Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Waste Management at the Savannah River Site; Notices DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal RegisterApr 6, 1994

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare

an environmental impact statement (EIS) for waste management at the

Savannah River Site, and to conduct a public scoping process pursuant

to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C.

4321 et seq.).

The purpose of the Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS is to

provide a basis for DOE to select a sitewide strategic approach to

managing present and future Savannah River Site waste generated as a

result of ongoing operations, environmental restoration activities,

transition from nuclear production to other missions, and

decontamination and decommissioning programs. This EIS will support

project-level decisions on the operation of specific treatment,

storage, and disposal facilities within the near term (10 years and

less). In addition, this EIS will provide a baseline for analyses of

future waste management activities and a basis for the evaluation of

the specific waste management alternatives. The preparation of the

Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will be in accordance with the

National Environmental Policy Act, the Council on Environmental Quality

National Environmental Policy Act Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508),

and the DOE National Environmental Policy Act Regulations (10 CFR part

1021). Background information on the Savannah River Site and issues

proposed to be considered in this EIS are presented in the

Supplementary Information below.

DOE is also announcing today its intent to prepare a Supplemental

Environmental Impact Statement on the Defense Waste Processing Facility

at the Savannah River Site. (See the notice in this issue of the

Federal Register.)

DOE invites individuals, organizations, and agencies to comment on

issues to be considered, alternatives to be analyzed, and environmental

impacts to be addressed in the Savannah River Site Waste Management

EIS. Written and oral comments will be given equal weight. Written

comments should be directed to Stephen R. Wright at the address below.

Oral comments may be presented by voice mail at the telephone number

below. Interested parties are invited to present comments at three

public scoping meetings to be held at the dates and places indicated

below. Additional notice will be given in appropriate local media. At

the scoping meetings and informal information sessions to be held one

month earlier, DOE also will provide the public with an opportunity to

have information discussions with DOE representatives regarding waste

management at the Savannah River Site. The scoping process and

procedures are described in the Supplementary Information below.

DATES: The public scoping period for the Savannah River Site Waste

Management EIS begins with the publication of this notice and continues

until May 31, 1994. Written comments submitted by mail should be

postmarked by that date to ensure consideration. DOE will consider

comments mailed after that date to the extent practicable.

DOE will host a series of informal information sessions to provide

the public with additional information on waste management at the

Savannah River Site and the proposed actions and alternatives discussed

in this Notice of Intent. These sessions are intended to promote

conversation with DOE representatives available to answer questions.

These informal sessions are scheduled at the following times and

locations:

April 12, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; North Augusta Community

Center, 495 Brookside Avenue, North Augusta, South Carolina.

April 19, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; DeSoto Hilton Hotel, 15

Liberty Street, Savannah, Georgia.

April 21, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; Holiday Inn Coliseum at

University of South Carolina, 630 Assembly Street, Columbia, South

Carolina.

Information sessions on two related EISs--the EIS for Interim

Management of Nuclear Materials at the Savannah River Site (see the

Notice of Intent published in the Federal Register on March 17, 1994;

59 FR 12588) and the Defense Waste Processing Facility Supplemental EIS

at the Savannah River Site--will be held at the same dates and

locations.

DOE will then conduct public scoping meetings to assist in defining

the appropriate scope of the Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS

and identifying significant environmental issues to be addressed. DOE

representatives will be available at the meetings to discuss, in

informal conversations, Savannah River Site waste management. These

meetings are scheduled at the following times and locations:

May 12, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; Coastal Georgia Center for

Continuing Education, 305 Martin Luther King Boulevard (Battlefield

Park), Savannah Georgia.

Mat 17, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; North Augusta Community Center,

495 Brookside Avenue, North Augusta, South Carolina.

May 19, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; Holiday Inn Coliseum at

University of South Carolina, 630 Assembly Street, Columbia, South

Carolina.

Scoping meetings on the EIS for Interim Management of Nuclear

Materials at the Savannah River Site and the Defense Waste Processing

Facility Supplemental EIS will be held at the same dates and locations.

