SRNL: Savannah River National Laboratory Establishes Regulatory Center of Excellence

– Savannah River National Laboratory announced its establishment of the Regulatory Center
of Excellence (RCE), a capability designed to bring together enhanced SRNL core competencies and Battelle Savannah
River Alliance partners’ world-class capabilities to reduce environmental risk and liability across the Department of
Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) complex.
The Regulatory Center of Excellence was created to help DOE sites address stakeholder and regulatory challenges
frequently associated with DOE missions and DOE-EM’s goals to accelerate cleanup and reduce environmental risk and
liability.
The SRNL Regulatory Center of Excellence will create a standing source of multi-faceted technical and regulatory
expertise and training for Department of Energy sites and programs by consolidating and leveraging SRNL’s ongoing
research and development efforts, its academic connections and strategic partnerships, DOE’s National Laboratory
competencies and corporate resources.
“The Savannah River National Laboratory’s Regulatory Center of Excellence has the ability and proven experience to
develop strategies and collaborative approaches to regulatory interaction,” said Connie Herman, director of
Environmental and Legacy Management at SRNL. “The RCE draws upon the collective expertise of the Savannah River
Laboratory, Longenecker and Associates and SRNL’s university partners, to serve as a critical resource for connecting
research developments and regulatory compliance strategies,” said Herman.
Specifically, the RCE will:
• Build a diverse network of experts and researchers to support DOE interactions with regulators and community
leaders to address emerging and existing regulatory compliance challenges, technical communication challenges,
policy changes and community concerns.
• Leverage DOE-EM experience and best practices to support other DOE missions that involve complex
environmental issues requiring effective regulatory and stakeholder engagement strategies.
• Provide counsel to federal program owners, other federal partners, state regulators, tribal governments, local
governments, redevelopment organizations, and members of the community in the development of risk-informed
strategies for environmental cleanup and closure within the bounds of their respective regulatory agreements.
• Recommend strategies to build upon existing community interactions to strengthen communications and mitigate
stakeholder concerns.