Implementation Plan for the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Implementation Plan for the Environmental Restoration and Waste

Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy announces the availability of the

Implementation Plan for the Environmental Restoration and Waste

Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. The purpose of

the Implementation Plan is to record the results of the public scoping

and public participation processes and to serve as a plan for the

preparation of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement. The

Implementation Plan also states the alternatives and issues to be

evaluated in the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, contact: Glen L. Sjoblom,

Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary, Environmental Restoration

and Waste Management (EM-1), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000

Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585, 202-586-0396.

To request copies of the Implementation Plan, call 1-800-379-5441.

For information on the Department's National Environmental Policy

Act process, contact: Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA

Oversight (EH-25), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue

SW., Washington, DC 20585, 202-586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-

472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

On October 22, 1990, the Department of Energy issued a Notice of

Intent in the Federal Register (55 FR 42693) to prepare the

Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic

Environmental Impact Statement. In the Notice of Intent, the Department

identified the proposed action of implementing an integrated

environmental restoration and waste management program, and requested

comments on the scope of the Programmatic Environmental Impact

Statement. A public comment period was held from October 22, 1990, to

February 19, 1991. Beginning on December 3, 1990, the Department held

23 scoping meetings at various locations across the country to provide

an opportunity for public participation by interested individuals and

organizations, and other governmental agencies. During the public

comment period, over 1,200 parties provided approximately 7,000

comments, either by participating in the meetings or by submitting

materials and letters to the Department.

On February 4, 1992, the Department announced in the Federal

Register (57 FR 4193) the availability of a Draft Implementation Plan

and an additional opportunity for public review and comment. The public

comment period on the Draft Implementation Plan was held from February

4, 1992, to April 10, 1992. Beginning on March 17, 1992, the Department

conducted six regional workshops on the Draft Implementation Plan. More

than 1,000 comments were received on the Draft Implementation Plan.

After the close of the Draft Implementation Plan comment period,

the Department revised the Plan and provided it to the Environmental

Restoration and Waste Management Advisory Committee for review and

comment. The Committee is composed of individuals from universities,

trade associations, state and local governments, Indian Nations, labor

unions, environmental groups, and other interested parties. On December

21, 1992, the Committee submitted its formal recommendations on the

Draft Implementation Plan. After responding to the Committee's

recommendations and discussing further revisions with the Committee,

the Department further revised the Implementation Plan. The

Implementation Plan now considers all the issues from the public

scoping process, the public review and comment period on the Draft

Implementation Plan, and the Environmental Restoration and Waste

Management Advisory Committee's review and recommendations.

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement Alternatives

The programmatic alternatives for environmental restoration to be

evaluated in the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement are

structured in terms of the factors that affect the selection of

remediation goals. In addition to a No Action baseline alternative,

four other alternatives will be evaluated: (1) An alternative

reflecting the current application of ``applicable or relevant and

appropriate requirements'' under the Comprehensive Environmental

Response, Compensation, and Liability Act; (2) an alternative

emphasizing foreseeable land use to better define likely exposure

scenarios and appropriate waste management strategies; (3) an

alternative equally balancing remedial worker and transportation risks

with the risk to a site's surrounding population; and (4) an

alternative emphasizing foreseeable land use to establish initial

remediation objectives while also emphasizing worker and transport

risks. Evaluation of these five alternatives is intended to provide

input into the development of Department of Energy policies relevant to

undertaking future environmental restoration that would incorporate

consideration of land use and all major elements of human health risks.

