[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 104 (Friday, May 30, 1997)] [Notices] [Pages 29332-29335] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 97-14168] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement; Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of intent. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare a Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for its Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM), a DOE research and development laboratory located on Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The SWEIS will address operations and activities that DOE foresees at SNL/NM for approximately the next 10 years. The U.S. Air Force will participate as a cooperating agency. The purpose of this Notice is to invite public participation in the process and to encourage public dialogue on alternatives that should be considered. DATES: The DOE invites other Federal agencies, Native American tribes, State and local governments, and the general public to comment on the scope of this SWEIS. The public scoping period starts with the publication of this Notice in the Federal Register and will continue until July 14, 1997. DOE will consider all comments received or postmarked by that date in defining the scope of this SWEIS. Comments received or postmarked after that date will be considered to the extent practicable. Public scoping meetings are scheduled to be held as follows: June 23, 1997, 1:00 p.m.-4:00pm and 6:00 p.m.-9:00pm, UNM Continuing Education Conference Center, 1634 University Blvd. NE; Albuquerque, NM The purpose of these meetings is to receive oral and written comments from the public. The meetings will use a format to facilitate dialogue between DOE and the public and will provide an opportunity for individuals to provide written or oral statements. The DOE will publish additional notices on the date, times, and location of the scoping meetings in local newspapers in advance of the scheduled meetings. Any necessary changes will be announced in the local media. In addition to providing oral comments at the public scoping meetings, all interested parties are invited to record their comments, ask questions concerning the SNL/NM SWEIS, or request to be placed on the SNL/NM SWEIS mailing or document distribution list by leaving a message on the SNL/NM SWEIS Hotline at (toll free) [[Page 29333]] 1-888-635-7305. The Hotline will have instructions on how to record your comments and requests. ADDRESSES: Written comments or suggestions concerning the scope of the SNL/NM SWEIS should be directed to: Ms. Donna A. Bergman, U.S. Department of Energy, Albuquerque Operations Office, P.O. Box 5400, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87185-5444, or by facsimile at (505) 845-6392. For express delivery services, the appropriate address is Pennsylvania and H Streets, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, NM 87116. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the SWEIS and the public scoping process, contact Donna Bergman at the address and facsimile number listed above. For information on DOE's NEPA process, please contact: Carol Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585. Ms. Borgstrom can be reached at (202) 586-4600, by facsimile at (202) 586-7031, or by leaving a message at 1-800-472-2756. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Invitation to Comment The public is invited to participate in the scoping process and is encouraged to comment on the preliminary alternatives and issues identified for the SNL/NM SWEIS. Availability of Scoping Documents Copies of all written comments and transcripts of all oral comments will be available at the following location: Albuquerque Technical- Vocational Institute (TVI), Montoya Campus Library, 4700 Morris NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87111. SNL/NM's Mission DOE is responsible for the Federal Government's nuclear weapons program, research and development of energy technologies, and basic science research. SNL/NM is one of DOE's primary research, development, and test laboratories. It was established in 1947 to support the U.S. weapons development program. Its purpose was to organize and perform engineering activities for development of nuclear and nonnuclear weapons; testing of new designs; and surveillance tests. Today, it remains one of the three national laboratories in DOE's nuclear weapons complex. Responsibilities in support of nuclear weapons activities include design, certification, and assessment of non-nuclear subsystems of nuclear weapons; systems integration; safety, security, reliability, and use control; direction and support to production plants regarding issues associated with production and dismantlement of nuclear weapons; production and/or acquisition of weapons components; surveillance and support of weapons in the stockpile; and work in nuclear intelligence, nonproliferation, and treaty verification technologies. Nonweapons research and science services are provided in areas including waste management, environmental restoration, hazardous and radioactive material transportation, energy efficiency and renewable energy, nuclear energy, fossil energy, magnetic fusion, basic energy sciences, and biological and environmental research. Additional activities include energy and environment technologies; other engineering research; and work-for-others. SNL/NM operations are located primarily in five technical areas (TA) and the Coyote Test Facility, all of which are surrounded by KAFB. Activities/operations in specific areas are as follows: TA I--Manufacturing/production activities, such as the microelectronics development laboratory and the neutron generator facility; environmental testing; facilities engineering; laboratory space; office space. TA II--Light laboratory activities; environmental restoration. TA III--Field test facilities; explosives testing operations; destructive testing operations; high energy testing operations. TA IV--Radiation effects experimentation; accelerator