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The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 - NEPA - requires all federal agencies to consider the environmental impacts of proposed actions before selecting among alternative approaches. Implementing the act has been a challenge at the Department of Energy, which over the last decade has instituted a series of changes to improve its management of the NEPA process. DOE's efforts demonstrate that even a large, fragmented agency with a legacy of serious problems can, with strong executive leadership, strengthen its performance and chip away at old problems.

A report, by the National Academy of Public Administration, on the management of NEPA within the Department of Energy.

On May 24, 1998, an electrician cleaning a high voltage switch at an outdoor substation received second and third degree burns from an arc blast.

Issued to MAC Isotopes, LLC, related to a Radioactive Material Release at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, (1998-05)

Preliminary Notice of Violation issued to Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company, related to a Radioactive Material Release at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, (EA-98-04)

BPA/Lower Valley Transmission Project

Welcome to the second quarter FY 1998 Quarterly Report on lessons learned in the NEPA process.

The Department of Energy (Department) established a Cost-Reduction Incentive Program (CRIP) at Westinghouse Savannah River Company (Westinghouse) in October 1992. The objective of the CRIP is to provide an incentive for Westinghouse and its employees to examine processes and techniques and make one-time improvements to reduce the cost of the contract and return "saved" funds to the direct control of the Department. In 1997, the Department performed a comprehensive review of Westinghouse's performance-based incentives and cost-reduction incentives, and concluded that most of the savings identified through the CRIP occurred through greater management focus on reducing costs, working smart, or the results of budget constraints, as opposed to innovative changes in work methods and processes. The Assessment Team recommended that the Savannah River Operations Office (Operations Office) reevaluate the effectiveness of the CRIP and consider either modifying the program to provide for payment only for innovative ideas, or cancel the program and utilize performance-based incentives to reward cost savings over some pre-established threshold. The objective of this audit was to determine whether the Operations Office took appropriate action in response to the Department's internal assessment of the CRIP.

The Cost Reduction Incentive Program at the Savannah River Site