[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 173 (Thursday, September 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53353-53355]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-17791]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of a Supplement Analysis for 
Transportation, Storage, Characterization, and Disposal of Transuranic 
Waste Currently Stored at the Battelle West Jefferson Site Near 
Columbus, OH

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a Supplement Analysis.

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SUMMARY: DOE has prepared a Supplement Analysis (SA) pursuant to DOE 
regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 
at 10 CFR 1021.314. The SA addresses DOE's proposal to ship 
approximately 37 cubic meters (1,307 cubic feet [ft\3\]) of transuranic 
(TRU) waste from the Battelle Columbus Laboratory West Jefferson site 
near Columbus, Ohio, to the Savannah River Site (SRS), a DOE site near 
Aiken, South Carolina, or to Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS), a 
commercial facility in Andrews, Texas. The waste was generated as part 
of the cleanup of the West Jefferson site and consists of approximately 
12 cubic meters of Contact Handled (CH) TRU waste and approximately 25 
cubic meters of Remote Handled (RH) TRU waste. For purposes of 
analysis, DOE assumed that at SRS, the CH-TRU waste would be 
characterized and transported to WIPP for disposal, and the RH-TRU 
waste would be stored for up to 5 years; at WCS, the CH-TRU and RH-TRU 
waste would be stored for up to 5 years. The waste would be maintained 
in a safe, secure manner until it can be processed and disposed of at 
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, NM.
    The Battelle West Jefferson facility is privately owned; however, 
as part of the closeout of its nuclear materials research contract, DOE 
is assisting in the remediation of the site. Contract terms specify 
that all radioactive waste generated during the facility cleanup is 
``DOE-owned'' for the purposes of disposal. The TRU waste must be 
shipped off-site by December 31, 2005, as Battelle's Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) license will expire at that time.
    In the final Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement (WM PEIS, DOE/EIS-0200, May 1997), DOE analyzed the potential 
environmental impacts of the management (treatment and storage) of TRU 
waste at DOE sites. The Record of Decision for the Department of 
Energy's Waste Management Program: Treatment and Storage of Transuranic 
Waste (63 FR 3629 (1998)) (TRU Waste ROD) documented DOE's decision 
that, except for the Sandia National Laboratory, which would ship its 
waste to Los Alamos National Laboratory, each DOE site that generated 
or will generate TRU waste will prepare and store its TRU waste on the 
site until it can be disposed of at WIPP. DOE noted that in the future, 
it may decide to ship TRU waste from sites where it may be impractical 
to prepare the waste for disposal to sites where DOE has or will have 
the necessary capability. The sites that could receive such shipments 
of TRU waste are the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho; 
the Oak Ridge Reservation, near Oak Ridge, Tennessee; SRS; and the 
Hanford site, near Richland, Washington.
    Based on the SA, DOE has determined that a supplement to the WM 
PEIS or a new EIS is not needed. DOE plans to issue an amended Record 
of Decision (ROD) under the Waste Management Programmatic Environmental 
Impact Statement (WM PEIS) for this waste no sooner than 30 days from 
the publication of this Notice.

