department of defense agency financial report fiscal year 2012

Department of Defense Agency Financial Report for FY 2012
place.
The Department follows the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA), Superfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act, Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or other applicable Federal or state laws to clean up
contamination. The CERCLA and RCRA require the Department to clean up contamination in
coordination with regulatory agencies, current owners of property damaged by the
Department, and third parties that have a partial responsibility for the environmental
restoration. Failure to comply with agreements and legal mandates puts the Department at
risk of incurring fines and penalties.
The clean-up requirements for nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, submarines, and other
nuclear ships are based on laws that affect the Department’s conduct of environmental
policy and regulations. The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, assures the proper
management of source, special nuclear, and byproduct materiel.
As in all cases with nuclear power, the Department coordinates actions with the Department
of Energy. The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 requires all owners and generators of highlevel
nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel to pay their respective shares of the full cost of
the program.
Finally, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Amendments Act of 1986 provides for the
safe and efficient management of low-level radioactive waste.
The Chemical Weapons Disposal Program is based on FY 1986 National Defense
Authorization Act (Public Law 99-145, as amended) that directed the Department to destroy
the unitary chemical stockpile in accordance with the requirements of the Chemical
Weapons Convention Treaty.
Methods for Assigning Total Cleanup Costs to Current Operating
Periods
The Department uses engineering estimates and independently validated models to
estimate environmental costs. The models include the Remedial Action Cost Engineering
Requirements application and the Normalization of Data System. The Department validates
the models in accordance with DoD Instruction 5000.61 and uses the models to estimate
the liabilities based on data received during a preliminary assessment and initial site
investigation. The Department primarily uses engineering estimates after obtaining
extensive data during the remedial investigation/feasibility phase of the environmental
project.
Once the environmental cost estimates are complete, the Department complies with accounting
standards to assign costs to current operating periods. The Department has already expensed
the costs for cleanup associated with General PP&E placed into service prior to October 1, 1997,
unless the costs are intended to be recovered through user charges. If the costs are recovered
through user charges, the Department expenses cleanup costs associated with that portion of
the asset life that has passed since the General PP&E was placed into service. The Department
systematically recognizes the remaining cost over the life of the assets.
For General PP&E placed into service after September 30, 1997, the Department expenses
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Financial Information