Military Base Closures: Potential to Offset Fiscal Year 2000 Budget Request.
Abstract
Congress enacted base realignment and closure (BRAC) legislation that instituted four BRAC rounds between 1988 and 1995 to help the Department of Defense (DOD) close and realign excess military bases. To fund investment costs of the BRAC actions, Congress established two base closure accounts: the first to fund BRAC actions resulting from the 1988 round and the second, referred to as the 1990 account, to fund ERAC actions resulting from the 1991,1993, and 1995 rounds. Although DOD's authority to obligate 1988 base closure account funds expired on September 30, 1995, funds in the second account are available for use for an indefinite period. Congress, recognizing the complexities of realigning and closing bases and of providing for environmental restoration and mitigation, allows DOD the flexibility to allocate funds by military service, budget function, and installation. Also, with congressional approval, DOD can redistribute unobligated balances as appropriate to avoid delays in implementing BRAC decisions. Senate Report 105-213, dated June11, 1998, on the fiscal year 1999 military construction appropriation bill requested the continuation of our annual review of DOD's base closure accounts and its budget request for base closure activities. This report discusses opportunities to offset the fiscal year 2000 budget request and raises questions about some ERAC funding practices that could make it difficult for Congress to discern DOD's actual funding requirements and priorities. Our scope and methodology are described in appendix I.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1999
- Accession Number
- ADA365982
Entities
Organizations
- United States Government Accountability Office