Site contractor participation in the DOE SWEIS process at Los Alamos, New Mexico

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) prepares site-wide environmental impact statements (SWEIS) on sites that are to remain in operation in order to provide an estimate of the cumulative environmental impacts from projected future operations at the site. DOE has relied on outside contractors rather than the site management and operating (M&O) contractors to prepare EISs, in order to preclude the potential for conflict of interest. The site M&O contractors, who know the potential for conflict of interest. The site M&O contractors, who know the site best and are most familiar with existing information, are critical support for the contractor. The University of California (UC) is the site M&O contractor for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in Los Alamos, NM. The role of LANL (UC) personnel in DOE`s preparation process for the LANL SWEIS is described. 3 refs