[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 150 (Friday, August 5, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-19149]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: August 5, 1994]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

 

Intent to Prepare A Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site Golden, CO

AGENCY: United States Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of Intent (NOI).

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SUMMARY: DOE announces its intent to prepare a Site-wide Environmental 
Impact Statement (SWEIS) for the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology 
Site (formerly known as the Rocky Flats Plant) located near Golden in 
Jefferson County, CO. The SWEIS is being prepared pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), as amended (42 USC 4321 et 
seq.), and in accordance with the Council on Environmental Quality 
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA (40 CFR 
Parts 1500-1508) and the DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 
1021).

DATES: The public scoping period begins with the publication of this 
NOI and will continue until September 6, 1994. Written comments 
postmarked by that date will be considered in the preparation of the 
SWEIS. Comments postmarked after that date will be considered to the 
extent practicable.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or suggestions on the scope of the SWEIS or 
the issues to be addressed should be submitted to: Ms. Beth Brainard-
Jordan, Office of Communications and Economic Development (T117A), U.S. 
Department of Energy, Rocky Flats Field Office, P.O. Box 928, Golden, 
CO 80402-0928 (Envelopes should be marked ``SWEIS.'')

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the Rocky 
Flats SWEIS, please contact: Ms. Patricia Powell, NEPA Compliance 
Officer, Environmental Guidance Division (T-117), U.S. Department of 
Energy, Rocky Flats Field Office, P.O. Box 928, Golden, CO 80402-0928, 
Telephone number: 1-303-966-3260 .
    For general information on the DOE NEPA review process, please 
contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Oversight 
(EH-25), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., 
Washington, DC 20585, Telephone number: 1-202-586-4600 or leave a 
message at 1-800-472-2756.
    Addresses of reading rooms where additional SWEIS information is 
available are listed under Public Scoping Process, below.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Rocky Flats, a Federal Government-owned, 
contractor-operated facility near Golden, Colorado, began operations in 
1952. The site's primary mission was the production of component parts 
for nuclear weapons. Key production activities involved the fabrication 
of parts from plutonium, uranium, and nonradioactive metals, such as 
beryllium, stainless steel, and aluminum. Components made at Rocky 
Flats were shipped elsewhere for assembly. Components from obsolete 
nuclear weapons were disassembled and processed to recover plutonium 
and americium (a by-product of plutonium radioactive decay). Enriched 
uranium components were separated and shipped elsewhere for recycling. 
In support of weapon component fabrication, Rocky Flats operated 
facilities for the storage, treatment, and transport of waste; chemical 
laboratories; research and development facilities; and special support 
operations for other DOE facilities.
    In the process of fulfilling its national security mission, Rocky 
Flats generated waste materials that have contaminated soils, 
groundwater, and surface water with chemical and radioactive 
substances. In 1989, Rocky Flats was placed on the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's National Priorities List under the Comprehensive 
Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, as 
amended. Cleanup, decontamination, and restoration of Rocky Flats is 
part of DOE's overall commitment to properly and safely manage sites 
under DOE's stewardship and to reduce or eliminate risks to the 
environment and public health and safety. These activities are being 
conducted at Rocky Flats under an Interagency Agreement regarding the 
remedial cleanup of Rocky Flats between DOE, the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, and the Colorado Department of Health. This 
agreement is currently under renegotiation as the Rocky Flats Cleanup 
Agreement.
    Rocky Flats will have completed a transition from a weapons complex 
site to one that has predominantly an environmental restoration and 
waste management mission by the end of fiscal year 1994 (September 30, 
1994). The only weapons complex function still performed by the 
facility is the manufacture of a number of nonnuclear parts for nuclear 
weapons. As a result of the recent decision to consolidate the weapons 
complex nonnuclear manufacturing activities, the remaining weapons 
complex activities at the site will be terminated at the end of fiscal 
year 1994, and will be moved to the Department's Kansas City Plant. 
Thus, the new mission of the site will be to clean up and convert Rocky 
Flats to beneficial uses in a manner that is safe, environmentally and 
socially responsible, physically secure and cost-effective. In light of 
these changes, the name of the facility has recently been changed from 
the Rocky Flats Plant to the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site.
