For FY 1996, the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM), has identified $42.3M for environment, safety and health (ES&H) activities. This represents 21% of the total FY 1996 Radioactive Waste Management operating budget of $199M. OCRWM s ES&H funding profile is broken down as shown in Table 6.8-1.
| Year | FY96 Funds |
| Program | $42.3 |
| Indirect | $0 |
| Total | $42.3 |
The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management's Planning Process and Assumptions
The Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management implemented the ES&H;management planning process in accordance with guidance from the Office of Environment, Safety, and Health and specifically tailored guidance from Headquarters. The planning process was used to provide a consistent basis for developing, communicating, and agreeing on ES&H;priorities for use of limited OCRWM resources. This in turn, helped management maintain control over day-to-day ES&H;activities/commitments, and will provide Headquarters line managers the opportunity to help define programs and establish priorities to ensure that the most important ES&H activities are pursued.
Consistent with and supportive of the Secretary s planning guidance, the primary functional objectives of the OCRWM ES&H planning process are to:
Provide OCRWM and its management and operating (M&O) contractor the decision making framework and decision support tools to define consistently the scope, priorities, and pace of funding of specific ES&H activities. Including the best use of OCRWM resources in reducing ES&H risks as well as ensuring the Mined Geologic Disposal System (MGDS) and Multi-Purpose Canister (MPC) Projects are in full compliance with all applicable ES&H laws.
Support the budget decision-making process by delineating, OCRWM-wide strategies, programs, and activities to reduce and manage ES&H risks, and provide schedules and projected funds to achieve ES&H objectives.
OCRWM's ES&H Plans require that each project prepare ES&H plans that provide full compliance with all applicable DOE Orders and Federal, State, and local environment, safety and health laws. Project safety and health plans will be developed for the Mined Geologic Disposal System and Multi-Purpose Canister and Monitored Retrievable Storage Projects and will include all the activities during the design, construction, an operational phases of these projects.
The objective of the program ES&H compliance strategy is to be able to demonstrate compliance with all regulations applicable to the activities being performed. The compliance verification process must be able to show traceability from each implementing procedure back to the source requirement. Specifically, the compliance strategy is to:
Verify that every requirement has a corresponding implementation procedure,
Verify only those procedures that are applicable to the work being performed,
Perform comprehensive field audits to ensure that the procedures are being fully implemented, and
Implement an integrated audit program separate from any self-assessment program.
The overall ES&H compliance on the program will include the following elements or activities:
Establish a program-level organization to implement the ES&H policy,
Identify all of the ES&H requirements,
Develop a program ES&H plan,
Establish an ES&H compliance audit program,
Conduct readiness reviews of the ES&H plans, procedures, and training, and
Develop procedures for implementing changes in regulatory requirements that occur after the requirements baseline is established.
Implementation of the OCRWM policy requires the recognition and identification of the applicable laws, an orderly means of implementing those laws, and a means of ascertaining that the standards set by these laws have been met. The sum of these three steps comprises the environmental compliance strategy. The objective of the OCRWM environmental compliance strategy is to be able to demonstrate compliance with all regulations applicable to the activities being performed. Specifically, the compliance strategy is to:
Identify all regulatory requirements,
Develop plans to implement regulatory requirements,
Verify the regulatory requirements have been covered by implementing procedures,
Provide for training of employees and contractors in implementing procedures,
Provide for maintenance for regulatory compliance records,
Provide compliance feedback to headquarters through routine reports, and
Perform comprehensive field audits to ensure that the procedures are being fully implemented.
Current Status of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management's Environment, Safety and Health Program
OCRWM is responsible for the environment, safety and health programs for all its facilities and projects. Four of OCRWM s components have ES&H;responsibilities: the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization office (YMSCO), the Office of Program Management and Integration (OPMI), the Office of Waste Acceptance, Storage and Transportation (OWAST), and the Office of Human Resources and Administration (OHRA).
The ES&H programs for the principal operating groups within OCRWM will address systems to mitigate risks to workers and the public, protect the environment, and to provide full compliance with all applicable DOE orders and Federal, State, and local ES&H laws and regulations. The safety and health portion of these program include: emergency response; tunnel rescue teams; industrial safety; industrial hygiene; medical services; transportation safety; and protection from fire, radiation, chemical, and physical hazards. Environmental programs deal with water and air quality, control of toxic substances, and pollution prevention. Activities also include development of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs), Environmental Assessments (EAs), permitting, monitoring, and reporting.
Progress on Mined Geologic Disposal System project site characterization activities has continued and will include underground excavation, construction, and testing during the 1996-2000 time period. ES&H-related activities and facilities will be expanding as the projects expand.
Major Risk Issues and High Priority Activities Addressed in the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management's Environment, Safety and Health Plan for the Yucca Mountain Project:
A System Safety (SS) Program is being implemented to achieve safety engineering objectives so that potential hazards and consequences are analyzed, and measures are developed to eliminate, control or mitigate hazards during all phases of system design, construction, test and operations. The focus is on hazards associated with operating the waste management system rather than environmental risks.
Protection of water quality is a significant concern at the Yucca Mountain Site due to the nature of the work. The activities in this area focus on protecting human health, safety and the environment from significant hazardous pollutant and contaminant effluent discharges. Specific activities focus on compliance with liquid effluent rules and regulations promulgated by the federal Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and Nevada Water Law (NWL). This area also includes those regulations promulgated by the Nevada Administrative Code and Nevada Revised Statutes which further implement the CWA, SDWA, and NWL.
Safety initiatives include: establishing a plan for correcting fire suppression deficiencies identified in the FY95 Fire Risk Assessment Report proposal for FY96; providing a plan for implementing a stand alone emergency response service organization; and providing Fire Suppression, Rescue Services, Emergency Medical System Support, and Hazardous materials mitigation at the Yucca Mountain Project.
In the area of NEPA compliance, support is ongoing in developing an EIS and related documentation for a potential repository at Yucca Mountain. All efforts required to support these major EIS elements including:
Please send comments to support@tis.eh.doe.gov
Last modified: 02/27/96 16:17:28