[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 175 (Friday, September 9, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 55890]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23087]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Cancellation of Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for 
Ancillary Facilities for the Richton Site of the Strategic Petroleum 
Reserve

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Cancellation.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the cancellation 
of a supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for certain 
facilities associated with the 2007 selection of Richton, Mississippi, 
as the location of a new storage site for expanding the Strategic 
Petroleum Reserve (SPR). In April 2011, Congress rescinded all funding 
for the SPR expansion project.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on the cancellation of 
the SEIS, contact Donald Silawsky, Acting Director, Office of Reserve 
Lands Management (FE-47), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence 
Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585, e-mail [email protected], 
telephone 202-586-1892. For general information on the DOE NEPA 
process, contact Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy 
and Compliance (GC-54), 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: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT, Pub. 
L. 109-58) directed DOE to expand the SPR from its current 727 million-
barrel capacity to 1 billion barrels. To fulfill the requirements of 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for this expansion 
project, DOE prepared an environmental impact statement for the Site 
Selection for the Expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (DOE/
EIS-0385). In a Record of Decision (ROD) (72 FR 7964; February 22, 
2007), DOE announced its selection of Richton, Mississippi, as the 
location of a new SPR facility as part of the expansion project.
    After selecting the Richton site, DOE engaged in further 
consultations with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other governmental entities. As a 
result of those consultations, and to reduce project impacts, DOE 
proposed alternative sites from those announced in the ROD for some of 
the ancillary facilities associated with the Richton site: the raw 
water intake structure, oil terminal, and brine diffuser. DOE 
determined that alternative locations for those ancillary facilities 
would present substantial changes to the proposal as analyzed in DOE/
EIS-0385 that would be relevant to environmental concerns. DOE 
published a Notice of Intent to prepare an SEIS to analyze the impacts 
of potential new locations for the ancillary facilities associated with 
the Richton site (73 FR 11895; March 5, 2008) and conducted public 
scoping.
    On February 1, 2010, the President submitted a budget request to 
Congress for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 that included no new funding to 
continue SPR expansion efforts and proposed cancellation of previously 
appropriated expansion funds. In April 2011, Congress passed, and the 
President signed, the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing 
Appropriations Act, 2011 (Pub. L. 112-10). Sections 1440 and 1464 of 
that Act rescinded all unspent balances of prior year funds that had 
been appropriated for SPR expansion. The President's FY 2012 budget 
includes no funds for SPR expansion.
    With prior appropriated funds rescinded, and no new funds proposed, 
the SPR expansion project is effectively terminated. DOE is therefore 
cancelling the preparation of the SEIS for the ancillary facilities of 
the SPR expansion project at the Richton Site (DOE/EIS-0385-S1).

    Issued in Washington, DC, on September 1, 2011.
David F. Johnson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Petroleum Reserves.
[FR Doc. 2011-23087 Filed 9-8-11; 8:45 am]
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