[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 14 (Monday, January 23, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3255-3257]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-1139]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the Acquisition of a Natural Gas Pipeline and Natural Gas Utility 
Service at the Hanford Site, Richland, WA, and Notice of Floodplains 
and Wetlands Involvement (DOE/EIS-0467)

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) and Notice of Floodplains and Wetlands Involvement.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare 
an Environmental Impact Statement for the Acquisition of a Natural Gas 
Pipeline and Natural Gas Utility Service at the Hanford Site, Richland, 
Washington (Natural Gas Pipeline or NGP EIS), and initiate a 30-day 
public scoping period. DOE will prepare the NGP EIS in accordance with 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Council on 
Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations that implement NEPA and DOE 
implementing procedures. DOE is inviting public comment on the proposed 
scope of the NGP EIS, including the alternatives and environmental 
issues to be evaluated.
    DOE proposes to make natural gas available to facilities located on 
the Central Plateau of its Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, to 
help meet its objectives to reduce fuel costs, greenhouse gas (GHG) 
emissions, and dependence on foreign fuel sources. Because natural gas 
is not currently available on the Central Plateau of the Site, this 
action would involve entering into a contract with a licensed natural 
gas utility supplier to construct, operate, and maintain a natural gas 
pipeline and deliver natural gas utility service to DOE.
    The proposed pipeline would begin from a new interconnect tap on 
the existing Williams Northwest Pipe transmission line in Franklin 
County, north of the Pasco, Washington, airport, and then run westerly 
across non-DOE lands and under the Columbia River onto the Hanford Site 
300 Area, before turning northwest and paralleling Route 4S. The 
pipeline would terminate at facilities in the 200 East Area of the

[[Page 3256]]

Central Plateau. The length of the proposed pipeline is estimated at 
about 30 miles.

DATES: DOE invites public comment on the scope of the NGP EIS during a 
30-day public scoping period beginning January 23, 2012 and ending on 
February 22, 2012. DOE will consider all comments received or 
postmarked by the end of the scoping period, and will consider comments 
received or postmarked after the ending date to the extent practicable.
    DOE will hold a public scoping meeting on February 9, 2012, from 7 
p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Red Lion Hotel and Conference Center, Pasco, 
Washington. Further information about the public scoping meeting is 
provided under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

ADDRESSES:  Scoping comments may be submitted by regular mail as 
follows: Mr. Douglas Chapin, NEPA Document Manager, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Richland Operations Office, P.O. Box 550, MSIN A5-11, Richland, 
WA 99352.
    Scoping comments may also be submitted by email to 
[email protected].
    To be placed on the distribution list for the Draft NGP EIS, use 
either of the methods listed above. In requesting a copy of the Draft 
NGP EIS, please specify preference for a printed copy of the entire 
Draft NGP EIS, a printed copy of the Summary only, the Draft NGP EIS 
and Summary on a computer CD, or any combination thereof.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For information on DOE's proposed 
action, contact Mr. Chapin by one of the methods listed in ADDRESSES 
above, or at (509) 373-9396.
    For general information concerning DOE's NEPA process, contact: Ms. 
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-
54), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 
Washington, DC 20585-0119, Telephone (202) 586-4600, Fax (202) 586-
7031, Voice mail message 1-(800) 472-2756, Email [email protected].
    Additional information regarding DOE's NEPA activities is available 
on the DOE NEPA Web site at http://energy.gov/nepa.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    Situated along the Columbia River in southeastern Washington, DOE's 
586-square-mile Hanford Site is undergoing extensive efforts to clean 
up contamination resulting from past nuclear defense research and 
development activities dating back to World War II. To this end, DOE is 
constructing the Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) on the Site's Central 
Plateau (200 East Area). Once operational, the WTP will treat 
radioactive waste presently stored in underground storage tanks on the 
Central Plateau to prepare it for disposal.
    The WTP is planned to be a chemical and radioactive waste 
processing facility capable of separating radioactive liquid waste 
stored underground in the Hanford Site's 200 East Area waste storage 
tanks into high-level radioactive waste (HLW) and low-activity waste 
fractions, and then blending the waste with molten glass 
(vitrification) to turn it into a stable form for safe disposal. The 
242-A Evaporator, also located in the 200 East Area of the Hanford 
Site, receives liquid wastes pumped through underground pipes from the 
double-shell waste storage tanks (DSTs) and processes the waste to 
reduce its volume.
    The 242-A Evaporator currently uses diesel fuel, and the WTP is 
planned to use diesel fuel as well. DOE has identified a number of 
potential advantages, including substantial cost savings, to replacing 
the use of diesel fuel with natural gas, supplementing with diesel fuel 
as necessary.