DATES: DOE will consider all public comments on this matter submitted 
by October 11, 2005 before issuing a ROD.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be directed to: Mr. Harold Johnson, Carlsbad 
Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 4021 National Parks Highway, 
Carlsbad, NM 88220, Telephone: 505-234-7349, E-mail: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the Supplement Analysis for 
Transportation, Storage, Characterization, and Disposal of Transuranic 
Waste Currently Stored at the Battelle West Jefferson Site near 
Columbus, Ohio (DOE/EIS-0200-SA-02) will be available on DOE's Office 
of Environmental Management Web site at: http://www.em.doe.gov and on 
DOE's NEPA Web site at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/whatsnew/html. To 
request printed copies of this document, please write or call: The 
Center for Environmental Management Information, P.O. Box 23769, 
Washington, DC 20026-3769, Telephone: 1-800-736-3282 (in Washington, 
DC: 202-863-5084).
    For further information regarding the storage characterization, and 
disposal of Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste, contact: Mr. Harold 
Johnson, Carlsbad Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 4021 
National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, NM 88220, Telephone: 505-234-7349.
    For further information on the DOE program for the management of 
TRU waste, contact: Ms. Lynne Smith, WIPP Office EM-13, Office of 
Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, 19001 Germantown 
Road, Germantown, MD 20874, Telephone: 301-903-6828.
    For information on DOE's NEPA process, 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, Telephone 202-586-4600, or leave a message at 1-800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is 
responsible for the disposal of approximately 37 cubic meters (m3) 
(1,307 cubic feet [ft\3\]) of transuranic (TRU) waste generated as part 
of the cleanup of the Battelle Columbus Laboratory West Jefferson site 
near Columbus, Ohio, and currently stored on-site. TRU waste is waste 
that contains alpha particle-emitting radionuclides with atomic numbers 
greater than uranium (92) and half-lives greater than 20 years in 
concentrations greater than 100 nanocuries per gram of waste.
    TRU waste is categorized as either contact handled (CH) or remote 
handled (RH), based on the radiation level at the

[[Page 53354]]

