The costs of O&M are borne by the federal government, states, and responsible parties. The federal government also pays for O&M activities at federal facilities that have sites on their property on the National Priorities List (NPL). Long-Term O&M Activities Are Required at a Majority of These Sites

Almost two-thirds, or 173, of the 275 sites we reviewed where the cleanup remedy is in place will require long-term O&M activities to ensure that the cleanup remedy continues to protect human health and the environment. EPA is responsible for two types of monitoring: (1) reviewing actions that the states and responsible parties have taken to comply with the sites’ O&M plan and (2) evaluating, at least every 5 years, the condition of certain sites where waste remains on-site. Although O&M has been ongoing at some sites for several years, EPA is just now developing guidance to monitor how the states and responsible parties perform O&M activities. EPA currently has no guidance for site project managers on monitoring O&M, but the agency plans to issue a new directive in December 1995. Despite the benefits of the 5-year reviews, EPA’s Inspector General found that EPA has a significant backlog of such reviews. As a result of this backlog, the agency may not be aware of problems that may be occurring at other Superfund sites. As a result, the states and responsible parties have not always performed the operations and maintenance activities required. We obtained EPA’s database of the O&M estimates to make additional cost projections, including (1) the O&M costs that the federal government will be expected to pay, (2) the O&M costs that the responsible parties will be expected to pay, (3) the average O&M costs for those sites with and without groundwater contamination, and (4) the proportions of the total forecast O&M costs that are for current Superfund sites and sites EPA anticipates adding to the NPL in the future.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO reviewed operations and maintenance (O&M) activities at former or current National Priorities List (NPL) Superfund sites where remediation construction has been completed, focusing on the: (1) extent to which O&M activities are necessary at Superfund sites; (2) costs to the federal government, states, and responsible parties to perform these activities now and in the future; and (3) Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) actions to help ensure that O&M activities continue to protect human health and the environment.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) the federal government, states, and responsible parties must perform long-term O&M activities at almost two-thirds of the 275 NPL sites reviewed; (2) these O&M activities include controlling erosion of landfill covers, treating contaminated groundwater, and implementing and enforcing land and water use restrictions; (3) the nationwide cost of current and future O&M activities will be about $32 billion through fiscal year 2040, much of which will be borne by the states and responsible parties; (4) the cost of a given site remedy will depend mainly on what remedy type EPA selects and the duration of the O&M activities; (5) until recently, EPA has focused on the evaluation and cleanup of Superfund sites, but EPA monitoring of O&M activities is crucial because states and responsible parties do not always follow their O&M plans and site conditions can deteriorate; (6) EPA is just now developing guidance for site project managers on monitoring O&M activities to ensure that O&M plans are followed; and (7) EPA has a significant backlog of 5-year reviews and may not be aware of deteriorating conditions at some sites.