[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 175 (Friday, September 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 55890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23087]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Cancellation of Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for
Ancillary Facilities for the Richton Site of the Strategic Petroleum
Reserve
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of Cancellation.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the cancellation
of a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for certain
facilities associated with the 2007 selection of Richton, Mississippi,
as the location of a new storage site for expanding the Strategic
Petroleum Reserve (SPR). In April 2011, Congress rescinded all funding
for the SPR expansion project.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the cancellation of
the SEIS, contact Donald Silawsky, Acting Director, Office of Reserve
Lands Management (FE-47), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence
Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585, e-mail [email protected],
telephone 202-586-1892. For general information on the DOE NEPA
process, contact Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy
and Compliance (GC-54), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence
Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, telephone 202-586-4600 or leave a
message at 800-472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT, Pub.
L. 109-58) directed DOE to expand the SPR from its current 727 million-
barrel capacity to 1 billion barrels. To fulfill the requirements of
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for this expansion
project, DOE prepared an environmental impact statement for the Site
Selection for the Expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (DOE/
EIS-0385). In a Record of Decision (ROD) (72 FR 7964; February 22,
2007), DOE announced its selection of Richton, Mississippi, as the
location of a new SPR facility as part of the expansion project.
After selecting the Richton site, DOE engaged in further
consultations with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality,
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other governmental entities. As a
result of those consultations, and to reduce project impacts, DOE
proposed alternative sites from those announced in the ROD for some of
the ancillary facilities associated with the Richton site: the raw
water intake structure, oil terminal, and brine diffuser. DOE
determined that alternative locations for those ancillary facilities
would present substantial changes to the proposal as analyzed in DOE/
EIS-0385 that would be relevant to environmental concerns. DOE
published a Notice of Intent to prepare an SEIS to analyze the impacts
of potential new locations for the ancillary facilities associated with
the Richton site (73 FR 11895; March 5, 2008) and conducted public
scoping.
On February 1, 2010, the President submitted a budget request to
Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 that included no new funding to
continue SPR expansion efforts and proposed cancellation of previously
appropriated expansion funds. In April 2011, Congress passed, and the
President signed, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing
Appropriations Act, 2011 (Pub. L. 112-10). Sections 1440 and 1464 of
that Act rescinded all unspent balances of prior year funds that had
been appropriated for SPR expansion. The President's FY 2012 budget
includes no funds for SPR expansion.
With prior appropriated funds rescinded, and no new funds proposed,
the SPR expansion project is effectively terminated. DOE is therefore
cancelling the preparation of the SEIS for the ancillary facilities of
the SPR expansion project at the Richton Site (DOE/EIS-0385-S1).
Issued in Washington, DC, on September 1, 2011.
David F. Johnson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Petroleum Reserves.
[FR Doc. 2011-23087 Filed 9-8-11; 8:45 am]
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