Building an Effective Environmental Management Science Program Final Assessment (1997) / Chapter Skim
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CHAPTER 3: EMSP SCIENCE PLAN
CHAPTER 3: EMSP SCIENCE PLAN
Pages 27-41
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From page 27... ...
RATIONALE FOR DEVELOPING A SCIENCE PLAN FOR THE EMSP The overall goals of the Environmental Management Program (EM) have been under formulation for at least seven years, since the program began under Secretary Watkins.
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From page 28... ...
is not providing sufficient attention and resources to longer term basic science research which needs to be done to ultimately reduce cleanup costs." Indeed, the committee's review of some of the Department's documentation of cleanup needs and strategies reinforces the impression that the Department itself has not acknowledged the need for or the potential value of basic research in its cleanup mission. ~ See Chapter 1, page 1 for a more complete quotation.
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From page 29... ...
In July 1996, the Department published the first part of its strategic plan for national laboratories.5 In August 1996, the Department released its strategic clan ~1 _ _ 1 · ~1 for energy research. As mentioned in Chapter 2, the new Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management has begun an ambitious program to develop a strategic plan related to his 10-year vision.7 The Department also has produced a report that details its plans for land and infrastructure use at 20 DOE sites.8 Another congressionally requested 2The quoted text is from the GPRA, 5 U.S.C.
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From page 30... ...
The Strategic Laboratory Mission Plan presents a volume of mission activity profiles: 52 for national security, 53 for energy resources, 54 for science and technology, and 7 for environmental quality. Of these seven, one is on Yucca Mountain, two are on storing or removing spent fuel from commercial reactors, one on developing an integrated waste management system by the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, one is on field support for West Valley and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
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From page 31... ...
It is just these types of problems that will require the results of the EMSP. As noted In a previous chapter and in its Initial Assessment Report, the committee finds good reasons for long-term investments by EM in basic scientific research that is not linked to the 10-year vision: these investments can provide new knowledge that will allow the Department to attack cleanup problems that are currently intractable or exorbitantly expensive using current technologies; they can lead to the development of better technologies to allow cleanup to be accomplished at lower costs or with fewer hazards to workers and the public, and they can lead to the development of new or improved technologies that will allow cleanup to a higher state than is presently possible, thereby making sites available for less restrictive uses.
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From page 32... ...
The committee addressed the identification of cleanup problems in its first two reports.~3 In its Initial Assessment Report, the committee recommended "that DOE prepare concise written technical summaries of its basic research needs for the research community. Such summaries should contain information on the critical bakers to the solution of EM's problems, arranged both by site and by problem focus" (p.
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EMSP Science Plan 33 committee returned to this recommendation in its Letter Report: "The committee reaffirms the importance of these summaries and recommends that they be prepared forthwith" (p.
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The committee recognizes, of course, that the technical expertise and l~nowledge for assessing cleanup problems among these groups is uneven and, consequently, suggestions from these groups will Examples of documents that could be used to prepare such summaries include the Baseline Environmental Management Report (see footnote 3 in Chapter 2~; DOE, Office of Energy Research, 1990, Basic Research for Environmental Restoration, DOE/ER-0482T (Washington, D.C.: DOE)
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From page 35... ...
could then generate statements of problems that could be addressed by basic research. COORDINATING THE INVESTMENT IN BASIC RESEARCH The science plan developed through the processes described above is likely to be very broad in scope both in terms of the range of problems and the disciplinary coverage reflecting the broad scope of the EM cleanup mission and the large number of very difficult cleanup problems across the complex.
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research projects. Many research programs issue annual reports that contain project summaries and publication lists, and some agencies are now beginning to post this information electronically where it can be accessed easily and searched readily.
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This will require significant outreach to the scientific and technical communities, particularly to those not currently engaged in work related to energy research or environmental management. Many of the suggestions offered in the previous section on program coordination will be of benefit to the Department in its efforts to attract "new" investigators to the EMSP.
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From page 38... ...
Supports bioremediation research with FY 96: the goal of understanding the factors that $5 M impact the risk posed by waste chemicals and their degradation products to ecosystem and human health during the process of bioremediation. Supports research in support of EPA program priorities, including exploratory research, ecosystem indicators, issues in human health risk assessment, endocrine disrupters, ambient air quality, health effects and exposures to particulate matter and associated air pollutants, drinking water, and contaminated sediments.
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From page 39... ...
. National laboratory investigators: Many national lab investigators are familiar with the weapons complex and the cleanup mission, and they possess specialized knowledge, facilities and equipment, and analytical and monitoring capabilities.
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From page 40... ...
. Building an Effective EMSP: Final Assessment Industry investigators: Like their national laboratory counterparts, many industry investigators have access to specialized knowledge, facilities, and equipment, and many are experienced In working in multidisciplinary team environments at the interface between research and application.
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From page 41... ...
At the graduate level, such fellowship programs would encourage promising students to obtain advanced degrees in academic disciplines relevant to environmental cleanup at DOE. At the postdoctoral and early-career levels, such fellowship programs would steer new Ph.D.s into research careers in fields related to the DOE cleanup mission.
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