|
|
 |
|
|
|
register |
bbs |
search |
rss |
faq |
about
|
|
|
meet up |
add to del.icio.us |
digg it
|
|
|
|
DoE Handbook: Enforcement Program Roles and Respon
NOT
MEASUREMENT
SENSITIVE
DOE-HDBK-1085-95
JULY 1995
DOE HANDBOOK
DOE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
U.S. Department of Energy
Washington, D.C. 20585 AREA SAFETY
DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release;
distribution is unlimited.
Draft 7/6/95
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
2.0 THE DOE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM
Purpose of the DOE Enforcement Program
Enforcement Program Integration with other DOE Program
Activities
Roles of the DOE Enforcement and Investigation Staff
3.0 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR
NONCOMPLIANCE IDENTIFICATION
4.0 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR EVALUATIONS
AND INVESTIGATIONS OF POTENTIAL RULE VIOLATIONS
Noncompliance Review and Evaluation
Investigation
PAAA Coordinator
5.0 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ENFORCEMENT
ACTIONS
6.0 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR ENFORCEMENT
ACTION IMPLEMENTATION MONITORING/CLOSURE
ATTACHMENTS
APPENDIX A: DEFINITIONS of TERMS
APPENDIX B: PRICE ANDERSON INFORMATION
CHECKLIST
FIGURE 1.0: AREAS OF INTEGRATION AND
COORDINATION
TABLE 1.0: DOE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM FUNCTIONAL
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.0 INTRODUCTION/BACKGROUND
The Price-Anderson Act provides indemnification to DOE
contractors who manage and conduct nuclear activities in the DOE
complex. In a general sense, the government acts as an insurer for
these contractors against any findings of liability arising from the
nuclear activities of the contractor within the scope of its contract.
In 1988, the Price-Anderson Amendments Act (PAAA) was signed
into law to extend the government insurance program which was
about to expire. It differed from the original act in two principal
ways. First, it made Price-Anderson coverage mandatory for all
management and operating (M&O) contractors, subcontractors and
suppliers conducting nuclear activities for DOE. (For the purposes
of the statute, "nuclear" includes "radiological.") Second, Congress
mandated that DOE change its methods of managing nuclear
activities at those sites by requiring DOE to undertake enforcement
actions against indemnified contractors for violations of nuclear
safety requirements. Thus, indemnification risks would be
minimized by minimizing the risk to workers and the public. The
benefit of indemnification is accompanied by the availability of
sanctions to assure compliance with nuclear safety rules.
For all M&O contractors, subcontractors and suppliers thereto,
DOE has the authority to issue Notices of Violation when
noncompliances with nuclear safety requirements are identified. In
addition, for cases involving for-profit contractors, DOE has the
authority to issue fines for violations of nuclear safety rules up to
$100,000 per day per occurrence. Civil penalties are not applicable
to individual employees or to contractors specifically exempted by
Section 234A(d) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (as amended).
10 CFR Part 820 (Procedural Rules for DOE Nuclear Activities)
establishes the legal framework for implementing DOE's Nuclear
Safety Enforcement Program. The responsibility for program
development and implementation has been assigned to the
Enforcement and Investigation Staff in the Office of Environment,
Safety and Health. It was recognized early in the process of
developing the Enforcement Program, that significant integration
with other DOE organizations and programs would be necessary
and appropriate. This integration or matrix approach would best
use the existing DOE programs and technical resources to assure
that the enforcement process properly considers the actual or
potential safety significance of a violation when determining an
appropriate enforcement sanction.
The achievement of an effective enforcement function that places a
priority on proactive contractor compliance assurance programs
rather than a heavy enforcement hand, will require a foundation of
cooperation and teamwork across DOE organizations.
This Handbook identifies the areas of interface for the DOE
Enforcement Program and provides guidance on the roles and
responsibilities for these key DOE organizational areas. It is
considered a companion to DOE-HDBK-1087-95, "Enforcement
Handbook", and DOE-HDBK-1089-95, "Identifying, Reporting and
Tracking Nuclear Safety Noncompliances." The definitions of key
terms used in this handbook are included in Appendix A.
