Environmental Compliance: DOD Needs to Better Identify and Monitor Equipment Containing Polychlorinated Biphenyls
NSIAD-94-243
Published: Aug 24, 1994. Publicly Released: Sep 30, 1994.
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Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed Department of Defense (DOD) efforts to identify, replace, monitor, store, and dispose of equipment containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB).
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Defense | In view of the frequent lapses in identification, labeling, monitoring, storage, and disposal of PCB, and the instances where identified problems had not been corrected even years after the fact, the Secretary of Defense should direct the military services to fully comply with the Toxic Substances Control Act and EPA regulations by: (1) requiring all installations to identify and maintain inventories of major PCB items; and (2) implementing a follow-up program to ensure that deficiencies identified by EPA and other monitoring organizations are corrected. |
OSD and DOD components have established a defense-wide policy and program for full and sustained compliance with all legal environmental requirements, including PCB regulations under TSCA. To improve the DOD-Wide Corporate Information Management, DOD is developing and fielding computer-based systems to better track and manage all environmental requirements. At the installation level, a toxic substance module will contain PCB inventory data and be integrated with a compliance deficiency management module containing PCB deficiency and corrective action data from all sources. Both modules will be fielded during fiscal years 1996-1998. DOD IG plans to monitor progress on the modules. Regarding the implementation of a follow-up program for EPA-noted deficiencies, DOD has established comprehensive service and agency environmental compliance assessment and management programs.
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| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator, EPA, should require installations to report on actions being taken to remedy instances of noncompliance. |
DOD feels that existing DOD policy and direction requires all DOD components to monitor and evaluate all activities on a routine basis and take such measures as necessary to insure compliance with applicable environmental requirements, including EPA regulations under TSCA. However, the Congress has taken action that would achieve similar purpose by requiring DOD to input fines and penalties levied by regulatory agencies.
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| Environmental Protection Agency | The Administrator, EPA, should improve on the timeliness of its follow-up inspections. |
DOD feels that existing DOD policy and direction requires all DOD components to monitor and evaluate all activities on a routine basis and take such measures as necessary to insure compliance with applicable environmental requirements, including EPA regulations under TSCA. However, the Congress has taken action that would achieve similar purpose by requiring DOD to input fines and penalties levied by regulatory agencies.
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Topics
Environmental legislationEnvironmental monitoringEquipment managementHazardous substancesMilitary facilitiesNoncomplianceProperty and supply managementToxic substancesMilitary forcesPolychlorinated biphenyls