Federal agencies will gradually return to normal operations in parallel with the White House’s three-phase plan to reactivate the national economy as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, the Trump administration said Monday.
The new guidance does not provide a set schedule for the process, but rather says managers must make decisions on reducing telework and staffing up offices based on factors including geography, personnel guidelines, and guidelines for travel by federal employees and contractors. Reopening steps would be made in alignment with corresponding decisions by state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, “while also accounting for agency operational needs, as appropriate and applicable.”
“Given the diversity of Federal workforce missions, geographic locations and the needs of individuals within the workforce itself, this transition will require continued diligence and flexibility from Federal agencies and the Federal workforce,” according to a memorandum to federal agency heads from Russell Vought, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and Michael Rigas, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management.
So far, agencies are not saying much about how they will approach this process. An industry source said he spoke with senior Energy Department officials this week, but they did not want to discuss reopening.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s plan is still developing, a spokesman said by email Thursday.
“This work remains a work in progress. While a return to work will be a phased-in process, I have no particulars for you are this time,” he wrote. “The plan to re-occupy NRC facilities will depend on several factors, including state and local government situations in the area of our facilities. Each NRC facility will be re-occupied in a manner that maintains the health and safety of NRC employees and contractors.”
There were over 2.1 million full-time civilian federal employees in 2019, not including U.S. Postal Service personnel. About 85% of them work outside Washington, D.C.
The majority of staff at federal offices in Washington and around the nation have been teleworking since March to curb the spread of the viral respiratory disease. Only mission-critical federal personnel are going into offices, such as employees who work with classified material that cannot be brought home, or whose responsibilities require use of a sensitive compartmented information facility, or SCIF, the industry source noted.
Over 95% of the roughly 3,000 full-time equivalent employees at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have been teleworking for more than a month. Under normal circumstances, they are largely divided between agency headquarters in Rockville, Md.; regional offices in Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Texas; and a training facility in Tennessee. Resident inspectors are also posted to nuclear power plants, but for now are working remotely.
The agency’s oversight mission for nuclear power plants and other licensees has largely proceeded without interruption, the spokesman emphasized. Only one employee is believed to have tested positive for COVID-19 infection several weeks ago. That individual is self-quarantining and is not believed to have had contact beforehad with other NRC personnel.
As of Friday afternoon, 828,441 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in the United States, with 46,379 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal documents issued early this month warned that lifting all social distancing measures could lead to over 300,000 deaths, NPR and the Center for Public Integrity reported earlier this week.
Bringing federal workers back to their offices will be a complex process, the source said. Many children are now being homeschooled and schools will not necessarily reopen during this academic year. Some employees are over age 70; managers will need to avoid endangering a small, but vulnerable population of workers without discriminating against them.
The White House on April 17 rolled out its “Opening Up America Again” guidelines. It urges state and local leaders to hold off on widespread opening of businesses until, in part, they realize a two-week “downward trajectory” in both confirmed cases of COVID-19 and influenza-like illnesses. That would open the gate for individuals and employers to move toward normal activities, in three phases.
The process would work like this:
- Phase One would be for states and regions that meet the initial gating criteria. Vulnerable individuals are advised to continue sheltering in place, while others are urged to maintain social distancing and avoiding congregating in groups of more than 10. Employers would encourage telework, bring employees back in phases, bar personnel from common areas, and keep nonessential travel to a minimum. Certain employers, such as schools and bars, would remain closed, and high-traffic businesses such as concert venues and gyms would have to sustain physical distancing and other safety measures.
- Phase Two is for states and regions that have met the gating criteria two times without signs of a rebound in infections. Vulnerable individuals would remain sheltered in place, with others still employing social distancing but group sizes up to 50 people. Non-essential travel would be allowed. Employers would still be urged to promote telework and to close common areas. Businesses that had been closed in the first phase could reopen, but with social distancing in effect.
- Phase Three covers states and regions that have passed the gating criteria three times without any indication of a disease rebound. Vulnerable individuals could interact with the public and there would be no limit on groups sizes. There would be no restrictions for on-site staffing at work locations and capacity restrictions would be lifted for businesses such as bars and gyms.
“In general, the Federal Government will calibrate its transitional strategy to return to normal operations to the Phase of a state, county, region, or metropolitan-area determined by the state assessment,” according to Vought and Rigas.
Telework would be ramped down over time, with mandatory and maximum telework directives lifted while avoiding endangering workers who are particularly at risk of infection. Reopening a facility for full staffing would require screening to prevent entry by sick or higher-risk individuals, ensuring buildings are cleaned, and maintaining social distancing and availability of hygiene supplies.
The new guidance was presented Thursday to staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Its office reopening will officially involve complex monitoring of at least six counties in six states where its buildings stand. That, though, does not cover nearby jurisdictions from which personnel commute.
“We continue to review the guidance in preparation for an orderly return to the office sometime in the future,” the spokesman stated. “NRC’s plan to re-occupy our facilities includes the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management guidance.”
How the process will actually function across the federal government, and over what period of time, remains to be seen and will almost certainly not be conducted uniformly across the nation. President Donald Trump on Sunday himself urged residents of three states to “liberate” themselves, seemingly against the continued restrictions imposed by their Democratic Party governors.
Many state and local leaders are warning against a rush to reopen that could undo efforts to control the disease. Some states, notably Georgia, meanwhile are moving quickly to reopen businesses – not waiting on the gating period advised by the White House.
Additional NRC Measures
Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday outlined a new opportunity for regulatory exemptions for licensees during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Expedited reviews of exemption requests are being offered for several subsections in the NRC regulations on licensee security personnel, according to an agency letter Monday to three nuclear industry executives.
These include requirements that: prior to assignment, security personnel tasked with carrying out a site’s safeguards contingency plan finish no less than 40 hours of on-the-job training, as documented by a supervisor; that armed security personnel undergo periodic medical examination by a licensed physician; and that all shift security personnel who support implementation of safeguards contingency and licensee protection participate in one tactical response drill and one force-on-force drill each quarter.
The exemptions cover active nuclear power plants and sites being decommissioned, along with spent-fuel storage pads, the NRC said. Requests would be considered on a case-by-case basis, with exemptions lasting 90 days after the end of the federal public health emergency or the last day of 2020, whichever occurs first.
The NRC as of Friday had approved security exemption requests for Dominion Energy’s Surry nuclear power plant in Virginia and Duke Energy’s Oconee facility in South Carolina.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has offered a series of exemptions to help licensees maintain operations during the pandemic while limiting the potential spread of the novel coronavirus 2019. That includes allowing nuclear power plant operators to exceed the regulatory limits on work hours. The agency had approved at lesat seven requests for a break on work-hour rules as of Friday, all from power company Exelon.