    As defined in the DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures, a SWEIS is a 
broad-scope, programmatic NEPA document that identifies and assesses 
the individual and cumulative environmental effects of ongoing and 
reasonably foreseeable future actions at a DOE site. A SWEIS may be 
used to assess potential effects related to changes in overall 
operational mode or mission. Subsequent, project-specific NEPA 
documents may be tiered from a SWEIS, and general information included 
in the SWEIS can be incorporated by reference into project-specific 
NEPA documents.
    The Rocky Flats SWEIS is being prepared to update and replace the 
April 1980, Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Rocky Flats 
Plant Site (DOE/EIS-0064), and to provide a basis for selection of a 
site-wide strategic approach to implementing Rocky Flats' change in 
mission from production of nuclear weapons components to nuclear 
materials storage, waste management, cleanup, and economic conversion. 
The SWEIS will also support project level decisions within the next 5-
10 years regarding land use, management of nuclear materials, 
deactivation of Rocky Flats facilities, decontamination and 
decommissioning of existing facilities for conversion to beneficial 
uses, need for additional waste storage facilities, and possible onsite 
and offsite transportation of radioactive, hazardous and mixed wastes. 
This NOI provides a proposed action and two alternatives for public 
review and comment.
    This notice supersedes the NOI for the Rocky Flats SWEIS published 
at 56 FR 10548, March 13, 1991, and the NOI for the Plutonium Recovery 
Modification Project published at 55 FR 21919, May 22, 1990. As a 
result of the cancellation of nuclear weapons production at Rocky 
Flats, both the 1991 SWEIS NOI and the Plutonium Recovery Modification 
Project NOI no longer reflect Rocky Flats' current mission. 
Accordingly, both the 1991 SWEIS NOI and the Plutonium Recovery 
Modification Project NOI are withdrawn.
    Public Scoping Process: To ensure the SWEIS addresses the full 
range of issues and alternatives related to this proposal, DOE invites 
all interested parties, including the general public, to submit oral or 
written comments on the issues to be addressed and the alternatives to 
be analyzed in the SWEIS. Interested parties may submit written 
comments to Beth Brainard-Jordan at the address listed above, at 
facsimile number 1-303-966-6633, or at the public scoping meeting.
    DOE also invites all interested parties to present oral and/or 
written comments at the public scoping meeting scheduled for August 23, 
1994. In addition, parties are invited to offer comments or suggestions 
concerning the SWEIS by calling the Rocky Flats SWEIS telephone hotline 
at 1-800-801-2026. All written and oral comments will be recorded and 
given equal weight in preparation of the Draft SWEIS.
    The scoping process includes informal scoping workshops, which have 
begun and will continue until the close of the comment period. These 
workshops are designed to provide interested parties with an effective, 
informal mechanism for two-way communication with DOE. Dates, times, 
and locations of the workshops will be advertised locally in the 
Golden, CO, area.
    A public scoping meeting is being held to assist in defining the 
appropriate scope of the SWEIS and the significant environmental issues 
to be addressed. This meeting is scheduled for August 23, 1994, from 
2:00 to 4:30 P.M. and from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M., at the Arvada Center for 
the Arts and Humanities, 6901 Wadsworth Boulevard, Arvada, CO. This 
public scoping meeting will be conducted by a facilitator, and will not 
be a formal evidentiary hearing. The facilitator, DOE representatives, 
and members of the public present may ask for clarification of comments 
and statements. Requests to speak at the meeting and requests for 
additional information may be made by calling the toll-free telephone 
number 1-800-801-2026 or by facsimile at 1-303-832-9095. People may 
also register at the meeting to speak.
    To ensure that all interested parties have an opportunity to speak, 
five minutes will be allotted for each speaker. Depending on the number 
of persons requesting to speak, the facilitator may allow people to 
speak more than once or allot additional time for elected officials, 
organizations, or speakers representing multiple parties. Persons 
speaking on behalf of organizations should identify the name of the 
organization in their request to speak. Persons who have not submitted 
a request to speak in advance of the public scoping meeting, but who 
have registered at the meeting, will be called upon to speak in turn 
after the pre-registered speakers. Written comments will also be 
accepted at the meeting, and speakers are encouraged to provide written 
versions of their oral comments for the record.
