What GAO Found
Department of Defense (DOD) expenditures for Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)-related activities exceeded initial estimates through fiscal year 2020. This was driven in part by environmental restoration costs, which could not be fully captured in initial estimates. According to DOD data, the department has spent in total about $64.5 billion—an increase of $22.8 billion from DOD's initial budget estimate—in funding for BRAC-related activities, as of September 2020. Of this total, DOD spent $14.8 billion on environmental activities and caretaking of BRAC sites and estimated it will need an additional $7 billion. DOD data show it has closed 7,334 (83 percent) of the total BRAC sites. GAO has previously reported that it can be difficult to accurately predict total costs for environmental restoration without completing investigations into levels of contamination in accordance with land reuse plans. Costs may also change due to new laws and increased contaminant levels after follow-on testing.
Base Realignment and Closure Sites Restoration Status as of September 2020
aWhen a site had more than one phase planned or ongoing, we included it in the count for the earliest phase.
DOD reports some future BRAC costs but does not provide complete and transparent information to Congress regarding an end date for all BRAC rounds or details on long-term management costs. DOD's 2019 BRAC report identifies what it calls end dates for each BRAC round; however, these dates are based on when DOD will complete proposed cleanup actions, not on when sites are closed out and no additional funds will be needed. GAO's analysis of DOD data shows that 889 of the remaining 1,486 BRAC sites are in or planned to undergo long-term management in perpetuity (i.e., with no definite end date), as of September 2020. DOD also has internally estimated long-term management costs of $1 billion for these sites. However, DOD did not include the number of such sites or related costs in its 2019 report. By reporting to Congress on when sites will reach site closeout and on the number and associated costs of sites that will require long-term management in perpetuity, DOD would provide Congress greater clarity on BRAC costs.
DOD's estimated annual recurring savings are outdated. The 2019 BRAC report identifies $12 billion in annual savings from the five BRAC rounds, an estimate DOD has previously reported. The report states that the savings amount is an estimate of costs avoided after implementing each round. However, when adjusted for inflation, costs have varied since the initial estimate, potentially offsetting the estimated amount of costs avoided. DOD officials stated they could not justify the resources required to attempt to recalculate the annual recurring savings from BRAC rounds. While investing resources in recalculating potential savings may not be worthwhile, reporting information on the caveats and limitations of the savings estimate would provide Congress greater clarity and insight on the precision and currency of the estimate.
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For the Highlights and a link to the full report, go to
https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-105207—
Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)