Environmental Monitoring Plan

The purpose of the environmental monitoring plan (EMP) is to promote the early identification of, and response to, potential adverse environmental impacts associated with DOE operations. Environmental monitoring supports the Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) to detect, characterize, and respond to releases from DOE activities; assess impacts; estimate dispersal patterns in the environment; characterize the pathways of exposure to members of the public; characterize the exposures and doses to individuals and to the population; and to evaluate the potential impacts to the biota in the vicinity of the DOE activity. In addition, the EMP addresses the analytical work supporting environmental monitoring to ensure the following: (1) A consistent system for collecting, assessing, and documenting environmental data of known and documented quality; (2) A validated and consistent approach for sampling and analysis of radionuclide samples to ensure laboratory data meets program-specific needs and requirements within the framework of a performance-based approach for analytical laboratory work; and (3) An integrated sampling approach to avoid duplicative data collection. Until recently, environmental monitoring at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was required by DOE Order 5400.1, which was canceled in January 2003. LLNL is in the process of adopting the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems standard, which contains requirements to perform and document environmental monitoring. The ISO 14001 standard is not as prescriptive as DOE Order 5400.1, which expressly required an EMP. LLNL will continue to prepare the EMP because it provides an organizational framework for ensuring that the work is conducted appropriately. The environmental monitoring addressed by the plan includes preoperational characterization and assessment, and effluent and surveillance monitoring. Additional environmental monitoring is conducted at LLNL as part of the compliance with the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA, also known as Superfund). This EMP does not address the technical requirements for such monitoring