DOE will publish additional notices of the information sessions and

scoping meetings in the local media in advance of the scheduled dates.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the scope of the Savannah River Site Waste

Management EIS, requests to speak at the public scoping meetings, and

requests for copies of the EIS Implementation Plan or draft EIS (when

available) should be directed to: Mr. Stephen R. Wright, U.S. DOE,

Savannah River Operations Office, P.O. Box 5031, Aiken, SC 29804-5031;

(803) 725-3957 or (800) 242-8269. Envelopes should be marked:

``Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS''.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Questions regarding the Savannah River

Site Waste Management EIS should be addressed to: Virginia L. Gardner,

Environmental Restoration Division, U.S. DOE, Savannah River Operations

Office, P.O. Box A, Aiken, SC 29802; (803) 725-5752.

Questions regarding the DOE National Environmental Policy Act

process should be addressed to: Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of

National Environmental Policy Act Oversight (EH-25), U.S. DOE, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586-4600 or leave

a message at (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

The Savannah River Site occupies approximately 300 square miles

adjacent to the Savannah River, principally in Aiken and Barnwell

Counties of South Carolina, approximately 25 miles southeast of

Augusta, Georgia, and 20 miles south of Aiken, South Carolina. Since

its establishment, the mission of the Savannah River Site has been to

produce nuclear materials that support the defense, research, and

medical programs of the United States. The Savannah River Site

production process facilities include fuel and target fabrication

facilities, nuclear production reactors, separation facilities, product

preparation facilities, and waste management facilities. These

facilities have generated a variety of low-level radioactive, high-

level radioactive, hazardous, mixed (hazardous and radioactive), and

transuranic wastes.

At present, the Savannah River Site is in transition to other

missions; the new missions include an increased emphasis on waste

management, environmental restoration, and decontamination and

decommissioning. DOE is examining its current integrated waste

management program and the suitability of existing and planned

facilities in light of these recent mission changes.

Two DOE-wide programmatic environmental impact statements, one for

Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (Notice of Intent

published in the Federal Register on October 22, 1990; 55 FR 42693) and

one for Reconfiguration of the Weapons Complex (Notice of Intent

published in the Federal Register on February 11, 1991; 56 FR 5590),

may result in decisions to transfer certain waste management activities

to or from the Savannah River Site. The alternatives for the Savannah

River Site Waste Management EIS will be coordinated with the

alternatives for the Programmatic EISs. The alternatives for the

Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will also bound the range of

waste management activities resulting from the Federal Facility

Compliance Act Site Treatment Plan now under development. The Site

Treatment Plan will describe the development of treatment capacities

and technologies for mixed (a combination of radioactive and hazardous)

wastes.

DOE prepared an Environmental Assessment and issued a subsequent

Finding of No Significant Impact on the Consolidated Incineration

Facility in 1992. In response to a public request, DOE took a ``fresh

look'' into the suitability of constructing and operating the

Consolidated Incineration Facility. DOE decided that while completing

construction, DOE would propose to include the operation of the

Consolidated Incineration Facility within the scope of the Savannah

River Site Waste Management EIS. Under the proposed action, the

Consolidated Incineration Facility would be the preferred facility for

the treatment of only those wastes for which under Environmental

Protection Agency regulations incineration is the specified technology

or Best Demonstrated Available Technology. The proposed action also

will evaluate incineration and other treatment alternatives for wastes

where incineration is not the specified technology or Best Demonstrated

Available Technology. In addition, the proposed action will include the

incineration of low-level radioactive waste for volume reduction and

the EIS will consider other volume reduction and treatment

alternatives. DOE will not conduct any trial burns at the Consolidated

Incineration Facility until DOE completes this EIS and issues a Record

of Decision.

In 1982, DOE published an EIS and a Record of Decision for the

design, construction, and operation of the Defense Waste Processing

Facility, which would immobilize liquid high-level radioactive waste in

glass (vitrification). The vitrified waste would then be encapsulated

in stainless steel canisters and stored onsite until a geologic

repository is available for final disposal. DOE then modified the

Defense Waste Processing Facility to improve facility efficiency and

safety. A Supplement Analysis was prepared to determine whether

modifications as of 1990, primarily the introduction of the In-Tank

Precipitation process and manufacture and disposal of saltstone,

required the preparation of a supplement to the Defense Waste

Processing Facility EIS. On the basis of the Supplement Analysis, DOE

concluded in 1991 that a Supplemental EIS was not needed.

