[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 224 (Thursday, November 20, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62025-62027]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-30536]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project at the Idaho National 
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Idaho Falls, ID

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) intends to prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and conduct a public scoping 
process for a proposal to construct and operate a facility known as the 
Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP) at the Idaho National 
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). Under the terms of a 
1995 Court Order/ Settlement Agreement with the State of Idaho in the 
case of Public Service Co. v. Batt, Civil No. 91-0035-S-EJL (D. Idaho) 
(Lead case), DOE agreed to procure a treatment facility for mixed low-
level waste, transuranic waste and alpha-contaminated mixed low-level 
waste, and to treat transuranic waste that requires treatment so as to 
permit disposal outside of the State of Idaho at the Waste Isolation 
Pilot Plant in New Mexico or other acceptable disposal facility. DOE 
also needs to manage DOE alpha-contaminated mixed low-level waste, 
transuranic waste, and mixed low-level waste in a manner that will 
comply with applicable laws and requirements, and protect the 
environment and the health and safety of the workers and the public in 
a cost-effective manner. The AMWTP EIS will assist the Department in 
making the necessary decisions to comply with the Settlement Agreement 
and other applicable requirements for these wastes.
    DOE's proposed action is to implement a proposal from British 
Nuclear Fuels Limited, Inc. (BNFL) to construct and operate the AMWTP 
at the INEEL. The AMWTP, as proposed by BNFL, would retrieve, sort, 
characterize, and treat mixed low-level waste and approximately 65,000 
cubic meters of alpha-contaminated mixed low-level waste and 
transuranic waste currently stored at the INEEL Radioactive Waste 
Management Complex, and package the treated waste for shipment off site 
for disposal. The AMWTP would employ thermal treatment processes 
(incineration and vitrification) and also treat similar wastes 
generated by ongoing INEEL activities and activities at other DOE 
sites.
    This EIS will make use of previously developed information and 
analyses by ``tiering'' from other environmental impact statements, 
including: (1) the Department of Energy Programmatic Spent Nuclear Fuel 
Management and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory Environmental 
Restoration and Waste Management Programs Final EIS (SNF & INEL EIS) 
(DOE/EIS-0203-F), issued April 1995; (2) the DOE Waste Management 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (WM PEIS) (DOE/EIS-0200-F), 
issued May 1997; and (3) the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Disposal Phase 
Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS-II) (DOE/EIS-
0026-S-2), issued September 1997. DOE will conduct two public scoping 
workshops and welcomes public comment on the scope of the proposed EIS.

DATES: The public scoping period begins with the publication of this 
Notice in the Federal Register. DOE invites other Federal agencies, 
Native American tribes, State and local governments and the general 
public to comment on the scope of this EIS. DOE must receive scoping 
comments by January 9, 1998, to ensure consideration, although DOE will 
consider comments received after that date to the extent practicable.
    Two public workshops will be held during this scoping period:

December 4, 1997--Borah High School, 6001 Cassia, Boise, ID; 6:30 pm-
9:00 pm
December 9, 1997--Taylorview Junior High School, 350 Castlerock Lane, 
Idaho Falls, ID; 6:30 pm-9:00 pm

    These workshops will provide the public with information about the 
proposed project and an opportunity to comment on the scope of the EIS, 
including the reasonable alternatives and issues that the Department 
should consider. Written comments may be submitted to DOE at these 
workshops, sent by facsimile to (208) 526-0598, or mailed to the EIS 
Document Manager, Mr. John E. Medema, at the address listed below.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on this EIS should be sent to: Mr. John E. 
Medema, Document Manager, Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project EIS, 
U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, 850 Energy Drive, 
MS 1117, Idaho Falls, ID 83402, Facsimile: (208) 526-0598.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request information about this EIS, 
or to be placed on the EIS document distribution list, please call the 
24-hour toll-free information line at 1-800-708-2680.
    For general information about the DOE National Environmental Policy 
Act (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, D.C. 20585-0119, Phone: (202) 586-
4600, Messages: (800) 472-2756, Facsimile: (202) 586-7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background and Purpose and Need for Agency Action

