Administrative Record (AR)
The Information Center provides public access to the Oak Ridge Reservation’s Administrative Record (AR) under Section 113(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). Records making up this file are provided to the Center through the AR Coordinator.
The AR is the official body of documents that are considered in or relied upon when selecting a remedy for a CERCLA response action. The AR File is a body of documents collected throughout the investigative and decision-making process for a response action to the cleanup process. Once the response action is selected, the documentation becomes the AR. CERCLA regulations limit the conditions under which documentation can be added to the AR subsequent to the final decision. These after action documents are filed in the Post Decision File which is a part of the AR. The Post Decision File is composed of documents generated after the selection of a response action is made. These documents are compiled during the actual cleanup phase of a response action.
Examples of AR program documents are: Remedial/Removal Site Evaluation, Remedial Investigation Work Plan, Action Memoranda, Public Involvement Plan; and Remedial Design Work Plan, Removal Action Report, Sampling and Analysis Plan, and site specific fact sheets.
Oak Ridge Environmental Information System (OREIS)
The OREIS effort is designed to meet environmental data management, analysis, storage, and dissemination needs in compliance with federal and state regulatory agreements for all five DOE facilities operated by various contractors under contract to the DOE. The primary focus of th is effort has been to develop a consolidated data base, an environmental information system, and data management procedures that will ensure the integrity and legal defensibility of environmental and geographic data throughout the facilities. OREIS can be accessed at:
(http://www-oreis.bechteljacobs.org/oreis/help/oreishome.html)
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552, allows the public to request and receive government records. Information for submitting a FOIA request can be accessed by clicking here. FOIA requests must be submitted in writing to a FOIA officer.
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Documents
The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 requires federal agencies to act in cooperation with state and local governments and other concerned public and private organizations to integrate environmental values into decision making. The NEPA's web site (http://tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa) contains documents that are currently available to the public. These include environmental impact statements (EIS), environmental assessments (EA), mitigation action plans (MAP), notices of availability (NOA), notices of intent (NOI), records of decision (ROD); findings of no significant impact (FONSI); a schedule and status for NEPA documents; laws, regulations, orders; and guidance documents.
Other Publicly Accessible Documents
Other publicly accessible documents available through the Information Center include:
- Historical information, e.g., The Manhattan Project, Linking Legacies, Closing the Circle
- Health studies, e.g., beryllium, mercury
- DOE reports or technical reports written by others
- Gaseous diffusion plant information
- Documents for public review and comment, e.g., environmental impact statements (EIS), environmental assessments (EA)
- Fact sheets and media releases