The programmatic alternatives for waste management to be evaluated

in the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement are structured in

terms of configurations for each of six waste types: High-level

radioactive waste; transuranic radioactive waste; low-level radioactive

waste; low-level mixed waste (waste consisting of hazardous and

radioactive components); commercial Greater-than-Class-C radioactive

waste, and hazardous waste. In addition to a No Action baseline, which

includes only existing or approved waste management facilities,

alternative configurations for each waste type will be evaluated that

reflect decentralized, regionalized, and centralized approaches for

utilizing existing and new waste management facilities at Department of

Energy sites. The waste management facilities for which alternative

configurations will be evaluated are storage facilities for treated

high-level waste and commercial Greater-than-Class-C waste pending

repository disposal; storage facilities for transuranic waste and

treatment facilities in the event that treatment of transuranic waste

is required prior to disposal; and treatment, storage, and disposal

facilities for low-level, low-level mixed, and hazardous wastes. The

evaluation of alternative configurations for waste management

facilities is intended to provide environmental input for decisions on

the potential consolidation of existing waste management facilities and

locating new or expanded waste management facilities at Department of

Energy installations. The evaluation of alternative configurations for

the treatment of low-level mixed wastes also will provide environmental

input for site-specific plans required by the Federal Facility

Compliance Act.

Technology Development and Other Issues

The Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement will discuss

emerging technologies and their effect on the analysis of alternatives.

Several other issues that are important to achieving cleanup and waste

management goals and to the implementation of the Department's

Environmental Restoration and Waste Management program also will be

discussed. Issues to be addressed include budgeting and prioritization,

job retraining programs, stakeholder roles, waste minimization, and

public involvement. Discussion of these issues is included to assist

public understanding of the decisions to be reached, and to provide the

opportunity for public input on improving the conduct of the

Department's Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program.

The Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement will not evaluate site-

specific actions at Department sites that would be covered by

appropriate project-level National Environmental Policy Act

documentation.

Spent Nuclear Fuel

The Department had proposed to consider the storage of Department-

owned spent nuclear fuel in the scope of the Programmatic Environmental

Impact Statement. On September 3, 1993, however, the Department

announced that it would incorporate the planned programmatic analysis

of spent nuclear fuel into the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory

Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Environmental Impact

Statement to comply with a recent order issued by the U.S. District

Court for the District of Idaho. The Programmatic Environmental Impact

Statement will contain a summary of the spent fuel analysis and will

incorporate the results of that analysis into the Programmatic

Environmental Impact Statement's evaluation of cumulative environmental

consequences.

Availability of Implementation Plan

Copies of the Implementation Plan have been sent to individuals and

interested agencies and organizations who indicated an interest in

receiving a copy, and a copy of the Implementation Plan's Executive

Summary has been provided to individuals, agencies, and organizations

that participated in the public scoping and workshop processes. The

full Implementation Plan will be provided to any additional interested

parties upon request. Copies of the Implementation Plan also have been

placed in the Department of Energy reading rooms and public libraries

identified below. Please contact the individual reading rooms and

libraries for information on the availability of the Implementation

Plan and the hours of operation.

Federal Documents Collection, Alaska State Library, P.O. Box 110571,

8th Floor State Office Building, Juneau, Alaska 99811

Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge Street, Berkeley, California

94704

Davis Branch, Yolo County Library, 315 East 14th Street, Davis,

California 95616

Oakland Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 1333 Broadway,

Oakland, California 94612

Livermore Public Library, 1000 South Livermore Avenue, Livermore,

California 94550

Serial Division, Los Angeles Public Library, 361 South Anderson

Street, Los Angeles, California 90033

Palo Alto Public Library, 1213 Newell Road, Palo Alto, California

94303

Government Publications Section, California State Library, 914

Capitol Mall, P.O. Box 942837 Sacramento, California 94237

San Diego County Library, 5555 Overland Avenue, Building 15, San

Diego, California 92123

Semi Valley Public Library, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road, Semi Valley,