    Approximately 25,000 cubic meters of alpha-contaminated low-level 
waste and 40,000 cubic meters of transuranic waste are currently stored 
at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex at INEEL. Approximately 95% 
of this waste is contaminated with Resource Conservation and Recovery 
Act (RCRA) hazardous waste, classifying it as ``mixed waste.'' INEEL 
also is storing mixed low-level waste (which refers herein to mixed 
low-level waste other than alpha-contaminated mixed

[[Page 62026]]

low-level waste). Additionally, some of these wastes are in containers 
that include asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls, which are 
regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Similar wastes are 
generated as a result of ongoing environmental restoration, 
decontamination and decommissioning, waste retrieval projects, and 
other activities at INEEL and other DOE sites. Depending on decisions 
resulting from the Federal Facilities Compliance Act process and the 
Waste Management Programmatic EIS, up to 120,000 cubic meters of such 
wastes from other DOE sites could be treated at the proposed AMWTP. To 
protect the environment and public health and meet existing regulatory 
requirements, including the RCRA Land Disposal Restrictions, these 
wastes must be treated and packaged appropriately for shipment to a 
disposal facility.
    In May 1995, the Department issued its Record of Decision (ROD) (60 
FR 28680, June 1, 1995) for the Department of Energy Programmatic Spent 
Nuclear Fuel Management and Idaho National Engineering Laboratory 
Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programs Final EIS (SNF 
& INEL EIS) (DOE/EIS-0203-F). One of the decisions announced in that 
ROD was to manage transuranic waste by building ``treatment facilities 
necessary to comply with the Federal Facility Compliance Act. Treatment 
of transuranic waste at a minimum will be for the purpose of meeting 
waste acceptance criteria for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot 
Plant (near Carlsbad, New Mexico) and will occur on a schedule to be 
negotiated with the State of Idaho.''
    On October 17, 1995, the State of Idaho, the Department of the 
Navy, and the Department of Energy settled the case of Public Service 
Co. of Colorado v. Batt, Civil No. CV 91-0035-S-EJL (D. Idaho) (Lead 
case). Certain conditions of the Idaho Court Order/Settlement Agreement 
obligated the Department to:

 Commence procurement of a treatment facility at the INEEL for 
the treatment of mixed (low-level) waste, transuranic waste, and alpha-
contaminated mixed low-level waste;
 Execute a procurement contract for the treatment facility by 
June 1, 1997, complete construction of the facility by December 31, 
2002, and commence operation by March 31, 2003.
 Treat waste shipped to Idaho for treatment in the treatment 
facility within six months (with the exception of two cubic meters of 
mixed low-level waste from the Mare Island Naval Shipyard);
 Ship transuranic waste received from another DOE site for 
treatment at the INEEL outside the State of Idaho for storage or 
disposal within six months of treatment.
    In accordance with the Settlement Agreement, DOE conducted a 
procurement for a facility to treat mixed low-level waste, transuranic 
waste, and alpha-contaminated mixed low-level waste at the INEEL. On 
December 20, 1996, DOE executed a phased contract with BNFL to 
construct and operate the proposed AMWTP. Phase 1, currently in 
progress, involves information-gathering by BNFL, DOE performing 
environmental analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA), RCRA and other permitting activities by BNFL, and other 
planning activities needed to support the project if DOE decides to 
implement the proposed action. Contract phases 2 and 3 would involve 
the construction and operation of the AMWTP and would occur only after 
the issuance of a Record of Decision in which the Department indicated 
its decision to implement the proposed action.
    To support the contractor selection process for the AMWTP, DOE 
undertook the following actions in accordance with DOE NEPA regulations 
(10 CFR Part 1021.216): (1) Required that offerors submit environmental 
data and analyses as part of their proposals; and (2) independently 
verified the accuracy of the environmental data and analyses, and 
prepared a confidential environmental critique of each offeror's 
proposal. (The critique included a discussion of the purpose of the 
procurement, the salient characteristics of each offeror's proposal, 
permits, licenses and approvals needed, and a comparative evaluation of 
the potential environmental impacts of the offers.) DOE is preparing an 
environmental synopsis, based on the environmental critique, to 
document the consideration given to environmental factors and to record 
that the relevant environmental consequences of reasonable alternatives 
have been evaluated in the selection process. The environmental 
synopsis will be made publicly available and incorporated into this 
EIS.
    The proposed action to be analyzed in the AMWTP EIS is consistent 
with the ROD for the SNF & INEL EIS and meets the requirements of the 
Court Order/Settlement Agreement. The Department of Energy must decide 
if it will implement Phases 2 and 3 of DOE's contract with BNFL to 
construct the facility and treat mixed low-level waste, transuranic 
waste, and alpha-contaminated mixed low-level waste at the INEEL.

