Notice of Wetlands and Floodplain Involvement for Siting, Construction, and Operation of the Spallation Neutron Source

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Wetlands and Floodplain Involvement for Siting,

Construction, and Operation of the Spallation Neutron Source

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Wetland and Floodplain Involvement.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to site,

construct, and operate a Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). The proposed

SNS facility would consist of a proton accelerator system; a spallation

target; and appropriate experimental areas, laboratories, offices, and

support facilities to allow ongoing and expanded programs of neutron

research. DOE has identified four alternative sites for this project:

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (the preferred

alternative); Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois; Los

Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico; and Brookhaven

National Laboratory, Upton, New York.

The proposed sites at ORNL and ANL include small wetlands. In

addition, a portion of the site at ANL lies within a 100-year

floodplain. In accordance with DOE regulations for floodplain and

wetlands environmental review (10 CFR part 1022), DOE will prepare a

wetland/floodplain assessment and will perform this proposed action in

a manner so as to avoid or minimize potential harm to or within the

affected wetlands and floodplain. This assessment will address

potential mitigation measures and practicable siting alternatives and

will be included in the EIS. The Statement of Findings will be

incorporated in the Final EIS.

DATES: Within the next few months, a Draft Environmental Impact

Statement (DEIS) for the Spallation Neutron Source will be issued for

public comment for a period of at least 45 days. Comments in response

to this Notice may be submitted to the address below at any time

through the end of the DEIS public comment period.

ADDRESSES: Please direct comments to: David K. Wilfert, U.S. Department

of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, 200 Administration Road, 146/

FEDC, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, telephone: (800) 927-9964, facsimile:

(423) 576-4542, or e-mail [email protected]

For general NEPA information, please contact Carol Borgstrom, U.S.

Department of Energy, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance, 1000

Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585, telephone: (202) 586-

4600.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information associated

with the Spallation Neutron Source, please contact: Jeffrey C. Hoy, SNS

Program Manager, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Energy

Research, U.S. Department of Energy, ER-13, Germantown, MD 20874-1290,

telephone: (301) 903-4924. Further information on this proposed action

and wetlands assessment can be obtained from David K. Wilfert at the

above address.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed SNS facility would consist of a

proton accelerator system, a spallation source to produce neutron

pulses, and appropriate experimental areas, laboratories, offices, and

support facilities to allow ongoing and expanded programs of neutron

research. DOE proposes to construct and operate the SNS at one of four

alternative sites in the United States. The preferred alternative being

evaluated in the EIS is to construct the SNS at the Oak Ridge National

Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Other alternative locations

for the SNS included in the EIS are Argonne National Laboratory (ANL),

Argonne, Illinois; Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos,

New Mexico; and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, New York.

Construction of the SNS at the proposed ORNL site would involve the

taking of two small palustrine emergent wetlands on the Chestnut Ridge

construction site. These two wetlands have a combined area of 0.05

hectares (0.12 acres). One of these small wetlands is an emergent

wetland in an isolated depression. It is adjacent to another small

wetland that lies immediately adjacent to Chestnut Ridge Road near

where it crosses White Oak Creek. The depression does not appear to

have a surface outlet to the swale or to nearby White Oak Creek.

Upgrades needed to Chestnut Ridge Road and the laying of a gas pipeline

would encroach on these areas and result in the loss of the 0.05

hectares of wetlands. A third wetland with an area of 0.65 hectares

(1.6 acres) could receive increased runoff and siltation during

construction activities. Appropriate runoff mitigation measures would

be employed to minimize any effects to this wetland.

As proposed, construction of the SNS at the ANL alternative site

would involve the loss of a 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) of palustrine

emergent wetlands that would lie within the proposed SNS facility

footprint at ANL. In accordance with Section 404 of the Federal Clean

Water Act, a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be

sought for construction in these wetlands and for possible plans to

mitigate the losses as necessary, should the SNS be built at the ANL

site.

In accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain

and wetlands environmental review requirements (10 CFR part 1022), DOE

will prepare a floodplain and wetlands assessment for this proposed DOE

action. The assessment and a floodplain statement of findings will be

included in the environmental impact statement being prepared for the

proposed project in accordance with the National Environmental Policy

Act.

Issued in Washington, DC, this 22d day of October, 1998.

Martha A. Krebs,

Director, Office of Energy Research.

[FR Doc. 98-29438 Filed 11-2-98; 8:45 am]

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