Each year, customers must provide a forecast of the expected waste volumes and arrange funding for the forecasted waste volume. Once these arrangements are made, "approved" Hanford customers are assigned a point of contact, or a Waste Management Representative.

Waste Forecast

Each customer is required to forecast the amount of waste they intend to ship. Additional information concerning waste forecast is available on the Waste Forecast Process Web Page. For answers to specific waste forecast questions, contact Linda Maiden.

Waste Receipt Funding

For offsite customers, the Hanford Site operates under a self-liquidating pool charge back system. The customer must establish a pool of money for the Hanford Site, which will be billed when waste is received on a per cubic foot basis at the current waste disposal or storage rate. The waste disposal and storage fees cover the costs of acceptance review, verification activities at the minimum verification rate, and the operational costs of waste receipt. Other work, such as waste treatment, sorting, and verification required above the minimum rate are additional costs that will be estimated on a project basis. Until funding is available in the pool, Hanford Site contractors are only able to provide general waste acceptance information to potential customers. Although the system for establishing funding is fairly simple, customers should be aware that the Funding Approval/Work Authorization process might take up to 3 months

The Waste Funding Approval process is as follows:

Step 1: Development of the Inter-Office Work Order.

Based on the Waste Forecast for the current year, the customer must request that their DOE-field office complete an Inter-office Work Order (IWO) and send it to Terri Hale of DOE-RL. The IWO should identify the following information:

• Scope of Work--The customer should ensure that the scope of work is broad enough to perform all anticipated support, such as customer assistance, waste stream and shipment reviews and approvals, placement of waste in a high integrity container (HIC), site visits, onsite verification, additional verification above baseline verification rates (if required because of nonconformances in waste receipts), waste treatment, repackaging, and waste receipt activities.

  Writing a sufficiently broad Scope of Work will help avoid long delays in acceptance if problems are identified during receipt and if additional services are required.

• Amount--It is strongly recommended that customers authorize sufficient funds for the anticipated volume of waste to be shipped to the Hanford site, plus a 10% contingency. The contingency funds will be used only when needed for correction of problems during receipt or greater than anticipated waste volumes.

  Note: Customers normally will be billed only for waste received. Customers will be contacted by your Waste Management Representative (WMR) before any expenditures other than those for normal waste receipts at the current waste disposal and storage rate. Any funds remaining at the end of the fiscal Year either will be returned to the customer or rolled over to the next fiscal year’s waste receipt pool.

Step 2: Approval of the Interoffice Work Order (IWO).

On receipt of an IWO from your DOE Field Office (for waste disposal for an approved customer), Terri Hale of DOE-RL will accept and issue a Request for Service (RFS) document authorizing the Hanford Site contractor (CH2M HILL) to begin work. The funds are obligated to the CH2M HILL Plateau Remediation Contract (CHPRC) in the next available open contract modification (usually once a month).

Please note that the IWO must be approved, the RFS document must be issued by DOE-RL, and the funds obligated to the CHPRC contract before shipment of any waste. The funding process can take up to 60 days. You must ensure that your funding is sufficient and in place so that your shipment will not be refused upon arrival. For help in determining whether your funding arrangements are complete, please contact Linda Maiden of CHPRC.

Step 3: Waste Management Representative Assignment

If you are shipping waste to the Hanford Site for the first time, a WMR will be assigned when the Work Authorization is approved. The WMR serves as the point of contact to assist the customer in obtaining waste stream approvals, shipment approvals, and other services from the Hanford Site.

If you have any questions concerning the assignment of your WMR, please contact Amanda Ramirez for assistance.