California 93063

Government Publications Department, Denver Public Library, BS/GPD,

1357 Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80203

Rocky Flats Environmental Monitoring Council, 1536 Cole Boulevard,

suite 150, Golden, Colorado 80401

Mesa County Public Library, P.O. Box 20,000-5019, 530 College Place,

Grand Junction, Colorado 81502

Lakewood Branch, Jefferson County Public Library, 10200 West 20th

Street, Lakewood, Colorado 80215

U.S. Department of Energy Rocky Flats Public Reading Room, Front

Range Community College Library, 3645 West 112th Avenue,

Westminster, Colorado 80030

Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, Connecticut

06106

Government Publications, Seely G. Mudd Library, Yale University, 38

Mansfield Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06520

Widener University School of Law Library, P.O. Box 7475, 4601

Concord Pike, Wilmington, Delaware 19803

District of Columbia Library, 6th Level, 500 Indiana Avenue, NW.,

Washington, D.C. 20001

Freedom of Information Reading Room, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW., room 1E-190, Washington, D.C. 20585

Public Reading Room, Largo Public Library, 351 East Bay Drive,

Largo, Florida 34640

Document Section, State Library of Florida, R.A. Gray Building, 500

South Poronough, Tallahassee, Florida 82399

Reese Library, Augusta College, 2500 Walton Way, Augusta, Georgia

30910

Federal Documents Section, Hawaii State Library, 478 South King

Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813

Boise Public Library, 715 South Capitol Boulevard, Boise, Idaho

83702

Idaho State Library, 325 West State Street, Boise, Idaho 83702

Public Reading Room, Idaho Operations Office, U.S. Department of

Energy, 1776 Science Center Drive, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402

Idaho Falls Public Library, 457 Broadway, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402

Moscow-Latah County Library, 110 South Jefferson, Moscow, Idaho

83843

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Pocatello Office, 215 North

9th, Pocatello, Idaho 83201

Pocatello Library, 612 East Clark, Pocatello, Idaho 83201

Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Twin Falls Office, 1062 Blue

Lakes Boulevard North, suite 106, Twin Falls, Idaho 83001

Twin Falls Public Library, 434 2nd Street East, Twin Falls, Idaho

83001

Chicago Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 9800 South

Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois 60439

Government Publications Department, Chicago Public Library, 400

North Franklin, Chicago, Illinois 60610

Reference Department, Illinois State Library, 300 South Second,

Springfield, Illinois 62701

Documents Section, State Library of Iowa, Historical Building, East

12th & Grand, Des Moines, Iowa 50310

Ashland Community College Library, University of Kentucky, 1400

College Drive, Ashland, Kentucky 41101

Federal Documents Section, Kentucky Department for Libraries and

Archives, P.O. Box 537, 300 Coffee Tree Road, Frankfort, Kentucky

40602

Paducah Public Library, 555 Washington Avenue, Paducah, Kentucky

42001

Documents Division, Enoch Pratt Free Library, 400 Cathedral Street,

Baltimore, Maryland 21201

Harford Community College Library, 401 Thomas Run Road, Bel Air,

Maryland 21014

Document Department, State Library of Massachusetts, 442 State

House, Boston, Massachusetts 02133

Government Documents Unit, Library of Michigan, P.O. Box 30007, 717

West Allegan Street, Lansing, Michigan 48909

Joseph A. Cook Memorial Library, University of Southern Mississippi,

2609 West 4th Street, Hattiesburg, Mississippi 39406

Documents Section, Mississippi Library Commission, 1221 Ellis

Avenue, Jackson, Mississippi 39209

Missouri State Library, P.O. Box 387, 600 West Main Street,

Jefferson City, Missouri 65102

U.S. Department of Energy Public Reading Room, Red Bridge Branch,

Mid-Continent Public Library, 11140 Locust Street, Kansas City,

Missouri 64137

Documents Division, Kansas City Missouri Public Library, 311 East

12th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64106

Kisker Road Branch, St. Charles City-County Library District, 1000

Kisker Road, St. Charles, Missouri 63303

St. Louis County Library, 1640 South Lindberg Boulevard, St. Louis,

Missouri 63131

Documents Division, Montana College of Mineral Science and

Technology Library, Park Street, Butte, Montana 59701

Montana State Library, 1515 East 6th Avenue, Helena, Montana 59620

Federal Documents Department, Nebraska Library Commission, 1420 P

Street, Lincoln, Nebraska 68508

Beatty Community Library, P.O. Box 129, 4th and Ward Street, Beatty,

Nevada 89003

Nevada State Library and Archives, Capitol Complex, 451 North Carson

Street, Carson City, Nevada 89710

Nevada Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 2753 South

Highland Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada 89193

Government Documents Department, James R. Dickinson Library,

University of Nevada, 4805 South Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada

89154

Las Vegas Clark County Library, 833 Las Vegas Boulevard North, Las

Vegas, Nevada 89101

Lawrenceville Branch, Mercer County Library, 2751 Brunswick Pike,

Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648

Government Publications Department, Alexander Library, Rutgers

University, 169 College Avenue, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903

U.S. Documents, New Jersey State Library, CN-52D, 185 West State

Street, Trenton, New Jersey 08625

Albuquerque Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy,

Pennsylvania and H Streets, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico

87115

Government Publications Department, General Library, University of

New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131

Carlsbad Public Library, 101 South Halagueno Street, Carlsbad, New

Mexico 88220

Mesa Public Library, 1742 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, New Mexico

87545

New Mexico State Library, 325 Don Gasper Avenue, Santa Fe, New

Mexico 87503

Cultural Education Department, New York State Library, Madison

Avenue, Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12230

U.S. Department of Energy, 26 Federal Plaza, Room 3437, New York

City, New York 10278

Concord Public Library, 23 N. Buffalo Street, Springville, New York

14141

Lane Library, 800 Vine Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

Documents Department, State Library of Ohio, 65 South Front Street,

Columbus, Ohio 43266

Documents Department, Dayton and Montgomery Community Public

Library, 215 East Third Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402

Miamisburg Library, 35 South Fifth Street, Miamisburg, Ohio 45342

Portsmouth Public Library, 1220 Galia Street, Portsmouth, Ohio 45667

Shawnee State University Library, 940 Second Street, Portsmouth,

Ohio 45662

Social Science Department, Toledo-Lucas County Public Library, 325

Michigan Street, Toledo, Ohio 43624

Portland State University Library, 934 S.W. Harrison, Portland,

Oregon 97207

Oregon State Library, State Library Building, West Summer & Court

Streets, Salem, Oregon 97310

Government Publications Section, State Library of Pennsylvania, P.O.

Box 1601, Walnut Street & Commonwealth Avenue, Harrisburg,

Pennsylvania 17105

U.S. Department of Energy Reading Room, Writing Center, University

of South Carolina, Aiken Campus, 171 University Parkway, Aiken,

South Carolina 29801

Documents Department, South Carolina State Library, P.O. Box 11469,

1500 Senate Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29204

Lawson McGhee Library, Knox County Public Library System, 500 West

Church Avenue, Knoxville, Tennessee 37902

Tennessee State Library and Archives, 403 7th Avenue North,

Nashville, Tennessee 37219

Freedom of Information Officer, Oak Ridge Operations Office, U.S.

Department of Energy, 200 Administration Road, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

37831

U.S. Department of Energy Reading Room, Lynn Library--Learning

Center, Amarillo College, 2201 South Washington Street, Amarillo,

Texas 79109

U.S. Documents, Texas State Library, P.O. Box 12927, 1201 Brazos,

Austin, Texas 78711

Documents Section, Virginia State Library & Archives, 11th Street at

Capitol Square, Richmond, Virginia 23219

Richland Operations Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 825 Jadwin

Avenue, Richland, Washington 99352

FM-25 Government Publications, Suzzalo Library, University of

Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195

Crosby Library, Gonzaga University, E. 502 Boone, Spokane,

Washington 99258

Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

The Department is tentatively planning to hold public workshops in

May 1994, in advance of issuing the Draft Programmatic Environmental

Impact Statement. Additional announcements will be made at that time.

The Department expects to distribute the Draft Programmatic

Environmental Impact Statement between June and September 1994; public

hearings on the Draft Statement will be scheduled at that time.

Issued in Washington, DC, this 10th day of February 1994.

Tara O'Toole,

Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.

[FR Doc. 94-3642 Filed 2-16-94; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450-01-P