surface of the waste container. Some TRU waste is also mixed waste, 
having both radioactive and hazardous components.
    The Battelle West Jefferson facility is privately owned; however, 
as part of the closeout of its nuclear materials research contract, DOE 
is assisting in the remediation of the site. Contract terms specify 
that all radioactive waste generated during the facility cleanup is 
``DOE-owned'' for the purposes of disposal. DOE needs to ship the TRU 
waste off-site by December 31, 2005, to comply with Battelle's Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC) license, which will expire at that time. 
Removal of the TRU waste from the Battelle West Jefferson site is also 
required to allow site closure in fiscal year (FY) 2006.
    In the Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement 
(WM PEIS), DOE analyzed the potential environmental impacts of the 
management (treatment and storage) of TRU waste at DOE sites. The 
Record of Decision for the Department of Energy's Waste Management 
Program: Treatment and Storage of Transuranic Waste (63 FR 3629 (1998)) 
(TRU Waste ROD) documented DOE's decision that, with the exception of 
the Sandia National Laboratory, which would send its waste to Los 
Alamos National Laboratory, each DOE site that has generated or will 
generate TRU waste will prepare and store its TRU waste on the site, 
pending disposal at WIPP.
    In an amended WM PEIS TRU Waste ROD issued in 2002, DOE decided to 
ship the Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste to the Hanford Site for 
storage and characterization prior to disposal at the Waste Isolation 
Pilot Plant (WIPP), located near Carlsbad, New Mexico [67 FR 56989 
(2002)]. After issuing that decision, DOE completed three shipments of 
the Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste to Hanford (approximately 5 m\3\ 
[177 ft\3\]). In March 2003, DOE suspended further shipments of this 
TRU waste to Hanford, and subsequently a preliminary injunction 
stopping further shipments of TRU waste to Hanford was issued by the 
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington in response 
to actions filed by the State of Washington and Columbia Riverkeeper.
    Shipments of TRU waste to Hanford for storage and characterization 
prior to disposal at WIPP remained suspended pending completion of the 
Hanford Solid (Radioactive and Hazardous) Waste Program Environmental 
Impact Statement (Hanford Solid Waste EIS) (DOE 2004a) and lifting of 
the preliminary injunction. The Hanford Solid Waste EIS was completed 
in January 2004, and a Record of Decision (ROD) was issued in June 
2004.\1\ On May 13, 2005, the district court issued a decision allowing 
the shipment of non-mixed TRU waste from the Battelle West Jefferson 
site to Hanford. However, the court has retained a preliminary 
injunction against off site shipments of mixed TRU to Hanford.
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    \1\ Record of Decision for the Solid Waste Program, Hanford 
Site, Richland, Washington: Storage and Treatment of Low-Level Waste 
and Mixed Low-Level Waste; Disposal of Low-Level Waste and Mixed 
Low-Level Waste; and Storage, Processing, and Certification of 
Transuranic Waste for Shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, 
69 FR 39449 (2004) (Hanford Solid Waste ROD).
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    Although shipment of non-mixed TRU waste to Hanford is no longer 
enjoined, DOE has discovered information that calls into question the 
accuracy of some of the analyses contained in the Hanford Solid Waste 
EIS. Until these questions can be addressed, DOE has decided not to 
ship additional waste from Battelle West Jefferson to Hanford. 
Nevertheless, by the end of 2005, DOE needs to ship all Battelle West 
Jefferson TRU waste to off-site storage so that Battelle can comply 
with its NRC license and site closure can occur in FY 2006.
    DOE is now proposing to ship the Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste 
to the Savannah River Site (SRS), a DOE site near Aiken, South 
Carolina, or to Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS), a commercial 
facility in Andrews, Texas. For purposes of analysis, at SRS, the CH-
TRU waste would be characterized and transported to WIPP for disposal, 
and the RH-TRU waste would be stored for up to 5 years pending ultimate 
disposal at WIPP. At WCS, the CH- and RH-TRU waste would be stored for 
up to 5 years pending ultimate disposal at WIPP.
    DOE has a Hazardous Waste Facility Permit modification request 
pending before the New Mexico Environment Department that seeks to 
modify the characterization requirements for CH-TRU waste, apply those 
modified requirements to RH-TRU waste, and allow DOE to dispose of RH-
TRU waste at WIPP. If DOE's request is granted without substantial 
modification, it may be possible to characterize the Battelle West 
Jefferson waste based on knowledge of the contents of the waste, 
without performing sampling and analysis currently required for CH-TRU 
waste under the WIPP Hazardous Waste Facility Permit. If 
characterization can be performed without additional sampling and 
analysis, DOE would ship the stored waste directly from SRS or WCS to 
WIPP.
    If the WIPP TRU waste characterization requirements that are 
established by the hazardous waste facility permit modification cannot 
be met at SRS or WCS, then DOE would ship the waste from SRS or WCS to 
Hanford, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) (formerly known as the Idaho 
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory), or Oak Ridge 
National Laboratory (ORNL) for characterization prior to shipment to 
WIPP for disposal. If SRS can meet the characterization requirements, 
but WCS cannot, the waste might also be shipped from WCS to SRS for 
characterization prior to shipment to WIPP for disposal.
    Future decisions regarding where to characterize the Battelle West 
Jefferson TRU waste would be made based on (1) consideration of the 
characterization requirements that are eventually established for that 
waste, and (2) the characterization capabilities existing or to be 
established at the different DOE sites to meet those requirements. 
After TRU waste characterization requirements have been established, if 
additional characterization were needed, DOE would conduct appropriate 
further National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review, for any 
additional characterization activities if necessary, including the 
associated transportation and shipment of the TRU waste to WIPP for 
disposal.
    DOE has prepared the SA in accordance with DOE NEPA regulations (10 
CFR 1021.314) to determine whether the proposed shipment of the 
Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste for storage at SRS or WCS prior to 
disposal at WIPP is a substantial change to the proposal or whether 
there are significant new circumstances or information, relevant to 
environmental concerns, such that a supplement to the WM PEIS or a new 
EIS would be needed. DOE has concluded, based on the analysis in the SA 
that the impacts of shipping the waste to WCS or SRS would be very 
small and would not add significantly to impacts reported in prior NEPA 
analyses. Accordingly, DOE has determined that a supplement to the WM-
PEIS or a new EIS is not needed.
    DOE plans to issue an amended ROD under the WM PEIS for this waste 
no sooner than 30 days from the publication of this Notice. DOE will 
consider all public comments on this matter submitted by October 11, 
2005 before issuing a ROD.


[[Page 53355]]


    Issued in Washington, DC, September 1, 2005.
James A. Rispoli,
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 05-17791 Filed 9-7-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P