operations [high-energy radiation megavolt electron source (HERMES), x-ray source (Saturn)]; electromagnetic analysis. TA V--Nuclear safety and system analysis; Annular Core Research Reactor; Gamma Irradiation Facility; radioisotope production (molybdenum-99). Coyote Test Facility--Explosives testing; thermal testing; shock/ blast testing; and large scale impact testing. SNL/NM has an annual budget of approximately $1 billion and employs approximately 8,700 people. SNL/NM is surrounded by KAFB, and occupies 2,842 acres owned by the DOE and an additional 15,003 acres that have been made available through a series of land use agreements or permits. Missions of Other DOE-funded Operations on KAFB In addition to SNL/NM, there are several other DOE-funded facilities located on KAFB. There are no planned changes in the level or type of activities at these facilities. The environmental impacts of these operations will be included in the discussion of cumulative impacts in the EIS. DOE welcomes comments on this approach. A summary of each facility follows. Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, formerly the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, began in the 1960s as a research team for determining the long-term health impacts of inhaling radioactive particles, and has since become a recognized center for inhalation toxicology and related fields. Central Training Academy ensures the efficient and effective training of safeguards and security personnel from throughout the DOE who are, or may become, involved in the protection of materials and facilities vital to the nation's defense. Transportation Safeguards Division (TSD) coordinates, implements, and operates the DOE Safeguards Program for strategic quantities of government-owned special nuclear material. TSD coordinates and plans weapons distribution with the Department of Defense and coordinates special nuclear material shipments for all DOE field offices. Allied-Signal Kirtland Operations is an applied science and engineering organization engaged in research, analysis, testing, and field operations. A major portion of this work is in the design, fabrication, and testing of electro-optic and recording systems for capturing fast transient signals. Ross Aviation is the DOE's support contractor providing air cargo and passenger service. Ross transports cargo between production plants, national laboratories, test sites, and military facilities and provides special passenger and cargo flights on request. The DOE/Albuquerque complex is a series of office buildings with approximately 1,200 Federal and contractor employees. The Energy Training Center is a small office complex that includes classrooms for DOE training. The Role of the SWEIS in the DOE NEPA Compliance Strategy The SWEIS will be prepared pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and the DOE NEPA regulations (10 CFR Part 1021). The DOE has a policy (10 CFR 1021.330) to prepare SWEISs for certain large, multiple-facility sites, such as SNL/NM. The purpose of a SWEIS is to provide [[Page 29334]] DOE and its stakeholders with an analysis of the environmental impacts caused by ongoing and reasonably foreseeable new operations and facilities and reasonable alternatives at a DOE site, to provide a basis for site-wide decision making, and to improve and coordinate agency plans, functions, programs, and resource utilization. The SWEIS provides an overall NEPA baseline so that the environmental effects of proposed future changes in programs and activities can be compared with the baseline. A SWEIS also enables DOE to ``tier'' its NEPA documents at a site so as to eliminate repetitive discussion of the same issues in future project-specific NEPA studies, and to focus on the actual issues ready for decisions at each level of environmental review. The NEPA process allows for Federal, Native American, state and local government, and public participation in the environmental review process. The Environmental Impact Assessment, Sandia Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico [EIA/MA 77-1], May 1977, is the existing site- wide environmental document for SNL/NM. Since that time, several additional NEPA documents have been prepared for specific projects, including one EIS, and various environment assessments. Related NEPA Reviews The following is a list of recent NEPA documentation that affects the scope of this SWEIS. The summaries below are intended to familiarize the reader with the purpose of these other NEPA reviews and how SNL/NM is considered in them. Programmatic NEPA Reviews The Draft Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) (DOE/EIS-0200) analyzes the DOE plan to formulate and implement a national integrated waste management program. SNL/NM is being considered as a possible regional site for the disposal of low- level waste and low-level mixed waste. The Final PEIS is expected to be available to the public in June. Nonnuclear Consolidation Environmental Assessment [DOE/EA-0792]. A Finding of No Significant Impact on the Consolidation of the Nonnuclear Component within the Nuclear Weapons Complex was signed on September 8, 1993. The following decisions regarding SNL/NM were made at that time and have since been implemented: --Neutron Generators and Thermal Batteries: The existing technology base for neutron generators will be maintained at SNL/NM. Existing research, development and technology and prototyping capability at SNL/ NM will be augmented to provide a limited manufacturing capability for future advanced design neutron generators. The technology base for the manufacture of thermal batteries will be transferred to existing facilities at SNL/NM. --Detonators: The existing research, development, and technology base for low-power explosives components will be maintained at SNL/NM. Stockpile Stewardship and Management PEIS [DOE/EIS-0236]. A Record of Decision was signed by the Secretary of Energy on December 19, 1996. Inherent in the many decisions made in the ROD was to continue the operations of the three national