DOD has undergone five BRAC rounds with the most recent occurring in 2005. Under the first four rounds in 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995, DOD closed 97 major bases and had 55 major base realignments and hundreds of minor closures and realignments. DOD has reported that under the prior BRAC rounds it had reduced the size of its domestic infrastructure by about 20 percent and had generated about $6.6 billion in net annual recurring savings for those years following the completion of the 1995 round in 2001. As a result of the 2005 BRAC decisions, DOD was slated to close an additional 25 major bases, complete 32 major realignments, and complete 755 minor base closures and realignments. At the time the BRAC decisions were finalized in November 2005, the BRAC Commission projected that implementation of these decisions would generate over $4 billion in annual recurring net savings following the completion of implementing those decisions in 2011. In accordance with BRAC statutory authority, DOD must complete closure and realignment actions by September 15, 2011—-6 years following the date the President transmits his report on the BRAC recommendations to Congress. Environmental cleanup and property transfer actions can exceed the 6-year time limit, having no deadline for completion. In addition to reducing unneeded infrastructure and generating savings, DOD envisioned the 2005 BRAC round to be one that emphasized transformation by aligning the infrastructure with the defense strategy and fostered jointness by examining and implementing opportunities for greater jointness across DOD. As such, there are a considerably higher number of realignments to take place than in any of the four prior rounds, which has resulted in far more individual BRAC actions, many of which affect multiple bases. While the number of major closures and realignments are somewhat similar to those of previous rounds (see table 1), the number of minor closures and realignments is significantly greater than those in all previous rounds combined. Available data indicate that despite the larger number of actions associated with the 2005 BRAC round compared with previous rounds, the amount of property potentially available for transfer is likely to be much less than in prior BRAC rounds. Although the total amount of acres available for transfer resulting from the 2005 BRAC round is yet to be fully determined, the preliminary number of potentially transferable acres for the 25 major bases is about 102,000 acres compared with a total of about 502,500 acres from the prior BRAC rounds combined. The extent of additional transferable acreage arising from the hundreds of minor base closures and realignments was not available at the time of our review, but is likely to be limited given the smaller size of many of those locations. A critical component to the process of transferring unneeded property arising from BRAC actions is the need to address the environmental contamination that has occurred over time due to military operations being conducted when the bases were active installations. Types of environmental contaminants found at military installations include solvents and corrosives; fuels; paint strippers and thinners; metals, such as lead, cadmium, and chromium; and unique military substances, such as nerve agents and unexploded ordnance. According to DOD officials, while environmental cleanup of these contaminants has been an ongoing process on active military bases, the cleanups often receive greater attention once a base has been selected for closure. Environmental cleanup is necessary for the transfer of unneeded contaminated property, which becomes available as a result of base closures and realignments. While addressing the environmental cleanup of contaminated property is a requirement for property transfer to other users, the sometimes decades- long cleanup process is not bound by the 6-year limitation for implementing required BRAC actions. As we have reported in the past, addressing the cleanup of contaminated properties has been a key factor related to delays in transferring unneeded BRAC property to other parties for reuse. DOD officials told us that they expect environmental cleanup to be less of an impediment during the 2005 round since the Department now had a more mature cleanup program in place to address environmental contamination on its bases. In conducting assessments of potential contamination and to determine the degree of cleanup required (on both active and closed bases), DOD must comply with cleanup standards and processes under all applicable environmental laws, regulations, and executive orders. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended, authorizes cleanup actions at federal facilities where there is a release of hazardous substances or the threat of such a release which can present a threat to public health and the environment. To clean up potentially contaminated sites on both active and closed bases, DOD generally follows the process that is required under CERCLA, which generally includes the following phases and activities: preliminary assessment, site investigation, remedial investigation and feasibility study, remedial design and remedial action, and long-term monitoring. (An explanation of these phases is provided in app. II.) The Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA) added provisions to CERCLA specifically governing the cleanup of federal facilities, including active military bases and those that are slated for closure under BRAC and, among other things, required the Secretary of Defense to carry out the Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP). Following SARA’s enactment, DOD established DERP, which now consists of two subprograms: (1) the Installation Restoration Program, which addresses the cleanup of hazardous substances that are primarily controlled under CERCLA and were released into the environment prior to October 17, 1986; and (2) the Military Munitions Response Program, which addresses the cleanup of munitions including UXO and the contaminants and metals related to munitions that were released into the environment prior to September 30, 2002. Cleanups of hazardous substances released after 1986 and munitions released after 2002 are not eligible for DERP funds. These cleanups are generally referred to as non-DERP or “compliance” cleanups and often include activities that are regulated by the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. These cleanups involve the closure and cleanup of operations associated with landfills, training ranges, and underground storage tanks and are generally funded under base operations and maintenance accounts for active bases. Once the property is determined to be unneeded and transferable to other users under BRAC, the cleanups are funded under the BRAC account. While SARA had originally required the government to warrant that all necessary cleanup actions had been taken before transferring property to nonfederal ownership, the act was amended in 1996 to expedite transfers of contaminated property. Now such property, under some circumstances, can be transferred to nonfederal users before all remedial action has been taken. However, certain conditions must exist before the department can exercise this early transfer authority, such as the property must be suitable for the intended reuse and the governor of the state must concur with the transfer. In addition to investigations into potential hazards, DOD is required to follow National Environmental Policy Act requirements and consult with local redevelopment authorities during the process of property disposal and during the process of relocating functions from one installation to another. Although the decision to close or realign installations is not subject to the National Environmental Policy Act, DOD is required to follow the act’s requirements during the process of property disposal and during the process of relocating functions from one installation to another. The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies, including DOD, to consult with and obtain the comments of other federal agencies that have jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved with the action. DOD’s March 2006 Base Redevelopment and Realignment Manual requires the military services to prepare an Environmental Condition of Property Report for closing BRAC bases. The report is used to evaluate the environmental condition of all transferable property based on already available information on contamination. It can be used to identify “gaps” in information regarding environmental conditions and where more study is required. Environmental Condition of Property reports have replaced the former baseline surveys that were required when SARA was enacted in 1986. According to Army officials, the Army plans to have a total of 183 Environmental Condition of Property reports completed for all of its 2005 major and minor base closures by January 31, 2007. With respect to Army National Guard properties, the states will be responsible for their Environmental Condition of Property reports except for the five bases located on federal lands for which the Army will prepare the reports, if required. According to Navy officials, the Navy has completed all reports for lands affected by 2005 closures. Air Force officials reported that they will have the reports completed for all their bases, which require one, by April 2007. DOD has had a long-standing policy of not considering environmental cleanup costs in its BRAC decision making. Accordingly, the estimates using the Cost of Base Realignment Actions model, which is used to compare alternative actions during BRAC decision making, do not include the cost of environmental cleanup for BRAC-affected bases. Historically, we have agreed with DOD’s position that such costs are a liability to DOD regardless of its base closure recommendations. While such costs are not included in the Cost of Base Realignment Actions model, they are included in developing BRAC implementation budgets and recorded as a BRAC cost. Expected environmental cleanup costs for the 2005 BRAC round are not yet fully known, but they are likely to increase from current estimates. DOD’s available data indicate that at least $950 million will be needed to complete the cleanups now underway for known hazards on the major and minor bases scheduled for closure for the 2005 BRAC round. However, our prior work has indicated that as closures are implemented, more intensive environmental investigations occur and additional hazardous contamination may be uncovered resulting in higher cleanup costs. Also, the services’ estimates were based on cleanup standards that are applicable for the current use of the property, but reuse plans developed by communities sometimes lead to more stringent and thus more expensive cleanups.