[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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