[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48160-48162]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-18552]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


National Nuclear Security Administration; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed Chemistry 
and Metallurgy Research Building Replacement Project at Los Alamos 
National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

AGENCY: Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act ((NEPA) of 
1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), and the DOE Regulations 
Implementing NEPA (10 CFR part 1021), the National Nuclear Security 
Administration (NNSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Energy 
(DOE), announces its intent to prepare an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) to assess the consolidation and relocation of mission 
critical chemistry and metallurgy research (CMR) capabilities at Los 
Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) from degraded facilities such that 
these capabilities would be available on a long-term basis to 
successfully accomplish LANL mission support activities or programs. 
DOE invites individuals, organizations, and agencies to present oral or 
written comments concerning the scope of the EIS, including the 
environmental issues and alternatives that the EIS should address.

DATES: The public scoping period starts with the publication of this 
Notice in the Federal Register and will continue until August 31, 2002. 
DOE will consider all comments received or postmarked by that date in 
defining the scope of this EIS. Comments received or postmarked after 
that date will be considered to the extent practicable. Public scoping 
meetings will provide the public with an opportunity to present 
comments, ask questions, and discuss concerns regarding the EIS with 
NNSA officials. The locations, dates and times for the public scoping 
meetings are as follows:

August 13, 2002, from 4-8 p.m., Cities of Gold Hotel, Pojoaque, New 
Mexico
August 15, 2002, from 4-8 p.m., Fuller Lodge, Los Alamos, New Mexico

    The DOE will publish additional notices on the dates, times, and 
locations of the scoping meetings in local newspapers in advance of the 
scheduled meetings. Any necessary changes will be announced in the 
local media. Any agency, state, pueblo, tribe, or units of local 
government that desire to be designated a cooperating agency should 
contact Ms. Elizabeth Withers at the address listed below by August 16, 
2002.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or suggestions concerning the scope of the 
CMRR EIS or requests for more information on the EIS and public scoping 
process should be directed to: Ms. Elizabeth Withers, EIS Document 
Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security 
Administration, Office of Los Alamos Site Operations, 528 35th Street, 
Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87544; facsimile at (505) 667-9998; or E-mail 
at [email protected]. Ms. Withers may also be reached by telephone at 
(505) 667-8690.
    In addition to providing comments at the public scoping meetings, 
all interested parties are invited to record their comments, ask 
questions concerning the EIS, or request to be placed on the EIS 
mailing or document distribution list by leaving a message on the EIS 
Hotline at (toll free) 1-877-491-4957. The Hotline will have 
instructions on how to record comments and requests.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information on NNSA NEPA 
process, please contact: Mr. James Mangeno (NA-3.6), NNSA NEPA 
Compliance Officer, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave, 
SW., Washington, DC 20585, or telephone 202-586-8395. For general 
information about the DOE NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol 
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (EH-42), U.S. 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 
20585, (202) 586-4600, or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is 
located in north-central New Mexico, 60 miles north-northeast of 
Albuquerque, 25 miles northwest of Santa Fe, and 20 miles southwest of 
Espa[ntilde]ola in Los Alamos and Santa Fe Counties. It is located 
between the Jemez Mountains to the west and the Sangre de Cristo 
Mountains and Rio Grande to the east. LANL occupies an area of about 
27,800 acres or approximately 43 square miles and is operated for DOE 
NNSA by a contractor, the University of California. It is a 
multidisciplinary, multipurpose institution engaged in theoretical and 
experimental research and development. LANL has been assigned science, 
research and development, and production NNSA mission support 
activities that are critical to the accomplishment of the NNSA national 
security objectives (as reflected in the Stockpile Stewardship and 
Management Programmatic EIS (DOE/EIS-0236). Specific LANL assignments 
for the foreseeable future include production of War-Reserve (WR) 
products, assessment and certification of the stockpile, surveillance 
of the WR components and weapon systems, ensuring safe and secure 
storage of strategic materials, and management of excess plutonium 
inventories. In addition, LANL also supports actinide (actinides are 
any of a series of elements with atomic numbers ranging from actinium-
89 through lawrencium-103) science missions ranging from Plutonium-238 
heat-source program for the National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration (NASA) to arms control and technology development. 
LANL's main role in NNSA mission objectives includes a wide range of 
scientific and technological capabilities that support nuclear 
materials handling, processing and fabrication; stockpile management; 
materials and manufacturing technologies; nonproliferation programs; 
and waste management activities.
    The capabilities needed to execute the NNSA mission activities 
require facilities at LANL that can be used to handle actinide and 
other radioactive materials in a safe and secure manner. Of primary 
importance are the facilities located within the CMR Building and the 
Plutonium Facility (located at Technical Areas (TAs) 3 and 55, 
respectively), which are used for processing, characterizing and 
storage of special nuclear material. Most of the LANL mission support 
functions previously listed require analytical chemistry, material 
characterization, and actinide research and development support 
capabilities and capacities that currently exist at facilities within 
the CMR Building and are not available elsewhere. Other unique 
capabilities are located at the Plutonium Facility. Work is sometimes 
moved between the CMR Building and the Plutonium Facility to make use 
of the full suite of capabilities that these two facilities provide.
    Mission critical CMR capabilities at LANL support NNSA's stockpile 
stewardship and management strategic objectives; these capabilities are 
necessary to support the current and future directed stockpile work and 
campaign activities conducted at LANL. The CMR Building is over 50 
years old and many of its systems and structural components are in need 
of being upgraded, refurbished, or replaced. Recent studies conducted 
in the late 1990s have identified a seismic fault trace located beneath 
the CMR Building, which greatly enhances the level of structural 
upgrades needed at the CMR

