Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile Stewardship and Management

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Programmatic

Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile Stewardship and Management

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy announces its intent to prepare and

issue a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the

National Ignition Facility (NIF) portion (Volume III, Appendix I) of

the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile

Stewardship and Management (DOE/EIS-0236; September, 1997). The SEIS is

being prepared pursuant to a Joint Stipulation and Order approved and

entered as an order of the Court on October 27, 1997, in partial

settlement of the lawsuit NRDC v. Pena, Civ. No. 97-936 (SS) (D.D.C.).

The scope of the SEIS was established by the Joint Stipulation and

Order and will cover, ``the reasonably foreseeable significant adverse

environmental impacts of continuing to construct and of operating NIF

at LLNL with respect to any potential or confirmed contamination in the

area by hazardous, toxic, and/or radioactive materials.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this

SEIS or to be placed on the document distribution list, please call,

toll-free, (877) 388-4930 or call or write Charles A. Taylor as

indicated below: Charles A. Taylor, Document Manager, U.S. Department

of Energy, L-293, 7000 East Avenue, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, CA 94550,

Phone (925) 423-3022, Facsimile (925) 424-3755.

For information about the DOE National Environmental Policy Act

(NEPA) process, please contact: Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of

NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000

Independence Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0119, Phone: (202) 586-4600,

Messages: (800) 472-2756, Facsimile: (202) 586-7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was established

in 1952 as a multi-disciplinary research and development center,

operated by the University of California for the Department of Energy.

LLNL is located in Livermore, California, about 40 miles southeast of

San Francisco, California. LLNL consists of two portions, the main site

in Livermore and the 300 Area near Tracy, California. The NIF is being

constructed at the LLNL main site.

The National Ignition Facility is a part of the DOE's development

of science-based, rather than underground nuclear test-based,

stewardship of the nuclear weapons stockpile. In NIF, nuclear fusion of

very small amounts of hydrogen isotopes is expected to be achieved

using the energy inherent in laser light. The environmental

consequences of construction and operation of NIF were addressed in

detail in Appendix I of the Stockpile Stewardship and Management

Programmatic EIS (SSM PEIS). The SSM PEIS addressed alternative plans

for DOE's defense program activities related to nuclear weapons

stockpile issues at several DOE laboratories, including LLNL. The

Record of Decision (ROD) for the SSM PEIS was published in the Federal

Register on December 26, 1996 (61 FR 68014). In the ROD, DOE announced

a decision to proceed with construction and operation of NIF at LLNL.

Ground-breaking for NIF occurred on May 29, 1997. Construction of the

NIF is on-going and is expected to be completed by October 2003.

During site excavation for NIF in September 1997, buried electrical

capacitors containing polychlorinated biphenyls and other items (buried

drums that on analysis contained no hazardous, toxic and/or radioactive

material) were discovered at the site. Several of the capacitors had

leaked, contaminating surrounding soil. The capacitors and surrounding

soil were cleaned up in accordance with State and Federal regulations.

The possibility of such an event was unforeseen and therefore not

addressed in the SSM PEIS. On September 22, 1997, the plaintiffs in

NRDC v. Pena filed a motion under Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of

Civil Procedure, in which they alleged that DOE knew but did not

adequately analyze and disclose the risk of building NIF in an area

that may contain buried hazardous, toxic, and/or radioactive waste. DOE

denied the allegations in the plaintiffs' motion. In the Joint

Stipulation and Order, which settled all claims in the plaintiffs' Rule

60(b) motion, DOE agreed to conduct a full evaluation of any potential

risks to the human environment resulting from continuing to construct

and operating the NIF at LLNL. Subsequent characterization activities

that DOE conducted pursuant to the Joint Stipulation and Order, in

order to determine if hazardous, toxic, and/or radioactive materials

were buried in the northeast corner of LLNL, are complete. The results

of these activities will be analyzed in the SEIS. Progress of the

characterization activities was documented to the Court in the form of

Quarterly Reports. These Quarterly Reports, along with a copy of the

Joint Stipulation and Order is available at the LLNL Public Reading

Room, East Gate Visitors Center, Greenville Road, Livermore, CA, or by

calling Charles Taylor at the phone number provided at the beginning of

this notice.

II. SEIS Schedule

In light of the Court's direction for the scope of this

Supplemental EIS, no scoping meeting will be held. However, comments

are welcome; please send comments to Charles Taylor at the address

above. DOE expects to publish a Notice of Availability for the Draft

SEIS in the Federal Register in December 1998. Public comments on the

Draft SEIS will be received during a comment period of at least 45 days

following publication of the Notice of Availability. The Notice of

Availability will provide dates for public meetings that will be held

in Livermore, California and Washington, DC approximately 30 days after

the Notice of Availability is published. The draft and final SEIS will

not contain any classified data.

Issued in Washington, DC on September 21, 1998.

Peter N. Brush,

Acting Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.

[FR Doc. 98-25718 Filed 9-24-98; 8:45 am]

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