weapons laboratories, SNL/NM being one of the three. The Record of Decision emphasized that stockpile stewardship is an essential program to maintain the safety and reliability of the stockpile in the absence of underground nuclear testing, therefore requiring enhanced experimental capabilities in the future. Project NEPA Reviews Medical Isotopes Production Project: Molybdenum-99 and Related Isotopes Environmental Impact Statement [DOE/EIS-0249F]. The Record of Decision for this EIS was signed on September 11, 1996. The decision made was to produce Mo-99 and related isotopes at the Annular Core Research Reactor and Hot Cell Facility at SNL/NM. Environmental Assessment of the Environmental Restoration Project at Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico [DOE/EA-1140]. A Finding of No Significant Impact was signed on March 25, 1996. This EA analyzed the environmental restoration site characterization and waste cleanup activities for an estimated 157 solid waste management units or SWMUs at SNL/NM. Preliminary Alternatives The scoping process is an opportunity for the public to assist the DOE in determining the alternatives and issues for analysis. DOE welcomes specific comments or suggestions on the content of these alternatives, or on other alternatives that could be considered. DOE is proposing to continue current operations at SNL/NM. Two preliminary alternatives were identified during internal scoping: the No Action alternative and the Expanded Operations alternative. DOE also considered a Reduced Operations alternative. However, current activities at SNL/NM are at the minimum level of operations needed to protect the technical capability and competency to support the site's assigned missions. Therefore, the Department plans to include the Reduced Operations alternative in the EIS as an alternative considered but eliminated from further analysis. No Action. NEPA regulations require analysis of the No Action alternative to provide a benchmark for comparison with environmental effects of the other alternatives. The No Action alternative would continue current facility operations throughout SNL/NM in support of assigned missions, and for this SWEIS, it is also the proposed action. With respect to the Defense Programs mission, the future role of SNL/NM was defined at the programmatic level by the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SSM PEIS) Record of Decision (ROD) (61 FR 68014) (December 26, 1996). In the SSM PEIS, SNL/NM had been considered as an alternative location for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) and for relocation of non-nuclear fabrication functions from the Department's Kansas City Plant. Additionally, the SSM PEIS noted that a pre-decisional facility, the Advanced Radiation Source (X-1), might, at some time in the future, be considered for location at SNL/NM or other sites. The ROD located neither the NIF nor the Kansas City Plant functions at SNL/NM, and stated that if DOE were to propose to construct and operate such next- generation facilities as the X-1 in the future, appropriate NEPA review would be performed. Therefore, the programmatic mission defined by the SSM ROD for SNL/NM is continued operation with the current mission and functions. There are no planned programmatic mission changes in the non-Defense Programs mission areas. Expanded Operations. This alternative would reflect an increase in facility operations to the highest levels that can be supported by current facilities. This could require construction projects to address safety, security and environmental compliance as well as to support reconfiguration of facility equipment and operations to optimize use of current facilities' capabilities. This alternative will set the bounding conditions for assessing the environmental impacts. Preliminary Issues Identified by Internal Scoping The issues listed below have been identified for analysis in this SWEIS as being applicable to the operation of SNL/NM. The list is tentative and is [[Page 29335]] intended to facilitate public comment on the scope of this SWEIS. It is not intended to be all-inclusive, nor does it imply any predetermination of potential impacts. The SWEIS will describe the potential environmental impacts of the alternatives, using available data where possible and obtaining additional data where necessary. In accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR 1500.4 and 1502.21), other documents, as appropriate, may be incorporated into the impacts analyses by reference, in whole or in part. DOE specifically welcomes suggestions and comments for the addition or deletion of items on this list. --Potential effects on the public and workers from exposures to radiological and hazardous materials during normal operations and from reasonably postulated accidents, including aircraft crashes; --Potential effect on air and groundwater quality from normal operations and potential accidents; --Potential cumulative effects of past, present, and future operations at SNL/NM (this SWEIS will include effects of current and reasonably foreseeable federal actions on KAFB). --Effects on waste management practices and activities, including pollution prevention, waste minimization, and waste stream characterization --Potential impacts of noise levels to the ambient environment and sensitive receptors; and --Potential impacts on land use plans, policies, and controls. Classified Material DOE will review classified material while preparing this SWEIS. Within the limits of classification, DOE will provide to the public as much information as possible. Any classified material DOE needs to use to explain the purpose and need for action, or the uses, materials, or impacts analyzed in this SWEIS, will be segregated into a classified appendix or supplement. Issued in Washington, D.C., this 23 day of May 1997, for the United States Department of Energy. Peter N. Brush, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health. [FR Doc. 97-14168 Filed 5-29-97; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P