Implementing the DQO process has successfully achieved substantial cost savings for waste characterization and environmental remediation projects at Hanford, Oak Ridge, and Savannah River. The DQO process has application for environmental sampling and analysis planning EM-wide, including environmental restoration, waste management, facility deactivation, decontamination and decommissioning, and technology development projects. Stakeholders work together to define their concerns and issues based on descriptions of the site, waste stream, issue, etc., and agree on the question or problem to be studied. Stakeholders define the time and space circumstances covered by the decision. In concert with Step 5, stakeholders define the tolerance for making incorrect decisions.
Technical staff identifies the most resource effective data collection design.
The DQO planning process has several notable strengths. This interaction results in a clear understanding of the problem, the actions needed to address that problem, and the level of uncertainty that is acceptable for making decisions. Through this process, data collection and analysis are optimized so only those data needed to address the appropriate questions are collected. This would include knowledge about the origin, storage, use, and potential exposure of the waste material. For example, if the feed stocks for making a product are known, the likely range of chemical components in the waste streams can be predicted.