Natural Resources and Environment

Persistent Chemicals: DOD Needs to Provide Congress More Information on Costs Associated with Addressing PFAS [Reissued with revisions on Feb. 25, 2025]

GAO-25-107401

Published: Feb 24, 2025

Publicly Released: Feb 25, 2025

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Open Recommendations

New Chemicals Program: EPA Needs a Systematic Process to Better Manage and Assess Performance

GAO-25-106839

Jan 22, 2025

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2 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Environmental Protection Agency	The Administrator of EPA should ensure that NCD, as it finalizes its strategic plan, addresses relevant key practices for managing and assessing the New Chemicals Program, including involving stakeholders and identifying resources. (Recommendation 1)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Environmental Protection Agency	The Administrator of EPA should ensure NCD implements a systematic process that aligns the division's performance management approach with key management and assessment practices. (Recommendation 2)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Oil and Gas: Bureau of Indian Affairs Could Improve Lease Management of Trust and Restricted Land

GAO-25-106307

Dec 19, 2024

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6 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Bureau of Indian Affairs	The Director of BIA should compile comprehensive bond information for oil and gas leases—including bond amounts, bond types, and leases covered by each bond—and develop and implement an approach to maintain a record of bond information over time. (Recommendation 1)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Bureau of Indian Affairs	The Director of BIA should compile comprehensive information on bond claims for oil and gas leases and develop and implement an approach to maintain a record of bond claims over time. (Recommendation 2)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Bureau of Indian Affairs	The Director of BIA should provide greater specificity in current guidance or develop additional policy or guidance for BIA offices related to their responsibilities for bonding including setting initial bond amounts for lessees, when and how to increase existing bond amounts, collecting bonds, and requiring bonds for non-lessee operators. (Recommendation 3)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Bureau of Indian Affairs	The Director of BIA should establish a policy for bond reviews that includes clear guidance on the frequency of reviews or specific triggers for reviews and factors to be included in reviews. (Recommendation 4)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Bureau of Indian Affairs	The Director of BIA should, in consultation with Tribes, assess its bond requirements to determine if they are sufficient to ensure lessees do not abandon wells and make changes, accordingly, to guidance or regulations, including considering if changes are needed to minimum bond amounts. (Recommendation 5)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Bureau of Indian Affairs	The Director of BIA, to help ensure that bond amounts are sufficient to meet their intended purpose, should provide information to Tribes on options for tailoring bond amounts to their needs, including mechanisms to require bond amounts higher than the regulatory minimum. (Recommendation 6)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Climate Change: Improved Data and Performance Management Would Strengthen U.S. Support to the Indo-Pacific

GAO-25-106236

Dec 10, 2024

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7 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of State	The Secretary of State should ensure that all relevant bureaus and offices implement improvements to track award amounts by country for multi-country activities provided to countries in the Indo-Pacific region to address climate risks, when possible. (Recommendation 1)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
U.S. Trade and Development Agency	The Director of USTDA should ensure that all relevant offices track award amounts by country for multi-country activities provided to countries in the Indo-Pacific region to address climate risks, when possible. (Recommendation 2)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
U.S. Agency for International Development	The USAID Administrator should clarify agency guidance for context monitoring to ensure the officials who manage the performance of climate activities develop mitigation strategies in their activity planning documents to address any identified external or internal factors that could affect achieving the activity's results. (Recommendation 3)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State	The Secretary of State should ensure that the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs establishes procedures for the officials who manage the performance of climate activities to develop activity plans that identify external or internal factors that could affect achieving results and associated mitigation strategies. (Recommendation 4)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of the Interior	The Secretary of the Interior should ensure that the Office of Insular Affairs establishes procedures for the officials who manage the performance of climate activities to develop activity plans that identify external or internal factors that could affect achieving results and associated mitigation strategies. (Recommendation 5)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration	The Administrator of NOAA should ensure that the Director of the CRCP establishes procedures for the officials who manage the performance of climate activities to develop activity plans that identify external or internal factors that could affect achieving results and associated mitigation strategies. (Recommendation 6)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Hazardous Waste: EPA Should Take Additional Actions to Encourage Treatment, Storage, and Disposal Facilities to Manage Climate Risks

