[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 188 (Thursday, September 28, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57005-57006]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-15734]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Right-
of-Way Applications Filed by Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C., for an 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation on the Reservation of the 
Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians and the Related Transportation 
Facility in Tooele County, UT

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has signed a Record of 
Decision (ROD) concerning two right-of-way applications filed by 
Private Fuel Storage (PFS), L.L.C, for an independent spent fuel 
storage installation on reservation lands of the Skull Valley Band of 
Goshute Indians (Band or Skull Valley Band). The installation is 
described in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) prepared by the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), entitled ``Final Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Construction and Operation of an Independent 
Spent Fuel Storage Installation on the Reservation of the Skull Valley 
Band of Goshute Indians and the Related Transportation Facility in 
Tooele County, Utah (December 2001).''
    Spent nuclear fuel (SNF), the focus of the EIS, is the primary by-
product from a nuclear reactor. As proposed, the fuel would be 
transported from an existing Union Pacific railroad site to the 
Reservation of the Skull Valley Band in Tooele County, Utah. The 
applications seek right-of-way grants under Title V of the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), 43 U.S.C. 1761, to transport SNF 
across public lands managed by the BLM. The BLM was a cooperating 
agency in the preparation of this EIS, as were the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs (BIA), U.S. Department of the Interior, and the U.S. Surface 
Transportation Board. This EIS is available online at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1714/v1/.
    Additional comments were received by the BLM following its 
publication on February 7, 2006, of a Federal Register notice at 71 FR 
6286 requesting comments on the two right-of-way applications then 
pending before the agency. The BLM ROD is based on review of the draft 
EIS; the FEIS; comments received from the public, other Federal 
agencies, and State and local governments; and discussion of all the 
alternatives with the cooperating agencies.
    The BLM decision is to choose the No Action alternative from the 
EIS. The effect of this decision is to reject applications U 76985 and 
U 76986 for right-of-way grants filed by PFS, L.L.C.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Hughes; Deputy Director, Bureau of 
Land Management; 1849 C St., NW., Washington, DC 20240; Telephone: 
(202) 208-3801.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the Record of Decision are available from Jim 
Hughes; Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management; 1849 C St., NW., 
Washington, DC 20240.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area

    On January 6, 2006, after publication of the project's EIS in 
December 2001, President Bush signed Public Law 109-163, the National 
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 (119 Stat. 3136). 
Section 384 of this Act designated certain lands as wilderness, to be 
known as the Cedar Mountain Wilderness Area, and added these lands to 
the National Wilderness Preservation System. The Cedar Mountain 
Wilderness Area includes lands described in PFS's application U 76985 
seeking a right-of-way for a rail line (which had been the preferred 
Alternative of the EIS). The effect of this wilderness designation is 
to preclude the BLM's issuance of a right-of-way grant authorizing a 
rail line through those lands designated as the Cedar Mountain 
Wilderness Area. As a practical matter, any rail line would be forced 
to halt at the boundary of the lands designated as the Cedar Mountain 
Wilderness Area.
    The BLM's authority to issue a right-of-way grant for a rail line 
across the public lands is set forth in Title V of the Federal Land 
Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), 43 U.S.C. 1761. Section 501(a) of 
FLPMA provides in part: ``The Secretary [of the Interior], with respect 
to the public lands and, the Secretary of Agriculture, with respect to 
lands within the National Forest System (except in each case land 
designated as wilderness), are authorized to grant, issue, or renew 
rights-of-way over, upon, under, or through such lands for-- * * * 
roads, trails, highways, railroads, * * * or other means of 
transportation * * * (emphasis added).'' Thus, alternatives analyzing 
transportation by rail were not selected because to grant the right-of-
way sought by PFS in application U 76985 would be inconsistent with the 
purpose for which

[[Page 57006]]

the BLM manages the public lands and inconsistent with section 501(a) 
of FLPMA (43 CFR 2804.26(a)(1) and (a)(4)).

Skull Valley Road

    Eliminating the proposed rail line right-of-way application U 
76985, the second right-of-way application, was discussed in 
Alternatives 3 and 4 of the EIS (same basic route using the existing 
Skull Valley Road to the two different nearby sites on the 
Reservation). Right-of-way application U 76986 would entail 
constructing an Intermodal Transfer Facility (ITF) and rail siding to 
be built on lands managed by BLM at the existing main Union Pacific 
rail line near Timpie, Utah, to transfer SNF shipping casks from rail 
cars to the heavy-haul vehicles, which would then transport the SNF 
along the existing Skull Valley Road to the site on the Reservation. No 
rail line would be built under these alternatives, as the sole access 
is from the Skull Valley Road. Skull Valley Road is an undivided, two-
lane public road, one lane in each direction. The BLM issued a right-
of-way (U 04240) for this road to the Utah State Road Commission on May 
17, 1951. For the BLM's decisional purposes, these alternatives would 
involve the issuance of a right-of-way grant authorizing the use of 
public land for the ITF.
    The EIS indicates that these alternatives were not selected because 
construction and use of the rail line would have advantages over the 
use of the ITF. The ITF requires the use of heavy-haul trailers 
traveling on Skull Valley Road at speeds not to exceed 20 miles per 
hour. Impacts to local traffic would be difficult to mitigate, impacts 
which could be entirely avoided by use of the rail line from Skunk 
Ridge. Also, the ITF would involve additional doses of radiation 
incurred by workers transferring SNF shipping casks from rail cars to 
heavy-haul vehicles at the ITF. This additional dosage would also be 
avoided if the rail option were to be used instead of the ITF option. 
Thus, alternatives analyzing intermodal transfer facilities were not 
selected because to grant the right-of-way sought by PFS in application 
U 76986 based on the existing record would be contrary to the public 
interest (43 CFR 2804.26(a)(2)).
    To obtain a copy of the Record of Decision, send a request to the 
address given in the ADDRESSES section of this notice.

Chad Calvert,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management.
 [FR Doc. E6-15734 Filed 9-27-06; 8:45 am]
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