The projected budget for this program is shown in Table 4 and illustrated in Fig. 10. This budget represents a preliminary assessment based on our current understanding of the program and assessment of the expenses associated with operating field research centers. The budget projections for the field research centers are based on the assumption that scientific effort related to the field experiments will be paid for out of the budgets of the individual program elements.
The budget for each field research center provides funding for a field site manager, an administrative assistant, and six technicians. In addition, a significant fraction of NABIR's S&E budget listed in Table 4 will be used to drill wells, purchase chemical additives for the Phase II and Phase III acceleration experiments, and provide support for utilities and other site infrastructure. Equipment required to support on-site activities will be purchased from NABIR's equipment budget as shown in Table 4. The total annual operating cost for each field research center is approximately 5 million dollars during the startup, declining to about 2 million dollars once the site is fully established.
The budgets for the scientific program elements were determined by resource loading each with a mixture of DOE laboratory scientists, academic researchers, students, and technicians. These budget projections are sufficiently accurate to encompass the effort necessary to achieve the goals outlined in the program elements. However, as more is learned, the emphasis on different program elements may shift to reflect revised program priorities. The programmatic peer reviews scheduled to occur at one, three, five, and seven years will assist in reevaluating program priorities. The budget projections reflect the schedule described above and illustrated in Fig. 9.
Figure 9. Schedule of key activities for the Intrinsic and Enhanced Bioremediation Research Program. a Select scientific executive team. b Identify ethical, legal, and social issues that must be addressed to implement the program plan. c Achieve three-year goals outlined in the program element descriptions. d Achieve five-year goals outlined in the program element descriptions. e Achieve ten-year goals outlined in the program element descriptions. f Select initial scientific teams. g Complete Phase I, II, and III experiments at field research centers.
Table 4. Program budget in $M (in 1996 dollars).
Figure 10.Program budget separated according to effort, expenses, and equipment..