Further modifications to the Defense Waste Processing Facility

system have now been proposed and are in various stages of

implementation, including process safety enhancement and a Late-Wash

Facility. In view of the accumulated changes and the near-term

(estimated 1996) initial operation of the facility, DOE believes that a

focused EIS-level review of the environmental impacts of the facility

as now envisioned would be timely and appropriate.

DOE proposes to perform the Defense Waste Processing Facility

review in a supplement to the 1982 EIS for the Defense Waste Processing

Facility. Although the analysis could be included in the Savannah River

Site Waste Management EIS, DOE believes public review and DOE's

decision making process would be facilitated by preparing a separate

document because the Defense Waste Processing Facility is a very

specialized operation with limited connections to the activities to be

covered in the Waste Management EIS. Where there are interconnections,

duplicate discussions within both documents may be required or the

documents may cross reference one another.

Activities at the Defense Waste Processing Facility have proceeded

on the basis of the 1982 EIS and Record of Decision. Construction of

the Defense Waste Processing Facility is almost complete, testing of

the system with cold chemicals has begun and processing runs of

simulated (non-radioactive) material will begin in the next few months.

DOE committed in an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency

and the state of South Carolina to adhere to a schedule that provides

for radionuclide testing at the Defense Waste Processing Facility to

begin in December, 1995. In order to support that schedule and to

manage efficiently the high level radioactive wastes contained in the

tank farms, in-tank precipitation must begin in late 1994 or early

1995. A supplemental EIS focussing on the changes to the Defense Waste

Processing Facility can be completed in time to meet this schedule,

while the Waste Management EIS is expected to take several more months

to prepare. These two EISs will be closely coordinated. Delay of start-

up for the Defense Waste Processing Facility would cost approximately

$21,000,000 per month.

The Supplemental EIS will examine all reasonably foreseeable

impacts of operating the Defense Waste Processing Facility, including

alternative methods of managing the waste streams from the facility.

DOE believes that this will provide sufficient information to decide

whether to proceed with operation of the facility in advance of

completion of the Savannah River Waste Management EIS.

The proposed scope for the Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS

does not include management of spent nuclear fuel and other materials

that have historically been the feed materials for Savannah River Site

materials production and reprocessing programs. Such nuclear materials

are being addressed in several National Environmental Policy Act

documents under preparation by DOE: (1) The Programmatic EIS for Spent

Nuclear Fuel Management will include, among other issues, a

programmatic analysis of the transportation, receipt, processing, and

storage of spent nuclear fuel at DOE sites, including the Savannah

River Site; (2) the Environmental Assessment for Urgent Relief

Acceptance of Foreign Research Reactor Nuclear Spent Fuel and a

subsequent broader scope EIS (Notice of Intent published October 21,

1993; 58 FR 54336) will analyze the proposed adoption and

implementation of a policy for the acceptance of as many as 15,000

spent nuclear fuel elements from foreign research reactors; and (3) the

EIS for the Interim Management of Nuclear Materials at the Savannah

River Site (Notice of Intent published March 17, 1994; 59 FR 12588),

will evaluate and determine materials that can safely remain in their

current form for an interim period (approximately five years) until

disposition decisions can be made and materials that require near-term

stabilization to help maintain the health and safety of workers and the

public and to maintain environmental quality. In addition, DOE will

also evaluate converting some material into a useable form.

Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic EIS

The Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will be prepared at

the same time as, and in close coordination with, the DOE Environmental

Restoration and Waste Management Programmitic EIS, which will address

DOE complex-wide issues and alternatives for environmental restoration

and waste management policies and practices. Alternatives under that

Programmatic EIS will include decentralization, regionalization, and

centralization of waste management functions.

The alternatives analysis in the Savannah River Site Waste

Management EIS will be consistent with the DOE complex-wide policies

and practices that will be analyzed in the Programmatic EIS. The

Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will be supplemented, as

necessary, to maintain consistency with decisions reached on broader

programmatic issues.