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Building to meet current structural seismic code requirements for a 
Hazard Category 2 nuclear facility. Performing the needed repairs, 
upgrades and systems retrofitting for long-term use of the aging CMR 
Building to allow it to adequately house the mission critical CMR 
capabilities would be extremely difficult and cost prohibitive. Over 
the long-term, NNSA cannot continue to operate the assigned LANL 
mission critical CMR support capabilities in the existing CMR Building 
at an acceptable level of risk to public and worker health and safety 
without operational restrictions. These operational restrictions would 
preclude the full implementation of the level of operation DOE decided 
upon through its Record of Decision for the 1999 LANL Site-wide 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Continued Operation of Los 
Alamos National Laboratory (DOE/EIS-0238). CMR capabilities are 
necessary to support the current and directed stockpile work and 
campaign activities at LANL. The currently estimated end-of-life for 
the existing CMR Building is about 2010. The CMR Building is near the 
end of its useful life and action is required by NNSA to assess 
alternatives for continuing these activities for the next 50 years.
    Currently, NNSA expects that the CMR Building Replacement Project 
EIS (CMRR EIS) will evaluate the environmental impacts associated with 
relocating the CMR capabilities at LANL to the new buildings sited at 
the following alternative locations: (1) Next to the Plutonium Facility 
at Technical Area 55 (TA-55) at LANL (the Proposed Action), or (2) a 
``greenfield'' site(s) at or near TA-55. NNSA will evaluate performing 
minimal necessary structural and systems upgrades and repairs to 
portions of the existing CMR Building and continuing the use of these 
upgraded portions of the structure for office and light laboratory 
purposes, as well as evaluating the potential decontamination and 
demolition of the entire existing CMR Building as disposition options 
coupled with the alternatives for construction and operation of new 
nuclear laboratory facilities at the two previously identified 
locations. The EIS would also consider the performance of minimal 
necessary structural and systems upgrades and repairs to the existing 
CMR Building as a no-action alternative with continued maintenance of 
limited mission critical CMR capabilities at the CMR Building. It is 
possible that this list of reasonable alternatives may change during 
the scoping process.
    The CMR Building contains about 550,000 square feet (about 51,100 
square meters) of floor space on two floors divided between a main 
corridor and seven wings. It was constructed to 1949 Uniform Building 
Codes in the late 1940s and early 1950s. DOE has maintained and 
upgraded the building over time to provide for continued safe 
operations. In 1992, DOE initiated planning and implementation of CMR 
Building upgrades intended to address specific safety, reliability, 
consolidation and safeguards issues (these were the subject of DOE/EA-
1101). These upgrades were intended to extend the useful life of the 
CMR Building an additional 20 to 30 years. However, in 1997 and 1998, a 
series of operational, safety and seismic issues surfaced regarding the 
long-term viability of the CMR Building. In the course of considering 
these issues, the DOE determined that the originally planned extensive 
upgrades to the building would be much more expensive and time-
consumptive than had been identified. Furthermore, the planned upgrades 
would be marginally effective in providing the required operational 
risk reduction and program capabilities to support NNSA mission 
assignments at LANL. As a result, in January 1998, the DOE directed the 