Purpose and Need for Agency Action

    DOE needs to comply with Federal policy and legal responsibilities 
to reduce costs, GHGs, and dependence on foreign fuel sources, in 
accordance with the goals and objectives of the Energy Policy Act of 
2005 (EPAct), Executive Order (EO) 13423, and EO 13514. The EPAct, 
enacted into law in August 2005, provides a long-term strategy to 
confront the energy challenges posed by increasing prices and growing 
dependence on foreign oil in a comprehensive, economic, and 
environmentally sensitive way. The EPAct establishes important national 
energy policy goals and directs DOE to increase energy security through 
diversification of energy sources, increased energy efficiency, and 
conservation.
    EO 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and 
Transportation Management (January 2007), specified goals in the areas 
of energy efficiency, renewable energy, toxic chemical reduction, 
recycling, sustainable buildings, electronics stewardship, fleets, and 
water conservation. EO 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, 
Energy, and Economic Performance (October 2009), established 
sustainability goals for Federal agencies and focused on improving 
their environmental, energy and economic performance. EO 13514 requires 
Federal agencies to set a 2020 GHG emissions reduction target; increase 
energy efficiency; reduce fleet petroleum consumption; conserve water; 
reduce waste; support sustainable communities; and leverage Federal 
purchasing power to promote environmentally-responsible products and 
technologies. Replacing diesel fuel with natural gas would support 
these goals. However, natural gas is not currently available on the 
Central Plateau of the Hanford Site. Accordingly, DOE would need to 
acquire a supply of natural gas to the WTP and 242-A Evaporator in the 
200 East Area of the Hanford Site.

Proposed Action and Alternatives

    DOE proposes to enter into a contract with a licensed natural gas 
utility supplier to provide natural gas to support WTP and the 242-A 
Evaporator operations in the 200 East Area of the Hanford Site. The 
proposed action would include, among other things, the construction, 
operation, and maintenance of a natural gas utility delivery system via 
a natural gas pipeline. Construction of the proposed natural gas 
pipeline would originate at a new interconnect tap on the existing 
Williams Northwest Pipe transmission line in Franklin County, north of 
the Pasco, Washington, airport. The pipeline would run westerly across 
non-DOE lands and under the Columbia River onto the Hanford Site 300 
Area, before turning northwest and paralleling Route 4S, terminating at 
facilities in the 200 East Area of the Central Plateau. The total 
length of the proposed pipeline is estimated at about 30 miles.
    As required by CEQ and DOE NEPA implementing regulations (40 Code 
of Federal Regulations [CFR] Parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR Part 1021), DOE 
will evaluate the Proposed Action and No Action alternative for the 
acquisition of natural gas utility service at the WTP and the 242-A 
Evaporator, as well as alternative pipeline routing alignments and 
alternative pipeline diameters of approximately 12, 15, and 20 inches 
as a representative sampling of potential options. At this time, DOE 
does not plan to evaluate other sources of energy supply, or other 
means to supply natural gas, to the WTP and 242-A Evaporator. In 
addition, DOE has no other intended or planned uses for the proposed 
natural gas utility service on the Hanford Site at this time, and is 
not aware of any proposals by others for use of the natural gas.
    Under the No Action alternative, DOE would not contract for 
acquisition of natural gas utility service, and thus, the pipeline 
would not be constructed. DOE

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would continue to use diesel fuel to power the 242-A Evaporator and 
would use diesel fuel to power the WTP, as currently planned.
    Because all reasonable alternative pipeline routing alignments 
involve crossing the Columbia River, portions of the proposed action 
may affect floodplains and wetlands. This NOI serves as a notice of 
proposed floodplain or wetland action in accordance with DOE floodplain 
and wetland environmental review requirements (10 CFR part 1022). As 
appropriate and in accordance with 10 CFR part 1022, the NGP Draft EIS 
will include a floodplain and wetland assessment, and a floodplain 
statement of findings will be included in the Final EIS or may be 
issued separately (10 CFR 1022.14(c)).

