SUMMERLIN, NEV. — The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management is faced with cleaning up nuclear hazards dating to the 1940s era Manhattan Project and its leadership structure should also be designed for the long run, a Government Accountability Office representative said Wednesday.
Nathan Anderson, director of the energy and natural resources team for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) told the Radwaste Summit that the Environmental Management (EM) hierarchy should be designed to “span administrations.” Radwaste Summit is hosted annually by Exchange Monitor Publications.
In a report published last month, GAO recommended Congress create a new DOE under secretary for nuclear waste management and environmental cleanup to oversee EM. Alternatively, GAO said, DOE could appoint a non-political official to run day-to-day operations at the cleanup office for a term of five-to-six years.
This sort of approach has worked effectively at agencies such as the Securities & Exchange Commission, Anderson said.
The GAO has the benefit of looking at the management structure of agencies across the federal government, Anderson said. “I have colleagues in 15 divisions across GAO; we’re looking at just about every operation of our government except black box operations at the CIA.”
The May report “is not a criticism of the leadership commitment within EM right now in any way,” Anderson said. The $7.6-billion cleanup office has capable senior leaders throughout, he said. Rather, he said, the report asks if DOE, and Congress, equipped the organization to face the challenges that EM has to face, namely cleaning up a half-trillion-dollars’ worth of environmental liability.
The report said the nuclear cleanup office has not traditionally enjoyed a high enough profile in the DOE hierarchy, sometimes being siloed under other DOE branches.
The deputy assistant secretary for environmental management, or EM-1, which requires Senate approval, often does not get nominated until well into a presidential term, which limits the clout for the post, Anderson said.
William (Ike) White, a career federal employee currently titled senior adviser for environmental management, has basically handled EM-1 duties since June 2019. He assumed that post upon the resignation in 2019 of Anne Marie White, no relation, a Donald Trump administration appointee stepped down.
Environmental Management leadership “is fully empowered”to work with other federal agencies and Congress, Lois Jessup, a program planning director in EM’s Office of Corporate Services, told the Radwaste Summit.
On GAO recommendations that don’t require Congressional action, Jessup said the Office of Environmental Management is constantly using GAO reports “to inform and strengthen our actions” on cleanup. The cleanup office uses GAO recommendations on everything from improving program management to staffing issues, Jessup added.