    DOE is committed to providing opportunities for the involvement of 
interested individuals and groups in this and other DOE planning 
activities. DOE will publish additional information on the date and 
location of the public scoping meeting in local newspapers well in 
advance of the scheduled meeting date. If it becomes necessary to 
change the date, time or location of the public scoping meeting, the 
changes will be announced in appropriate media.
    DOE will record and prepare transcripts of the public scoping 
meeting comments. Interested parties will be able to review the 
transcripts, written comments, reference material, related NEPA 
documents, and background information on Rocky Flats during normal 
business hours at the following reading rooms:

The DOE Freedom of Information Room, Room 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 
1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, 1-202-586-6020
The Colorado Department of Health, 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South, 
Building B-2, Denver, CO 80222-1530, 1-303-692-2056
DOE Rocky Flats Public Reading Room, Front Range Community College 
Library, 3645 West 112th Avenue, Westminster, CO 80030, 1-303-469-4435
Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board, 9035 Wadsworth Parkway, Suite 
2250, Westminster, CO 80021, 1-303-420-7855
Standley Lake Library, 8485 Kipling Street, Arvada, CO 80005, 1-303-
456-0806
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Superfund Records Center, 999 
18th Street, 5th Floor, Denver, CO 80202-2405, 1-303-293-1807

    DOE will prepare a SWEIS Implementation Plan after completion of 
the public scoping process. The SWEIS Implementation Plan will be 
placed in the public reading rooms for review, and copies will be made 
available to the public upon request. The Implementation Plan will be a 
brief document that will provide guidance for the preparation of the 
SWEIS in accordance with 10 CFR 1021.312 and will include a discussion 
of the intended scope and content of the SWEIS; a summary of the 
comments received and their disposition; and target dates for 
completion of the Draft SWEIS, Final SWEIS, and issuance of a Record of 
Decision.
    Preliminary Alternatives: This section describes three preliminary 
alternatives that represent the spectrum of options available for 
future actions at Rocky Flats. Each alternative represents a broad 
direction regarding materials management, waste management, and site 
cleanup that DOE could take during the ten-year period after the 
issuance of a Record of Decision.
    DOE recognizes that there may be a need to redefine these 
alternatives and welcomes comments on the best way to accomplish this. 
The actions DOE chooses to implement, through the Record of Decision, 
may be composites of actions analyzed in the SWEIS alternatives. 
Proposed future actions that are not well enough defined to be analyzed 
in the SWEIS will be subject to separate NEPA review tiered from the 
SWEIS.
    Alternative 1--No Action: Analysis of the no action alternative 
provides a reference point for comparison with the environmental 
effects of the other alternatives analyzed. The No Action alternative 
would include ongoing activities and planned activities for which 
decisions have already been made to proceed. DOE will continue to 
conduct these activities as the SWEIS is being prepared.
    The ongoing activities included in the no action alternative are 
site cleanup and minor facility upgrades. Examples include:
     Transfer of non-nuclear weapons manufacturing to Kansas 
City
     Continuation of remediation under the Interagency 
Agreement
     Treatment and storage of onsite wastes up to currently 
approved limits
     Shipping wastes offsite to permitted disposal facilities 
that have agreed to accept the waste
     Maintenance activities
     Activities needed to support ongoing site programs and to 
safeguard nuclear material
    DOE is also considering certain proposed actions for which NEPA 
review may be completed during the preparation of the SWEIS. DOE may 
decide to proceed with actions for which NEPA review has been completed 
and which are allowable as interim actions during the preparation of 
the SWEIS (see limitations stated in 40 CFR 1506.1, for example). These 
actions would then become a part of the No Action alternative. Such 
planned activities may include:
     Consolidation of fissile materials storage locations
     Rehabilitation of site drainage ditches
     Actinide solution processing
     Construction of a storage facility for investigation-
derived material
    The no action alternative would not include cleanup activities and 
waste management activities that require new permits or facility 
upgrades that involve major expansions or modifications to existing 
buildings. Transfer of buildings or property to private ownership 
(economic conversion) would not be included in the no action 
alternative. Excluding these actions from this alternative provides the 
reference point that shows the effects of site operations with no major 
improvements or modifications.
