ML20197H051
| ML20197H051 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Sequoyah  |
| Issue date: | 10/18/1985 |
| From: | Gutekunst R, Sanger H, Willis W TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY |
| To: | TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8605190040 | |
| Download: ML20197H051 (15) | |
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s g' Appendix I h, No. 1357 Approved:
/s/ Herbert S. Sanger, Jr.
General Counsel and Secretary [0 607 MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY OCTOBER 18, 1985 A meeting of the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority was held in the offices of the Corpora-tion, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee, at 10:15 a.m. (EDT), Friday, October 18, 1985. This meeting was announced to the public on October 11, 1985 and was open to public observation.
Present were C. H. Dean, Jr., Director and Chairman; i Richard M. Freeman, Director; John B. Waters, Director; W. F. Willis, General Manager; Herbert S. Sanger, Jr., Gen-eral Counsel; and Richard M. Gutekunst, an Assistant Secre- l tary, i Chairman Dean presided. During the meeting the pub-lic was invited to, and did, comment on and ask questions about items on the agenda.
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Chairman Dean stated that the meeting was duly called, and notice to.each Director duly delivered, pursuant to the procedure governing meetings of the Board (Minute Entry 860-22, approved November 30, 1961). A quorum being present, it was ordered that the notice be copied into and made part of the minutes of the meeting. It reads as follows:
To : Board of Directors From : W. F. Willis, General Manager, E12B16 C-K i
i Date : October 15, 1985 e I
Subject:
NOTICE OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING
() Consecutive No.: 1357 Called by: Directors C. H. Dean,.Jr.,
Richard M. Freeman, and John B. Waters ;
Time: l 10:15 a.m. (EDT) , Friday, October 18, 1985 Place: TVA West Tower Auditorium 400 West Summit Hill Drive Knoxville, Tennessee .
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Purpose:
For consideration of.the Corpora-tion's business, including items ;
on the regular agenda.
/s/ W. F. Willis
, W. F. Willis C. H. Dean, Jr.
Richard M. Freeman John B. Waters
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NEW BUSINESS ,
PURCHASE AWARD 1357-1, Term-Coal for Cumberland Steam Plant I
At the request-of the staff, the Board tabled for further study until Tuesday, October 22, 1985, an award of' a proposed contract for term coal for the Cumberland Steam Plant.
PERSONNEL ITEM 1357-2. -Establishment of an Office of Inspector j
General and Retention of a Nuclear Con- '
- sultant
() The Board adopted the following resolution:
RESOLVED, That the Board of Directors (Director Richard M. Freeman abstaining) hereby approves the Plan for.the Creation,. Structure, Authority, and Function of the Office of Inspector General, Tennes-
" see Valley Authority, as submitted by the General Manager to the Board, a copy of which plan and voting statement of each Board member are filed collectively l with the records of.the Board as Exhibit 10-18-85a; RESOLVED further, That the Board hereby approves the retention of an expert in nuclear matters'for con-sultation and instructs the General Manager to prepare
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a list of candidates for this position.
The meeting was adjourned at ll-a.m.-
/s/ Richard M. gutekunst Richard M. Gutekunst Assistant Secretary !
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PROPOSED PLAN FOR THE CREATION, STRUCTURE, AUTHORITY AND FUNCTIO
- OF THE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL, TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY This is a plan to establish an Office of Inspector General, headed by TVA's Inspector General and charged with fully and currently reporting to the TVA Board of Directors and Congress on the overall efficiency , effec-tiveness, and economy of all TVA program and operations; on TVA efforts to prevent and detect waste, fraud. and abuse; and on investigations of
. employee concerns.
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I.
Office of the Inspector General A.
Not later than December 1, 1985 there shall be created within TVA an Office of Inspector General.
(:) B.
The Office of Inspector General will be an independent i organization separate from all existing offices and reporting directly to the TVA Board.- See attached organization chart.
C.
The Of fice shall have a separate, independent budget from that of other TVA organizations.
II. Inspector General A.
The Inspector General shall be the head of the Office of Inspector General and shall be appointed for a term of not less i than 3 years.
B.
Like TVA's other principal office managers, the Inspector General shall be a grade M-12.
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C. The Inspector General shall be under the general supervision of the TVA Board and shall not report to nor be under the super-vision of any other TVA officer.
