Environmental, Economic, and Political Issues Impede Potomac River Cleanup Efforts

GAO reviewed the difficulties state and local governments and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have experienced over the past decade in implementing water quality programs in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. GAO selected the D.C. area for a case study concerning federally mandated water quality programs because many of the problems identified in this report are similar to those occurring in many other areas. The study cites three areas which have been created as a result of the difficulties of the past 10 years: (1) the program has been much more costly than originally expected and current federal, state, and local fiscal constraints raise significant concerns regarding the affordability of water quality standards; (2) meeting environmental standards creates a problem of sludge disposal which has not yet been satisfactorily resolved; (3) the need for the rigorous water quality standards of the existing programs and the public benefits to be derived by additional investment to meet the standards have not yet been shown.

GAO supports substantive changes in the planning and siting of wastewater treatment and residues management facilities. Given the enormous costs of water pollution control programs and the impact that siting of wastewater treatment plants and residues management facilities have on the program's economic and environmental effectiveness, a regional approach to water quality planning is desirable. Some local prerogatives must be sacrificed, and effective organizations for planning and implementing regional solutions must be created with responsibility and authority to make and implement decisions. Federal, state, and local environmental agencies must consider their decisions on a comprehensive basis by assessing the trade-offs among the various programs and the impacts on the air, water, and land. GAO believes that EPA and state and local governments must give greater consideration to regional approaches to these problems allowing for more comprehensive and more achievable programs benefiting the economic and environmental factors involved.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Arthur R. Goldbeck Team: General Accounting Office: General Government Division Phone: (202) 275-3641