[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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