[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 78 (Friday, April 23, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19983-19985]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-10193]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability: Revised Draft Hanford Remedial Action 
Environmental Impact Statement and Comprehensive Land-Use Plan

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the Revised Draft Hanford Remedial Action Environmental Impact 
Statement and Comprehensive Land-Use Plan (HRA-EIS), DOE/EIS-0222D, for 
public review. The proposed action is to establish a comprehensive land 
use plan for the next 50 years for the Hanford Site near Richland, 
Washington. This EIS identifies alternative future land uses for the 
Hanford Site and discusses the potential associated environmental 
impacts. Because DOE has significantly revised the scope of the HRA-EIS 
and alternatives considered in response to comments received on the 
draft EIS published in August 1996, it is appropriate to issue this 
revised draft HRA-EIS. Since land use was an objective of the previous 
draft EIS, no further scoping meetings are required. The 1996 Draft 
HRA-EIS focused on developing an overall strategy for remediating the 
Hanford Site and included a proposed land use plan as an appendix; the 
revised Draft HRA-EIS focuses only on land use planning. To reflect 
this reduction in scope, DOE is soliciting comments on changing the 
name of this EIS to the Hanford Comprehensive Land-Use EIS as well as 
on the contents of the Revised Draft HRA-EIS. The draft HRA-EIS 
evaluates five ``action alternatives,'' each of which represents a 
Federal, State, local agency, or Tribe's preferred land-use 
alternative, and also evaluates a ``no-action alternative'' of 
continuing current land use practices. DOE's preferred alternative for 
future uses of the Hanford Site includes consolidating waste management 
operations in the Central Plateau; allowing industrial development in 
the eastern and southern portions of the site; increasing recreational 
access to the Columbia River; and expanding the Saddle Mountain 
National Wildlife Refuge to include all of the Wahluke Slope.

DATES: The public comment period begins today and concludes on June 7, 
1999. DOE invites Federal agencies, Native American Tribes, State and 
local governments, and the public to comment on the Revised Draft HRA-
EIS. DOE will consider all timely comments in preparing the Final EIS, 
and will consider comments provided after the close of the comment 
period to the extent practicable.
    Public information meetings and hearings will be held during the 
comment period.
    May 18, 1999: State Office Building, 800 NE Oregon Street, 
Portland, Oregon. DOE will conduct informal information session from 6 
to 7 p.m., followed by a public hearing beginning at 7 p.m.
    May 20, 1999: Shilo Inn, 50 Comstock Road, Richland, Washington. 
DOE will conduct informal information session from 3 to 5 p.m. and from 
6 to 7 p.m., followed by a public hearing beginning at 7 p.m.
    June 3, 1999: Ridpath Hotel, West 515 Sprague Avenue, Spokane, 
Washington. DOE will conduct informal information session from 6 to 7 
p.m., followed by a public hearing beginning at 7 p.m.
    In addition, during the comment period DOE will participate in 
public involvement activities sponsored by the other cooperating 
agencies, at times and locations to be determined.


[[Page 19984]]


ADDRESSES: Written comments on the Revised Draft HRA-EIS may be mailed 
to Mr. Thomas W. Ferns, DOE National Environmental Policy Act Document 
Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, PO Box 
550, MSIN HO-12, Richland, Washington 99352-0550. Comments also may be 
transmitted by fax to 509-376-4360 or by electronic mail to 
Thomas__W__F[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request information about the HRA-
EIS and the public meetings and hearings, or to request copies of the 
document, use any of the methods listed in ADDRESSES above. (The 
Revised Draft HRA-EIS will also be made available on the DOE NEPA Web 
at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa/ under DOE NEPA Analyses and at http://
www.hanford.gov/eis/hraeis/hraeis.htm on the DOE Hanford Web Site.) 
When requesting copies of the document, please specify whether you wish 
to receive only the summary (about 100 pages), or the entire document 
including appendices. For general information about the DOE National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, contact: Carol Borgstrom, 
Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42), U.S. Department 
of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585-0119. 
Phone: 202-586-4600, or leave a message at: 800-472-2756. Fax: 202-586-
7031.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    DOE published a notice of intent to prepare the HRA-EIS in 1992 (57 
FR 37959; August 21, 1992). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA), Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology), and DOE, in 
cooperation with other interested parties, initiated a process to 
involve stakeholders in the development of a vision for the future of 
the Hanford Site. A committee consisting of representatives of labor, 
environmental, governmental, agricultural, economic development, 
citizen-interest groups, and Tribal governments was established and 
became known as the Hanford Future Site Uses Working Group (Working 
Group). The result of the Working Group's efforts, a report titled The 
Future for Hanford: Uses and Cleanup; The Final Report of the Hanford 
Future Site Uses Working Group was issued in December 1992, and was 
submitted to DOE as a formal scoping comment for the HRA-EIS.
    DOE issued the Draft HRA-EIS in August 1996. DOE received more than 
2,000 comments from approximately 230 commenters on the August 1996 
Draft HRA-EIS. These comments, as well as transcripts from the public 
hearing, are included in the Comment and Response Volume of the Revised 
Draft HRA-EIS. A summary of the Comment-Response Volume is provided as 
Appendix F of the Revised Draft HRA-EIS, and the entire Comment-
Response Volume is being provided for public review in local and 
regional information repositories. Several commenters, including the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, urged DOE to change the scope of 
the EIS to eliminate consideration of remedial action alternatives. DOE 
revised the 1996 draft EIS in accordance with this recommendation.

