A Mission Need Statement is the primary document supporting the Acquisition Executive’s decision to approve the mission need (CD–0), and shall be developed for all capital asset projects having a Total Project Cost greater than $5 million.

Development by Program

Programs must identify the performance gap between their current and required capabilities and capacities to achieve the goals articulated in the DOE Strategic Plan. When a program office determines that a mission requirement cannot be met through other than material means or existing facilities (either Federal or non-Federal), that office should develop a mission need statement. Mission need requirements should not be defined in equipment, facility, or other specific end item, but in terms of the mission, purpose, capability, schedule and cost goals, and operating constraints. Mission needs are independent of a particular solution, e.g., capital asset, technological solution, or physical end state and must support DOE's Strategic Plan and lower level plans for the program. This approach allows the program the flexibility to evaluate a variety of solutions with an open mind and not limit potential solutions by defining the mission need and requirements too narrowly. MNS are to be submitted in accordance with the Manual, and those that are not will be returned to the requesting office. There is no minimum or maximum page length requirement.

PA&E Review / Recommendation to PSO/DA

To request the PA&E review, MNS for all projects must be submitted to the Energy Systems Acquisition Advisory Board (ESAAB) Secretariat by the Program Secretarial Officer/Deputy Administrator (PSO/DA) or an appropriate Federal Headquarters program manager(s), as designated in writing by the PSO/DA. The submittal of the MNS to the ESAAB Secretariat signifies that the Federal program manager(s) responsible for the proposed project ratifies the mission need.  OECM will coordinate with PA&E for assessment on all MNS. PA&E will review the package and provide comments to the program as necessary. All MNS revisions by the program that address PA&E comments should be highlighted in such a manner that the document version is clear (e.g., Version #, Date). This will ensure that PA&E is aware of the current revision and is reviewing the correct document. Coordination with other Departmental elements (e.g., General Counsel, Budget Office) will be handled by PA&E as appropriate. Once PA&E has completed a thorough review of the package, they will provide a recommendation to the PSO/DA. Copies of the recommendation will be provided to OECM (which maintains project data for Office of Management).

MNS Review Waiver Process

The MNS review waiver process will be implemented in accordance with DOE Manual 413.3-1.  The Director, PA&E, will notify the requesting official in writing of the decision on the waiver request within 15 days of the receipt of the waiver request.

MNS Approval

PSO/DA’s are the approval authority for all MNS documents. However, approval of the MNS by the PSO/DA does not represent final approval of the mission need (CD-0). In some cases the Critical Decision approval authority is at a higher level than the PSO/DA. In addition, other factors beyond those discussed in the MNS may influence the overall decision to approve the mission need.

CD-0 Flow Chart