NCA’s  methodology uses a veteran’s county of residence as a proxy for being  within 75 miles of a veterans’ cemetery. NCA Plans to Establish Eighteen New National Cemeteries and Use Its Grants Program for the Creation of State Veterans’ Cemeteries to Increase Access to Burial Options

NCA’s plan entails establishing 18 new national cemeteries—comprised  of five traditional national cemeteries and 13 urban and rural initiative  national cemeteries—and awarding funds for new state veterans’  cemeteries. In 2014, we reported that NCA estimated approximately 90  percent of the veteran population had reasonable access to burial  options, and that it expected to reach its strategic goal of providing  reasonable access to 96 percent of veterans by the end of fiscal year  2017. NCA Has Made Limited Progress in Implementing Its Plan for Increasing Burial Access and Faces Continuing Challenges

While NCA has made some progress in implementing its plan to increase  burial access for veterans, that progress has been limited, as it is years  behind its original schedule for opening new cemeteries. As a  result, according to NCA, by the end of fiscal year 2018 the percentage of  veterans with reasonable access had increased from 90 percent to about  92 percent. As previously discussed, NCA’s goal is to provide 95 percent  of veterans with reasonable access to burial options. NCA Has Faced Challenges in Implementing Its Efforts to Increase Access to Burial Options for Veterans

In executing its plans to increase access to burial options for veterans,  NCA has experienced three key challenges: (1) acquiring suitable land for  new national cemeteries; (2) estimating the costs associated with  establishing new national cemeteries; and (3) using all available data to  inform how its Grants Program targets unserved veteran populations. NCA’s Cost Estimates for Most of Its Rural Initiative Sites Have  Increased Significantly  We found that NCA’s cost estimates for seven rural initiative sites have  increased significantly above what NCA officials had initially estimated. This  amounts to a cost increase of more than 200 percent. Without NCA’s revising its cost- estimating guidance to more fully reflect the 12 steps in the Cost Guide,  including “conducting a risk and uncertainty analysis,” NCA will not be  well-positioned to provide reliable cost estimates to VA and enable it to  make informed decisions regarding the funding and oversight of NCA’s  ongoing minor construction projects to enhance veterans’ burial options. Agency Comments

We provided a draft of this report to VA for review and comment. In  written comments, VA concurred with our recommendation. However, that is not what we recommended. Appendix I: GAO Assessment of the National Cemetery Administration’s (NCA) Guidance for Developing Cemetery Construction Cost Estimates

We compared NCA’s cost-estimating guidance with the 12 steps  identified in the GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best  Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs (Cost  Guide).
Why GAO Did This Study

The VA is responsible for ensuring that veterans have reasonable access to burial options in a national or state veterans' cemetery. In fiscal year 2018 VA estimated that about 92 percent of veterans had reasonable access to burial options, which was an increase from 90 percent in fiscal year 2014 but short of its goal of 96 percent by the end of fiscal year 2017.
The House Appropriations Committee has expressed concerns that there are geographic pockets where veterans remain unserved by burial options. House Report 115-188 accompanying a bill for the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018, includes a provision for GAO to examine veterans' access to burial options.
This report (1) describes VA's plan for increasing reasonable access to burial options for veterans and (2) assesses VA's progress in implementing its plan and any challenges experienced. GAO reviewed applicable VA and NCA documents, compared NCA's cost-estimating practices with GAO's cost-estimating 12 steps, and met with cognizant officials regarding NCA's efforts to provide reasonable access to burial options.

What GAO Found

Within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) has a plan to establish 18 new national cemeteries to increase reasonable access to burial options for veterans. NCA defines reasonable access as a national or state veterans' cemetery being located within 75 miles of veterans' homes. Key parts of NCA's plan include establishing 13 urban and rural initiative national cemeteries and awarding grant funds to state applicants for establishing new state veterans' cemeteries.
NCA has made limited progress in implementing its plan to increase burial access and is years behind its original schedule for opening new cemeteries. For example, NCA has opened only two of its planned urban and rural initiative sites and is behind its original schedule for the other 11 (see fig. below). The primary factor delaying NCA's completion of these cemeteries has been challenges in acquiring suitable land.
NCA has also been challenged in producing accurate estimates of construction costs for most of its rural initiative sites. Cost estimates have increased more than 200 percent (from about $7 million to $24 million) for these sites, and NCA's guidance for developing cost estimates for the cemeteries does not fully incorporate the 12 steps identified in cost-estimating leading practices—such as conducting a risk and uncertainty analysis or a sensitivity analysis. As a result, NCA is not well positioned to provide reliable and valid cost estimates to better inform decisions to enhance veterans' cemetery access.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that NCA fully adopt cost-estimating leading practices into its procedures to assist in improving its cost estimates for establishing cemeteries. NCA concurred with our recommendation.