and areas of potential risk and to prioritize corrective action. The onsite Survey activities scheduled to begin in FY 1986 will take about 3 years to complete and will enable the Department to develop longrange planning for correcting environmental problems and reducing potential risks. o Third, ES&H will conduct Technical Safety Appraisals of DOE's nuclear facilities to determine compliance with safety requirements, industry lessons learned, and licensed facility requirements. These will be onsite technical appraisals of all aspects of safety, including nuclear reactor safety, nuclear process facility safety, health physics, training, emergency preparedness, occupational medicine, occupational safety, fire protection safety, and transportation and packaging safety. The Technical Safety Appraisals, begun in February 1986, will also be completed in about 3 years. Other elements of the Department's strengthened Environment, Safety and Health program include regular field reporting and a Computer Assisted Tracking System, a more aggressive ES&H role in the development and implementation of environmental and safety policies for the Department, including more detailed Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (RCRA/CERCLA) policy guidance, enhanced liaison with State and Federal agencies, and coordination of Departmental environmental activities such as compliance with RCRA and CERCLA requirements. The new initiatives represent the Secretary's personal commitment to a quality environment and to the safety and health of our workers and all Americans. These initiatives assure that the Department has solid information upon which to base its clean-up and corrective actions, and strong oversight to ensure continued safe and environmentally sound operations. I would like to emphasize that none of the new ES&H initiatives described above are meant in any way to suggest that line management in the Department has a decreased responsibility for safety and environmental matters. Line management has the basic responsibility to conduct its activities in accordance with the Secretary's environment, safety, health and quality assurance policies. The fact that ES&H is being strengthened does not alter this. Rather, these changes will provide line management with greater technical assistance, more consistent policy, and the Department with more credible oversight and validated success in these areas. PROGRAM ORGANIZATION The new Environment, Safety and Health Program consists of six major units: Nuclear Safety, Operational Safety, Quality Assurance, Environmental Audit and Compliance, Environmental Guidance, and Environmental Analysis. Their activities include: the development of policies and standards; oversight, including the Environmental Survey, Technical Safety Appraisals and functional appraisals to monitor program and field performance in complying with DOE safety policies and standards, and in achieving effective safety and quality performance; technical assistance as needed to foster compliance; maintenance of the resources to respond to radiological emergencies; the review of NEPA documents; and the analysis of energy/environmental issues pertaining to the energy supply industry and to energy use arising from environmental legislative and regulatory activities. FY 1986 PROGRAM PLANS During FY 1986, we are focusing our activities on implementing the 0 Implement the Environmental Survey by-completing all necessary planning and preparatory activities and initiating the Environmental Survey for the first group of 5 sites. O Begin the in-depth Technical Safety Appraisals of the safety of operations at Category A reactors (20 megawatts thermal or greater), high hazard nuclear facilities, and selected moderate hazard nuclear facilities to be completed on a three-year cycle. 0 Issue revised DOE Safety and Quality Assurance Orders, and review and revise, as appropriate, DOE Environmental Orders. o Review reactor safety analysis reports and nuclear facility safety analysis reports. These are in-depth multidisciplinary reviews to assure that an adequate degree of protection of the safety, health, and environment has been designed into reactors, high hazard nuclear facilities, and selected moderate hazard nuclear facilities. o Implement additional modules on the Safety Performance Measurement System for environmental, safety reporting, radiation exposure data, and standards information, and a personnel and resources directory. o Development of the Nuclear Criticality Safety Information System will continue with the system being expanded to a nuclear safety database which will include human factors and other nuclear safety data. • Conduct technical evaluations of aviation operating procedures including eight appraisals of DOE aviation operating contractors. o Develop guidelines on concept and content of a DOE Quality Improvement Program and Operation Readiness Reviews, and on the application and implementation of quality assurance principles and requirements to DOE computer program software and research and development programs. o Develop environmental standards and provide environmental guidance and compliance assistance to the programs and field offices, and provide oversight of DOE programs, projects, and operations subject to environmental requirements. o Implement DOE's regulatory review and coordination system to systematically identify, track, analyze, and prepare responses on external environmental, safety and health regulatory activities potentially affecting DOE activities and operations. Significant activities are anticipated with respect to the RCRA and CERCLA Acts. 0 Continue to participate in analyses and research related to regional and global environmental issues such as acid rain, climate change, deforestation, and nuclear winter as well as analysis of regulatory and legislative proposals affecting energy elements. Much of this work involves partici pation in interagency and international meetings. FY 1987 FUNDING The FY 1987 budget request for the Environment, Safety and Health Program, is $76.1 million, an increase of $29.2 million above the adjusted appropriation for FY 1986 as noted in the following table. The increase is principally for beginning work on the Environmental Survey. The Environmental Survey is supplementary to the base program for environment, safety and health, and to ongoing environmental projects and corrective actions. Thus, funding for the Environmental Survey will not displace these other efforts. a/Excludes 3 FTE's budget under the Nuclear Waste Fund. FY 1987 PROGRAM PLANS Environmental Audit and Compliance. This new office has the responsibility Nuclear Safety, $17.2 million, has been increased 2 percent over FY 1986, with significant activity occurring on the new Secretarial initiative, the Technical Safety Appraisals. During 1987, we will perform extensive safety reviews of DOE facilities, including twenty-three Technical Safety Appraisals of Category A reactors and high hazard nonreactor nuclear facilities. Emphasis will also be placed on the review and concurrence of reactor and nonreactor nuclear facility safety analysis reports covering new facilities or modifications and upgrading of existing facilities. The program will also maintain a viable radiological emergency response capability for DOE facilities utilizing the Atmospheric Response Advisory Capability and the Aerial Measurement System. Emergency response support will be made available to the DOD, and in coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, on request to other federal and state authorities. The budget request for Operational Safety, Quality Assurance, and Environmental Guidance and Analysis is $11.3 million which is essentially the same amount in FY 1987 as appropriated in FY 1986. Emphasis will be placed on issuing revised environmental protection, safety and health protection policy guidance for Departmental projects and operations, including comprehensive direction on hazardous waste (RCRA/CERCLA) requirements. This includes an aggressive role in developing and coordinating comments on new and revised environmental statutes, rules and policies of other agencies potentially impacting DOE and assuring clear, adequate guidance to our field operations. The base activities of appraising operational safety of the DOE facilities, assisting DOE program and field organizations in their development and implementation of the Quality Improvement Program concept, independently reviewing NEPA and other supporting environmental documents to assure adequate compliance, and participating in Departmental environmental analysis and research including acid rain issues will continue. The budget request for Program Direction, $11.5 million, represents an 18 percent increase in FY 1987 over FY 1986 to support the increased staff necessary to implement the new Secretarial initiatives of the Environmental Survey and the Technical Safety Appraisals, and associated increased travel and contractual support. |