[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 235 (Thursday, December 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 73003-73005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7069]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Gilberton Coal-to-
Clean Fuels and Power Project

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the document, Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Gilberton 
Coal-to-Clean Fuels and Power Project (DOE/EIS-0357), for public 
comment. The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzes the 
potential

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environmental consequences of providing federal funding for the design, 
engineering, construction, and operation of the first power facility in 
the United States to use coal waste as feed to a gasification facility 
that subsequently generates fuel gas for clean power, thermal energy, 
and clean liquid fuels production. The project would be constructed at 
an existing power plant site in Gilberton, Schuylkill County, 
Pennsylvania.
    The Department prepared this draft EIS in accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations that 
implement the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), 
and the DOE procedures implementing NEPA (10 CFR part 1021).
    DOE's proposed action (and preferred alternative) is to provide 
cost-shared funding to design, construct, and operate a new plant to 
demonstrate coproduction of 41 MW of electricity for export, steam, and 
over 5,000 barrels-per-day of clean liquid hydrocarbon products 
(primarily diesel fuel and naptha). DOE may also provide a loan 
guarantee, pursuant to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, to guarantee a 
portion of the private sector financing for the project. The 
demonstration plant would use a gasifier to convert coal waste to 
synthesis gas, which would be conveyed to Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) 
liquefaction facilities for production of liquid fuels and to a 
combined-cycle power plant. The demonstration facilities, to be 
constructed in Gilberton, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, would 
process up to 4,700 tons per day of coal waste (anthracite culm). The 
potential environmental impacts of this action are evaluated in this 
Draft EIS. The Draft EIS also analyzed the No Action Alternative, under 
which DOE would not provide cost-shared funding to demonstrate the 
commercial-scale integration of coal gasification and F-T synthesis 
technology to produce electricity, steam and liquid fuels. Under the 
No-Action Alternative, it is reasonably foreseeable that no new 
activity would occur.

DATES: DOE invites the public to comment on the Draft EIS during the 
public comment period, which ends February 8, 2006. DOE will consider 
all comments postmarked or received during the public comment period in 
preparing the Final EIS, and will consider late comments to the extent 
practicable.
    DOE will hold public hearings on January 9, 2006, at Shenandoah 
Valley Junior/Senior High School, 805 West Center Street, Shenandoah, 
PA 17976, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and on January 10, 2006, at D.H.H. Lengel 
Middle School, 1541 West Laurel Boulevard, Pottsville, PA 17901, and 7 
p.m. to 9 p.m. Informational sessions will be held at both locations 
from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., preceding the public hearings on the dates 
noted above.

ADDRESSES: Requests for information about this Draft EIS or to receive 
a copy of the Draft EIS should be directed to: Janice L. Bell, NEPA 
Document Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology 
Laboratory, M/S 58-247A, P.O. Box 10940, Pittsburgh, PA 15236. 
Additional information about the Draft EIS may also be requested by 
telephone at (412) 386-4512, or toll-free at (866) 576-8240. The Draft 
EIS will be available at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/. Copies of the 
Draft EIS are also available for review at the locations listed in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this Notice.
    Written comments on the Draft EIS can be mailed to Janice L. Bell, 
NEPA Document Manager, at the address noted above. Written comments may 
also be submitted by fax to: (412) 386-4806, or submitted 
electronically to: [email protected]. Oral comments on the Draft EIS 
will be accepted only during the public hearings scheduled for the date 
and location provided in the DATES section of this Notice.
    Requests to speak at the public hearings can be made by calling or 
writing the EIS Document Manager (see ADDRESSES). Requests to speak 
that have not been submitted prior to the hearing will be accepted in 
the order in which they are received during the hearing. Speakers are 
encouraged to provide a written version of their oral comments for the 
record. Each speaker will be allowed five minutes to present comments 
unless more time is requested and available. Comments will be recorded 
by a court reporter and will become part of the public hearing record.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the 
proposed project or the draft environmental impact statement, please 
contact Ms. Janice Bell as directed above. For general information 
regarding the DOE NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol M. 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 (800) 472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Description of Alternatives

