When all of these steps have been completed for a given  site and long-term monitoring is under way, or it has been determined that  no cleanup action is needed, the services and the Corps consider the site to  be “response complete.”

	DOD Has Made Limited Progress in Its Program to Identify, Assess, and Clean Up Potentially Contaminated Sites

While DOD has identified 2,307 potentially contaminated sites as of  September 2002, the department continues to identify additional sites, and  it is not likely to have a firm inventory for several years (see table 1 for the  distribution of these sites by service). Of the identified sites, DOD  determined that 362 sites require no further study or cleanup action  because it found little or no evidence of military munitions. For 1,387 sites,  DOD either has not begun or not completed its initial evaluation, or has  determined that further study is needed. The remaining 83 sites require some cleanup action, of which DOD  has completed 23. For example, 241 Air Force and 105 Army sites at  closed ranges on active installations have not been evaluated. DOD has completed its assessment of 558 sites, nearly all of which are  ranges on formerly used defense sites or closing installations, and  determined that no cleanup action was needed for 475; the remaining 83  sites required some level of cleanup action. DOD Does Not Have a Complete and Viable Plan for Assessing and Cleaning Up Potentially Contaminated Sites

In DOD’s Fiscal Year 2002 Defense Environmental Restoration Program  Annual Report to Congress, DOD identified several elements integral to the  success of the Military Munitions Response program:  compiling a  comprehensive inventory of sites; developing a new procedure to assess  risk and prioritize sites; ensuring proper funding for accurate planning and  program execution; and establishing program goals and performance  measures. First, essential  data for DOD’s plan may take years to develop. Until  all three hazard types are fully assessed, DOD cannot be assured that it is  using its limited resources to clean up those sites that pose the greatest risk  to safety, human health, and the environment. DOD’s Plan Relies on Preliminary Cost Estimates That Can Change Significantly and a Reallocation of Funds That May Not Be Available

DOD’s plan to identify and address military munitions sites relies on  preliminary cost estimates that were developed using incomplete  information. As a  result, the Air Force used estimated, not actual, acreage figures, including  assumptions regarding the amount of acreage known or suspected of  containing military munitions when preparing its cost estimates. However, these other cleanup efforts are not on schedule in all of the  services and the Corps. Delays in the availability of anticipated  funding from hazardous, toxic, and radioactive waste sites could greatly  impair DOD’s ability to accurately plan for and make progress in cleaning  up Military Munitions Response sites. DOD’s Plan Does Not Contain Goals or Measures for Site Assessment and Cleanup

DOD has yet to establish specific program goals and performance  measures in its plan. Recommendations

To ensure that DOD has a comprehensive approach for identifying,  assessing, and cleaning up military munitions at potentially contaminated  sites, we recommend that the Secretary of Defense revise DOD’s plan to    establish deadlines to complete the identification process and initial  evaluations so that it knows the universe of sites that needs to be  assessed, prioritized, and cleaned up;  reassess the timetable proposed for completing its reevaluation of sites  using the new risk assessment procedures so that it can more timely  establish the order in which sites should be assessed and cleaned up,  thereby focusing on the riskiest sites first; and  establish interim goals for cleanup phases for the services and Corps to  target. Additional Details on Our Scope and Methodology

The objectives of our review were to evaluate (1) DOD’s progress in  implementing its program to identify, assess, and clean up sites containing  military munitions and (2) DOD’s plans to clean up remaining sites in the  future.
Why GAO Did This Study

Over 15 million acres in the United States are suspected of being, or known to be, contaminated with military munitions. These sites include ranges on closing military installations, closed ranges on active installations, and formerly used defense sites. Under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program, established in 1986, the Department of Defense (DOD) must identify, assess, and clean up military munitions contamination at these sites. DOD estimates these activities will cost from $8 billion to $35 billion. Because of the magnitude of DOD's cleanup effort, both in terms of cost and affected acreage, as well as the significant public safety, health, and environmental risks that military munitions may pose, The Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce asked us to evaluate (1) DOD's progress in implementing its program to identify, assess, and clean up military munitions sites and (2) DOD's plans to clean up remaining sites in the future.

What GAO Found

DOD has made limited progress in its program to identify, assess, and clean up sites that may be contaminated with military munitions. While DOD had identified 2,307 potentially contaminated sites as of September 2002, DOD officials said that they continue to identify additional sites and are not likely to have a firm inventory for several years. Of the identified sites, DOD had initially determined that 362 sites required no further study or cleanup action because it found little or no evidence of military munitions. For 1,387 sites, DOD either has not begun or not completed its initial evaluation or determined that further study is needed. DOD has completed its assessment of 558 sites, finding that 475 of these required no cleanup action. The remaining 83 sites required some cleanup action, of which DOD has completed 23. DOD does not yet have a complete and viable plan for cleaning up military munitions at remaining potentially contaminated sites. DOD's plan is lacking in several respects. Essential data for DOD's plan may take years to develop. Not all the potential sites have been identified, and DOD has set no deadline for doing so. Also, DOD intends to use a new procedure to assign a relative priority for the remaining 1,387 sites, but it will not complete the reassessments until 2012. Until these are done, DOD cannot be assured that it is using its limited resources to clean up the riskiest sites first. DOD's plan relies on preliminary cost estimates that can change greatly and the reallocation of funds that may not be available. For example, the Air Force used estimated, not actual, acreage to create its cost estimates, limiting the estimate's reliability and DOD's ability to plan and budget cleanup for these sites. Also, DOD expects additional funds will become available for munitions cleanup as other DOD hazardous waste cleanup efforts are completed. However, some of these efforts are behind schedule; therefore, funds may not become available as anticipated. DOD's plan does not contain goals or measures for site assessment and cleanup. DOD recently established a working group tasked with developing agencywide program goals and performance measures, but not service-specific targets, limiting DOD's ability to ensure that the services are making progress in cleaning the potentially contaminated sites and achieving the overall goals of the program as planned.