Federal Facilities

From November 1989 through October 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessed penalties in 61 cases totaling $16.4 million against federal agencies for hazardous waste violations. Penalties were assessed against the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and the Interior and the U.S. Coast Guard. Forty-one cases involving penalties of $8.2 million were settled for $8.4 million, including the value of supplemental environmental projects. Agencies made direct cash payments of $2.4 million and agreed to perform supplemental environmental projects costing about $6 million. Twenty cases with assessed penalties of $8.2 million are still being negotiated. GAO reviewed three settled cases that involved penalties of $6 million against the Departments of Defense and Energy, which represented more than a third of the value of all the assessed penalties. After negotiations--which lasted from seven to 20 months--were finalized, the cases were settled for $3.7 million. EPA and the Department of Defense and Energy spent $364,000 in salaries, travel expenses, and other costs to negotiate these three settlements.

GAO noted that: (1) from November 1989 through October 1996, EPA assessed penalties in 61 cases totalling $16.4 million against federal agencies for violating the hazardous waste management and cleanup provisions of RCRA and CERCLA; (2) penalties were assessed against the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, and the Interior and the U.S. Coast Guard; (3) forty-one cases having EPA-assessed penalties of $8.2 million were settled for $8.4 million, including the value of supplemental environmental projects; (4) agencies made settlement through direct cash payments of $2.4 million and also by agreeing to perform supplemental environmental projects costing about $6 million; (5) twenty cases with assessed penalties of $8.2 million are still being negotiated, and final settlements have not been determined; (6) GAO reviewed three settled cases that had EPA-assessed penalties of $6 million against the Departments of Defense and Energy, which represented more than one-third of the value of all the assessed penalties; (7) after negotiations, which lasted from 7 to 20 months, were finalized, these cases were settled for $3.7 million; (8) one case involving a Navy facility was finally settled for $125,000 more than the assessed penalty because of two supplemental environmental projects; (9) EPA and the Departments of Defense and Energy incurred about $364,000 in salaries, travel costs, and other costs to negotiate these three settlements; (10) because each case has its own unique attributes, GAO cannot say whether these costs would be typical for all cases; and (11) for the most part, the settlement costs reflect the number of personnel assigned to a case and the time they devote to its resolution.