D. The Inspector General may be removed only by the TVA Board which will- report its reasons for doing so to Congress.
III. Functions
-l The Inspector General shall:
A. Conduct inquiries and make' determinations relating to all TVA programs and operations.
B. Provide leadership and coordination and recommend policies for activities designed to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse.
C. Keep the TVA Board and Congress fully and currently informed about problems and deficiencies in TVA programs and operations >
and on progress on corrective action.
D. Report to the Board on investigations of employee concerns.
E.
Maintain relations with Federal and other law enforcement agencies, the General Accounting Office, and other agency Inspector Generals. In furtherance of the Board's existing policy, the Inspector General shall report to the appropriate law enforcement agency any information developed which the Inspector General concludes may evidence a violation of law.
F. Operate a telephone hot line and other means to receive allegations and information from all sources.
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C.
See that employ 2es who raise issues with the Inspector General are kept informed of the consideration given their issues, of the Inspector General's conclusions on them, and any corrective action taken by TVA.
IV. Authority The Board will invest the Inspector General and the Inspector I General's designees with the following authority:
A.
To have access to all TVA records, reports, materials, facilities, assets, and meetings.
B.
To make any investigation, inspection, or report deemed necessary or desirable by the Inspector General.
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C.
To have direct prompt access to the TVA Board.
( D.
To request information as may be necessary-from other Federal agencies and to seek information from other sources through all means available to TVA.
E.
To contract for experts under. personal services contracts.
V. Reports A. !
Semiannually (and immediately where there exist particularly serious or flagrant problems, abuses, defielencies, or nuclear safety issues), the Inspector General reports to the TVA Board on significant problems or deficiencies disclosed by the activities of the Office of Inspector General; recommended corrective actions; financial, nuclear safety and other audits 1
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. and reviews completed; and other related matters as the Inspector General determines.
B.
The Board will transmit each report of the Inspector General to Congress together with any comments the Board deems appropriate.
VI. Source Confidentality A. The Board intends for the Inspector General to be able to receive in confidence allegations about any aspect of TVA.
B.
Promptly upon the establishment of the Office of the Inspector General, the Inspector General shall determine and anounce the precise terms and conditions upon which source confidentality shall b'e extended. '
, -( I C.
Information from an anonymous or undisclosed confidential source will not be considered as evidence for any purpose in a TVA determination on the conduct or performance of any ,
individual employee.
VII. Similarity to Other Agency Inspector Generals To the maximum extent possible in carrying out the Board's intent in establishing the Office, the Inspector General carries out -
duties and exercises authority such as that provided under the Inspector General Act of 1978, 5 U.S.C. Appendix 3, as amended.
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October 17, 1985 b
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f] SGDIARY ORGANIZATION OF TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY TVA BOARD OF DIRECTORS GENERAL s COUNSEL GENERAL MANAGER INSPECTOR GENERAL l
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ALL OTHER TVA 0FFICES 20
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STATEMENT OF RICl!ARD M. FREEMAN
- u. AT BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 18, 1985 My views on the Inspector General for a business-type organiza-tion, such as TVA, are well known. I will not repeat them here.
e In the present context, the proposals apparently are made as a response to TVA's current nuclear problems.
Unfortunately, an inspector general's office cannot help TVA address those problems.
I cannot vote for the creation of the office.
4 I appreciate that many of TVA's friends in Congress, and specifically Senators Sasser and Core, urge the Board to establi'sh the position in order better to deal with TVA's nuclear problems. In deference to TVA's friends in the Congress I will not vote against t
creating the proposed Inspector General's Office. Thus, I must abstain.
I do pledge to my colleagues and TVA's friends in Congress that I
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will cooperate fully in trying to make the new office work for the good of the agency, our employees, our ratepayers, the Nation's taxpayers and the Tennessee Valley constituents we serve.
I do favor the suggestion that TVA have, for a period of two years, a nuclear consultant with the kind of credentials needed to help us deal with our nuclear problems.
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}- STATEMENT OF CHARLES H. DEAN, JR., CRAIRMAN TENNESSEE VALLLEY AUTHORITY
.In the 52-year history of TVA, no one has ever seriously cast a shadow on the honesty or integrity of a TVA Board member or TVA executive. On the other hand, there has been considerable public unrest as power rates have continued to rise over the years, and certain nuclear operations problems have been highly publicized. There has also been employee unrest due at least in part to a large number of layoffs as major construction programs were stopped.
