[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 73 (Monday, April 15, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16471-16473]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-9270]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Hanford Site Tank 
Waste Remediation System, Richland, Washington

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy and Washington State Department of 
Ecology.

ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA).

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE), in cooperation with the 
Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), announces the 
availability of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the 
Hanford Site Tank Waste Remediation System (TWRS). The draft EIS 
addresses DOE's proposed strategies and reasonable alternatives for 
management and disposal of radioactive, hazardous, and mixed waste 
currently or projected to be stored in 177 underground storage tanks 
and in approximately 60 active and inactive miscellaneous underground 
storage tanks that were associated with Hanford's tank farm operations. 
The EIS also addresses the management and disposal of approximately 
1,930 radioactive cesium and strontium capsules currently on loan or 
stored at the Hanford Site, if the capsules are determined to have no 
further beneficial use. The Hanford Site is located near Richland, 
Washington. Ecology and DOE signed a Memorandum of Understanding on 
February 15, 1994 to co-prepare this EIS.

DATES: DOE and Ecology invite all interested parties to submit written 
comments concerning the draft EIS during a comment period ending May 
28, 1996. Written comments should be postmarked by May 28, 1996. 
Comments

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postmarked after that date will be considered to the extent 
practicable.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the draft EIS, further information on 
the draft EIS, and written comments should be directed to: Ms. Carolyn 
Haass, DOE TWRS EIS National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Document 
Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, P.O. 
Box 1249, Richland, WA 99352. Requests for copies of the Draft EIS also 
can be made via the Internet at: [email protected] or by calling 
Ecology's Hanford Information Line at 1-800-321-2008. Addresses of DOE 
Public Reading Rooms and Information Repositories where the draft EIS 
and reference documents will be available for public review are listed 
in this notice under ``Supplementary Information.''
    Information on the DOE NEPA process may be requested from Ms. Carol 
M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42), 
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, 
D.C. 20585. Ms. Borgstrom may be contacted by telephone at: (202) 586-
4600 or by leaving a message at 1-800-472-2756.
    The public is also invited to attend public hearings in which oral 
comments will be received on the draft EIS. Oral and written comments 
will be considered equally in preparation of the final EIS. DOE and the 
Washington State Department of Ecology will also conduct workshops and 
meetings in Washington or Oregon on the EIS for organizations during 
the public comment period. Oral and written comments will be received 
at public hearings to be held on the dates and at the locations listed 
below:

May 2, 1996, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Columbia Basin College, 2600 North 
20th Avenue, Hawk Union Building, West Dining Room, Pasco, Washington
May 7, 1996, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Cavalier Room, Sheraton National 
Hotel, 900 Orme Street, Arlington, Virginia,
May 9, 1996, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Multnomah Room, Red Lion Hotel at 
Lloyd Center, 1000 Northeast Multnomah Drive, Portland, Oregon.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    DOE issued a Notice of Intent to prepare the Hanford Tank Waste 
Remediation System EIS on January 23, 1994 (59 FR 4052). Thereafter, 
DOE and Ecology held five public scoping meetings in five locations in 
Washington and Oregon to obtain public comment on the scope of the EIS.
    The document number for this draft EIS is DOE/EIS-0189-D. The draft 
EIS was prepared in accordance with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA); the Council on Environmental 
Quality regulations implementing NEPA, 40 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) Parts 1500-1508; and the DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures, 10 CFR 
Part 1021.
    Copies of the draft TWRS EIS have been distributed to Federal, 
State, and local officials, Tribal Nations, as well as agencies, 
organizations, and individuals who may be interested or affected. The 
draft EIS and supporting technical reports also are available for 
public review in DOE reading rooms and designated information 
repository locations identified in this notice.
    Public scoping comments were assessed and considered both 
individually and collectively by DOE and Ecology. Some comments 
resulted in modifications to the initial scope of the EIS as described 
in the Notice of Intent. Scoping comments and DOE and Ecology responses 
to those comments can be found in the Implementation Plan for the TWRS 
EIS, issued December, 1995 (DOE/RL-94-88). The Implementation Plan is 
available by contacting the persons listed in the ADDRESSES section of 
this notice or in the DOE reading rooms and information repositories 
identified in this notice.

