Waste Site Assessment Costs

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined whether there are federal guidelines or estimates of waste site assessment and characterization costs on a per-acre basis. GAO noted that: (1) none of the agencies involved in waste site assessment and characterization activities track assessment and characterization costs on a per-acre basis, because those costs are determined by the complexity of the site and its possible contamination rather than by its size; and (2) although the Environmental Protection Agency has budget planning cost guidelines for the assessment and characterization process, these guidelines are not expressed in costs per acre and do not represent the actual costs of assessing any specific waste site.