Improving the Environment An Evaluation of the DOE's Environmental Management Program (1995) / Chapter Skim
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Part 5: Integration of Science, Engineering, and Health in Program Implementation
Part 5: Integration of Science, Engineering, and Health in Program Implementation
Pages 133-157
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Part V Integration of Science, .
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, General Motors Corporation PHILIP H BRODSKY, Director, Corporate Research and Environmental Technology, Monsanto Company DAVID S.C.
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The subcommittee noted that the organizational structure of DOE bifurcates responsibility for environmental management; thus decision-making and incentive-system processes are not optimally designed to help the EM Program meet its stated goals. · The management of remediation-related research and development and its relationship to the Department of Energy's field activities.
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That led it to several recommendations for identifying the best business practices to create a climate for integration. In developing the recommendations, it acknowledged several factors that distinguish the Department's EM Program from private industry and therefore affect the agency's ability to adopt a business model fully, including the expectations of and demands on a public agency, the Department's history of self-regulation and poor management practices, and especially the unique challenges posed by radioactive waste and fissile materials.
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Some of the more notable efforts as previously discussed include integration of risk and long-term cost data into the budget process, addressing land-use planning at several Department sites, and realigning internal organizations. Although it is too early to assess how effective and long-lasting these efforts will be, the principles and general direction of reform are encouraging.
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Next, an organizational structure must be established and management tools implemented to execute the plans and accomplish the goals. The subcommittee approached its discussion of the integration of science, engineering, and health in the internal management and organization of the EM Program, by addressing the framework for management and contractor relations, namely: leadership, goals, products and services, management tools, management structure, and incentives and disincentives.
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and Lessons from Industrial Management Programs, section IV.) MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE Issue: Bifurcated responsibility for EM activities unnecessarily complicate the reporting structure.
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This change would clarify accountability and facilitate integrated consideration of environmental activities. If the Department substituted a carefully crafted matrix organization, common in many corporations, bifurcation of management responsibility might work, although admittedly it is one of the most difficult organizational structures to make effective and must never be a substitute for clear lines of authority and responsibility.
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That effort, in its initial stages, might demonstrate the utility of such a management approach, and lessons learned from it should be applied to the broad team concept suggested here. GOALS Often in government, middle- and lower-level staff lack a clear understanding of the ultimate purposes of the programs for whose execution they are responsible; a result is that outdated programs continue or dubious practices are continued on the feeble grounds that "we're just following orders" (from Congress, from higher officials, etc.~.
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Organizational structures and decision-making by contractors and EM employees that would accelerate remediation or reduce the number of people required to carry it out could result in reduced employment or funding. Under the current system, states and local governments want to see rapid action toward achieving safer sites and safer operation of them, but they also want maximal employment at Department sites.
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Or is it to reduce worker risks? Efforts to identify technology gaps in a coordinated agency-wide manner have resulted in a proliferation of reports, most of which have not provided a totally acceptable road map for action; e.g., Hanford Integrated Planning Process: 1993 Hanford Site Specific Science and Technology Plan (DOE, 1993a)
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called for a unified national process of hazardous-waste site ranking to replace the current multiple approaches. In summarizing the report, the committee chair, Perry L
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For example, samples collected during cleanup of a non-nuclear chemical spill at a nuclear production facility could not be shipped to an outside laboratory that did not have Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing to handle uranium, even after measurements showed that the soil was not radioactive. Recommendations: 1.
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, DOE expanded its efforts to involve independent scientists from universities and private industry in efforts to evaluate risks within the EM Program. The two principal initial methods selected by DOE were a grant to the Consortium for Environmental Risk Evaluation, led by Tulane University and Xavier University, and the request for assistance through publication of a Notice of Program Interest, which resulted in an award to the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP)
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Such phenomena are generally parts of the culture of all organizations. However, it is necessary for the culture to support the stated goals of an organization to avoid employees' conflicting incentives that undermine management objectives.
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The movement toward performance-based contracts, rather than costplus contracts, is to be encouraged. However, as the Department moves toward performance-based contracting, lines of authority in the field will become further blurred between the Assistant Secretary for EM and the Associate Deputy Secretary for Field Management, compared with the previous practice of contacting for work on a cost-reimbursal basis.
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2. The internal budgeting process and its administration should be revamped to reward site contractors that complete projects early and well.
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It is critical that the management structure of the Department be designed to identify and gain access to available technology in a timely and cost-effective fashion. The subcommittee believes that some specific advice on the management of technology development and the scientific research supporting the EM Program · · , IS in order.
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The focus group structure uses an implementation team for each subject to recommend the allocation of resources and to carry out research and development activities. Each team includes Department field representatives, stakeholders, regulators, and, most important, technology users.
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The EM Program has identified places where the effectiveness of its efforts could be improved by the use of management practices developed and used in the private sector. The subcommittee applauds that approach, and it is a useful and appropriate course for the Department and the EM Program in general to follow to ensure that science, technology, and engineering are integrated into its goals for protecting human health and the environment.
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.~ . ,~ ~% ~ ~ ~ _1_ .~ _1~:~4 :~ __; It is more accurate to say that the AM Program needs to snare Ids emplace away from micromanagement and toward negotiation and management of performance-based contracts that hold contractors accountable for their performance, not their process.
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In industry, input by a multifunctional team consisting of a technical project leader, a lawyer, a finance manager, a corporate researcher, government relations personnel, and real-estate and construction personnel—starts at the beginning of a project and continues through completion, with the leadership of the team and its composition changing as needs change. Teams, in many industries, are strongly supported by corporate leadership.
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That is because the Department operates in a political environment in which citizen support is essential to obtain funding and, in many cases, to avoid costly and protracted litigation or similar consequences. Moreover, the Department's openness policy and 155
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Citizens reviewed levels of contamination, remediation alternatives, and other factors and came to agreement with the Department about remediation goals. Another example is the storage of special nuclear materials at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site in Colorado; the Department at first assumed that citizens would object to a new facility but, after describing the technical issues, discovered that citizens were open to the idea.
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. Political factors that influence decisions include socioeconomic impacts, cultural demands, such policy issues as nonproliferation, and public concerns.
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