Even though the TVA management has never been involved in a major scandal, it's judgment is of ten questioned, which is certainly in the 1
American tradition. Most recently, in Congressional hearings, the Board
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was condemned for not getting enough good information from the rank and i- file employees, who are the backbone of the agency.
The contract with Quality Technology Corporation at our Watts Bar Nuclear Plant was a very visible effort to open lines of communication and give our employees someone to talk to about real or perceived problems in our nuclear program.
The overwhelming response to the QTC program is a clear i
indication that we need to develop more permanent systems for receiving and investigating employee concerns.
It appears that the formation of an i
- Office of Inspector General within the agency, which would report to the Board and to- the Congress, would offer such a permanent vehicle.
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C In spite of our employee communication problems it should be emphasized
,that there has been no responsible criticism of our Office of Audit and Evaluation. It is a model that all federal agencies could follow to their great advantage. The same c w be said for those who handle TVA's corporate books. They are careful y audited by the watchful eye of Coopers and Lybrand, and are alwafs in good order.
In summary, our problems are more with people than with numbers. In order to serve the public interest, we apparently need a group within TVA that can process certain types of information and report it directly to l the Board and to Congress. It is apparent that membcrs of Congress have !
the same feeling. Mr. Flippo has introduced H.R. 3464 in the House of j Representatives, and 14 other congressmen from the TVA area have signed this bill. A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate, S. 1755, '
by Senators Denton and Cochran, both from Valley states. In the
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meantime, Senators Sasser and Core, and others, have recommended that the '
TVA Board take steps to create an Inspector General which will report to the Board atd the Congress. I concur with that recommendation and the
. proposed plan presented to the Board by the General Manager.this morning. It has also been recommended that the Board retain 'an expert in nuclear matters for consultation. I favor this recommendation,'and would like for the General Manager to prepare a list of candidates for this -
position.
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l C..H. Dean, Jr.
Chairman
REMARKS BY JOHN'B. WATERS, DIRECTOR TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY TVA BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 18, 1985 KN0XVILLE, TENNESSEE TODAY, WITH THE PROPOSALS BEFORE US TO ESTABLISH TVA'S FIRST INSPECTOR GENERAL AND AN INDEPENDENT NUCLEAR CONSULTANT WE HAVE A REAL OPPORTUNITY TO HELP RESTORE PUBLIC C AND REAFFIRM OUR COMMITMENT TO BUILDING AND OPERATIN SAFEST AND MOST EFFICIENT POWER SYSTEM IN AMERICA.
THE ADVICE AND SUGGESTIONS OF MEMBERS OF THE VALLE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION AND THE PUBLIC OBVIOUSLY O INSTRUMENTAL IN THE BOARD'S CONSIDERATION OF THESE P WE ALL HOPE THAT THE APPOINTMENT OF AN INSPECTOR ENABLE TVA TO BECOME EVEN MORE EFFICIENT, AND WILL ENHANCE THI AGENCY'S ABILITY TO SAVE MONEY AS WE-CONTINUE TO OPE POWER SYSTEM FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE RATEPAYER.
A HIGHLY QUALIFIED INSPECTOR GENERAL WHO OCCUPIES A POSITION OF INDEPENDENCE, POWER, AND PRESTIGE WITHIN THIS ORGANIZATION SHOULD HELP TO PROMOTE THE EFFICIEN ~
THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ALL'TVA ACTIVITIES. THE INSPECTOR GENERAL WILL NOT BE ENCUMBERED WITH ADMINISTERING PROGRAMS, BUT WILL l
FREE TO FOLLOW THE FACTS OF ANY INVESTIGATION WHERE; LEAD AND TO REPORT DIRECTLY TO THIS BOARD AND TO T .
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V IF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL PERFORMS IN SUCH A MANNER, THE RESULTING EFFICIENCIES WILL COMPLEMENT TVA'S CONTINUING SUCCESS IN KEEPING ELECTRIC RATES AMONG THE LOWEST IN THE NATION AND ASSURING AN ABUNDANT SUPPLY OF ELECTRIC POWER FOR RESIDENTIAL AND INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS.