The EIS Schedule

    The Settlement Agreement requires DOE to ship alpha-contaminated 
mixed low-level waste and transuranic waste now located at the INEEL, 
currently estimated at 65,000 cubic meters in volume, to the Waste 
Isolation Pilot Plant or other disposal facility designated by DOE by a 
target date of December 31, 2015. If the target date cannot be met, the 
waste will be shipped no later than December 31, 2018. To comply with 
the Settlement Agreement, construction of the proposed AMWTP must begin 
in 1999. Therefore, DOE is planning to complete the EIS and issue a 
Record of Decision by November 1998.

Alternatives

Proposed Action

    Under the proposed action, DOE would implement Phases 2 and 3 of 
the contract with BNFL to construct and operate a facility for 
thermally treating mixed low-level waste, transuranic waste, and alpha-
contaminated mixed low-level waste according to the treatments required 
under the RCRA Land Disposal Restrictions, as necessary. The proposed 
waste treatment process consists of: retrieving wastes from above-
ground storage, characterizing and separating wastes, thermally 
treating up to 25% of the waste using incineration and vitrification, 
and treating the remaining waste using the physical waste form 
modification processes of super-compaction and macro-encapsulation. 
Under the proposed action, the AMWTP may treat up to 120,000 cubic 
meters of DOE waste from other DOE sites.

Other Action Alternatives

    During the procurement process, all of the qualified offerors 
proposed a similar combination of thermal and physical treatment 
processes. Nevertheless, DOE intends to consider in the EIS other 
treatment alternatives, including but not necessarily limited to non-
thermal (e.g., chemical treatment), other thermal technologies (e.g., 
vitrification), and physical treatment processes (e.g., repackaging), 
and will analyze a range of those treatment processes (or combinations 
of processes) that DOE determines are reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed action. DOE invites comments on these treatment options and 
suggestions for other alternatives that DOE should consider in the EIS.

No Action

    The Council on Environmental Quality NEPA Regulations (40 CFR parts 
1500-1508) and the DOE NEPA

[[Page 62027]]

Regulations (10 CFR part 1021) require the analysis of a no action 
alternative. Under the no action alternative, DOE would continue 
storing mixed low-level waste, alpha-contaminated mixed low-level waste 
and transuranic waste in the existing RCRA Type II storage modules and 
the earthen covered berm at the Radioactive Waste Management Complex. 
The waste stored in the earthen berm of the Transuranic Storage Area 
Retrieval Enclosure would not be retrieved. Under the no action 
alternative, all INEEL activities supporting the Waste Isolation Pilot 
Plant would cease once the current inventory of waste that is now ready 
for transport to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant has been shipped. 
Waste currently stored in the RCRA Type II storage modules at the 
Radioactive Waste Management Complex that could not be shipped to the 
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant would remain in storage indefinitely. If 
DOE selects the no action alternative, the contract with BNFL would be 
terminated for convenience.