Revised Draft HRA-EIS

    During the public comment period on the August 1996 Draft HRA-EIS, 
several Federal, State, and local agencies and American Indian Tribes 
expressed an interest in working with DOE to establish alternative 
visions for future land uses. In response, DOE invited representatives 
of other Federal Agencies, American Indian Tribes, and State and local 
governments to participate in ongoing planning efforts. These groups 
became cooperating agencies and consulting Tribal governments in the 
preparation of a Revised Draft HRA-EIS.

Cooperating Agencies and Consulting Tribal Governments

    The cooperating agencies and consulting Tribal governments helping 
to prepare the Revised Draft HRA-EIS are: Benton, Franklin, and Grant 
counties; the City of Richland; and the U.S. Department of Interior 
(Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and the U.S. Fish 
and Wildlife Service). Consulting Tribal governments are the 
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and the Nez 
Perce Tribe, Department of Environmental Restoration and Waste 
Management.
    Since March 1997, DOE has worked with these cooperating agencies 
and consulting Tribal governments to establish a framework for the 
environmental analyses presented in this Revised Draft HRA-EIS. 
Substantial agreement was reached among the cooperating agencies and 
consulting Tribal governments on the development of nine land-use 
designations and definitions, and on the format for determining the 
potential environmental impacts associated with the land uses carried 
forward in this EIS. The nine land-use designations are: Industrial-
Exclusive, Industrial, Agricultural, Research and Development, High-
Intensity Recreation, Low-Intensity Recreation, Conservation (Mining 
and Grazing), Conservation (Mining), and Preservation.
    The cooperating agencies and consulting Tribal governments also 
worked together to develop the proposed policies and procedures in 
Chapter 6 if the revised draft HRA-EIS for implementing the 
Comprehensive Land-Use Plan. These policies would manage competing land 
use and resource use goals and objectives; provide for amendments to 
the comprehensive land-use plan where necessary; and identify area- and 
resource-management plans to be developed as part of the land-use plan 
implementation.

Revised Draft HRA-EIS Alternatives

    The Revised Draft HRA-EIS presents a set of land-use policies and 
procedures specific to the Hanford Site. It evaluates six alternatives, 
including a no-action alternative of continuing current land use 
practices, DOE's preferred alternative, and four other alternatives, 
each of which represents a Federal, State, Tribal, or local agency's 
preferred set of land uses. DOE's preferred alternative for future uses 
of the Hanford Site includes consolidating waste management operations 
in the Central Plateau; allowing industrial development in the eastern 
and southern portions of the site; increasing recreational access to 
the Columbia River; and expanding the Saddle Mountain National Wildlife 
Refuge to include all of the Wahluke Slope.

Public Involvement Opportunities

    DOE has scheduled information meetings and public hearings [see 
DATES] during the comment period that ends on June 7, 1999. Persons 
interested in speaking at the hearings may register at the hearings and 
will be called on to speak on a first-come, first-served basis. Written 
comments will also be accepted at the hearings, 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 intends to complete the Final HRA-EIS and 
issue a Record of Decision in November 1999.

DOE Public Reading Rooms and Information Repositories

    The Revised Draft HRA-EIS and associated reference materials can be 
found in the following DOE Public Reading Rooms and Information 
Repositories:

[[Page 19985]]

     Suzzallo Library, University of Washington, Government 
Publications Room, Mail Stop FM-25, Seattle, Washington 98195-2900, 
phone 206-543-4664;
     Foley Center, Gonzaga University, E 502 Boone Avenue, 
Spokane, Washington 99258, phone 509-328-4220, ext. 3844;
     U.S. Department of Energy Public Reading Room, Washington 
State University, Tri-Cities Campus, 100 Sprout Road, Room 130 West, 
Richland, Washington 99352, (509) 376-8583;
     Branford Price Millar Library, Science and Engineering 
Floor, Portland State University, SW Harrison and Park, Portland, 
Oregon 97207, phone 503-725-3690;
     U.S. Department of Energy Freedom of Information Reading 
Room, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20585, phone 202-586-5000.

    Issued this 19th day of April 1999.
James J. Fiore,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Restoration.
[FR Doc. 99-10193 Filed 4-22-99; 8:45 am]
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