Alternatives Considered

    Tank waste alternatives discussed in the EIS are:
     No Action--perform minimum activities required for safe 
and secure management of Hanford's tank wastes with the current tank 
farm configuration;
     Long-Term Management--perform minimum activities required 
for safe and secure management of Hanford's tank waste, including 
upgrades to tank farms with the current single-shell tank farm 
configuration and the replacement of the double-shell tanks twice 
during a 100-year period;
     In Situ Fill and Cap--retrieve and evaporate liquid waste 
from the single-shell and double-shell tanks, then fill all tanks with 
gravel and cover the tank farms with an earthen surface barrier, 
disposing of all tank waste onsite;
     In Situ Vitrification--retrieve and evaporate liquid waste 
from the single-shell and double-shell tanks, then vitrify all of the 
tank waste in place and cover the tank farms with an earthen surface 
barrier, disposing of all tank waste onsite;
     Ex Situ No Separations--retrieve all tank farm waste 
practicable (assumed to be 99 percent), then either vitrify or calcine 
the waste and package the treated waste form for onsite storage and 
eventual offsite disposal at a high-level waste geologic repository;
     Ex Situ Intermediate Separations--retrieve all tank farm 
waste (99 percent) and separate the high-level and low-activity waste 
streams using sludge washing and ion exchange, then vitrify the waste 
streams in separate facilities and package the treated waste forms for 
onsite disposal of immobilized low-activity waste and offsite disposal 
of the immobilized high-level waste at a geologic repository;
     Ex Situ Extensive Separations--retrieve all tank farm 
waste (99 percent) and separate into high-level and low-activity waste 
streams using sludge wash, ion exchange, caustic leach and acid 
dissolution, then vitrify the waste streams in separate facilities and 
package the treated waste forms for onsite disposal of the immobilized 
low-activity waste and offsite disposal of the immobilized high-level 
waste at a geologic repository;
     Ex Situ/In Situ Combination--retrieve tank waste (50 
percent assumed) based on the risk posed to human health or the 
environment, separate the retrieved waste into high- level and low-
activity waste streams using sludge washing and ion exchange, then 
vitrify the waste streams in separate facilities, and package the 
treated waste forms for onsite disposal of the immobilized low-activity 
waste and offsite disposal of the immobilized high-level waste at a 
geologic repository, fill all tanks, including those with waste that 
had not been retrieved, with gravel, cover the tanks with a barrier, 
permanently disposing of the waste in-place. As a subalternative to 
this alternative, DOE will examine the Ex Situ treatment of the largest 
contributors to long-term risk, while limiting the volume of waste to 
be treated; and
     Phased Implementation--similar to the Ex Situ Intermediate 
Separations alternative whereby Phase 1 consists of construction of two 
commercial demonstration-scale facilities that would include one low-
activity waste separation and vitrification demonstration plant and one 
low-activity and high-level waste vitrification demonstration plant 
which operate for up to 10 years. These facilities could treat up to 30 
percent of the tank waste by volume during the 10-year operating 
period. In Phase 2, DOE would construct larger capacity separation and 
vitrification plants, retrieve the remaining waste, separate

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the waste into low-activity and high-level waste streams, vitrify the 
waste in separate facilities, package the waste and dispose of the low-
activity waste onsite in near-surface vaults and the high-level waste 
offsite at a geologic repository.
    The radioactive cesium and strontium capsules produced from 
reclaimed materials in tanks are currently classified as waste by-
product. The capsules may have potential commercial or other beneficial 
use. If a beneficial use cannot be found, the capsules would become 
subject to management and disposal actions as high-level waste. Cesium 
and strontium capsule alternatives analyzed in the EIS are: No Action--
Continue existing operations and maintenance in the Hanford Site Waste 
Encapsulation and Storage Facility for 10 years; Onsite Disposal--
overpack the cesium and strontium in canisters and store onsite 
indefinitely in a newly constructed dry-well storage facility; Overpack 
and Ship--overpack the cesium and strontium into canisters, which would 
then be overpacked into larger canisters, and disposed of offsite at a 
potential geologic repository; and Vitrify with Tank Waste--remove 
capsule contents and vitrify with the high-level tank waste, and 
dispose of offsite at a potential geologic repository.
    The draft EIS identifies and compares the potential environmental 
impacts associated with these alternatives for managing and disposing 
of Hanford's radioactive, hazardous and mixed tank waste and 
encapsulated cesium and strontium.

