[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4607-4608]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-1754]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Environmental Restoration and Waste Management; Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of opportunity for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy is giving the public the opportunity
to comment on proposed modifications to the title and scope of the
Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement. The Department proposes to modify the
scope and name of the Environmental Restoration and Waste Management
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS). The proposed action
would focus primarily on the evaluation and analysis of waste
management issues confronting the Department and would be renamed the
Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.
DATES: To ensure that the public's concerns and views are fully
considered, DOE is providing a 45-day written comment period that will
extend until March 10, 1995, to comment on the proposed modification to
the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.
ADDRESSES AND FURTHER INFORMATION: Written comments and requests for
further information on the Environmental Restoration and Waste
Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement should be
directed to: James A. Turi, Office of Waste Management (EM-33), U.S.
[[Page 4608]] Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585-0002, (301) 903-7147. For information on the
Department's National Environmental Policy Act process, contact: Carol
M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Oversight (EH-25), U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC
20585, (202) 586-4600 or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 22, 1990, the Department of
Energy issued a Notice of Intent to prepare the Environmental
Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement (PEIS) (55 FR 42633). In the Notice of Intent and in an
Implementation Plan issued in January 1994, the Department identified
the proposed action as follows: ``to formulate and implement an
integrated environmental restoration and waste management program in a
safe and environmentally sound manner and in compliance with applicable
laws, regulations and standards.'' The Notice of Intent and the
Implementation Plan identified two separate sets of alternatives to be
evaluated, for environmental restoration and for waste management.
The Department attempted to meaningfully analyze the environmental
restoration alternatives that it originally defined as part of the
``proposed action.'' After considerable effort, the Department has
concluded that it would not be appropriate to make programmatic
decisions regarding cleanup strategies that would be applicable to all
of the Department's sites. The fundamental reasoning behind the
Department's conclusion is that cleanup decisions should reflect site-
specific conditions, and, in any event, can only be reached with the
approval of state and federal regulators and the involvement of the
public. It would be inconsistent with the site-specific nature of
cleanup decisions, therefore, to make these decisions under this PEIS
that would be implemented nationwide.
Accordingly, the Department proposes to eliminate the analysis of
environmental restoration alternatives and to modify the proposed
action. As modified, the PEIS would consider how to manage the subject
wastes and analyze alternative sites at which the wastes could be
managed in the future. The PEIS would focus its programmatic
evaluations on waste management facilities, and would henceforth be
known as the ``Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement.'' As previously set forth in the Implementation Plan, the
PEIS would evaluate decentralized, regional, and centralized approaches
for storage of high-level waste; treatment and storage of transuranic
waste; treatment and disposal of low-level and low level mixed waste;
and treatment of hazardous waste. Waste generated by restoration
activities in the future that must be managed as part of the
Department's program to manage all of its wastes would be considered in
the PEIS's projected waste inventories. The draft PEIS is currently
scheduled for publication in late spring of 1995.
In the October 22, 1990, Notice of Intent in the Federal Register,
the Department of Energy discussed the preparation of a Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement based on formulating and implementing an
integrated environmental restoration and waste management program in a
safe and environmentally sound manner and in compliance with applicable
requirements. The Notice of Intent stated that the purpose of the
integrated environmental restoration and waste management program was
to provide a broad, systematic approach to addressing site cleanup and
waste management. Although the proposed action was defined in terms of
integrating environmental restoration and waste management, the
description of the alternatives in the Implementation Plan set forth
separate sets of alternatives for environmental restoration and waste
management.
When the Department published the Notice of Intent in 1990, there
were important national issues regarding the direction of its
environmental restoration program that could be meaningfully evaluated
in the PEIS. These issues focused primarily on the level and extent of
cleanup of the Department's facilities. The Department continues to
believe that cleanup of its sites involves important issues such as
land use, public health, worker risks, and cleanup standards. The
Department has concluded, however, that programmatic decisions
regarding environmental restoration cannot be made because these
decisions should reflect the particular conditions at each site, and
require the approval of state regulators and the involvement of
stakeholders. The Department believes that the proposed action
originally considered in the PEIS should be modified by eliminating the
analysis of environmental restoration alternatives. In view of this
modification the PEIS would be renamed the ``Waste Management
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.''
The modified proposed action would focus on the evaluation and
analysis of waste management issues confronting the Department and
would incorporate potential impacts of environmental restoration on the
management of wastes. The Department believes the proposed action as
modified will identify and analyze waste management issues and
activities for which the Department is responsible. A summary of the
comments received in response to this notice will be contained in an
appendix to the draft Waste Management Programmatic Environmental
Impact Statement. Comments previously received during the public
comment process on the scope of the PEIS that are still relevant in
light of the proposed modification to the PEIS, and the issues raised
by such comments, would be evaluated as discussed in the Implementation
Plan. Comments on the scope of the PEIS that are relevant to other
analyses being conducted in connection with site-specific environmental
restoration at DOE's sites will be considered in the preparation of
those analyses.
Issued in Washington, D.C., on January 18, 1995.
Thomas P. Grumbly,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 95-1754 Filed 1-23-95; 8:45 am]
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