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Title: Integration of Environmental Compliance at the Savannah River Site - 13024

Conference ·
OSTI ID:22224832
 [1];  [2]
  1. United States Department of Energy - Savannah River Operations Office (United States)
  2. Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC (United States)

The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a large federal installation hosting diverse missions and multiple organizations with competing regulatory needs. Accordingly, there was a need to integrate environmental compliance strategies to ensure the consistent flow of information between Department of Energy-Savannah River (DOE-SR), the regulatory agencies and other interested parties. In order to meet this objective, DOE and major SRS contractors and tenants have committed to a strategy of collaboratively working together to ensure that a consistent, integrated, and fully coordinated approach to environmental compliance and regulator relationships is maintained. DOE-SR and Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC, the SRS management and operations contractor, have established an environmental compliance integration process that provides for the consistent flow down of requirements to projects, facilities, SRS contractors, and subcontractors as well as the upward flow of information to assist in the early identification and resolution of environmental regulatory issues and enhancement of compliance opportunities. In addition, this process strongly fosters teamwork to collaboratively resolve complex regulatory challenges, promote pollution prevention and waste minimization opportunities to advance site missions in a manner that balances near-term actions with the long-term site vision, while being protective of human health and the environment. Communication tools are being utilized, some with enhancements, to ensure appropriate information is communicated to all levels with environmental responsibility at SRS. SRS internal regulatory integration is accomplished through a variety of informational exchange forums (e.g., Challenges, Opportunities and Resolution (COR) Team, DOE's Joint Site Regulatory Integration Team, and the Senior Environmental Managers Council (SEMC)). SRS communications and problem-solving with the regulatory agencies have been enhanced through formation of an interagency 'SRS Regulatory Integration Team (SRIT)'. The SRIT is a partnership comprised of representatives from DOE-SR (with contractor support), EPA Region 4 and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) and is chartered to develop a consensus understanding of SRS regulatory issues and activities. These forums and a formal environmental compliance integration process improve timely cross-functional decision making, problem solving, information sharing, and issue resolution. The SRS internal process has been formally documented in an Environmental Regulatory Integration Program Description, which is linked to the SRS Environmental Policy and agreed upon by all major contractors, subcontractors and tenants. (authors)

Research Organization:
WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
OSTI ID:
22224832
Report Number(s):
INIS-US-13-WM-13024; TRN: US14V0265045787
Resource Relation:
Conference: WM2013: Waste Management Conference: International collaboration and continuous improvement, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 24-28 Feb 2013; Other Information: Country of input: France
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English