Long-Term Commitments: Improving the Budgetary Focus on Environmental Liabilities
GAO-03-219
Published: Jan 24, 2003. Publicly Released: Feb 24, 2003.
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Highlights
Although environmental liabilities resulting from federal programs and activities represent the third largest category of the federal government's liabilities, the current cash- and obligation-based budget does not provide information on estimated cleanup costs before waste-producing assets are purchased. As a result, policymakers do not have the opportunity to weigh the full costs of a proposal with their judgment of its benefits. The Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget asked GAO to examine and report on various ways budgeting might be improved for environmental cleanup costs, including some of the benefits, limitations, and challenges associated with each.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Office of Management and Budget | The Director of OMB should require supplemental reporting in the budget to disclose future environmental cleanup/disposal costs for new acquisitions. To this end, agency and OMB officials should consult with legislative branch officials to ensure that useful information on estimated environmental cleanup/disposal costs is provided to congressional decision makers when requesting appropriations to acquire waste-producing assets. |
Closed – Not Implemented
In commenting on the report, OMB staff commended GAO for its useful analysis and noted that the ideas discussed merit consideration. On May 1, 2007, an OMB official in the Energy Branch notified us that OMB will take into consideration GAO's recommendations regarding future environmental liabilities as it reviews OMB Circular A-11 requirements for the next update. Although OMB has repeatedly said it would consider revising A-11 requirements, as of September 2007, it had not done so.
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Topics
Budget authorityBudget functionsBudget obligationsEnvironmental cleanupsFinancial analysisFuture budget projectionsGovernment liability (legal)Waste disposalEnvironmental liabilitiesBudgeting