Preferred Alternatives

    DOE's and Ecology's preferred tank waste alternative is the Phased 
Implementation alternative. DOE and Ecology do not yet have a preferred 
alternative for the Hanford Site's encapsulated cesium and strontium.

Invitation to Comment

    DOE has completed the general distribution of the draft TWRS EIS 
and has filed it with the Environmental Protection Agency, which will 
publish a Notice of Availability elsewhere in the Federal Register. The 
draft TWRS EIS will also be available to the public in the DOE reading 
rooms and designated information repository locations identified in 
this notice. DOE plans to issue the final TWRS EIS in July 1996 and a 
Record of Decision by August 1996.
    Persons interested in speaking at the hearings may register at the 
hearing and will be called on to speak on a first-come first-served 
basis. Written comments will also be accepted at the meetings, and 
speakers are encouraged to provide written versions of their oral 
comments for the record. Oral and written comments will be considered 
equally in preparing the final EIS.
    DOE and the Washington State Department of Ecology will also 
conduct workshops and meetings in Washington or Oregon on the EIS for 
organizations during the public comment period. The workshops and 
meetings will provide an opportunity for interested persons and the 
public to learn more about the alternatives and analysis presented in 
the EIS. The dates of the workshops and meetings have not been 
scheduled at this time. Interested persons should call 1-800-321-2008, 
to schedule a workshop before May 7, 1996.

Contents of the EIS

Summary: Summary of the alternatives and analysis presented in the EIS
Volume One: Text of the Tank Waste Remediation System EIS
Volume Two: Appendices supporting the analysis presented in Volume One
    Appendix A. Waste Inventory
    Appendix B. Description of Alternatives
    Appendix C. Alternatives Dismissed from Analysis
Volume Three: Appendices supporting the analysis presented in Volume 
One
    Appendix D. Anticipated Health and Ecological Risks
Volume Four: Appendices supporting the analysis presented in Volume One
    Appendix E. Accident Risks
    Appendix F. Groundwater Modeling
Volume Five: Appendices supporting the analysis presented in Volume One
    Appendix G. Air Quality Modeling
    Appendix H. Socioeconomic Impact Modeling
    Appendix I. Affected Environment
    Appendix J. Consultation Letters

    The Summary of the EIS is available for review for those who do not 
want the entire draft EIS. When requesting copies of the draft EIS, 
please indicate whether you wish to receive only the Summary (52 
pages), the Summary and Volume One (620 pages), the entire draft 
document and associated appendices (2,400 pages), or some combination 
of these documents.

DOE Public Reading Rooms and Information Repositories

Suzzallo Library, University of Washington, Government Publications 
Room, Seattle, WA 98195 (206-543-4664).
Foley Center, Gonzaga University, E. 502 Boone, Spokane, WA 99258 (509-
328-4220, Ext. 3125).
DOE Reading Room, Washington State University, Tri-Cities Campus, 100 
Sprout Road, Room 130, Richland, WA 99352 (509-376-8583).
Bradford Price Millar Library, Science and Engineering Floor, Portland 
State University, SW Harrison and Park, Portland, OR 97207 (503-725-
3690).
DOE Freedom of Information Reading Room, Forrestal Building, 1000 
Independence Avenue SW., Washington, D.C. 20585 (202-586-6020).

    Issued in Washington, D.C., this day April 9, 1996.
Stephen P. Cowan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management.
[FR Doc. 96-9270 Filed 4-10-96; 12:57 pm]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P