[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 183 (Wednesday, September 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48525-48526]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-22920]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy


Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Abengoa Biorefinery 
Project Near Hugoton, Stevens County, KS (DOE/EIS-0407D)

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability 
of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Abengoa Biorefinery 
Project near Hugoton, Stevens County, KS (DOE/EIS-0407D) (referred to 
as the ``Draft Abengoa Biorefinery EIS'' or ``Draft EIS''). This Draft 
EIS was prepared in accordance with the Council on Environmental 
Quality's National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Implementing 
Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) and DOE NEPA Implementing 
Regulations (10 CFR part 1021). The U.S. Department of Agriculture, 
Rural Development, (USDA-RD) is a cooperating agency in preparation of 
the Draft Abengoa Biorefinery EIS.
    DOE's Proposed Action in the Draft Abengoa Biorefinery EIS is to 
provide federal funding to Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas, LLC 
(ABBK) to support the final design, construction, and startup of a 
commercial-scale integrated biorefinery to be located near the city of 
Hugoton, Stevens County, Kansas (hereafter referred to as the Abengoa 
Biorefinery Project). The Abengoa Biorefinery Project would use 
lignocellulosic biomass as feedstock to produce ethanol and biopower 
(electricity) sufficient to meet the needs of the biorefinery and to 
sell to the regional power grid. In the Draft EIS, DOE also evaluates 
an Action Alternative, under which the biorefinery would not produce 
electricity for sale to the regional grid, and a No-Action Alternative, 
under which the biorefinery would not be constructed. The Draft Abengoa 
Biorefinery Project EIS evaluates the potential direct, indirect, and 
cumulative environmental impacts from the construction and operation of 
the Abengoa Biorefinery Project. DOE's preferred alternative is the 
Proposed Action.

DATES: The public is invited to comment on the Draft EIS, and all 
comments received no later than November 9, 2009 will be addressed in 
preparing the Final EIS. Comments received after the end of the public 
comment period will be considered to the extent practicable. A public 
hearing on the Draft EIS will be held at the Stevens County Courthouse, 
200 East 6th St., Hugoton, Kansas 67951-2606, on October 21 2009, from 
6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Written and oral comments will be accepted and given 
equal weight.

ADDRESSES: Copies of this Draft EIS are available for review at The 
Stevens County Library, 501 S. Monroe Street, Hugoton, KS 67951, 620-
544-2301, and the U.S. Department of Energy, FOIA Reading Room, 1E-190, 
Forrestal Bldg., 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585, 
202-586-3142. The Draft EIS is also available on the Golden Field 
Office On-line FOIA Public Reading Room: http://www.eere.energy.gov/golden/Reading_Room.aspx, at: http://www.biorefineryprojecteis-abengoa.com and at: http://www.gc.energy.gov/NEPA.
    How to Comment on the Draft EIS: Oral and written comments on the 
Draft EIS will be accepted at the public hearing, or written comments 
may be mailed to Ms. Kristin Kerwin at the U.S. Department of Energy, 
Golden Field Office, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, Colorado 80401, or 
submitted via e-mail to: [email protected]. Envelopes and the 
subject line of e-mails and faxes should be labeled ``Draft Abengoa 
Biorefinery EIS Comments.'' Comments or requests for information may 
also be submitted via the EIS Web site at http://www.biorefineryprojecteis-abengoa.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the Draft Abengoa 
Biorefinery EIS, or information on how to comment, contact Ms. Kristin 
Kerwin by any of the means described above under ADDRESSES, or access 
the Abengoa Biorefinery Project EIS Web site at: http://www.biorefineryprojecteis-abengoa.com.
    For further information on the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy Integrated Biorefinery Program, contact Mr. John 
Ferrell, Biomass Program Manager (Acting), U.S. Department of Energy, 
1000 Independence Avenue, SW., EE-2E, 5H-021, Washington, DC 20585, 
telephone: 202-586-6745, facsimile: 202-586-1640, e-mail: [email protected].
    For further information on the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural 
Business-Cooperative Service Biorefinery Assistance Program contact: 
Energy Branch, Attention: Biorefinery Assistance Program, 1400 
Independence Avenue, SW., Mail Stop 3225, Washington, DC 20250-3225; 
telephone: 202-720-1400.
    For general information regarding the DOE National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) process contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, 
Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 
Independence Avenue, SW., GC-20, Washington, DC 20585; e-mail 
[email protected]; telephone 202-586-4600; or leave a message at 1-
800-472-2756.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: In September 2007, pursuant to 
the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) Section 932, DOE granted an 
initial award of approximately $15 million to ABBK to advance the 
conceptual design, initiate the permitting process, and support an 
environmental review under NEPA for a proposed biomass-to-ethanol and 
energy facility that would be located adjacent to and west of the city 
of Hugoton, Stevens County, Kansas. DOE requires completion of the 
design, permitting, and environmental review obligations prior to 
deciding whether to co-fund the final design, construction and start-up 
phases of the project.

