Veterans Affairs: Additional Actions Needed to Increase Veterans' Burial Access
Fast Facts
The Department of Veterans Affairs is responsible for ensuring that veterans have reasonable access to burial options in a national or state veterans’ cemetery. It defines reasonable access as a cemetery within 75 miles of veterans’ homes. It estimated that about 92% of veterans had reasonable access in fiscal year 2018.
VA’s National Cemetery Administration has a plan to establish 18 new national cemeteries to increase access. However, it is years behind schedule for opening new cemeteries and its cost estimates for some sites have more than doubled.
We recommended the National Cemetery Administration adopt better cost-estimating practices.
A flag and flowers in a cemetery
Highlights
What GAO Found
Within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) has a plan to establish 18 new national cemeteries to increase reasonable access to burial options for veterans. NCA defines reasonable access as a national or state veterans' cemetery being located within 75 miles of veterans' homes. Key parts of NCA's plan include establishing 13 urban and rural initiative national cemeteries and awarding grant funds to state applicants for establishing new state veterans' cemeteries.
NCA has made limited progress in implementing its plan to increase burial access and is years behind its original schedule for opening new cemeteries. For example, NCA has opened only two of its planned urban and rural initiative sites and is behind its original schedule for the other 11 (see fig. below). The primary factor delaying NCA's completion of these cemeteries has been challenges in acquiring suitable land.
National Cemetery Administration's Timeline for Urban and Rural Initiative Sites, as of September 2019
NCA has also been challenged in producing accurate estimates of construction costs for most of its rural initiative sites. Cost estimates have increased more than 200 percent (from about $7 million to $24 million) for these sites, and NCA's guidance for developing cost estimates for the cemeteries does not fully incorporate the 12 steps identified in cost-estimating leading practices—such as conducting a risk and uncertainty analysis or a sensitivity analysis. As a result, NCA is not well positioned to provide reliable and valid cost estimates to better inform decisions to enhance veterans' cemetery access.
Why GAO Did This Study
The VA is responsible for ensuring that veterans have reasonable access to burial options in a national or state veterans' cemetery. In fiscal year 2018 VA estimated that about 92 percent of veterans had reasonable access to burial options, which was an increase from 90 percent in fiscal year 2014 but short of its goal of 96 percent by the end of fiscal year 2017.
The House Appropriations Committee has expressed concerns that there are geographic pockets where veterans remain unserved by burial options. House Report 115-188 accompanying a bill for the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018, includes a provision for GAO to examine veterans' access to burial options.
This report (1) describes VA's plan for increasing reasonable access to burial options for veterans and (2) assesses VA's progress in implementing its plan and any challenges experienced. GAO reviewed applicable VA and NCA documents, compared NCA's cost-estimating practices with GAO's cost-estimating 12 steps, and met with cognizant officials regarding NCA's efforts to provide reasonable access to burial options.
Recommendations
GAO recommends that NCA fully adopt cost-estimating leading practices into its procedures to assist in improving its cost estimates for establishing cemeteries. NCA concurred with our recommendation.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Veterans Affairs | The Secretary of Veterans Affairs should ensure that the Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs update its cost-estimating procedures for cemetery construction projects to fully incorporate the 12 steps identified in the GAO Cost Estimating and Assessment Guide: Best Practices for Developing and Managing Capital Program Costs. |
VA concurred with GAO's September 2019 recommendation that VA update its cost-estimating procedures for cemetery construction projects to fully incorporate the 12 steps from the GAO Cost Guide. At the time of our review, GAO determined that VA guidance fully or substantially met 5 of the 12 steps from the Cost Guide. GAO determined that VA's cost-estimating procedures either partially met, minimally met, or did not meet the remaining 7 steps. As of May 2021, VA provided additional or updated data and, in August 2021, GAO found that VA had made improvement in 3 of the remaining 7 steps, with 2 of those moving to substantially met. In September 2024, VA provided additional information, including a template and user manual. VA uses this template to create an initial magnitude cost estimate for major line items/costs for proposed projects. VA developed the cost estimation user manual in accordance with the GAO 12-step cost-estimating process. In addition, VA told GAO that the Cost Manual it had previously provided had been updated. GAO assessed documentation for the remaining 5 steps again and, in October 2024, determined that the VA's actions substantially or fully met all 12 steps and met the intent of our recommendation. Doing so enhances the reliability and validity of cost estimates that VA management uses to make informed decisions about cemetery construction projects.
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