Effectiveness and Efficiency of Defense Environmental Cleanup Activities of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management
Report 2
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Committee on Review of Effectiveness and Efficiency of Defense
Environmental Cleanup Activities of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management
Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Consensus Study Report
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This material is based on work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-EM0001172. This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-69002-7
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Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26610
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Effectiveness and Efficiency of Defense Environmental Cleanup Activities of the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management: Report 2. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26610.
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COMMITTEE ON REVIEW OF EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF DEFENSE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP ACTIVITIES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY’S OFFICE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
KATHARINE G. FRASE (NAE), IBM Corporation (retired), Co-Chair
JOSEPH S. HEZIR, Energy Futures Initiative, Co-Chair
BURCU AKINCI, Carnegie Mellon University
JESUS M. DE LA GARZA, Clemson University
CLIFFORD C. EBY, Independent Consultant
G. EDWARD (EDD) GIBSON, JR., Arizona State University
GERALDINE KNATZ (NAE), University of Southern California
ROBERT PRIETO, Strategic Program Management, LLC
GEOFFREY S. ROTHWELL, Longenecker & Associates
KIRK SMITH1 (NAS), University of California, Berkeley
HANS A. VAN WINKLE, Van Winkle Consulting
Staff
ALAN CRANE, Senior Scientist, Board on Energy and Environmental Systems, Study Director (from April 2, 2022)
JENNIFER A. HEIMBERG, Senior Program Officer, Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board (NRSB), Study Director (from December 3, 2021, until April 1, 2022)
MARTIN C. OFFUTT, Senior Program Officer, Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE), Study Director (until July 28, 2021)
KATIRIA ORTIZ, Associate Program Officer, Computer Science and Telecommunications Board
PEYTON GIBSON, Associate Program Officer, BICE (until July 28, 2021)
RADAKA LIGHTFOOT, Finance Business Partner (from January 1, 2022)
HEATHER LOZOWSKI, Senior Finance Business Partner, Office of the Chief Financial Officer (until December 31, 2021)
DARLENE GROS, Senior Program Assistant, NRSB
JOSEPH L. PALMER, Senior Project Assistant, BICE
CHARLES D. FERGUSON, Director, NRSB
CAMERON OSKVIG, Director, BICE, Study Director (from July 28, 2021, until December 2, 2022)
___________________
1 Deceased June 15, 2020.
BOARD ON INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE CONSTRUCTED ENVIRONMENT
THOMAS P. BOSTICK (NAE), Bostick Global Strategies, Chair
STEPHEN T. AYERS, The Ayers Group, LLC
DAVID GOODYEAR (NAE), Independent Consultant
DAVID J. HAUN, Haun Consulting, Inc.
SANJIV GOKHALE, Vanderbilt University
ANDREW PERSILY, National Institute of Standards and Technology
CHRIS D. POLAND (NAE), Chris D. Poland Consulting Engineer
JAMES RISPOLI, North Carolina State University
DOROTHY ROBYN, Boston University Institute for Sustainable Energy
SHARON L. WOOD (NAE), The University of Texas at Austin
Staff
CAMERON OSKVIG, Director
JAMES C. MYSKA, Senior Program Officer
DANIEL Q. NAGASAWA, Senior Program Officer
BRITTANY SEGUNDO, Program Officer
JOSEPH PALMER, Senior Program Assistant
NUCLEAR AND RADIATION STUDIES BOARD
WILLIAM H. TOBEY, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, Chair
JAMES A. BRINK, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Vice Chair
SALLY A. AMUNDSON, Columbia University, New York, New York
STEVEN M. BECKER, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia
AMY BERRINGTON DE GONZÁLEZ, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland
MADELYN R. CREEDON, The George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
SHAHEEN A. DEWJI, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
PAUL T. DICKMAN, Argonne National Laboratory, Washington, District of Columbia
ALLISON M. MACFARLANE, The University of British Columbia, Canada
ELEANOR MELAMED, National Nuclear Security Administration (retired)
PER F. PETERSON (NAE), University of California, Berkeley
R. JULIAN PRESTON, Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
MONICA C. REGALBUTO, Idaho National Laboratory
HENRY D. ROYAL, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri
Staff
CHARLES D. FERGUSON, Senior Board Director
JENNIFER HEIMBERG, Senior Program Officer
MICHEAL T. JANICKE, Senior Program Officer
OURANIA KOSTI, Senior Program Officer
LAURA D. LLANOS, Finance Business Partner
DARLENE GROS, Senior Program Assistant
LESLIE BEAUCHAMP, Program Assistant
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Acknowledgments
The committee would like to thank the Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM), the sponsor of this study, and DOE-EM staff Rodney Lehman and Catherine Bohan, who have supported this project since it began in 2018. The committee also would like to express its gratitude to Beth Moore, the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board (NRSB) liaison within DOE. In addition, individuals from DOE-EM performed a fact-check of portions of the report and the committee is thankful for their work to help ensure the accuracy of the content.
In addition, the committee would like to thank the many individuals who supported the virtual site visits, who are acknowledged in Appendix B (those who presented information to the committee) and Appendix D (those who gathered information shared with the committee before and after the visits and who organized the agendas). The committee especially would like to acknowledge the contributions by Dae Chung (Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Corporate Services) and Ike White (Senior Advisor for Environmental Management), both of DOE-EM, through several briefings to the committee (see Appendix B).
The committee and the study directors are indebted to Kevin Crowley, technical editor (and former NRSB director), whose contributions in the final editing of this manuscript cannot be overstated. He provided valuable editing and technical and policy review at a critical point in the writing process.
The committee is grateful to the staff of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s (the National Academies’) Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment for organizing and facilitating this study and NRSB for their collaboration with the study. Numerous study directors, Jennifer
Heimberg, Alan Crane, Cameron Oskvig, and Martin Offutt, contributed to the management, review, and production of the final report. Darlene Gros and Joseph Palmer managed the logistics of the meetings, report review, and publication. Additional National Academies’ staff assisted with report review and production: Alan Crane and Katiria Ortiz.
Reviewers
This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.
We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Gena Cadieux, Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis,
Sanjiv Gokahale, New York University,
David Goldston, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Keith R. Molenaar, University of Colorado Boulder,
Deborah J. Nightingale (NAE), University of Central Florida,
Charles V. Shank (NAS/NAE), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and
Cynthia Vallina, The Vallina Group LLC.
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Lt. Gen. Henry Hatch (NAE), U.S. Army (retired), and RADM David Nash (NAE), Dave Nash & Associates International, LLC. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National
Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.
Contents
Information Gathering for Phase 2
Format of Phase 2 Findings and Recommendations
2PHASE 1 REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
Project Management Policies, Processes, and Procedures
Annex 2.A: Recommendations from Phase 1 Report
Annex 2.2: Key Terms and Concepts Discussed in This Report
Annex 3.A: Committee View of Outcomes-Based End-State Contracts; Definition and Examples
Annex 3.B: Key Findings from NASEM (2019)
4OUTCOMES AND PRIORITIZATION STRATEGIES
5PORTFOLIO AND CONTRACTOR OVERSIGHT
6ENHANCING THE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF THE CLEANUP PROGRAM
Finding and Recommendation on Enhancing Effectiveness and Efficiency
Technical Challenges in Executing the Cleanup Mission
Cleanup Program Funding Uncertainties and Restrictions