    DOE analyzed two alternatives in the Draft EIS. Under the No Action 
Alternative, DOE would not provide cost-shared funding to demonstrate 
the commercial-scale integration of coal gasification and Fischer-
Tropsch (F-T) synthesis technology to produce electricity, steam and 
liquid fuels. Under the No-Action Alternative, it is reasonably 
foreseeable that no new activity would occur. No construction or 
operation of the proposed facilities would occur; no site preparation 
would be required, such as clearing of trees and other vegetation; no 
employment would be provided for construction workers in the area or 
for operators of the proposed facilities; and no resources would be 
required and no discharges of wastes would occur. Under the No Action 
Alternative, no anthracite culm, which is stacked in numerous piles as 
waste from previous anthracite coal mining activities, would be 
removed.
    Under the proposed action, DOE would provide cost-shared funding to 
design, construct, and operate a new plant to demonstrate coproduction 
of 41 MW of electricity for export, steam, and over 5,000 barrels-per-
day of clean liquid hydrocarbon products (primarily diesel fuel and 
naptha). The demonstration plant would use a gasifier to convert coal 
waste to synthesis gas, which would be conveyed to F-T liquefaction 
facilities for production of liquid fuels and to a combined-cycle power 
plant. The primary feedstock for the proposed facilities would be low-
cost anthracite culm, which is a locally abundant, previously discarded 
resource (about 100 million tons) that could accommodate fuel 
requirements through the lifetime of the facilities. The culm would be 
trucked to the site from the surrounding local area. Micronized 
limestone, which would be used as flux added to the feedstock to lower 
the ash melting temperature of the culm and promote fluidity, would be 
trucked from mines within 100 miles of the project site.
    The facilities would produce about 5,000 barrels of liquid fuels 
per day and 41 MW of electricity for export to the regional power grid. 
To reduce costs, the project would take advantage of existing local 
infrastructure, including rail, water, and transmission lines. The net 
efficiency would be about 45%, compared to about 33% for a traditional 
coal-fired power plant and about 40% for a state-of-the-art integrated 
gasification combined cycle power plant.

[[Page 73005]]

    An average of 516 construction workers would be at the site during 
the construction period; approximately 1,000 workers would be required 
during the peak construction period. Demonstration (including 
performance testing and monitoring) would be conducted over a 3-year 
period. If the demonstration is successful, commercial operation would 
follow immediately. About 250 workers would be required during the 
demonstration, and 150 workers would be needed for long-term 
operations.
    Proposed emissions from the facility would be small, especially for 
sulfur dioxide (SO 2), because most of the sulfur would be 
removed from the synthesis gas prior to conveying the gas to the F-T 
liquefaction facilities and the combined cycle power plant. The use of 
anthracite culm would reduce waste disposal from operating mines and 
allow reclamation of land currently stock piled with culm.

Availability of the Draft EIS

    Copies of this Draft EIS have been distributed to Members of 
Congress, Federal, State, and local officials, and agencies, 
organizations and individuals who may be interested or affected. This 
Draft EIS will be available on the Internet at: http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/. Additional copies can also be requested by telephone at (412) 
386-4512, or (866) 576-8240. Copies of the Draft EIS are also available 
for public review at the locations listed below.

Frackville Free Public Library, 56 N. Lehigh Avenue, Frackville, PA 
17931.
Mahanoy City Public Library, 17-19 W. Mahanoy Avenue, Mahanoy City, PA 
17948.
Pottsville Free Library, 215 West Market Street, Pottsville, PA 17901.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on December 2, 2005.
Mark J. Matarrese,
NEPA Compliance Officer, Office of Fossil Energy.
 [FR Doc. E5-7069 Filed 12-7-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P