Mission and Functions

Office of Departmental Personnel Security

Mission

The Office of Departmental Personnel Security provides centralized and authoritative policy guidance and ensures consistent and effective implementation of the DOE personnel security program Department-wide to include the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Functions

• Serves as the Department's single point of interface with the Federal Government's personnel security community, particularly for the significant policy reform initiatives led by the Office of Management Budget (OMB), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). It represents DOE personnel security interests at inter-agency fora including OMB's Performance Accountability Council, OPM's Background Investigations Stakeholders Group, and the OPM-ODNI Joint Reform Team;
• Establishes expectations for the Department's personnel security program including mechanisms to assure timely, appropriate and consistent adjudication of clearances;
• Develops quality assurance programs and processes for the Department's personnel security program;
• Develops and implements automation initiatives to enhance the Department's personnel security processes and to enable the Department to meet OMB expectations for reducing security clearance processing times;
• Identifies needs for strengthening and improving the Department's personnel security and drug testing requirements in regulations and directives;
• Works in partnership with the HSS National Training Center to develop and implement a training and certification program for all of the Department's personnel security professionals. Serves as certification authority for the DOE personnel security certification program;
• Coordinates consistent implementation of personnel security policies and guidance across the Department and provides assistance to field elements as appropriate;
• Coordinates the administration of the provisions of 10 CFR 710 (Administrative Review Procedures) across the Department. These responsibilities include reviewing cases to determine administrative review eligibility and providing support related to Appeal Panel proceedings and requests for reconsideration;
• Acts on appeals of administrative terminations of access authorization processing in accordance with 10 CFR 710;
• Manages and implements the electronic DOE Integrated Security System (eDISS+) databases and applications and maintains the master personnel security records for the Department;
• Reviews and processes requests to grant limited access authorizations for foreign nationals in accordance with DOE Order 472.2;
• Manages and directs the Department's Human Reliability Program, which is designed to ensure that individuals who occupy positions affording access to certain materials, nuclear explosive devices, facilities, and programs meet the highest standards of reliability and physical and mental suitability.