    Analysis of the no action alternative is required by Council on 
Environmental Quality and DOE regulations.
    Alternative 2--Proposed Action: This alternative encompasses the 
activities addressed in Alternative 1 plus other actions necessary to 
meet environmental, regulatory, and security requirements and other 
mission objectives that would be taken within the ten years following 
the Record of Decision. The proposed action includes activities 
described in the Transition Plan Report to Congress, the Rocky Flats 
Strategic Plan, actions under discussion in connection with the Rocky 
Flats Cleanup Agreement that is currently being negotiated, and 
anticipated activities under the Federal Facility Compliance Act. 
Examples include, but are not limited to:
     Materials management--consolidate all non-waste materials
     Waste Management--store onsite and dispose of offsite; 
pretreat, if necessary
     Upgrade buildings to meet the new mission and current 
regulatory requirements
     Economic conversion to transfer buildings or property to 
private use or ownership
     Deactivation of onsite facilities
    Alternative 3: This alternative assumes that offsite disposal 
facilities may not be available as envisioned in current plans, and 
involves programs that would create suitable facilities for prolonged 
storage of waste and other materials. The onsite activities included in 
Alternative 2, with the exception of economic conversion, would be 
encompassed by this alternative plus the construction of onsite 
facilities suitable for storing nuclear materials and transuranic waste 
until offsite disposition is available. Low-level waste and mixed 
wastes would be disposed of onsite.
    This alternative is consistent with the current mission statement, 
but involves design and construction of additional prolonged onsite 
storage and disposal capacity.
    Preliminary Issues To Be Addressed: The SWEIS will address the 
impacts of the alternatives to the extent necessary to make a reasoned 
choice among the alternatives, using available data where possible and 
by obtaining new data where necessary. In accordance with Council on 
Environmental Quality regulations (40 CFR 1500.4 and 1502.21), other 
documents, as appropriate, may be incorporated into the impact analyses 
by reference, in whole or in part. The following preliminary issues are 
presented to facilitate public comment on the SWEIS. This presentation 
is not intended to be all-inclusive nor to be a predetermination of 
impacts to be considered.
    1. Land Use. The SWEIS will consider land use planning issues in 
consultation with the Citizen's Advisory Board, including economic 
conversion and potential land use restrictions based on residual 
contamination levels.
    2. Economic Conversion. The impacts of converting buildings onsite 
and portions of the buffer zone to private sector usage, including the 
impacts of decontaminating land and buildings for economic conversion.
    3. Environmental Restoration. The impacts of environmental 
restoration activities to remediate past releases to ground water, 
surface water, sediment, and soils.
    4. Waste Management. The impacts of management (treatment, storage, 
and disposal) of solid and liquid waste, including residues, non-
hazardous, hazardous, and mixed transuranic and low-level wastes.
    5. Pollution Prevention. The SWEIS will consider appropriate and 
innovative pollution prevention, waste minimization, and energy and 
water use reduction technologies, including eliminating or 
significantly reducing (a) acquisition of unnecessary hazardous 
substances; and (b) energy, water, and related environmental impacts by 
promoting use of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies.
    6. Nuclear Materials. The impacts of storage and management of 
nuclear materials until their disposition can be determined.
    7. Soil, Water, and Air. Potential impacts to soil, water, and air.
    8. Sensitive Environmental Resources. Potential impacts to plants, 
animals, and habitat, including impacts to floodplains, wetlands, and 
threatened and endangered species and their habitat.
    9. Cultural Resources. Potential impacts to cultural resources, 
such as historic, archaeological, scientific, or other culturally 
important sites.
    10. Socioeconomic. Potential impacts to local and regional 
socioeconomic conditions and factors, including urban encroachment, 
employment, housing, tax base, and community infrastructure and 
services.
    11. Environmental Justice. Potential disproportionate impacts of 
DOE activities on minority or low-income populations.
    12. Transportation. Potential impacts on the environment and public 
health from the on- and off-site transportation of radioactive and/or 
hazardous materials, equipment, products, and wastes.
