United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-12-14 monographic deposited born digital 50 p. GA 1.13:GAO-02-117 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-117 P0b002ee180370013 f:d02117 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-117 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-117 GAO-02-117 Environmental policies Financial statements Hazardous substances Solid waste management Waste disposal Cost analysis Records management Environmental monitoring Reporting requirements DOD Environmental Restoration Program Other Written Product A02563

GAO examined the environmental cleanup costs of ongoing operations of the Department of Defense (DOD). These include general property, plant, and equipment facilities or other assets that are now being operated or are currently in use on DOD installations. DOD has not developed policies, procedures, and methodologies to ensure that cleanup costs required for all of its ongoing and inactive or closed operations are identified, consistently estimated, and appropriately reported. As a result, DOD's financial statements and environmental reports continue to underreport environmental liabilities and related long-term budgetary needs. The installations GAO visited had a total of 221 sites with estimated cleanup costs of $259 million. Of these, only 45 sites with estimated cleanup costs of $61 million were being reported for the Defense Environmental Restoration Program Annual Report to Congress, and only that amount was likely included in DOD's financial statements. GAO found DOD was not reporting 149 sites related to ongoing operations with estimated cleanup costs of $91 million and 27 inactive and closed operations with estimated cleanup costs of $107 million. The environmental offices at the six installations GAO visited had comprehensive records for the installation sites subject to cleanup requirements. Although these records were reasonably accurate, the records used to maintain accountability over related land, buildings, and structures were significantly flawed. If properly maintained, the real property records should play a significant role in ensuring the accuracy of environmental site records. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-117/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-117.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-117/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-117.pdf GAO-02-117 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-02-117 Other Written Product GAO-02-117; Environmental Liabilities: Cleanup Costs From Certain DOD Operations Are Not Being Reported; Environmental policies Financial statements Hazardous substances Solid waste management Waste disposal Cost analysis Records management Environmental monitoring Reporting requirements DOD Environmental Restoration Program Title 10 Section 2706 10 U.S.C. 2706