GAO-25-106253

Nov 14, 2024

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9 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Environmental Protection Agency	The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management should develop and provide training and technical assistance to help EPA regions and authorized states implement recent guidance on using existing authorities and requirements to manage climate risks to TSDFs. (Recommendation 1)	Open EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA reported that it issued a guidance memorandum in June 2024 that calls for EPA regions and authorized states to consider climate risks in the hazardous waste permitting process for TSDFs, among other things, and is in the process of developing four webinar trainings to assist EPA regions and authorized states in implementing this guidance. EPA also noted that the webinars will be widely available to states and the public and grouped by the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest sections of the country, so they may also target climate impacts of particular concern in distinct parts of the United States. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.
Environmental Protection Agency	The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management should use its upcoming rulemaking to seek feedback from authorized states, TSDFs, and other stakeholders to assess whether its recent guidance is sufficient or revising regulations would be necessary to clarify requirements for managing climate risks to TSDFs. (Recommendation 2)	Open EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA stated that, as part of an upcoming rulemaking, it plans to assess whether revisions to its RCRA permit regulations are needed to clarify requirements for managing climate risks to TSDFs. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.
Environmental Protection Agency	The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance should issue guidance to clarify RCRA authorities and requirements for managing climate risks to TSDFs as part of authorized states' and EPA regions' RCRA compliance and enforcement efforts. (Recommendation 3)	Open EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA stated that it plans to work with EPA regions and authorized states to implement recent guidance on using existing RCRA authorities and requirements to manage climate risks to TSDFs on a site-specific basis in compliance and enforcement efforts, and also consider developing additional guidance explaining how climate change adaptation considerations should be incorporated into RCRA enforcement efforts. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.
Environmental Protection Agency	The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management, in consultation with EPA regional offices, should develop and implement monitoring metrics and assess whether and how authorized states and TSDFs are managing climate risks to TSDFs in RCRA permitting and oversight efforts. (Recommendation 4)	Open EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA stated that it has directed authorized states to start providing information on how potential climate risks were considered in permitting for TSDFs and that this information will be incorporated in the states' grant work plans and annual reports as grants are renewed in fiscal years 2025 through 2027. Further, EPA said that, by May 2026, it plans to compile and summarize information from state grant annual reports on how potential climate risks were considered in RCRA permitting for TSDFs. Then, by May 2027, EPA plans to develop a procedure for monitoring and assessing on an ongoing basis how authorized states and TSDFs are managing climate risks to TSDFs. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.
Environmental Protection Agency	The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, in consultation with EPA regional offices, should develop and implement monitoring metrics and assess whether and how authorized states and TSDFs are managing climate risks to TSDFs in RCRA compliance monitoring and enforcement efforts. (Recommendation 5)	Open EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA stated that as national policy requirements or regulations are updated to include consideration of climate risks in the hazardous waste program, it will update enforcement and compliance guidance accordingly. EPA stated that this could include developing compliance monitoring and enforcement metrics, new programs for EPA data systems, and providing training and guidance on how to measure compliance with any new requirements, among other things. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.
Environmental Protection Agency	The Assistant Administrator of the Office of Land and Emergency Management, together with other relevant EPA offices and EPA regions, should assess the current RCRA TSDF standards and requirements to determine if they will be sufficient to manage climate risks and, if one or more of them need to be updated to ensure they remain protective of human health and the environment, develop a plan for any revisions or updates. (Recommendation 6)	Open EPA agreed with this recommendation. EPA reported that it is assessing the current RCRA TSDF regulations as part of its efforts to develop a rulemaking for RCRA permitting that it plans to publish in 2025. EPA stated it is considering proposing specific provisions to address climate risk as part of this rulemaking. EPA stated that provisions may include requirements to assess and address climate change risk as part of facility permit applications; modify permits if climate change risk at a facility changes; implement facility design and operation standards to mitigate risk; and use portions of a federal standard to define flood risk requirements. We will continue to track EPA's progress in implementing this recommendation.