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.

ACTION: Amended notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) is announcing a revised

schedule for its preparation of a Draft Supplemental Environmental

Impact Statement (SEIS) for the National Ignition Facility portion

(Volume III, Appendix I) of the Programmatic Environmental Impact

Statement for Stockpile Stewardship and Management (DOE/EIS-0236;

September, 1997). This Draft 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.

Richardson, Civ. No. 97-936 (SS) (D.D.C.).

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 to Richard A. Scott,

Document Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, L-293, 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: In a September 25, 1998, Federal Register

notice (63 FR 51341), DOE announced that it expected to publish a

Notice of Availability for the Draft SEIS in the Federal Register in

December 1998. DOE now intends to publish the Notice of Availability no

later than November 30, 1999. DOE has delayed the issuance of the Draft

SEIS pending completion of a new investigation that was initiated in

December 1998, in response to the discovery of contamination by

polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in soil that had been excavated from

the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's East Traffic Circle, which

is one of the areas covered by the Joint Stipulation and Order. After

the discovery of the contaminated soil, DOE on December 23, 1998,

notified the court and the plaintiffs in NRDC v. Richardson of the

discovery; stated that the contaminated soil was being removed in

accordance with applicable laws and regulations; and explained that a

new investigation would be conducted into the extent of the

contamination, and that DOE would delay issuance of the Draft SEIS

pending the results of the new investigation.

Since then, DOE has filed two Quarterly Reports with the court, on

March 24 and June 22, 1999, describing the progress that it has made in

conducting the investigation and in analyzing its results for

incorporation into the environmental impact analyses that will be

included in the Draft SEIS. Copies of those Quarterly Reports, and of

DOE's December 23, 1998 notice mentioned above, are available at the

DOE Oakland Operations Office Public Reading Room on the first floor of

the Federal Building, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA; at the Lawrence

Livermore National Laboratory Environmental Repository Public Reading

Room, East Gate Visitors Center, Greenville Road, Livermore, CA; at the

DOE Freedom of Information Act Public Reading Room, 1000 Independence

Ave, SW, Washington, DC; or by calling Richard A. Scott at the

telephone number provided above.

Issued in Washington, DC on July 30, 1999.

Jonathan S. Ventura,

Acting Executive Assistant, Office of Defense Programs.

[FR Doc. 99-20143 Filed 8-4-99; 8:45 am]

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