2.0 THE DOE ENFORCEMENT PROGRAM
Purpose of the DOE Enforcement Program
Appendix A to 10 CFR Part 820 (Enforcement Policy) provides the
general framework for DOE's enforcement philosophy. The purpose
of the DOE Enforcement Program is to promote and protect the
health and safety of the public and workers by doing the following:
a. Ensuring compliance by DOE indemnified contractors with
applicable DOE nuclear safety requirements, and
b. Providing positive incentives for indemnified contractors to
implement effective compliance assurance programs.
The cornerstone of DOE's enforcement philosophy is to encourage
DOE contractors to develop and maintain aggressive compliance
assurance programs that effectively self assess activities, and
promptly identify, report, and correct noncompliances with DOE's
nuclear safety requirements. The Enforcement Policy recognizes the
benefits of contractor compliance assurance programs that self
identify noncompliances, promptly report them to DOE, and
implement complete corrective actions. Positive incentives for the
contractor, established within the Enforcement Policy, include the
enforcement discretion to mitigate and/or waive enforcement
penalties and, under certain circumstances, to refrain from issuing a
Notice of Violation.
Enforcement Program Integration with other DOE Programs
Activities
The major elements of the DOE Enforcement Program are
described below. Each of these elements necessitates the
cooperation of DOE program, field and enforcement organizations.
The roles and responsibilities are discussed in more detail in later
sections.
Approve contractor rule implementation plans.
Identify potential noncompliances with nuclear safety
requirements.
Evaluate potential noncompliances with nuclear safety
requirements for actual or potential safety significance. Forward
DOE identified noncompliances to contractors for appropriate
reporting.
Investigate potential violations to determine if facts warrant
consideration of enforcement actions.
Conduct Informal (predecisional) Enforcement Conferences and
issue enforcement actions if it is concluded that a violation having
the requisite level of safety significance has taken place.
Monitor implementation/closure of corrective actions.
Communicate and clarify the DOE enforcement policy within
DOE and to DOE contractors.
Refine implementation plans to reflect changes in real world
priorities.
The basis of the Price-Anderson nuclear safety program is the DOE
nuclear safety rules. These rules require M&O contractors to
structure implementation plans that (1) identify the scope of
activities that need to be accomplished in order to achieve the
appropriate threshold of nuclear safety in the DOE complex, (2)
prioritize such activities, and (3) fund such activities so they will be
implemented in the field. Approval of the implementation plans by
DOE Program and Operations Offices constitutes a DOE
commitment to fund the activities contained in them on the
schedules provided. The rules and the implementation plans are
enforceable under the terms set forth in the 10 CFR Part 820, and
every DOE Program, Operations and Area Office has a
responsibility to assure compliance with them. Additionally, it is
the responsibility of the funding offices and the contractors to
agree to schedule adjustments with compensatory actions or obtain
an exemption if anticipated funding is not received.
The DOE Enforcement Program will rely on the information,
knowledge, and resources that exist in other DOE programs to
accomplish key compliance activities. This integrated approach is
necessary to establish an efficient process and to utilize the best
qualified and technically knowledgeable personnel. The primary
areas of process integration are as follows: (1) identification of
potential noncompliances with nuclear safety requirements; (2)
technical and facility knowledge to evaluate the actual or potential
safety significance of potential violations; (3) technical support
during the investigation process; (4) evaluation of the contractor's
corrective actions; (5) and advice to the Enforcement and
Investigation Staff throughout the process, including the Informal
Enforcement Conference with the contractor, and enforcement
actions such as Preliminary Notices of Violation (PNOV's),
Notices of Violation (NOV's), and consideration of civil penalties.