Site Treatment Plan

The Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will also be

coordinated with the development of the Savannah River Site Treatment

Plan that DOE is preparing in compliance with the Federal Facility

Compliance Act of 1992. The Conceptual Site Treatment Plan issued in

October 1993 identifies waste treatment needs, capabilities, and

options for Savannah River Site mixed waste. The Draft Site Treatment

Plan scheduled to be issued in August 1994 will identify DOE's

preferred options for treating the Savannah River Site mixed wastes and

proposed schedules for constructing treatment capacity. The preferred

options will correspond to the proposed action in the Savannah River

Site Waste Management EIS.

Waste Types To Be Addressed in the Savannah River Site Waste Management

EIS

Solid low-level radioactive waste forms include operating and

laboratory wastes (for example protective clothing, plastic sheeting,

gloves, analytical wastes, decontamination residues), contaminated

equipment, reactor and reactor fuel hardware, spent lithium-aluminum

targets from which tritium has been extracted, and spent deionizer

resin from reactor areas. The Analytical Laboratories, Reactor

Materials, Reactors, Separations, Savannah River Technology Center,

Tritium facilities, and waste management and environmental restoration

activities generate the Savannah River Site low-level radioactive

waste.

High-level radioactive waste includes the highly radioactive

material resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel,

including the liquid waste that contains fission products in sufficient

concentrations. In the production of nuclear materials, DOE used the F-

and H-Area chemical separations plants to separate and purify

plutonium-238 and -239 produced in Savannah River Site reactors and to

reclaim fissionable material (uranium-235) from onsite and offsite

sources (e.g., research reactor fuel and material from disassembled

retired weapons) for recycling. These processes dissolved target

elements in nitric acid and separated them into (1) a solution of

plutonium, uranium, and neptunium, and (2) liquid high-level

radioactive waste. Further processing separated and purified the metals

in solution, and converted the plutonium to solid form for shipment and

the other materials for storage or reuse. The liquid high-level

radioactive waste is stored in steel tanks in the F- and H-Area Tank

Farms.

Hazardous waste and mixed waste include materials such as lead,

solvents, paints, tritiated mercury, tritiated oil contaminated with

mercury, other mercury-contaminated materials and equipment from the

tritium facilities in H-Area, filter paper takeup rolls from the Liquid

Effluent Treatment Facility, cadmium-plated high-efficiency particulate

air filters, and contaminated soils. The Analytical Laboratories,

Reactor materials, Reactors, and Separations facilities and waste

management and environmental restoration activities generate the

Savannah River Site hazardous and mixed waste.

Transuranic wastes include job control wastes (e.g., paper, wipes,

cloth, rags, tools, instruments), sludges, resins, filters, and various

other miscellaneous wastes. Transuranic waste contains radioactive

isotopes with atomic numbers greater than 92 and half-lives longer than

20 years at concentrations exceeding 100 nanocuries per gram. Savannah

River Site also manages low-level radioactive waste with transuranic

radionuclides at concentration of 10 to 100 nanocuries per gram in a

manner similar to transuranic waste. The Savannah River Technology

Center, F-Area laboratories, and F- and H-Area separations facilities

generate the Savannah River Site transuranic waste.

Preliminary Description of Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS

Alternatives

(1) The ``No-Action'' Alternative

DOE will analyze a no-action alternative that would assume

continued waste generation and current waste management practices. DOE

would continue ongoing activities and implement planned actions,

including high-level radioactive waste management, for which National

Environmental Policy Act review has been completed and decisions made.

Further, decisions reached through ongoing National Environmental

Policy Act reviews that are completed before the issuance of a Record

of Decision for this EIS will be incorporated into the no-action

alternative. Although the no-action alternative may not be a reasonable

alternative in all respects, its analysis will establish a baseline for

comparison of the environment impacts of the proposed action and its

alternatives.

DOE would continue waste management practices that are now in

effect, including packaging and disposal of low-level radioactive waste

in the Solid Waste Disposal Facility, storage of liquid high-level

radioactive waste in the F- and H-Area Tank Farm, disposal of salt

solution at the Saltstone Facility, preparation for vitrification in

the Defense Waste Processing Facility, storage of liquid high-level

radioactive waste in the F- and H-Area Tank Farm, disposal of salt

solution at the Saltstone Facility, preparation for vitrification in

the Defense Waste Processing Facility, storage of hazardous waste in

hazardous waste storage buildings and the solid waste storage pads, and

continued storage of mixed waste. Drums of transuranic waste on mounded

pads would be retrieved, overpacked, and stored with existing

transuranic waste drums on concrete pads; DOE would leave undisturbed

the transuranic waste that is in stored in below-grade culverts or in

culverts on mounded pads.

