The National Cemeteries Act of 1973 (P.L. 93-43) authorized NCS to bury eligible veterans and their family members in national cemeteries. NCS operates and maintains 114 national cemeteries located in 38 states and Puerto Rico. In fiscal year 1996, NCS performed about 72,000 interments and maintained more than two million burial sites and over 5,600 acres of land developed for interment purposes. NCS offers veterans and their eligible family members the options of casket interment and interment of cremated remains in the ground (at most cemeteries) or in columbarium niches (at nine cemeteries). NCS determines the number and type of burial options available at each of its national cemeteries. The standard size of casket grave sites, the most common burial choice, is 5 feet by 10 feet, and the grave sites are prepared to accommodate two caskets stacked one on top of the other. A standard in-ground cremains site is 3 feet by 3 feet and can generally accommodate one or two urns. The standard columbarium niche used in national cemeteries is 10 inches wide, 15 inches high, and 20 inches deep. Niches are generally arrayed side by side, four units high, and can hold two or three urns, depending on urn size. Figure 1 shows a columbarium and in-ground cremains sites at national cemeteries. Armed forces members who die while on active duty and certain veterans are eligible for burial in a national cemetery. Eligible veterans must have been discharged or separated from active duty under other than dishonorable conditions and have completed the required period of service. People entitled to retired pay as a result of 20 years’ creditable service with a reserve component of the armed services are also eligible. U.S. citizens who have served in the armed forces of a government allied with the United States in a war may also be eligible. The benefit of burial in a national cemetery is further extended to spouses and minor children of eligible veterans and of active duty members of the armed forces. A surviving spouse of an eligible veteran who later marries a nonveteran, and whose remarriage is terminated by death or divorce, is also eligible for burial in a national cemetery. Burial in a VA cemetery includes, at no cost to the veteran, one grave site for the burial of all eligible family members. Also included are the opening and closing of the grave, perpetual care of the site, and a government headstone or marker and grave liner. Veterans’ families are required to pay for services provided by funeral directors and additional inscriptions on the headstone or marker. Generally grave sites may not be reserved; space is assigned at the time of need on the basis of availability. In addition to burying eligible veterans and their families, NCS manages three related programs: (1) the Headstones and Markers Program, which provides headstones and markers for the graves of eligible people in national, state, and private cemeteries; (2) the Presidential Memorial Certificates Program, which provides certificates to the families of deceased veterans recognizing their contributions and service to the nation; and (3) the State Cemetery Grants Program, which provides aid to states in establishing, expanding, or improving state veterans’ cemeteries. In 1978, Public Law 95-476 authorized NCS to administer the State Cemetery Grants Program, under which states receive financial assistance to provide burial space for veterans and eligible dependents. State veterans’ cemeteries supplement the burial service provided by NCS. The cemeteries are operated and permanently maintained by the states. A grant may not exceed 50 percent of the total value of the land and the cost of improvements. The remaining amount must be contributed by the state. The State Cemetery Grants Program has funded the establishment of 28 veterans’ cemeteries, including three cemeteries currently under development, located in 21 states, Saipan, and Guam. The program has also provided grants to state veterans’ cemeteries for expansion and improvement efforts. While VA strongly encourages states to adopt the eligibility criteria applied to national cemeteries, states have been allowed to establish eligibility criteria for interments that differ from VA-established criteria, but only if their criteria are more restrictive than those established for national cemeteries. In other words, state veterans’ cemeteries cannot be used for the interment of people who are not eligible for burial in a national cemetery. Most states have a residency requirement, and some states restrict eligibility to veterans who were honorably discharged, had wartime service, or both. As the veteran population ages, NCS projects the demand for burial benefits to increase. NCS has a strategic plan for addressing the demand for veterans’ burials up to fiscal year 2000, but the plan does not tie its strategic and performance goals to external factors such as veterans’ mortality rates and preferences for burial options—that is, caskets, in-ground cremains, or columbaria niches. In addition, NCS’ strategic plan does not address long-term burial needs—that is, the demand for benefits during the expected peak years of veteran deaths, when pressure on the system will be greatest. Beyond the year 2000, NCS officials said they will continue using the basic strategies contained in the current 5-year plan. With the aging of the veteran population, veteran deaths continue to increase each year. For example, NCS projects annual veteran deaths will increase about 20 percent between 1995 and 2010, from 513,000 to 615,000, as shown in figure 2. Moreover, NCS projects that veteran deaths will peak at about 620,000 in 2008. The demand for veterans’ burial benefits is also expected to increase. For example, NCS projects annual interments will increase about 42 percent between 1995 and 2010, from 73,000 to 104,000. NCS projects that annual interments will peak at about 107,000 in 2008. According to its 5-year strategic plan (1996-2000), one of NCS’ primary goals is to ensure that burial in a national or state veterans’ cemetery is an option for all eligible veterans and their family members. The plan sets forth four specific strategies for achieving this goal. First, NCS plans to establish, when feasible, new national cemeteries. NCS is currently establishing five new national cemeteries, which are in various stages of development, and projects that all will be operational by 2000. A second strategy for addressing veterans’ burial demand is to develop available space for cremated remains. NCS plans to survey national cemeteries to determine what space is available for use as in-ground cremains sites, construct additional columbaria at eight existing cemeteries, and include columbaria at the five new cemeteries. Third, NCS plans to acquire land through purchase or donation. NCS plans to use this land to extend the burial capacity and service period of national cemeteries currently projected to run out of available grave sites. Fourth, NCS plans to encourage states to provide additional burial sites for veterans through participation in the State Cemetery Grants Program. According to the plan, NCS plans to identify and prioritize those states most in need of a veterans’ cemetery; design a marketing strategy for those states; visit a minimum of four of those states annually until all prioritized states have been visited; and participate in the state conferences of at least three veterans’ service organizations (for example, the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars) each year. In addition to the strategic and performance goals, the plan also discusses assumptions, such as veterans’ demographics (the projected increases in veteran deaths and interments), and external factors, such as resource constraints, that could delay achievement of the plan’s performance goals. However, the plan does not tie the strategic and performance goals to its assumptions. For example, while the plan includes some data on demographic trends in the veteran population, it does not explain how these data were used in setting strategic goals, or how they will be used to measure progress in achieving these goals. Neither does the plan tie its strategic and performance goals to external factors—such as preferences for VA, state, or private cemeteries and preferences for casket, in-ground cremains, or columbaria niche burial—that will affect the need for additional VA and state cemetery capacity. NCS tracks actual burial practices in national cemeteries, monitors trends in the private cemetery sector, and in 1992 surveyed veterans to determine their preferences for type of cemetery (national, state, or private) and burial option (casket or cremation burial). Despite NCS plans to ensure that burial in a national or state veterans’ cemetery is an available option, officials acknowledge that large numbers of veterans currently do not have access to a veterans’ cemetery within a reasonable distance of their place of residence. For example, NCS estimates that of the approximately 26 million veterans in 1996, about 9 million (35 percent) did not have reasonable access to a national or state veterans’ cemetery. According to NCS officials, most underserved areas are major metropolitan regions with a high concentration of veterans. With the completion of the five new cemeteries, NCS officials estimate that the percentage of veterans who will have reasonable access to a veterans’ cemetery will increase from about 65 percent in fiscal year 1996 to about 77 percent in fiscal year 2000. Although NCS has a 5-year strategic plan for addressing veterans’ burial demand during fiscal years 1996 through 2000, it is unclear how NCS plans to address the demand beyond 2000. For example, NCS has not developed a strategic plan to address veterans’ burial demand during the peak years of veteran deaths, when pressure on the system will be greatest.