down-scope of the CMR Building upgrade projects to only those upgrades 
needed to ensure safe and reliable operations through about the year 
2010. CMR Building operations and capabilities are currently being 
restricted in scope due to safety and security constraints; it is not 
being operated to the full extent needed to meet the DOE NNSA 
operational requirements established in 1999 for the foreseeable future 
over the next 10 years. In addition, continued support of LANL's 
existing and evolving missions roles are anticipated to require 
additional capabilities such as the ability to handle large containment 
vessels in support of Dynamic Experiments.
    In January 1999, the NNSA approved a strategy for managing 
operational risks at the CMR Building. The strategy included 
implementing operational restrictions to ensure safe operations. These 
restrictions are impacting the assigned mission support CMR activities 
conducted at the CMR Building. This management strategy also committed 
NNSA to developing long-term facility and site plans to relocate the 
CMR capabilities elsewhere at LANL by 2010, as necessary to maintain 
continuing LANL support of national security and other NNSA missions.
    Purpose and Need: NNSA needs to provide the physical means for 
accommodating the continuation of the CMR Building's functional, 
mission-critical CMR capabilities beyond 2010 in a safe, secure, and 
environmentally sound manner at LANL. At the same time, NNSA should 
also take advantage of the opportunity to consolidate like activities 
for the purpose of operational efficiency, and it is prudent to provide 
extra space for future anticipated capabilities or activities 
requirements.
    Proposed Action and Alternatives: The Proposed Action (Preferred 
Alternative) is to construct a new facility at TA-55 composed of two or 
three buildings to house the existing CMR Building capabilities. One of 
the new buildings would provide space for administrative offices and 
support activities; the other building(s) would provide secure 
laboratory spaces for research and analytical support activities. 
Construction of the laboratory building(s) at above ground level would 
be considered. Tunnels may be constructed to connect the buildings. At 
a minimum, the buildings would operate for the next 50 years. A parking 
lot or structure would also be constructed as part of the Proposed 
Action.
    Reasonable alternatives to the proposed action have not been 
definitively identified, but could include construction of a new CMR 
facility at a nearby location to TA-55 within an undeveloped 
``greenfield'' area. Another alternative could consider continuing use 
of portions of the existing CMR Building with the implementation of 
minimal necessary structural and systems upgrades and repairs for 
office and light laboratory purposes, together with the construction of 
new nuclear laboratory facilities at the two previously identified 
locations. If either of the two alternatives were chosen that would 
completely remove CMR activities from the existing CMR Building, 
options for the disposition of the existing CMR Building could include 
an option for continuing use of the existing CMR Building with the 
implementation of minimal necessary structural and systems upgrades and 
repairs for offices or other purposes appropriate to the condition of 
the structure, and an option for complete decontamination and 
demolition of the entire CMR Building with subsequent waste disposal. 
As required by the Council on Environmental Quality NEPA regulations, a 
No Action alternative will also be evaluated. The No Action alternative 
would be to continue the current use of the CMR Building for CMR 
operations with minimal structural and equipment component replacements 
and repairs so that it could continue to function,

