Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined Guam's request that the United States transfer the facilities and land of the Naval Air Station, Agana, to its control to permit expansion of its International Air Terminal, focusing on the: (1) feasibility and estimated costs of relocating the air station's operations to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam; and (2) potential cost of making enough Navy land available to expand the terminal without moving all of the air station's operations.

GAO found that: (1) the Navy and Air Force could consolidate their operations at Andersen Air Force Base, and enough land was available to construct replacement facilities; (2) the Navy would need to construct some new facilities and modify some existing Air Force facilities; (3) the relocation of Navy operations would reduce maintenance and personnel costs, and eliminate some safety and noise abatement concerns about the air station; (4) the Department of the Interior was considering designating parts of the Air Force base as critical habitats for some endangered species, which would limit the area's development and use; (5) the Navy's relocation estimate of $289.4 million overstated the need for new facilities, overestimated some costs, and included costs not directly related to the relocation; (6) the Navy estimated that the consolidation at Andersen would save $3.2 million annually, while GAO estimated an annual savings of $7.7 million; (7) it would take over 100 years to recover the GAO-estimated cost of $229.1 million to relocate the Navy's operations to Andersen; (8) the Navy opposed each of four options for making land available for air terminal expansion, based on contingency requirements, quality-of-life concerns, and encroachment issues; (9) Guam opposed the options based on the incompatibility of the Navy housing units and community with airport operations; and (10) neither the Department of Defense nor Guam believed that they should pay the relocation costs.