Environmental Compliance Performance

Most Office of Environmental Management (EM) cleanup is being performed under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) through Federal Facility Agreements and under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) through various consent orders, agreements, and decrees with states. These agreements and orders identify milestones associated with cleanup actions and dates by which those milestones are to be met. DOE has approximately 40 agreements and orders in place with its State and Federal regulators dealing with EM’s cleanup mission.

Major enforceable milestones are those which have fixed, mandatory due dates and, in EM’s view, represent cleanup progress. EM’s senior management uses the report in the link, which is updated quarterly, as a “scorecard” for evaluating complex-wide environmental compliance performance. In addition to major enforceable milestones, EM sites have many routine, recurring, or administrative milestones that are not included in the scorecard.

The information in the scorecard represents preliminary data and is provided in the public interest. While EM makes every effort to ensure the scorecard’s timeliness and completeness, the dynamic nature of cleanup actions and modifications to agreements are such that the scorecard may not be completely accurate. Consequently, this scorecard is not used as a notification to regulatory agencies of attained or missed milestones.

Please click on the below hyperlink to view the scorecard.

Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – Fourth Quarter FY2011
Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – Third Quarter FY2011
Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – Second Quarter FY2011
Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – First Quarter FY2011
Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – Fourth Quarter FY2010
Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – Third Quarter FY2010
Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – Second Quarter FY2010
Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – First Quarter FY2010
Environmental Compliance Performance Scorecard – Fourth Quarter FY2009

Reading the Scorecard

The Site-level Regulatory Scorecard comprises three interrelated tables: (i) an aggregate red-yellow-green site summary, (ii) detailed text on notices of violation and associated penalties and fines, and (iii) raw milestone data and other environmental indicators. All three tables report on the status of past and future major enforceable milestones. Past data refer to major enforceable milestones due in the past quarter; future data refer to the status of major enforceable milestones due four quarters out.

Aggregate site summary. The first table is a compilation of the aggregate status of notices of violation/penalties/regulatory milestones and other environmental indicators. Listed sites in the first column are those in the EM complex with major enforceable milestones.

The second column reports on the status of Notices of Violation (NOVs). In addition to a short summary, each line item is classified as green, yellow, or red. A green score means no NOVs during the past three months arose and/or all previous NOVs were resolved during the previous three months. A yellow score means either one NOV with no impact on project cost/scope/schedule arose or one previous NOV had not been resolved during the past three months. A red score means one or more NOVs with an impact on project cost/scope/schedule arose during the prior three months and/or one or more previous NOVs with an impact on project cost/scope/schedule had not been resolved. The second and third columns provide data on the number of milestones missed relative to the total number of milestones due for the past quarter and the upcoming four quarters, respectively.

On Enforceable Agreement (EA) milestones for the previous quarter, a green score means no milestones were missed during the prior three months, no missed EAs were renegotiated during the prior three months, and/or no fines/penalties are expected. A yellow score means one or more milestones were missed during the prior three months, renegotiations for any or all missed EA milestones are on-going, and no final decision has been made as to whether fines/penalties are expected. A red score means one or more milestones were missed during the prior quarter and renogotiaions have not occurred.

On EA Milestones scheduled for the next four quarters, a green score means no EA milestones are at risk. A yellow score indicates one or more EA milestones are at risk of being missed, but are considered recoverable. A red score means one or more milestones are at risk are not considered recoverable.

The last three columns refer to the status of radioactive waste determinations under either Section 3116 of the Ronald W. Reagan National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005 (waste determination or WD) or DOE Order 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management (waste incidental to reprocessing or WIR). For Non-High Level Waste Determinations (Non-HLWs), a green score indicates the WD or WIR is on schedule. A yellow score shows a WD or WIR is behind schedule no more than 6 months or is at risk of impacting project cost, scope, or schedule for the associated project. A red score means the WD or WIR is behind schedule more than six months; has impacted project cost, scope or schedule; interferes with the critical path of the project, or has significant unresolved issues.

On Low-Level Waste (LLW) Disposal, a green score shows the subject LLW Disposal facility performance assessment (PA), composite analysis (CA), and disposal authorization statement (DAS) are up-to-date or revisions are on schedule with no significant issues. A yellow score means the subject LLW Disposal facility’s PA, CA, or DAS is under revision and at risk of impacting the project’s cost, scope, or schedule. A red score means the subject LLW Disposal facility’s PA, CA, or DAS is under revision and has impacted or is anticipated to impact the critical path for the project’s cost, scope, or schedule.

The final column refers to National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) compliance. When applicable, a green score means the subject NEPA documentation is on schedule or does not impact the project cost, scope, or schedule. A yellow score means the subject NEPA action is at risk of impacting the project cost, scope, or schedule. A red score means the subject NEPA action has impacted or is on the critical path for project cost, scope, or schedule. Acronyms used in conjuction with NEPA include: Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Environmental Assessment (EA), Record of Decision (ROD), and Supplement Analysis (SA).

Textual details. The second table comprises details of the textual summary on a site-level basis regarding NOVs and associated fines and/or penalties. Status information is not provided when milestones have been met or no milestones are at risk. Details are provided in the event a NOV is coded either yellow or red. The second column details the score and the direction of the score in the event of a change. The third column provides relevant background information on NOVs and associated fines and penalties. Changes to the summary column between reporting periods are highlighted in bold text in the event a violation or fine is not resolved within a particular reporting period.

Raw data. The third table provides the raw milestone data upon which the first scorecard table is based. The raw-data spreadsheet has four interrelated parts organized by site. Aggregated by site, the first three columns list the Milestone Identification Code (using EM’s project baseline summary identifier where appropriate), Milestone Name, and a brief description of the milestone task. The middle four columns include baseline, forecast, actual, and EA dates. Baseline refers to the completion date within the associated project’s scope, cost, and schedule baseline. The forecast date details when the subject task is expected to be completed. The actual date refers to the date a task was completed. The EA date refers to the legally-mandated date by which the subject task must be completed. The EA date column is shaded in green per the subject line item when the date refers to the past quarter. In the event the EA date is in the future, the date is reported without shading. The status and variance narratives allow for textual descriptions. The former refers to the status or achievement of an enforceable milestone. The latter describe changes to milestone dates. The last three columns capture the name of the regulatory agreement, the designation or nature of the particular milestone, and a general comment box. Designations refer to the source from which the milestone derives. They include the following possible labels: Enforceable Agreement (EA), Project Critical Decision (PC), Budget (B), Five Year Plan (F), Project Start (PS), Project End (PE), Mission Complete (MC), Planned EA (PEA), ARRA (RA), and OECM Designated (PA).