Also included as part of the no-action alternative are operation of

the already-constructed Solid Waste Disposal Facility Expansion Vaults

for disposal of low-level radioactive waste (E-Area) and continued

construction, but not operation, of the Consolidated Incineration

Facility.

(2) The Proposed Action Alternative

The proposed action is comprised of the no-action alternative

activities plus programmatic and project-level actions to enhance waste

management operations over the next 10 years, comply with regulatory

requirements, protect human health and the environment, and support

Savannah River Site missions. Project specific National Environmental

Policy Act review that supplements this EIS might be required to reach

final decisions on some of these activities.

DOE will consider various combinations of pollution prevention,

waste minimization, treatment, storage and disposal technologies, with

pollution prevention and waste minimization as the highest priority.

For each waste type, DOE will identify the optimal mix of technologies

for the protection of human health and the environment, cost-

effectiveness, and waste minimization. DOE will identify the preferred

strategy for each waste type that will contain the optimum approaches

developed for specific individual waste streams at the Savannah River

Site. Any potential shipments to or from the Savannah River Site of DOE

weapons complex waste and establishment of onsite waste treatment

capabilities would be examined in a manner that is consistent with the

Site Treatment Plan for mixed waste and the two DOE-wide Programmatic

EISs.

Programmatic considerations regarding the Site Treatment Plan, land

use planning, technology development, and pollution prevention would be

included in the proposed action alternative. DOE will ensure that these

strategies are consistent with those identified in the Environmental

Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic EIS. Although specific

environmental restoration and decontamination and decommissioning

activities would be subject to separate National Environmental Policy

Act review, as appropriate, DOE will provide its best current estimate

of waste streams anticipated from the environmental restoration of

existing waste sites and the decontamination and decommissioning of

surplus facilities. Similarly, DOE will base the proposed action on

this best current estimate of waste streams that might be received from

offsite under decisions resulting from the Environmental Restoration

and Waste Management and Reconfiguration Programmatic EISs and the

Federal Facility Compliance Act/Site Treatment Plan process.

Low-Level Radioactive Waste

DOE proposes to reduce the volume of solid nonhazardous low-level

radioactive waste. DOE would package the low-level radioactive waste in

accordance with the Waste Acceptance Criteria established for the Solid

Waste Disposal Facility (E-Area) Expansion Vaults (operation of the E-

Area vaults is based on completed National Environmental Policy Act

reviews and is included in the no-action alternative). As part of the

proposed action alternative, volume reduction technology(ies) would

replace existing Savannah River Site compactors, which are reaching the

end of their useful lives. The immediate requirement is to process

contact-handled waste; the proposed facility(ies) would have limited

capability to volume-reduce equipment. Subsequently, DOE would develop

the capability to volume-reduce remotely handled waste. DOE would also

develop treatment capabilities for liquid low-level radioactive waste

(e.g., tritiated oil).

Liquid High-Level Radioactive Waste

The management of liquid high-level radioactive waste including

storage in the F- and H-Area Tank Farm, disposal of salt solution at

the Saltstone Facility, and preparation for vitrification in the

Defense Waste Processing Facility is the same for the proposed action

as for the no-action alternative. The examination of the potential

environmental impacts of operating the Defense Waste Processing

Facility and associated high-level radioactive waste facilities at the

Savannah River Site as they are presently designed will be done in the

Defense Waste Processing Facility Supplemental EIS. The cumulative

impacts of liquid high-level radioactive waste management, including

the results from the Defense Waste Processing Facility Supplemental

EIS, will be incorporated into the Savannah River Site Waste Management

EIS.

Hazardous Waste/Mixed Waste

The Draft Site Treatment Plan will consider the Consolidated

Incineration Facility a ``planned'' facility for mixed waste treatment.

As part of the proposed action, this EIS will consider other

alternatives for waste for which incineration has not been established

as the Best Demonstrated Available Technology or specified technology,

including potential offsite options and commercialization, for

incinerable Savannah River Site hazardous and mixed wastes. For

example, DOE could construct and operate a new facility permitted under

the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act at the Savannah River Site

to receive, handle, treat, and repackage hazardous and mixed waste.

