For decades, the Department of Defense (DOD) has tested and fired munitions on millions of acres of operational ranges. These munitions contain various constituents such as lead, trinitrotoluene (TNT), and ammonium perchlorate salt (perchlorate) that are, in some instances, known or suspected of causing health effects such as damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, cancer, and interfering with thyroid function. Concerns about the potential cost to clean up munitions prompted Congress to require that DOD develop an estimate for what it would cost to clean up its operational ranges. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2002 required DOD to provide (1) a comprehensive assessment of unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munitions constituents at current and former DOD facilities; and (2) an estimate of the aggregate projected cost of remediation (cleanup) at operational ranges,1 stated as a range of costs, including a low and high estimate. As of April 2003, DOD identified 10,444 operational ranges located in the United States and its territories, with Army operational ranges accounting for 94 percent of the total. DOD estimated it would cost between $16 billion and $165 billion to clean up unexploded ordnance, discarded military munitions, and munitions constituents on these operational ranges. constituents on these operational ranges.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent agency that works for Congress. The GAO watches over Congress, and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayers dollars. The Comptroller General of the United States is the leader of the GAO, and is appointed to a 15-year term by the U.S. President. The GAO wants to support Congress, while at the same time doing right by the citizens of the United States. They audit, investigate, perform analyses, issue legal decisions and report anything that the government is doing. This is one of their reports.

DOD Operational Ranges: More Reliable Cleanup Cost Estimates and a Proactive Approach to Identifying Contamination Are Needed

GAO-04-601 DOD Operational Ranges: More Reliable Cleanup Cost Estimates and a Proactive Approach to Identifying Contamination Are Needed

High-Containment Laboratories: National Strategy for Oversight Is Needed

The rapid conversion of land to urban and suburban areas has profoundly altered how water flows during and following storm events, putting higher volumes of water and more pollutants into the nation's rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These changes have degraded water quality and habitat in virtually every urban stream system. The Clean Water Act regulatory framework for addressing sewage and industrial wastes is not well suited to the more difficult problem of stormwater discharges. This book calls for an entirely new permitting structure that would put authority and accountability for stormwater discharges at the municipal level. A number of additional actions, such as conserving natural areas, reducing hard surface cover (e.g., roads and parking lots), and retrofitting urban areas with features that hold and treat stormwater, are recommended.

Meant to aid State & local emergency managers in their efforts to develop & maintain a viable all-hazard emergency operations plan. This guide clarifies the preparedness, response, & short-term recovery planning elements that warrant inclusion in emergency operations plans. It offers the best judgment & recommendations on how to deal with the entire planning process -- from forming a planning team to writing the plan. Specific topics of discussion include: preliminary considerations, the planning process, emergency operations plan format, basic plan content, functional annex content, hazard-unique planning, & linking Federal & State operations.