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Recommendations Database

GAO’s recommendations database contains report recommendations that still need to be addressed. GAO’s priority recommendations are those that we believe warrant priority attention. We sent letters to the heads of key departments and agencies, urging them to continue focusing on these issues. Below you can search only priority recommendations, or search all recommendations.

Our recommendations help congressional and agency leaders prepare for appropriations and oversight activities, as well as help improve government operations. Moreover, when implemented, some of our priority recommendations can save large amounts of money, help Congress make decisions on major issues, and substantially improve or transform major government programs or agencies, among other benefits.

As of October 25, 2020, there are 4812 open recommendations, of which 473 are priority recommendations. Recommendations remain open until they are designated as Closed-implemented or Closed-not implemented.

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Results:

Subject Term: "Site contamination"

2 publications with a total of 6 open recommendations
Download these results in CSV format or XLSX format.
Environmental Liabilities: DOE Needs to Better Plan for Post-Cleanup Challenges Facing Sites
GAO-20-373, May 13, 2020
Director: David C. Trimble
Phone: (202) 512-3841

3 open recommendations
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Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Director of LM and the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Environmental Management to develop agreements and procedures for identifying and addressing circumstances at LM sites that require new cleanup work beyond the scope of LM's mission, capabilities, and resources. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: In providing comments on this report, DOE concurred with this recommendation but has not yet taken actions necessary to implement it. In July 2020, DOE officials told us that the Office of Legacy Management (LM) and the Office of Environmental Management will work together to expand on agreements and procedures for identifying and addressing new cleanup work beyond LM's mission scope of providing long-term stewardship. DOE officials estimated that this effort would be completed by September 30, 2021.
Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Director of LM to work with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop agreements and procedures for identifying and addressing circumstances at LM sites that require new cleanup work beyond the scope of LM's mission, capabilities, and resources. (Recommendation 2)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: In providing comments on this report, DOE concurred with this recommendation but has not yet taken actions necessary to implement it. In July 2020, DOE officials told us that the Office of Legacy Management (LM) will work with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop agreements and procedures for identifying and addressing new cleanup work beyond LM's mission scope of providing long-term stewardship. DOE officials estimated that this effort would be completed by September 30, 2021.
Recommendation: The Secretary of Energy should direct the Director of LM to, as called for in LM's strategic plan, develop plans to assess the effect of climate change on LM's sites and to mitigate any significant impacts. These plans should incorporate principles from GAO's Disaster Resilience Framework, as appropriate. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Department of Energy
Status: Open

Comments: In providing comments on this report, DOE concurred with this recommendation but has not yet taken actions necessary to implement it. In July 2020, DOE officials told us that the Office of Legacy Management (LM) uses models to evaluate sites' vulnerability and resilience to environmental trends over time. DOE officials said that LM will build upon its current operations to develop assessment and mitigation plans that take into account any significant effects of climate change and that incorporate principles from GAO's Disaster Resilience Framework, as appropriate. DOE officials estimated that this effort would be completed by September 2022.
Superfund: EPA Should Improve the Reliability of Data on National Priorities List Sites Affecting Indian Tribes
GAO-19-123, Jan 23, 2019
Director: J. Alfredo Gómez
Phone: (202) 512-3841

3 open recommendations
Display
Recommendation: The Director of EPA's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation should develop a regular review process to ensure the quality of Superfund Enterprise Management System (SEMS) data identifying NPL sites on tribal property and revise automated reports used to check the accuracy of SEMS data to include on tribal property data. (Recommendation 1)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: EPA concurred with our recommendation. EPA stated that during the course of our work on this report, SEMS tribal data was reviewed for quality control and corrections were made to the existing data. In addition, EPA's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation plans to create a schedule to review tribal data in SEMS and disseminate tribal data to Superfund regional coordinators annually for their quality assurance review starting in April 2019.
Recommendation: The Director of EPA's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation should clarify agency guidance regarding tribal consultation for the Superfund program to clearly identify the circumstances under which the agency should consider consulting with tribes. (Recommendation 3)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: EPA concurred with our recommendation. EPA plans to issue a memo to regions that clarifies circumstances under which regions may consider tribal consultation for the Superfund program by March 2020.
Recommendation: The Assistant Administrator of EPA's Office of International and Tribal Affairs should develop or revise existing guidance to clearly direct regional officials to document all invitations to consult with tribes in the Tribal Consultation Opportunity Tracking System database and provide the guidance to those officials. (Recommendation 4)

Agency: Environmental Protection Agency
Status: Open

Comments: EPA concurred with our recommendation and planned four actions in response. According to EPA, it (1) issued a memorandum to all Assistant Administrators and Regional Administrators on the importance of tribal consultation in April 2019; (2) plans to issue monthly TCOTS report to Deputy Assistant Administrators and Regional Assistant Administrators on the status of consultations recorded in TCOTS; (3) developed training slides targeted to EPA's Regional Superfund staff on when and how to document consultation actions in TCOTS, presented during the annual 2019 National Association of Remedial Project Managers training in August 2019; and (4) revised a training module and draft TCOTS User Guide with particular emphasis on entering consultation information into TCOTS, with trainings scheduled in 2019.