The U.S. General Services Administration manages more than 1,000 federal buildings in the U.S. that were constructed when hazardous materials such as asbestos and lead paint were commonly used. Its policy is to inspect buildings that may contain asbestos every five years, but hundreds of them are overdue for inspections. GSA estimates it has more than $2 billion in unfunded environmental liabilities, with asbestos-related cleanups accounting for $1.6 billion of that total, according to a new U.S. Government Accountability Office report.
Lingering asbestos could pose health hazards, and also could delay GSA efforts to sell properties that are no longer needed, GAO says. GSA takes immediate action to deal with damaged asbestos but otherwise generally waits for larger projects such as renovations to abate asbestos.