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The Rocky Flats Project Office (Project Office) had not initiated, Damage Assessment and had no plans, at the time of our review, for conducting a Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site (Rocky Flats). It is Departmental policy to conduct such an assessment to identify residual injuries and the costs of any additional remedial actions. Furthermore, Departmental guidance recognizes that the early initiation of an NRDA can provide savings and efficiencies in performing the assessment.

Management Controls over Assessing Natural Resource Damage at Rocky Flats

The Office of River Protection (ORP) pursued the Transuranic Mixed Tank (TRUM) Waste Project without sufficiently addressing regulatory and permitting issues. In 2003, ORP initiated efforts through its contractor, CH2M Hill Hanford Group, Inc. (CHG) to proceed with the TRUM waste project. According to its plan, CHG would initiate retrieval of the TRUM waste from the tanks beginning in October 2004, and make its first shipment of the treated waste to Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in June 2005. To accomplish its plan, the Department incentivized CHG with $8 million in incentives. CHG initiated its design efforts on the project and in November 2003, issued an $11 million subcontract to acquire the necessary equipment. However, we found that the Department had not sufficiently addressed regulatory and permitting issues prior to incentivizing the contractor and proceeding with work on the project.nts"}

Management Controls over the Hanford Site Transuranic Mixed Tank Waste

Docket No. EO-05-01: During the course of participating in the above-captioned Department of Energy ("DOE") docket, Robert G. Burnley, Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality ("Director"), has filed two pleadings regarding the District of Columbia Public Service Commission's ("DC PSC") Emergency Petition. After initial uncertainty regarding the agency that would decide this matter and the applicable procedural rules, you indicated in a November 15, 2005 letter to FERC Chairman Joseph T. Kelliher that the DOE intends to rule on this matter "in the near future." Rather than burden the DOE with another pleading, the Director files this letter, by undersigned counsel, to briefly summarize the Director's legal position for the convenience of the DOE. To the extent recent filings by other parties have caused confusion, this letter will also serve to clarify the Director's position.

Docket No. EO-05-01: During the course of participating in the above-captioned Department of Energy ("DOE") docket, Robert G. Burnley, Director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality ("Director"), has filed two pleadings regarding the Dist...

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) established a Purchase Card Task Force to proactively review purchase card expenditures under the General Services Administration (GSA) SmartPay program, which allows Department of Energy (DOE) and contractor employees to make micro-purchases using Government furnished credit cards. As part of this initiative, we conducted a review of purchase card transactions by Bechtel Nevada cardholders between March and September 2004. Bechtel Nevada is the management and operating contractor for DOE’s Nevada Site Office. Purchase card transactions are processed by Bechtel Nevada through the Bank of America. The objective of our review was to determine if internal controls regarding Bechtel Nevada’s purchase card program are adequate to ensure purchases are proper and comply with applicable guidelines. The OIG has recently issued several reports concerning purchase card transactions by DOE and contractor personnel. These reports are listed in Appendix B.

Selected Purchase Card Transactions at the Nevada Site Office

This is a request by POVAIR CORPORATION for a DOE waiver of domestic and foreign patent rights under agreement DE-FC36-02AL67627.

Property Transfers at the East Tennessee Technology Park