[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 186 (Friday, September 25, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 51341]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-25718]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile Stewardship and Management

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy announces its intent to prepare and 
issue a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the 
National Ignition Facility (NIF) portion (Volume III, Appendix I) of 
the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Stockpile 
Stewardship and Management (DOE/EIS-0236; September, 1997). The SEIS is 
being prepared pursuant to a Joint Stipulation and Order approved and 
entered as an order of the Court on October 27, 1997, in partial 
settlement of the lawsuit NRDC v. Pena, Civ. No. 97-936 (SS) (D.D.C.). 
The scope of the SEIS was established by the Joint Stipulation and 
Order and will cover, ``the reasonably foreseeable significant adverse 
environmental impacts of continuing to construct and of operating NIF 
at LLNL with respect to any potential or confirmed contamination in the 
area by hazardous, toxic, and/or radioactive materials.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this 
SEIS or to be placed on the document distribution list, please call, 
toll-free, (877) 388-4930 or call or write Charles A. Taylor as 
indicated below: Charles A. Taylor, Document Manager, U.S. Department 
of Energy, L-293, 7000 East Avenue, P.O. Box 808, Livermore, CA 94550, 
Phone (925) 423-3022, Facsimile (925) 424-3755.
    For 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 Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0119, Phone: (202) 586-4600, 
Messages: (800) 472-2756, Facsimile: (202) 586-7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was established 
in 1952 as a multi-disciplinary research and development center, 
operated by the University of California for the Department of Energy. 
LLNL is located in Livermore, California, about 40 miles southeast of 
San Francisco, California. LLNL consists of two portions, the main site 
in Livermore and the 300 Area near Tracy, California. The NIF is being 
constructed at the LLNL main site.
    The National Ignition Facility is a part of the DOE's development 
of science-based, rather than underground nuclear test-based, 
stewardship of the nuclear weapons stockpile. In NIF, nuclear fusion of 
very small amounts of hydrogen isotopes is expected to be achieved 
using the energy inherent in laser light. The environmental 
consequences of construction and operation of NIF were addressed in 
detail in Appendix I of the Stockpile Stewardship and Management 
Programmatic EIS (SSM PEIS). The SSM PEIS addressed alternative plans 
for DOE's defense program activities related to nuclear weapons 
stockpile issues at several DOE laboratories, including LLNL. The 
Record of Decision (ROD) for the SSM PEIS was published in the Federal 
Register on December 26, 1996 (61 FR 68014). In the ROD, DOE announced 
a decision to proceed with construction and operation of NIF at LLNL. 
Ground-breaking for NIF occurred on May 29, 1997. Construction of the 
NIF is on-going and is expected to be completed by October 2003.
    During site excavation for NIF in September 1997, buried electrical 
capacitors containing polychlorinated biphenyls and other items (buried 
drums that on analysis contained no hazardous, toxic and/or radioactive 
material) were discovered at the site. Several of the capacitors had 
leaked, contaminating surrounding soil. The capacitors and surrounding 
soil were cleaned up in accordance with State and Federal regulations. 
The possibility of such an event was unforeseen and therefore not 
addressed in the SSM PEIS. On September 22, 1997, the plaintiffs in 
NRDC v. Pena filed a motion under Rule 60(b) of the Federal Rules of 
Civil Procedure, in which they alleged that DOE knew but did not 
adequately analyze and disclose the risk of building NIF in an area 
that may contain buried hazardous, toxic, and/or radioactive waste. DOE 
denied the allegations in the plaintiffs' motion. In the Joint 
Stipulation and Order, which settled all claims in the plaintiffs' Rule 
60(b) motion, DOE agreed to conduct a full evaluation of any potential 
risks to the human environment resulting from continuing to construct 
and operating the NIF at LLNL. Subsequent characterization activities 
that DOE conducted pursuant to the Joint Stipulation and Order, in 
order to determine if hazardous, toxic, and/or radioactive materials 
were buried in the northeast corner of LLNL, are complete. The results 
of these activities will be analyzed in the SEIS. Progress of the 
characterization activities was documented to the Court in the form of 
Quarterly Reports. These Quarterly Reports, along with a copy of the 
Joint Stipulation and Order is available at the LLNL Public Reading 
Room, East Gate Visitors Center, Greenville Road, Livermore, CA, or by 
calling Charles Taylor at the phone number provided at the beginning of 
this notice.

II. SEIS Schedule

    In light of the Court's direction for the scope of this 
Supplemental EIS, no scoping meeting will be held. However, comments 
are welcome; please send comments to Charles Taylor at the address 
above. DOE expects to publish a Notice of Availability for the Draft 
SEIS in the Federal Register in December 1998. Public comments on the 
Draft SEIS will be received during a comment period of at least 45 days 
following publication of the Notice of Availability. The Notice of 
Availability will provide dates for public meetings that will be held 
in Livermore, California and Washington, DC approximately 30 days after 
the Notice of Availability is published. The draft and final SEIS will 
not contain any classified data.

    Issued in Washington, DC on September 21, 1998.
Peter N. Brush,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 98-25718 Filed 9-24-98; 8:45 am]
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