The states and counties are responsible for identifying the requirements and developing annual requests for the critical items that they believe are needed to be fully prepared to respond to a chemical emergency. Three of the 10 states are fully prepared to respond to a chemical emergency, and 4 others are close to being fully prepared. They have not, however, been as successful in their working relations with states and local communities. This is not enough. Conclusions

While the Army and FEMA have made considerable progress in assisting state and local communities to be fully prepared to respond to a chemical emergency, thousands of people who live near at least three of the eight chemical storage sites are still at a higher risk of exposure to a chemical accident than necessary. Appendix II: CSEPP’s Funding and Life-Cycle Cost Estimates

	Army Funds the CSEPP Program

Since the inception of the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) in 1988, the Army has provided $761.8 million— $509 million in operation  and maintenance funding and $252.7 million in procurement funding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-managed off-post activities received $491.6 million (two-thirds) of the total. These items are now considered in the program’s benchmarks.
Why GAO Did This Study

Millions of people who live and work near eight Army storage facilities containing 30,000 tons of chemical agents are at risk of exposure from a chemical accident. In 1988, the Army established the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) to assist 10 states with communities near these eight storage facilities. The Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) share the federal government's responsibility for the program's funding and execution. Since its inception, the program has received more than $761 million in funding. One third of this amount has been spent to procure critical items. Because each community has its own site-specific requirements, funding has varied greatly. For example, since the states first received program funding in 1989, Illinois received as little as $6 million, and Alabama received as much as $108 million.

What GAO Found

GAO found that many of the states have made considerable progress in preparing to respond to chemical emergencies. Three of the 10 states in the CSEPP are fully prepared to respond to an emergency and four others are making progress and are close to being fully prepared. This is a considerable improvement since 1997, when no state was fully prepared. However, three states are still considerably behind in their efforts and will require additional technical assistance to become fully prepared to respond to a chemical accident.