Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
2/27/2015
As the Department of Energy’s cleanup program disposes of thousands of excess facilities and properties, data and policy issues are hampering effective DOE management of those facilities, according to a Government Accountability Office report released this week. Between 2003 and 2013, DOE disposed of almost 2,000 facilities, the vast majority by demolition, though 21 properties have been transferred for reuse. “DOE’s ability to manage the disposal of these properties is impeded by its reliance on data that are not always timely or complete,” the GAO report states. “Without up-to-date information on the status of all facilities undergoing D&D, of their projected end-state, or major milestones DOE may not be able to make well-informed decisions about this subgroup of its property holdings.”
DOE and the Office of Environmental Management each have a database on facilities undergoing D&D. “However, neither system collects all the information DOE officials would need to effectively manage this subgroup of its real property portfolio, such as when D&D of a facility started or was completed,” the report states. “In addition, DOE’s database, which serves as the agency’s source of information on all real property holdings, is not always timely or complete, a shortcoming that limits the value to officials as a source of information for decision making.”
Policy Question Hinders Reuse of Facilities
There are also policy considerations that are hurdles to transfer properties for economic development rather than D&D. While DOE policy requires economic development of properties that can be used for that purpose, it doesn’t identify what entity is responsible for identifying those properties. “As a result, almost none of the officials GAO interviewed at headquarters and at the site-level was proactively or systematically identifying or disposing of these properties,” the report states. “In addition, though the vast majority of these contaminated facilities are disposed of via demolition, there is potential for other facilities—such as the uncontaminated facilities for which EM is responsible—and some land that EM holds to be disposed of via transfers by sale for economic development.”
GAO Recommends Data and Strategy Improvements
GAO included two recommendations in its report. In the first, DOE should “take steps to ensure its data systems provide timely and complete data that support sound decision making.” The second recommendation asks DOE to “develop and document an approach to property transfer—including roles and responsibilities—consistent with DOE’s policy to identify and transfer properties for economic development purposes.”
DOE concurred with both of the GAO’s recommendations in a Feb. 11 management response, which outlined planned improvements to both DOE and EM’s information management entries. DOE also plans to issue a policy memorandum for assigning responsibility for identifying properties for economic development. “DOE believes that implementation of these actions will improve the management of its excess, process-contaminated real property, while also more fully engaging the public on these matters,” states the response by acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney.