This facility could also provide size reduction and repackaging of

hazardous and mixed wastes in preparation for treatment at the

Consolidated Incineration Facility. The proposed treatment building

would be able to handle waste that DOE could not treat elsewhere on the

Savannah River Site or send such waste offsite for treatment and

disposal. DOE would also evaluate treatment options for non-incinerable

hazardous and mixed wastes.

Transuranic Waste

Under the proposed action, DOE would prepare both currently-stored

and newly-generated transuranic waste for certification and disposal at

the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or for reclassification and disposal as

low-level radioactive waste. Facilities would be provided to sort,

characterize, and repackage drums of low-activity (less than a total of

0.5 curie per 55-gallon drum) transuranic waste in preparation for

direct shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or for storage until

treatment to a final waste form. Portions of these activities are

included in the no-action alternative because they are covered in the

completed Environmental Assessment for Management Activities for

Retrieved and Newly Generated Transuranic Waste (DOE/EA-0315).

DOE would provide treatment, such as vitrification or

stabilization, for retrievably stored transuranic wastes with activity

greater than 0.5 curie per container if required to meet future

criteria of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or another Federal

repository. The proposed action would provide the capability to treat

high-activity waste drums, boxes, etc., for shipment to the Waste

Isolation Pilot Plant or another repository. DOE would design treatment

facilities when it has a better understanding of Waste Isolation Pilot

Plant acceptance requirements for the transuranic waste stream.

(3) The ``Minimum Treatment, Storage, and Disposal'' Alternative

The alternative represents a lower-bound of waste management

activities at the Savannah River Site. The quantities and

characteristics of the waste would be based on reasonable lower-bound

estimates of ongoing operations, onsite environmental restoration and

decontamination and decommissioning waste, and wastes that DOE might

receive from offsite as a result of Federal Facility Compliance Act,

Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic EIS, and

Reconfiguration Programmatic EIS decisions. Also consistent with

alternatives being considered in the Environmental Restoration and

Waste Management Programmatic EIS, certain quantities of waste in

storage and newly generated waste would be shipped offsite.

(4) The ``Maximum Treatment, Storage, and Disposal'' Alternative

This alternative represents a condition where the Savannah River

Site would manage more waste than that anticipated under the proposed

action. The quantities and characteristics of the waste would be based

on reasonable upper-bound estimates of ongoing operations, on site

environmental restoration and decontamination and decommissioning

waste, and wastes that DOE might receive from offsite as a result of

Federal Facility Compliance Act, Environmental Restoration and Waste

Management Programmatic EIS, and Reconfiguration Programmatic EIS

decisions. Under this alternative, DOE would augment its waste

treatment, storage, and disposal facilities at the Savannah River Site.

This increase will be described and analyzed in terms of an increment

above the current and projected quantities used in the analysis of the

proposed action.

Identification of Environmental and Other Issues

DOE has identified the following issues to be addressed in the

analysis of proposed and alternative actions in the EIS. Additional

issues may be identified as a result of the scoping process.

1. Public and worker safety and health risk assessment:

radiological and nonradiological impacts of the proposed action and

alternatives, including projected effects on workers and the public

from construction, normal operation, and potential accidents.

2. Impacts from releases to air, water, and soil.

3. Impacts to plants, animals, and habitat, including impacts to

wetlands, and threatened or endangered species and their habitat.

4. The consumption of natural resources and energy including water,

natural gas, and electricity.

5. Impacts of the transportation of construction and operation

supplies, materials, equipment, products, and wastes to, from, and

within the site.

6. Socioeconomic impacts to affected communities from construction

and operation labor forces and support services.

7. Environmental Justice: disproportionately high or adverse human

health and environmental effects on minority and low-income

populations.

8. Impacts to cultural resources such as historic, archaeological,

scientific, or culturally important sites.

9. Accuracy of projected waste volumes.

10. Status of compliance with applicable Federal, state, and local

statutes and regulations.

11. Cumulative impacts from the proposed action and other past,

present, and reasonably foreseeable actions at the Savannah River Site.

12. Potential irreversible and irretrievable commitments of

resources.

13. Pollution prevention, waste minimization, and potential

mitigative measures.