Implementing mitigative actions on the Superconducting Super Collider project

The Super Collider is the first project for which a Mitigation Action Plan (MAP) was prepared under a DOE Order that became effective in 1990. The policy requires a MAP for any project where environmental findings were predicated on taking mitigative actions. The MAP must be approved prior to the start of preliminary design and thus cannot be site or facility-specific because the requisite level of detail would not be available. This gap is filled by a series of environmental compliance plans (ECP) that are prepared by the architect-engineer/constructions manager under the direction of the DOE Management and Operations Contractor for the Super Collider. A given ECP identifies the environmental protection measures applicable to the respective contract package. The designated design team uses the ECP as one of its requirements documents and the environmental staff uses it during design reviews to verify compliance with the MAP. Site audits and monitoring data are used to document compliance and verify the effectiveness of mitigative actions, or identify required corrective actions. The applicability of this process to other projects falling within the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act is discussed