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although the CMR capabilities would likely be restricted to minimal 
levels.
    Potential Issues for Analysis: NNSA has tentatively identified the 
following issues for analysis in this EIS. Additional issues may be 
identified as a result of the scoping process.
    1. Potential human health impacts (both to members of the public 
and to workers) related to the proposed new facility and anticipated 
LANL nearby activities during normal operations and reasonably 
foreseeable accident conditions.
    2. Potential impacts to air, water, soil, visual resources and 
viewsheds associated with constructing new buildings, relocating and 
continuing CMR operations.
    3. Potential impacts to plants and animals, and to their habitats, 
including Federally-listed threatened or endangered species and their 
critical habitats, wetlands and floodplains, associated with 
constructing new buildings, relocating and continuing CMR operations.
    4. Potential impacts from geologic site conditions and land uses 
associated with constructing new buildings, relocating and continuing 
CMR operations.
    5. Potential impacts from irretrievable and irreversible 
consumption of natural resources and energy associated with 
constructing new buildings, relocating and continuing CMR operations.
    6. Potential impacts to cultural resources, including historical 
and prehistorical resources and traditional cultural properties, from 
constructing new buildings, relocating and continuing CMR operations.
    7. Potential impacts to infrastructure, transportation issues, 
waste management, and utilities associated with constructing new 
buildings, relocating and continuing CMR operations.
    8. Potential impacts to socioeconomic conditions from constructing 
new buildings, relocating and continuing CMR operations.
    9. Potential environmental justice impacts to minority and low-
income populations as a result of constructing new buildings, 
relocating and continuing CMR operations.
    10. Potential cumulative impacts from the Proposed Action and other 
past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions at LANL.
    NNSA anticipates that certain classified information will be 
consulted in the preparation of this CMRR EIS and used by decision-
makers to decide where and how to relocate the CMR capabilities from 
the existing CMR Building. This EIS may contain a classified appendix. 
To the extent allowable, the EIS will summarize and present this 
information in an unclassified manner.
    Related NEPA Reviews: Following is a summary of recent NEPA 
documents that may be considered in the preparation of this EIS and 
from which this EIS may be tiered, and of future EISs that may be in 
preparation simultaneously with the CMRR EIS. The CMRR EIS will include 
relevant information from each of these documents.
     The Final Stockpile Stewardship and Management 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SSM PEIS) (DOE/EIS-0236). 
The SSM PEIS addressed the facilities and missions to support the 
stewardship and management of the U.S. nuclear stockpile. The Record of 
Decision (ROD) was issued in 1996 and identified stewardship and 
management mission support activities assigned to LANL, in particular, 
the reestablishment of DOE's plutonium pit production capability.
     The Final Los Alamos National Laboratory Site-Wide 
Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) (DOE/EIS-0238). The SWEIS 
analyzed four levels of operations alternatives for LANL to meet its 
existing and potential future program assignments: The No Action 
Alternative, the Expanded Operations Alternative, the Reduced 
Operations Alternative, and the Greener Alternative. The SWEIS also 
provided project specific analysis for two proposed projects: The 
Expansion of TA-54/Area G Low Level Waste Disposal Area; and 
Enhancement of Plutonium Pit Manufacturing. The SWEIS Record of 
Decision identified the Expanded Alternative with reduced pit 
manufacturing capabilities as the level of operations DOE would 
undertake at LANL over the next ten years.
     The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Proposed 
Relocation of Technical Area 18 Capabilities and Materials at Los 
Alamos National Laboratory (TA-18 EIS) (DOE/EIS-0319). The TA-18 EIS 
considers relocating the TA-18 criticality mission activities to 
another location at LANL; to the Nevada Test Site near Las Vegas, 
Nevada; to Sandia National Laboratory at Albuquerque, New Mexico; or to 
the Argonne National Laboratory--West near Idaho Falls, Idaho. If 
retained at LANL, the TA-18 activities could be housed in new buildings 
constructed next to the Plutonium Facility at TA-55; could remain in 
the current facilities without any upgrades; or could remain in 
upgraded facilities at TA-18.
     The NNSA is considering initiation of the preparation of 
an EIS on the proposed Modern Pit Facility. As the analysis for this 
new facility progresses it will be incorporated, if applicable, into 
the CMRR EIS to the extent practicable.
    Public Scoping Process: The scoping process is an opportunity for 
the public to assist the NNSA in determining the alternatives and 
issues for analysis. The purpose of the scoping meetings is to receive 
oral and written comments from the public. The meetings will use a 
format to facilitate dialogue between NNSA and the public and will be 
an opportunity for individuals to provide written or oral statements. 
NNSA welcomes specific comments or suggestions on the content of these 
alternatives, or on other alternatives that could be considered. The 
above list of issues to be considered in the EIS analysis is tentative 
and is intended to facilitate public comment on the scope of this EIS. 
It is not intended to be all-inclusive, nor does it imply any 
predetermination of potential impacts. The CMRR EIS will describe the 
potential environmental impacts of the alternatives, using available 
data where possible and obtaining additional data where necessary. 
Copies of written comments and transcripts of oral comments will be 
available at the following locations: Los Alamos Outreach Center, 1350 
Central Avenue, Suite 101, Los Alamos, New Mexico, 87544; and the 
Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 
87131.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 15th day of July, 2002.
Linton Brooks,
Acting Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 02-18552 Filed 7-22-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P