Figure 8 illustrates the internal structure of the program. The DOE management will be supported by a program office that will manage the program on a day-to-day basis. The program office will be responsible for scientific coordination within and among program elements, scheduling of major activities at the test sites, communication and database management, and facilitating access to the R&D shared infrastructure. Final management approval and oversight will be retained by OHER.
Figure 7. Direct Oversight of the three major activities of the NABIR program
Figure 8. Internal structure of the Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research Program.
The science team will be responsible for setting the scientific direction of the program and for carrying out research activities. The scientific team will consist of DOE laboratory scientists, academic researchers, industry researchers, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and technicians. Each program element will have a scientific team leader who is responsible for scientific direction and coordination within the program element. The team leaders will also be responsible for identifying opportunities and facilitating collaboration with other program elements. The team leader for each program element will be a member of the executive committee.
Each field research center will have an on-site manager who will be responsible for obtaining permits, developing and implementing a site safety plan, day-to-day scheduling of field activities, and site operations. The field research center managers will supervise a staff of technicians and other support personnel at the site. The manager of each field research center will be a member of the executive committee.
Managers will also be identified for major laboratory measurement facilities. These managers will be responsible for facilitating use of the instruments by a variety of scientific investigators, day-to-day scheduling of activities, developing and implementing a site safety plan, and instrument operation. The manager of each major instrument facility will be a member of the executive committee.
The activities described above will be funded by OHER. The scientific program will be funded primarily by competitive proposals, regardless of the status of the principal investigator -- academic, federal laboratories, or industry. The program will seek the best talent available to address the goals identified in the program elements. Managers and staff for field research centers and major instrumentation facilities will be located primarily at the DOE laboratories.
1. Linkage with the EM problem holders.
Identifying those problems that are most important to solve is the critical key to funding meaningful research. Systematic methods of working with DOE's Environmental Management (EM) program will be established -- including ongoing interaction with Headquarters staff, field offices, and site problem-holders -- to identify high-priority problems that may be solved through bioremediation. EM staff will participate in programmatic peer reviews and act as advisors to the program. At least one person from EM will be requested to serve as a liaison between this program and the prime focus area. This person will bridge the gap between NABIR's fundamental research and EM's technology development programs.
The program will seek input on directions and priorities from within OHER, from other divisions of DOE, and from other government agencies and bioremediation programs. Program managers performing related research in OHER and DOE's Basic Energy Sciences Program will be asked to act as advisors to the program. Communication will be established and maintained with other federal, state, and private bioremediation research programs to coordinate complementary programs and avoid unnecessary duplication. Managers of related programs will be invited to serve as advisors.
Transfer of the scientific knowledge gained will also be a key to the success of this program. Through peer review and open meetings with the scientific community, results of the program will be communicated and the most promising avenues of research will be identified on an ongoing basis. The field research centers can play a major role in transferring scientific knowledge to the problem holders and students alike. Opportunities for other programs and universities to use the sites will help accomplish this goal, and short courses and summer stipend support for higher education will be provided throughout the DOE complex and through scientific societies and other appropriate venues.
2. Information and education outreach programs.
Implementing technologies based on new scientific knowledge requires effective communication with problem holders, regulatory agencies, and the public. The program will establish and maintain an effective information outreach and education program to accomplish this objective. Several different methods of disseminating information will be used: the World Wide Web to publish program opportunities and accomplishments, a newsletter aimed at DOE sites and regulatory agencies, a curriculum program for higher education, and timely publications to publicize successful programmatic products.
The list of such questions is long and certain to change as our knowledge increases. The Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research Program will support research and establish partnerships that address these questions. The program will work with regulatory agencies to develop guidelines for testing new bioremediation procedures. It will also develop strategies for safely testing the effectiveness of bioengineered organisms and for assessing environmentally acceptable end points for bioremediation.
Announcement of the NABIR Program
Announcement of the NABIR program will be made through the Commerce Business Daily (CBD), direct mailing to research organizations and other federal agencies, presentations at technical meetings, and the World Wide Web.
Selection of Scientific Team Leaders
Scientific team leaders will be selected through a competitive process. A solicitation requesting a statement of qualifications will be distributed to the scientific community for each of the program elements. Responses will be reviewed by OHER with assistance from the program office. Team leaders will be selected based on their scientific qualifications, ability and desire to lead and work in a team, and level of commitment to the program.
Formation of the Initial Science Team
The initial science team will be formed by a competitive solicitation for projects within each of the program elements. Panels of scientific peers will review and rank proposals and make recommendations to OHER. Proposals will be selected based on the scientific quality of the proposed work and relevance of the work to the goals of the program.
To ensure the maximum relevance of all proposals, detailed information on contaminants and hydrogeologic settings of interest will be provided in the requests for proposals.
Selection of the First Field Research Center
Selection of the first field research center will be completed during FY96. It will involve a three-step process. First, through interviews with EM headquarters and field office personnel, high priority mixtures of contaminants will be identified that are likely to be remediated by natural or accelerated bioremediation. Next, a set of requirements for the field research centers will be identified. Examples of requirements for the field research center include:
Finally, OHER will issue a call for statements of interest from DOE sites. A subset of these statements will be selected for further discussion and negotiations, and one or more will be selected.
Evaluation of R&D Shared Infrastructure Requirements
The program office will sponsor a workshop for the scientific community where instrumentation, database, and shared-model needs will be identified and prioritized. Based on the results of the workshop, the program office will make recommendations to OHER for infrastructure and equipment investments.
Identification of Ethical, Legal, and Social Impacts
In the first quarter of FY 1996, a solicitation for proposals to identify ethical, legal, and social issues relevant to bioremediation will be distributed to universities, the private sector, and public interest groups. A team will be selected and asked to identify key issues that must be addressed immediately and those that must be addressed over the life of the program. A workshop will then be held to provide broad participation and input into the program by interested parties.
Identification of the Interagency Steering Committee Members
Members of the interagency steering committee will be identified and engaged in the planning and implementation process. Members may include participants from EM's Office of Technology Development, Environmental Remediation and Waste Management, the Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Geological Survey, the U.S. Bureau of Mines, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense, and other agencies with related programs.
Programmatic peer review will be used to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the program and how well the program is achieving the goals identified in the program element section. Programmatic peer reviewers will make recommendations about how the content and structure of the program can be improved. Programmatic peer reviews will take place one, three, five, and ten years into the program.
Project peer review will consist of conventional scientific peer review of individual projects conducted by members of the scientific community from academia, government agencies, and industry. Peer review will take place for initial selection of projects and biannually thereafter.
In addition to peer review, other performance measures will be used to evaluate if the program is successful. These will include:
A program of this scale and complexity may require midcourse changes or corrections. The mechanisms described above will provide an early warning of the need for such changes or corrections and help focus the program to maintain its effectiveness.
