**GAO-10-547T**                      Published: Mar 17, 2010. Publicly Released: Mar 17, 2010.                  

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## Highlights

Under the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP), the Department of Defense (DOD) is responsible for cleaning up about 5,400 sites on military bases that have been closed under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, as well as 21,500 sites on active bases and over 4,700 formerly used defense sites (FUDS), properties that DOD owned or controlled and transferred to other parties prior to October 1986. The cleanup of contaminants, such as hazardous chemicals or unexploded ordnance, at BRAC bases has been an impediment to the timely transfer of these properties to parties who can put them to new uses. The goals of DERP include (1) reducing risk to human health and the environment (2) preparing BRAC properties to be environmentally suitable for transfer (3) having final remedies in place and completing response actions and (4) fulfilling other established milestones to demonstrate progress toward meeting program performance goals. This testimony is based on prior work and discusses information on (1) how DOD allocates cleanup funding at all sites with defense waste and (2) BRAC cleanup status. It also summarizes other key issues that GAO has identified in the past that can impact DOD's environmental cleanup efforts.

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## Topics

Natural Resources and Environment

Base closuresBase realignmentsContaminantsContaminationDecontaminationEnvironment evaluationEnvironmental assessmentEnvironmental cleanupsEnvironmental monitoringEnvironmental policiesEnvironmental protectionEvaluation methodsFederal fundsFederal propertyFederal regulationsHazardous substancesHazardous waste disposalHazardous waste site remediationHazardous waste sitesHazardous wastesHealth hazardsInformation disclosureMilitary basesMilitary facilitiesPerformance appraisalPollution controlProgram evaluationPublic healthRisk assessmentRisk managementToxic substancesComplianceCost estimatesProgram goals or objectives