[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 82 (Friday, April 29, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22306-22307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-8600]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

National Nuclear Security Administration


Final Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued 
Operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Supplemental 
Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement

AGENCY: National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Livermore Site Office of the Department of Energy's (DOE) 
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the 
availability of the Final Site-wide Environmental Impact Statement for 
Continued Operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (DOE/EIS-
0348) and Supplemental Stockpile Stewardship and Management 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0236-S3) (LLNL SW/
SPEIS). The Final LLNL SW/SPEIS was prepared in accordance with the 
Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) Implementing Regulations (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and the DOE's 
NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021). The Final LLNL SW/
SPEIS analyzes the potential environmental impacts associated with 
continuing current Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) 
operations and foreseeable new or modified operations and facilities. 
The LLNL SW/SWPEIS also evaluates the potential environmental impacts 
of experiments at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) using plutonium, 
other fissile materials, fissionable materials, and lithium hydride. 
The Final LLNL SW/SPEIS analyses a Proposed Action and two 
alternatives, the No Action Alternative and a Reduced Operation 
Alternative. The No Action Alternative would continue operation of 
current LLNL programs in support of assigned missions. The Proposed 
Action includes operations discussed under the No Action Alternative 
and new or expanded operations in support of reasonably foreseeable 
mission requirements. The Reduced Operation Alternative consists of a 
reduction of activities compared to the No Action Alternative. The NNSA 
has identified the Proposed Action as the preferred alternative in the 
Final LLNL SW/SPEIS.

DATES: The NNSA intends to issue a Record of Decision on the Final LLNL 
SW/SPEIS no sooner than 30 days after the Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA) publishes a notice of filing of the Final LLNL SW/SPEIS in 
the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The Final LLNL SW/SPEIS is available on the LLNL 
Environmental Community Relations Web site http://www-envirinfo.llnl.gov/. For additional information or a copy of the Final 
LLNL SW/SPEIS or its Summary contact: Mr. Thomas Grim, Document 
Manager, National Nuclear Security Administration, Livermore Site 
Office, L-293, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, CA 94550-9234; phone (925) 
422-0704 or toll free 1-877-388-4930; or by e-mail 
([email protected]). The Final LLNL SW/SPEIS is also available at the 
following locations: the DOE Public Reading Room in Room 1E-190, 1000 
Independence Ave, SW., Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-3142; the LLNL 
Public Reading Room in the LLNL Visitors Center in Building 6525 
located at the East Gate Entrance off of Greenville Road, Livermore, 
California, (925) 424-4026; the Livermore Public Library at 1000 South 
Livermore Avenue, Livermore California, (925) 373-5500; and the Tracy 
Public Library at 20 East Eaton Avenue, Tracy, CA, (209) 831-4250.
    For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact: 
Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance, 
EH-42, U.S. DOE, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, 
telephone 202-586-4600, or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The continued operation of LLNL is critical 
to NNSA's Stockpile Stewardship Program and to preventing the spread 
and use of nuclear weapons worldwide. LLNL maintains core competencies 
in activities associated with research and development, design, and 
surveillance of nuclear weapons, as well as the assessment and 
certification of their safety and reliability. LLNL also supports other 
DOE programs and Federal agencies such as the Department of Defense, 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, EPA, and the Department of Homeland 
Security. The Final LLNL SW/SPEIS analyzes the environmental impacts of 
these operations.
    LLNL was founded in 1952 as the second nuclear weapons design 
laboratory in order to promote innovation in the design of our nation's 
nuclear stockpile. LLNL consists of two sites: the Livermore Site 
located in Livermore, California (Alameda County); and Site 300, an 
experimental test site located near Tracy, California,

[[Page 22307]]

(San Joaquin and Alameda counties). The Livermore Site is the primary 
site and is located approximately 40 miles east of San Francisco in the 
Livermore Valley on the east side of the city of Livermore. Site 300 is 
located 15 miles southeast of the city of Livermore between Livermore 
and Tracy.
    The alternatives evaluated in the Final LLNL SW/SPEIS represent a 
range of operation from the minimum level that maintains core 
capabilities (Reduced Operation Alternative) to the highest reasonable 
activity levels that could be supported by current facilities, and the 
potential expansion and construction of new facilities for identified 
future actions (Proposed Action). The No Action Alternative would 
continue operation of current LLNL programs in support of assigned 
missions and includes approved interim actions; facility construction, 
expansion, or modification; and decontamination and decommissioning 
projects for which NEPA analysis and documentation already exist. The 
Proposed Action includes operations discussed under the No Action 
Alternative and the construction of new facilities and expanded 
operations in support of future mission requirements. Specifically, the 
Proposed Action includes increasing the administrative and material-at-
risk limits for plutonium and tritium, and the use of nuclear materials 
(plutonium, other fissile materials, fissionable materials, and lithium 
hydride) at the National Ignition Facility. The Reduced Operation 
Alternative represents a thirty percent reduction of the Stockpile 
Stewardship Program compared to the No Action Alternative. The Reduced 
Operation Alternative maintains full operational readiness for NNSA 
facilities and operations, but does not represent the level of 
operation required to fulfill the missions of the Stockpile Stewardship 
Program assigned to LLNL. The NNSA has identified the Proposed Action 
as its preferred alternative in the Final LLNL SW/SPEIS.
    The Final LLNL SW/SPEIS contains responses to comments received 
during the public comment period, as well as changes that were made to 
the Draft LLNL SW/SPEIS in response to these comments. The NNSA will 
consider the analyses in the Final LLNL SW/SPEIS, along with other 
information, in making its decision regarding future operations at 
LLNL.

    Issued in Washington, DC, this 10th day of March 2005.
Linton F. Brooks,
Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration.
[FR Doc. 05-8600 Filed 4-28-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P