While the primary responsibility for identifying and correcting
noncompliances with nuclear safety requirements rests with DOE's
contractors, an important and necessary component of DOE's
implementation of this program is the periodic verification of
contractor adherence to established requirements through the DOE
assessment of facility activities. DOE has already established such
programs to evaluate contractor performance to established
regulatory and environmental requirements. These assessments are
conducted by DOE Operations Offices, Program Offices, and EH
Oversight. The periodic compliance verification of DOE nuclear
safety requirements can be integrated into these existing DOE
assessment programs. The Enforcement and Investigation Staff, in
collaboration with the responsible Field Elements, will evaluate
potential noncompliances identified in these assessments in
accordance with the criteria set forth in the DOE Enforcement
Policy and associated guidance. Noncompliances identified in
these assessments will be forwarded to contractors for appropriate
evaluation, reporting and development of corrective actions.
Additionally, the results of contractor self assessments and external
assessments will provide input to the enforcement process.
Under 10 CFR Part 820, the Enforcement and Investigation Staff is
responsible for the conduct of evaluations and investigations of
potential noncompliances with nuclear safety requirements. The
guidance for performing such evaluations and investigations is
described in the "DOE Enforcement Handbook" (DOE-HDBK-
1087-95). In the event that the safety significance of a
noncompliance warrants an enforcement action (i.e. a PNOV, NOV
and, if necessary, civil penalties), the Enforcement and
Investigation Staff has lead responsibility for developing and
documenting the evidentiary basis for a recommended enforcement
action. The Enforcement and Investigation Staff is also responsible
for referring any potential criminal violations to the Department of
Justice.
The Enforcement and Investigation Staff, in collaboration with the
appropriate DOE Program and Operations Offices will determine
when the safety significance of a potential noncompliance warrants
an investigation. The Enforcement and Investigation Staff will draw
upon matrix support from those organizations within DOE having
the necessary independence, specific facility/activity knowledge or
the subject matter expertise to provide input to the investigation
and evaluation process and to support predecisional Informal
Enforcement Conferences. Input to Enforcement and Investigation
Staff deliberations on Severity Level, enforcement action
documentation (PNOV, NOV), and civil penalties will be obtained
as appropriate from operations and program office management.
This approach recognizes that the enforcement evaluation process
will require specific and different expertise for each enforcement
review, which in the aggregate is not anticipated to be a full time
commitment for any one area of expertise. Using existing qualified
personnel within other DOE organizations is the most practical way
to meet this need, and it emphasizes the role of Price-Anderson
enforcement as a vehicle to assuring that management nuclear
safety goals will be met. Figure 1.0 illustrates the organization
concept.
Roles of the DOE Enforcement and Investigation Staff
The Enforcement and Investigation Staff, as the principal PAAA
enforcement arm of DOE under 10 CFR Part 820, is responsible
for the conduct of enforcement investigations, technical
evaluations, and conferences; and for recommending issuance of
PNOV's, NOV's and civil penalties. This includes responsibility for
coordination of PAAA related enforcement activities within DOE
and the conduct of technical evaluations and investigations and
preparation of the necessary reports to determine whether
enforcement sanctions should be considered.
The Enforcement and Investigation Staff, in collaboration with the
appropriate Operations and Program Offices, will determine the
need for, as well as the level and type of support required to
conduct an inquiry as part of the evaluation process, or an
investigation. The Enforcement and Investigation Staff will
coordinate with the appropriate DOE organizations to support
these efforts. Factors to be considered in concluding what level of
activity is needed include:
Whether the facts of an issue are fully known and not in dispute;
What, if any, additional technical evaluation is necessary to assess
the safety significance of a noncompliance; What degree of
additional documentation beyond that prepared by the contractor is
necessary to support a possible enforcement action.
More specific guidance for the conduct of evaluations and
investigations is contained in the "Enforcement Handbook", DOE-HDBK-1087-95.
|
|
|
To the best of our knowledge, the text on this page may be freely reproduced and distributed.
If you have any questions about this, please check out our Copyright Policy.
totse.com certificate signatures
|
|
|
About | Advertise | Bad Ideas | Community | Contact Us | Copyright Policy | Drugs | Ego | Erotica
FAQ | Fringe | Link to totse.com | Search | Society | Submissions | Technology
|
|
|
|
|
|