Related NEPA Decisions and Reviews

    This tiered EIS will use, and supplement as necessary, the 
information and analyses contained in: (1) the SNF & INEL EIS, (DOE/
EIS-0203-F); (2) the WM PEIS, (DOE/EIS-200-F) and (3) SEIS-II (DOE/EIS-
0026-S-2).
    Volume 2 of the SNF & INEL EIS, issued in April 1995, is a site-
wide EIS for environmental restoration and waste management activites 
at the INEEL. Volume 2 includes analysis of the potential environmental 
impacts associated with treating alpha-contaminated and transuranic 
mixed wastes and packaging the waste for shipment to a DOE approved 
repository. The SNF & INEL EIS evaluated two proposed generic treatment 
facilities: the Private Sector Alpha Low-Level Waste Treatment 
Facility, and the Idaho Waste Processing Facility. The SNF & INEL EIS 
envisioned that these projects would be identical (except for how they 
would be funded and operated) and would involve thermal (incineration) 
and non-thermal treatment processes. The SNF & INEL EIS also envisioned 
that only one of these projects would ultimately be implemented, and 
that appropriate further NEPA review would be conducted before DOE 
would decide to implement one of the projects. In the SNF & INEL EIS, 
the potential environmental impacts of these facilities were analyzed 
sufficiently to assess their incremental contribution to the cumulative 
impacts of past, present and reasonably foreseeable future activities 
at the INEEL.
    The WM PEIS, issued in May 1997, is a DOE complex-wide study 
examining the potential environmental impacts associated with managing 
five types of radioactive and hazardous wastes generated by past, 
present, and reasonably foreseeable future activities at 24 major sites 
located around the United States. The five types of waste examined by 
the WM PEIS are mixed low-level radioactive waste (including alpha-
contaminated mixed low-level waste), low-level radioactive waste, 
transuranic waste, hazardous waste, and high-level radioactive waste. 
The WM PEIS preferred treatment alternative for mixed low-level waste 
is treatment at DOE facilities (including INEEL). The WM PEIS preferred 
alternative for transuranic waste involves treatment at DOE facilities 
that have significant quantities of transuranic waste, such as the 
INEEL. Based on the preferred alternative, treated transuranic waste 
would be stored where it is treated pending decisions on a final 
repository (see below). A WM PEIS Record of Decision has not yet been 
issued for any waste types.
    The SEIS-II assesses whether to dispose of transuranic waste at the 
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and reasonable options for transportation 
and other activities associated with disposal, as well as reasonable 
alternatives concerning quantities, sources, and treatment of 
transuranic waste for disposal. The Department's preferred alternative 
in SEIS-II is to dispose of post-1970 defense transuranic waste at the 
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and to transport the waste to the Waste 
Isolation Pilot Plant by truck (although DOE would continue to explore 
the availability of safe and cost-effective commercial rail 
transportation). The preferred alternative is consistent with the 
proposed action that will be analyzed in the AMWTP EIS.
    In addition to the programmatic EISs described above, the High-
Level Waste and Facilities Disposition (HLWFD) EIS is an ongoing NEPA 
analysis that is potentially related to the AMWTP EIS. The HLWFD EIS 
will analyze the potential environmental impacts of treating INEEL's 
high-level waste and associated radioactive waste. The HLWFD EIS is 
potentially relevant to the proposed Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment 
Project EIS because a small portion of the radioactive waste (not high-
level waste) considered in the former EIS is a candidate for treatment 
at the proposed AMWTP. A Notice of Intent to prepare the HLWFD EIS was 
issued on September 19, 1997 (62 FR 49209).

Preliminary Identification of EIS Issues

 Potential effects on the Snake River Plain Aquifer;
 Effects of emissions and discharges from the thermal treatment 
of mixed low-level waste, alpha-contaminated mixed low-level waste, and 
transuranic waste;
 Potential effects on the public and workers from exposure to 
radiological and hazardous materials, during normal operations and from 
reasonably foreseeable accidents;
 Potential effects on air, soil, and water quality, from normal 
operations and reasonably foreseeable accidents;
 Potential effects on members of the public, including minority 
and low income populations, from normal operations and reasonably 
foreseeable accidents;
 Pollution prevention, waste minimization, and energy and water 
use reduction technologies to eliminate or reduce use of energy, water, 
and hazardous substances, and to minimize environmental impacts;
 Potential socioeconomic impacts, including potential impacts 
associated with the number of workers needed for operations;
 Potential impacts on cultural and historic resources;
 Regulation of commercial operations on a DOE site;
 Compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local 
requirements and the Court Order/Settlement Agreement;
 Potential cumulative environmental impacts of all past, 
present, and reasonably foreseeable future operations at the INEEL;
 Potential irreversible and irretrievable commitment of 
resources and the ultimate use of INEEL land;
 Potential environmental impacts, including long term risks to 
humans, associated with constructing, operating, and decommissioning 
the AMWTP.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. on November 17, 1997.
Peter N. Brush,
Acting Assistant Secretary Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 97-30536 Filed 11-19-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P