[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 232 (Monday, December 4, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70371-70372]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-20435]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability; Draft Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Western Greenbrier Co-Production Demonstration 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 Western 
Greenbrier Co-Production Demonstration Project, (DOE/EIS-0361), for 
public comment. The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzes 
the potential environmental consequences of providing Federal funding 
for the design, construction, and demonstration of a 98 megawatt (MWe) 
net power plant and ash byproduct manufacturing facility to be located 
in the municipality of Rainelle, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The 
facility would be constructed and demonstrated through a cooperative 
agreement between DOE and Western Greenbrier Co-Generation, LLC (WGC) 
under the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI). WGC proposes to design, 
construct, and demonstrate an atmospheric pressure circulating 
fluidized-bed (CFB) power plant that would generate electricity and 
steam by burning approximately 3,000 to 4,000 tons per day of coal 
refuse from several local sites as the primary fuel. The proposed power 
plant would be the first commercial application within the United 
States of a CFB combustor featuring a compact inverted cyclone design.
    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 is to provide cost-shared financial 
assistance to WGC through a cooperative agreement under the CCPI for 
design, construction, and operation of the Western Greenbrier Co-
Production Demonstration Project. WGC proposes to design, construct, 
and operate a 98 MWe (net) power plant that would generate electricity 
and steam by burning fuel derived from the beneficiation of 
approximately 3,000 to 4,000 tons per day of coal refuse. The proposed 
power plant would be the first commercial application within the United 
States of an atmospheric circulating fluidized-bed combustor featuring 
a compact inverted cyclone design. The design would require less steel 
and facilitate erection in remote areas by reducing the boiler system 
footprint and height. These innovations could reduce steel costs by 
approximately 40 percent and shorten construction time by approximately 
10 percent.

DATES: DOE invites the public to comment on the Draft EIS during the 
public comment period, which ends January 18, 2007. 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 a public hearing on Thursday, January 4, 2007, at 
Western Greenbrier Middle School, Crawley, West Virginia from 7 p.m. to 
9 p.m. An informational session will be held at the same location from 
4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., preceding the public hearing on the date noted 
above.

ADDRESSES: Requests for information about this Draft EIS or to receive 
a copy of the Draft EIS should be directed to: Roy G. Spears, NEPA 
Document Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology 
Laboratory, M/S NO-3, P.O. Box 0880, Morgantown, West Virginia. 
Additional information about the Draft EIS may also be requested by 
telephone at: (304) 285-5460, or toll-free at: (800) 432-8330, x5460.
    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 Roy G. Spears, NEPA Document 
Manager, at the address noted above. Written comments may also be 
submitted by fax to: (412) 285-4403, or submitted electronically to: 
[email protected]. Oral comments on the Draft EIS will be 
accepted only during the public hearing scheduled for the date and 
location provided in the DATES section of this Notice. Requests to 
speak at the public hearing 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 at 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 Mr. Roy G. Spears, as directed above. For general information 
regarding the DOE NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, 
Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-20), 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: The proposed action 
and the no-action alternative. Under the proposed action, DOE would 
provide cost-shared funding to a private-sector applicant for the 
design, construction and demonstration of a Co-Production Facility 
based on an innovative atmospheric-pressure circulating fluidized-bed 
(ACFB) boiler with a compact inverted-cyclone design. In addition to 
producing electricity and steam, the Co-Production facility would 
include a kiln that would produce cement for use in the production of 
structural brick and other similar products. The Co-Production Facility 
would utilize coal refuse (also referred to as ``gob'') from nearby 
coal refuse sites as the primary fuel source, and portions of the ash 
generated by the circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) would be returned to 
the coal refuse sites for use in site reclamation efforts. DOE has 
entered into a 5-year cooperative agreement with WGC to provide 
financial support through the CCPI program.
    WGC was a successful applicant in Round 1 of the CCPI program and 
will be ultimately responsible for the siting, design, construction, 
and operation of the facility and related components.

[[Page 70372]]

WGC is collectively owned by the towns of Rainelle, Rupert, and 
Quinwood, and its mission is to provide economic development for the 
area through the construction and operation of the proposed facility.
    The main focus of the WGC Co-Production Facility Project is the 
construction and operation of the 98 MWe generating plant that utilizes 
the technologies described in Section 2.3 of the Draft Environmental 
Impact Statement. However, there are several unique and important 
aspects of the project that extend beyond the construction and 
operation of the power plant. In addition to generating power for the 
national grid and demonstrating the inverted cyclone technology, the 
proposed plant is intended to use coal refuse as its primary fuel 
source, to apply potential waste streams to beneficial uses, and to 
serve as an economic catalyst for the region by providing an anchor 
tenant for a planned industrial park (the ``EcoPark'') to be located in 
Rainelle. As a result, there are connected actions associated with the 
excavation and reclamation of the proposed coal refuse piles (e.g., 
beneficiation of the coal refuse by a third party), the additional 
industrial activities that may occur with the project (e.g., potential 
production of building products from the cement), and potential future 
commercial and industrial development that are intended to occur as a 
result of the plant. These additional project aspects are not integral 
to the DOE decision on whether to provide cost-shared funding to 
demonstrate the clean coal technologies of interest.
    Under the No Action Alternative, DOE would not provide cost-shared 
funding to demonstrate the Co-Production Facility Project. Although WGC 
could proceed to implement the proposed project in spite of DOE's No 
Action Alternative, it is unlikely that this project would be completed 
successfully without DOE funding support. The No Action alternative 
would not involve new construction, new discharges, or changes in land 
or water uses in the planning area. Because this alternative would not 
involve introducing new emission sources, no impact on the air quality, 
either locally or regionally, is expected. Aesthetic and scenic 
conditions, as well as surface and ground water, would remain 
unchanged. The No Action alternative would not contribute to the goal 
of the CCPI program, which is to accelerate commercial deployment of 
advanced technologies that provide the United States with clean, 
reliable, and affordable energy.

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: 304-
285-5460, or (800) 432-8330, x5460. Copies of the Draft EIS are also 
available for public review at the Greenbrier County Public Library, 
301 Courtney Drive, Lewisburg, West Virginia, and at the Rainelle 
Municipal Public Library, 312 7th Street, Rainelle, West Virginia.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on November 28, 2006.
Mark J. Matarrese,
Director, Office of Environment, Security, Safety and Health, Office of 
Fossil Energy.
 [FR Doc. E6-20435 Filed 12-1-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P