    13. Public and Occupational Safety and Health. The radiological and 
non-radiological impacts on workers and the public from routine site 
operations and potential accidents.
    14. Regulatory Compliance. The impacts of the alternatives on 
compliance of Rocky Flats with applicable Federal and State 
requirements.
    Related Documentation: NEPA documents that have been or are being 
prepared that concern activities at Rocky Flats include the following:
    1. Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Environmental 
Restoration and Waste Management (EM-PEIS). The EM-PEIS will analyze 
complex-wide environmental restoration and waste management issues and 
alternatives. DOE published the NOI to prepare the EM-PEIS on October 
22, 1990 (55 FR 42633) and issued an Implementation Plan on December 
23, 1993. The Rocky Flats SWEIS will discuss its relationship to the 
EM-PEIS and how issues addressed in the EM-PEIS could affect the 
alternatives analyzed in the SWEIS.
    2. Proposed Interim Storage of Enriched Uranium Above the Maximum 
Historic Storage Levels at the Y-12 Plant (Enriched Uranium 
Environmental Assessment). The Enriched Uranium Environmental 
Assessment will analyze the treatment and storage of enriched uranium, 
including highly enriched uranyl nitrates now stored at Rocky Flats and 
at DOE's Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge, TN. DOE will incorporate into the 
Rocky Flats SWEIS, as appropriate, any decisions made about interim 
storage and treatment of highly enriched uranium as a result of the 
Enriched Uranium Environmental Assessment.
    3. Resumption of Thermal Stabilization of Plutonium in Building 
707, Rocky Flats Plant: Environmental Assessment (DOE/EA-0887). This 
environmental assessment analyzed the impacts of heating small 
quantities of plutonium powder in gloveboxes, under controlled 
conditions, in Building 707. DOE issued a Finding of No Significant 
Impact on February 10, 1994. The Rocky Flats SWEIS will incorporate the 
decisions made about thermal stabilization of plutonium into the Rocky 
Flats SWEIS and discuss how issues addressed in the Building 707 
Environmental Assessment could affect the alternatives analyzed in the 
Rocky Flats SWEIS.
    4. Nonnuclear Consolidation Environmental Assessment (DOE/EA-0792). 
The Nonnuclear Consolidation Environmental Assessment analyzed the 
DOE's proposal to withdraw defense activities from the Mound, Pinellas, 
and Rocky Flats Plants, and consolidate most of the nonnuclear 
activities at the Kansas City Plant. Consolidation was evaluated in 
terms of operating costs, protection of the environment and public and 
worker health and safety, and preservation of technical competency to 
maintain the nuclear deterrent. DOE issued a Finding of No Significant 
Impact on July 8, 1993. The Rocky Flats SWEIS will discuss how issues 
addressed in the Nonnuclear Consolidation Environmental Assessment 
could affect the alternatives analyzed in the Rocky Flats SWEIS.
    5. Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Storage and 
Disposition of Fissile Nuclear Materials. This Environmental Impact 
Statement will assess alternatives and assist in establishing a 
national policy for the long term storage and disposition of fissile 
nuclear materials. Any decisions resulting from the Rocky Flats SWEIS 
regarding the storage and disposition of fissile nuclear materials will 
be interim decisions that will not affect the long-term, DOE-wide 
decisions to be made following completion of the Nuclear Materials 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement.
    6. Site-wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for the Nevada 
Test Site and Other Off-site Test Locations within the State of Nevada. 
This SWEIS would evaluate alternative management strategies for the 
Nevada Test Site, which would support current and future defense 
related missions, research and development, waste management, 
environmental restoration, infrastructure maintenance, and facility 
upgrades and alternative uses over the next 5-10 years. This SWEIS 
would also address environmental restoration and other related 
activities at other offsite test locations within the State of Nevada, 
which include the Project Shoal Area, Central Nevada Test Area, Tonopah 
Test Range, and portions of the Nellis Air Force Range. In the Nevada 
SWEIS, DOE would consider the transportation, management and disposal 
at the Nevada Test Site of wastes from other locations, including the 
Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on July 29, 1994.
Tara J. O'Toole,
Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 94-19149 Filed 8-4-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P