[[Page 48526]]

    On August 25, 2008, DOE initiated the environmental review process 
by publishing a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register (``Notice of 
Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Notice of 
Wetlands Involvement for the Abengoa Biorefinery Project Near Hugoton, 
KS,'' 73 FR 50001). However, based on changes in the scope of the 
project proposed by ABBK and also ABBK's decision to solicit loan 
guarantees from DOE's Loan Guarantee Program pursuant to Title XVII of 
EPAct 2005 and from USDA-RD Biorefinery Assistance Program, DOE 
published an Amended Notice of Intent in the Federal Register on April 
29, 2009 (``Amended Notice of Intent To Modify the Scope of the 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Abengoa Biorefinery Project Near 
Hugoton, KS'', 74 FR 19543). Public comments were accepted on the 
original scope of the EIS from August 25 through October 9, 2008, and 
then on the revised scope from April 29 through May 29, 2009. An 
initial public scoping meeting was held in Hugoton, KS on September 10, 
2008, and an additional public scoping meeting was held on May 19, 2009 
to address the revised scope. DOE received both oral and written 
scoping comments. DOE identified 16 scoping comments and grouped them 
into three categories reflecting the nature of the individual comments: 
(1) Support for the project, (2) requests for specific information or 
analyses and (3) statements of no negative environmental impacts. All 
requests for specific information are addressed in the Draft EIS.
    Proposed Action: DOE's Proposed Action analyzed in the Draft EIS is 
to provide Federal funding to support the design, construction, and 
start up of the integrated biorefinery proposed by ABBK. DOE would 
negotiate an agreement with ABBK to provide approximately $85 million 
(2008 dollars) for the final design, construction and start up of the 
biorefinery. The estimated total project cost is approximately $300 
million (2008 dollars). At this time, DOE is not considering issuing a 
loan guarantee for the proposed project. The Abengoa Biorefinery 
facility would use lignocellulosic biomass (biomass) as feedstock to 
produce biofuels. Biomass such as corn stover, wheat straw, milo 
stubble, switchgrass, and other available materials would be harvested 
as feedstock and fermented to produce ethanol. The biorefinery would 
also produce electricity.
    Under the Proposed Action, the Abengoa Biorefinery would process 
approximately 2,300 dry metric tons per day of feedstock, which would 
be obtained from producers within 50 miles of the Abengoa Biorefinery 
Project site. The biorefinery would produce up to 18 million gallons of 
denatured ethanol per year using a one-step feedstock hydrolysis and 
fermentation process. The biorefinery also would produce 92 megawatts 
of electricity, and 117,000 dry short tons per year of lignin-rich 
stillage cake. Electricity would be produced via a high-pressure, 
steam-condensing turbine generator. Seventy megawatts of electricity 
would be sold commercially. The lignin-rich stillage cake could be sold 
to a lignin producer, processed and lignin-poor stillage cake would be 
returned to the biorefinery and burned in the solid fuel boiler.
    Action Alternative: For the Action Alternative, DOE would provide 
Federal funding for an integrated biorefinery that would produce 
approximately 12 million gallons per year of denatured ethanol, 45,000 
dry short tons per year of lignin-rich stillage cake, and 20 megawatts 
of electricity for use at the facility (none sold commercially).
    Under the Action Alternative, the integrated biorefinery would use 
a two-stage process to pretreat, hydrolyze and ferment sugars for 
ethanol production, and would produce syngas using a gasification 
system. A syngas boiler as well as the biomass boilers would produce 
steam. Steam would be used for ethanol production processes and 
electricity production. The biomass boilers and the turbines would be 
used to generate electricity solely to operate the plant (no 
electricity would be sold commercially) and would be smaller than those 
for the Proposed Action.
    No Action Alternative: Under the No Action Alternative, DOE would 
not provide Federal funding to ABBK to support the final design, 
construction, and start-up of the Abengoa Biorefinery Project. Under 
the No Action Alternative, the Draft EIS presumes that ABBK would not 
build a biorefinery. The Department recognizes, however, that ABBK 
could pursue alternative sources of capital for development of the 
biorefinery.
    Preferred Alternative: The Proposed Action is DOE's Preferred 
Alternative.
    Following the end of the public comment period, November 9, 2009, 
DOE will consider and respond to the comments received, and issue the 
Final Abengoa Biorefinery EIS. DOE will issue a Record of Decision no 
sooner than 30 days after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 
issues a Notice of Availability of the Final EIS in the Federal 
Register.

    Issued in Golden, CO on September 15, 2009.
Steve Blazek,
NEPA Compliance Officer, Golden Field Office.
[FR Doc. E9-22920 Filed 9-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P