shipments’’ rather than ‘‘ensure that State, Tribal, and local officials are prepared for OCRWM shipments” (DOE 2008e, p. 64935). This change recognizes that it is the duty of the states and tribes to ensure that local officials are adequately prepared for OCRWM shipments, and OCRWM’s role is to assist them in fulfilling that obligation. OCRWM, therefore, provides little guidance around the type and level of training to be provided using Section 180(c) funds. According to the current proposed policy, Section 180(c) training “should be to the level of detail and to the degree necessary to prepare for shipments to a NWPA-authorized facility,” and should be compliant with the appropriate OSHA standards. The policy further states that “[a]ny deficiency in basic emergency response capability may be addressed through consultation and technical assistance,”which establishes a collaborative approach to ensuring that personnel along the shipping routes are adequately prepared (ibid., p. 64942). MEDICAL PREPAREDNESS In the earliest published version of the Section 180(c) policy and procedures, OCRWM specifically prohibited the use of funding to train hospital emergency room personnel. By the time the 2007 version of the revised policy was published, OCRWM had removed this restriction. The draft policy and procedures on 180(c) implementation published in 1998 omitted hospital personnel as eligible recipients of training assistance under Section 180(c). OCRWM did indicate that “medical emergency responders” could receive training in connection with NWPA shipments (DOE 1998b, p. 23757). The issue of eligibility for hospital personnel was a major topic of discussion when the Section 180(c) Topic Group began its work in 2004. The members of the topic group objected to the omission of hospital personnel from the 1998 policy. The discussion paper on allowable activities observed that the “Topic Group felt strongly that hospital personnel should be eligible for training if a jurisdiction felt that was necessary” (ibid., Appendix C, p. 6). Much of the discussion paper on “definitions” (Appendix D) was devoted to providing the rationale for including hospital personnel as public safety officials for the purposes of Section 180(c) implementation. The discussion paper noted that “there were no arguments presented against the inclusion of hospital personnel” in the definition of “public safety official” (TEC 180c TG 2005, Appendix D, p. 2); earlier, however, the paper noted that “DOE’s Office of General Counsel has stated that hospital personnel would not be eligible for Section 180(c) funds” (ibid., p. 1). In the 2007 notice of revised policy and procedures, OCRWM listed among the allowable activities “training for emergency medical personnel, including hospital emergency medical personnel” (DOE 2007b, p. 40143). This wording remained in the 2008 policy and procedures (DOE 2008e, p. 64937). Provided OCRWM maintains this wording through subsequent revisions to the draft policy and procedures, this issue can be considered closed.
OCRWM published responses to comments received on the 2007 and 2008 notices. The states, therefore, still need clarification regarding exactly what can be done with equipment purchased using Section 180(c) assistance. This issue should be resolved in conjunction with finalizing the policy and procedures on Section 180(c). EMERGENCY RESPONSE TRAINING STANDARDS Under Section 180(c) of the NWPA, as amended, OCRWM is required to provide technical and financial assistance for training for public safety officials to states and Indian tribes through whose jurisdiction the Secretary plans to transport spent fuel or high-level waste to an NWPA-authorized facility. In the discussions around how to implement Section 180(c), the issue was raised of whether OCRWM should specify a level of training to assure that shipping routes were well prepared. There is a great deal of variation in the emergency response capabilities, training needs, protocols, and existing training programs among local jurisdictions throughout the country. The states believe they are in the best position to determine what level of training to provide to the appropriate personnel. OCRWM published the first of five Federal Register Notices on Section 180(c) implementation and policy options in 1995. After soliciting and reviewing public comments on the 1995 notice, OCRWM published a Notice of Revised Proposed Policy and Procedures on April 30, 1998. The 1998 Draft Policy on Section 180(c) was very prescriptive with regard to the level of training to be provided, and who could receive that training. Under the 1998 draft policy, awareness level training was to be provided; operations and technician level training could be provided only if funds remained after awareness level training was completed (DOE 1998b). Years later, when OCRWMwas working to finalize the Section 180(c) policy, the TEC/WG Section 180(c) Topic Group recommended that OCRWM allow grant recipients flexibility in determining the appropriate level of training to provide. This recommendation was made to help ensure that jurisdictions could develop training for NWPA shipments in the context of their existing training programs and emergency response structure and protocols. States and tribes would be required to describe in their application package what training they planned to provide, and how it was consistent with their current emergency response plans and procedures (TEC 180c TG 2005, Appendix C, p. 8). OCRWM published a revised proposed Section 180(c) policy in the Federal Register on July 23, 2007, which incorporated the recommendation that OCRWM let the recipients of the grant decide who should be trained along the shipping routes, to what level, and with what curriculum. The most recent proposed Section 180(c) policy was published for comment in the Federal Register on October 31, 2008. In this revised proposed policy, OCRWM retained the approach of giving states and tribes discretion over the level of training to provide. Some language was revised in the 2008 proposed policy to clarify that the role of OCRWM’s assistance under Section 180(c) was to “help State, Tribal, and local officials prepare for OCRWM
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