I ALSO BELIEVE THAT THE APPOINTMENT OF A NUCLEAR CONSULTANT AS AN ADVISER TO THE BOARD REPRESENTS A POSITIVE STEP. A NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED EXPERT IN THE FIELD FROM OUTSIDE TVA SHOULD BE ABLE TO PROVIDE VALUABLE INDEPENDENT EVALUATIONS OF OUR PROBLEMS AND OUR PROGRESS TOWARD REACHING SOLUTIONS.
BEYOND THE PRACTICAL, OPERATIONAL ADVANTAGES IN AUTHORIZING
(]) THESE APPOINTMENTS--AND I THINK THERE ARE MANY--THERE'S ANOTHER EXTREMELY IMPORTANT REASON FOR TAKING SUCH ACTION. ONE OF THE LESSONS I RECALL MOST VIVIDLY FROM LAW SCHOOL IS THAT THE PUBLIC MUST ALWAYS HAVE THE PERCEPTION T51AT JUSTICE IS BEING DONE. IT IS NOT EN0 UGH'TO HAVE JUSTICE PREVAIL. PEOPLE MUST ALSO PERCEIVE THAT JUSTICE IS BEING DONE--OR, IN THE-CASE OF A PUBLIC AGENCY, THAT THE PUBLIC TRUST IS BEING UPHELD.
I FULLY BELIEVE THAT TVA CANNOT EFFECTIVELY CARRY OUT ITS MISSION UNLESS IT HAS THE CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE AND THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. TODAY'S ACTIONS REPRESENT !
NECESSARY STEPS TOWARD REBUILDING THAT CONFIDENCE, BUT THE APPOINTMENTS OF AN INSPECTOR GENERAL AND A NUCLEAR CONSULTANT WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY SOLVE ALL OUR PROBLEMS.
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IN COOPERATING WITH AND RECEIVING THE RECOMMENDATIONS O THE PERSONS WHO WILL OCCUPY THESE POSTS, ALL OF US ASSOCIATED WITH TVA MUST CONTINUE TO BE STRAIGHTFORWARD WITH THE PUB AND EACH OTHER, ADMIT ANY MISTAKES THAT ARE FOUND, AND MAKE OUR PLANS FOR IMPROVEMENT CLEAR.
IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE WHAT'S IN THE JOB DESCRIPTION OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL IF WE ON THE BOARD DON' BACK UP THOSE WORDS WITH OUR OWN SUPPORT.OUR COMMITMENT MUST MATCH THE REALITY OF OUR OWN PERFORMANCE.
AS LONG AS I AM A MEMBER OF THIS P0ARD, I PLEDGE THAT WHOEVER IS SELECTED AS INSPECTOR GENERAL WILL HAVE MY FULL SUPPORT IN GAINING THE NECESSARY BUDGET, THE NECESSARY STAFFING, THE NECESSARY INDEPENDENCE, AND THE NECESSARY ACCESS TO MAKE A POSITIVE DIFFERENCE IN THIS AGENCY.
I CALL ON MY COLLEAGUES TO JOIN IN ASSURING SUCH SUPPORT THROUGHOUT THE INSPECTOR GENERAL'S TERM, AND IN WORKING 10 REMOVE ANY BARRIERS THAT WOULD HAMPER THE WORK OF THAT OF WE CAN dND SHOULD PROVID'E ALL REASONABLE RESOURCES FOR TH INSPECTOR GENERAL TO CONDUCT THE MOST THOROUGH AND INDE INVESTIGATIONS POSSIBLE INTO ANY ASPECT OF THIS AGENCY THAT REQUIRES SUCH ATTENTION.
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AND WE SHOULD BE TOUGH TASKMASTERS AS WELL,. DEMANDING ACTION AND RESULTS, AND' PLACING THOSE DEMANDS ON OURSELVES AS WELL AS OTHERS.
IT'S HOW WE CARRY OUT OUR OWN DUTIES AS BOARD MEMBERS AND WHAT WE REQUIRE OF DTHERS THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN TVA AND HOW IT OPERATES IN THE FUTURE.
AND, TODAY, WE ARE TELLING TVA AND THE PEOPLE OF THE REGION THAT OUR REQUIREMENTS WILL BE HIGH.
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