LUST Recovery Act performance measures' and warn that states which do not spend the money quickly enough will be penalized for 'failure to perform.' Unfortunately, it is not that kind of stimulus. LUST actually stands for Leaking Underground Storage Tank. The LUST program, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, provides money to clean up underground tanks that leak oil or other hazardous materials that threaten to contaminate the nation's groundwater. (Who ever said groundwater could not be a sexy topic?) Taming LUST may be difficult, but the government has made strides in the quarter century since it began the program, which oversees cleanups by people responsible for the leaks, and directly cleans up leaks when the owners of the tanks are unknown, unwilling or unable to do so themselves. All told, 380,976 cleanups have been completed, and the government is working to reduce a backlog of just over 100,000 leaks that have been identified but not yet cleaned up. Money for the program usually comes from the LUST Trust Fund, which is financed by a 0.1 cent federal tax on motor fuel. Before the stimulus, Congress had appropriated about $100 million this year for cleanup and 'LUST prevention activities.' The $200 million in LUST money in the stimulus law, which is being sent to states and territories, is expected to pay for at least 1,600 cleanups, the EPA estimates. The agency pledged transparency in a plan submitted to the Office of Management and Budget, promising to 'provide information on the investments, performance and accomplishments of LUST activities financed by Recovery Act money.' 