US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has announced new measures to ease permitting rules and regulations for construction projects at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) 17 National Laboratories. “These reforms will accelerate much-needed critical infrastructure improvement projects at DOE’s National Labs, enabling the Department to move faster on important projects while saving hundreds of millions of dollars for the American taxpayer,” DOE said.
“We have a unique opportunity to advance energy abundance, lead the world in scientific and technological innovation, and modernise our weapons stockpiles,” Wright said. “Unfortunately, over the years, burdensome regulations delayed the important work being done at our National Labs. Currently, many of our nation’s most critical weapons development sites rely on ageing facilities, some even dating back to the Manhattan Project.” He added: “By reforming DOE’s permitting rules and regulations for our National Labs, we can speed up critical infrastructure improvements and make the Energy Department a better steward of taxpayer dollars. President Trump pledged to bring common sense back to our energy policymaking, and that’s exactly what we’re doing today.”
In his Day One Secretarial Order, Secretary Wright highlighted the need to streamline permitting, remove undue burdens on American energy and modernise America’s nuclear stockpile as top priorities The latest action is an important step in fulfilling these priorities.
The Secretarial Order noted that, “while most of the National Laboratories’ work is driven by the Department’s primary missions in energy innovation, science discovery, nuclear security, and environmental cleanup, they are a national resource and serve the national interest by addressing challenges extending beyond energy and catalysing research that spans across sectors”.
As Federally Funded Research & Development Centres (FFRDC) managed through Management & Operating (M&O) contracts, “it is imperative that we continually evaluate existing requirements and processes to ensure that the National Laboratories have the necessary authority and flexibility to successfully execute critical missions on behalf of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Nation,” the order said. Wright directed the following actions to be implemented immediately:
- Revise delegated project authority within DOE Order 413.3B from $50m to $300m specific to the National Laboratories managed under M&O contracts. Tailor DOE Order 413.3B to only require DOE independent project reviews at specific critical decision points on projects between $300m and $1bn subject to sustained successful project execution. Capital asset projects with a total project cost of more than $1bn will continue to follow the full scope of requirements established in DOE Order 413.3B.
- Expand the use of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s OSHA-Plus framework for subcontracted construction projects at the National Laboratories. The framework uses a tailored, graded approach to meet the Worker Safety & Health Program, which increases competition and reduces costs while maintaining a safe work environment.
- Assess the benefits and risks of removing construction labour agreement provisions from National Laboratory contracts. Risks to be evaluated include increased potential for labour strikes and local community concerns.
- Revise National Laboratory contract clauses on Employee Compensation: Pay and Benefits “to eliminate requirements that are not mandated by statute/regulation or are not necessary to monitor DOE’s financial liabilities related to defined benefit plans”.
In addition to the above actions for immediate implementation, the Laboratory Operations Board Director is to establish a working group to identify opportunities to streamline and, as necessary, develop new procedures and timelines to ensure greater efficiency and accountability for Strategic Partnership Projects (SPP) and Cooperative Research & Development Agreements (CRADA). Proposed improvements must be submitted to the Office of the Secretary within 30 days.
“These measures are representative of focused and purposeful actions to prudently streamline our processes, place decision-making authority at the appropriate level, and reduce unnecessary administrative burden on both the laboratories and federal stewards to more efficiently and effectively enable critical mission objectives.” The Laboratory Operations Board will be responsible for coordinating the necessary actions outlined in the memorandum and for tracking implementation.
