November 24, 2004, Department letter reporting completion of commitment relative to the revision of directives to reflect the process and roles and responsibilities of the Office of Environment, Safety and Health and other organizations

[DOE LETTERHEAD]

November 24, 2004

The Honorable John T. Conway

Chairman

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

625 Indiana Avenue, NW, Suite 700

Washington, D.C. 20004-2941

Dear Mr. Chairman:

In the Secretary’s August 25, 2003, report to you on suspect/counterfeit items (S/CI), the Department committed that, “Directives will be revised to reflect the process and roles and responsibilities of the Office of Environment, Safety and Health (EH) and other organizations. It is anticipated that the Department of Energy (DOE) Order 414.1, DOE Guide 414.1, DOE Order 440.1A, and DOE G 440.1-6 will be revised to consolidate the S/CI process and requirements. The EH internal process guide and checklists will be finalized and approved based on the approved directives.” The purpose of this letter is to provide you with the status of the Department’s progress in this area.

The Department developed a new Guide, DOE G 414.1-3, Suspect and Counterfeit Items Guide for use with 10 CFR 830 Subpart A, Quality Assurance Requirements and DOE Order 414.1B, Quality Assurance, issued on November 3, 2004. The Guide incorporates the EH S/CI process and updates other S/CI information. It supersedes DOE G 440.1-6, Suspect Counterfeit Items Guide for use with DOE O 440.1, Worker Protection Management; 10 CFR 830.120; and DOE O 5700.6C, Quality Assurance, dated June 1997. Additionally, EH has finalized the EH S/CI Process Guide (enclosed) that is being used to implement the S/CI process and approved it for use. This completes the commitment described above, which is the final action/commitment outlined in the Secretary’s August 25, 2003, report to be completed.

If you have any questions, please contact me at (301) 903-8008, or have your staff contact Frank E. Tooper at (202) 586-1772.

Sincerely,

Frank B. Russo

Deputy Assistant Secretary

Office of Corporate Performance Assessment

Enclosure

1. ES&H Process Guide for the Identification and Disposition of S/CI or Defective Items at DOE Facilities

2. ES&H Support Manual to the Process Guide for the Identification and Disposition of S/CI or Defective Items at DOE Facilities

cc: Russell Shearer, EH-1

Mark B. Whitaker, DR-1

Frank E. Tooper, EH-32