National Historic Preservation Act

    Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) 
requires Federal agencies to take into account the effects of their 
undertakings on historic properties. Federal agencies are encouraged to 
coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the NHPA with any steps taken 
to meet the requirements of NEPA. DOE plans to use the NEPA process and 
documentation required for the preparation of this EIS to satisfy 
applicable requirements of NHPA Section 106. As specified in the 
regulations issued by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 
(ACHP) to implement the Section 106 process (36 CFR part 800, 800.8), 
DOE will use the NEPA process in lieu of the procedures set forth in 
Sec. Sec.  800.3 through 800.6. DOE specifically invites the ACHP, the 
State of Washington Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), Hanford Area 
Tribal Nations, and members of the public to participate in this NEPA 
process for the purpose of ensuring the standards in 36 CFR 800.8(c)(1) 
through 800.8(c)(5) are met, including identifying mitigation actions 
that may be appropriate to address potential adverse effects that may 
result from implementing the Proposed Action.

Preliminary Identification of Environmental Issues

    DOE proposes to analyze potential short-term health and 
environmental impacts, such as those from construction, and potential 
long-term health and environmental impacts of operating and maintaining 
the pipeline over a period assumed to be 100 years for the purposes of 
analysis, once service commences. DOE will analyze potential issues and 
impacts at a level of detail commensurate with their importance. 
Potential impact areas to be evaluated include, but are not limited to, 
the following:
     Potential effects on public health and workers from 
exposures to hazardous materials during construction, operations, and 
transportation under routine and credible accident scenarios.
     Potential impacts on surface water and groundwater, 
floodplains, and wetlands, and on water use and quality.
     Potential impacts on air quality.
     Potential noise impacts.
     Potential impacts on plants and animals and their habitat, 
including species that are Federal- or state-listed as threatened or 
endangered, or of special concern.
     Potential impacts on geology and soil characteristics.
     Potential impacts on historic and cultural resources 
including places, viewshed, archeological, and Native American or other 
culturally important sites.
     Socioeconomic impacts, either beneficial or adverse, on 
potentially affected communities.
     Environmental justice, particularly whether the proposed 
action or alternatives have disproportionately high and adverse effects 
on minority and low-income populations.
     Potential impacts on land-use plans, policies and 
controls, and visual resources.
     Pollution prevention and waste management practices and 
activities.
     Unavoidable adverse impacts and irreversible and 
irretrievable commitments of resources.
     Potential cumulative environmental effects of past, 
present and reasonably foreseeable actions.
     Potential impacts of reasonably foreseeable accidents and 
potential impacts from intentionally destructive acts, including 
sabotage or terrorism.
     Potential natural disasters: floods, hurricanes, 
tornadoes, and seismic events.
     Status of compliance with all applicable Federal, state 
and local statutes and regulations, and required Federal and state 
environmental permits, consultations and notifications.

Invitation for Public Comment

    DOE invites Federal agencies; State, Tribal, and local governments; 
organizations; and the general public to comment on the scope of the 
EIS, including identification of alternatives and specific issues to be 
addressed.
    DOE also invites comments on the potential adverse effects that may 
result from the Proposed Action with respect to historic resources 
governed by NHPA, along with suggested actions DOE might take to 
mitigate any such adverse effects. DOE will coordinate with appropriate 
Federal, State, and local agencies and potentially affected Native 
American tribes during the preparation of the EIS. While there are no 
designated cooperating agencies at this time, DOE plans to invite 
Federal, State, and local government agencies with jurisdiction by law 
or special expertise to participate as cooperating agencies in 
preparing the EIS.
    DOE will consider all comments received during a 30-day public 
scoping period beginning January 23, 2012 and ending on February 22, 
2012. DOE will consider comments received after that date to the extent 
practicable.
    At the public scoping meeting, DOE will provide an overview of the 
proposed action followed by a short, informal question-and-answer 
period to clarify the information presented. Thereafter, the public 
will have an opportunity to present oral and written comments on the 
proposed EIS scope; oral comments will be documented by a court 
reporter. DOE will consider all public scoping comments in preparing 
the Draft NGP EIS.

    Issued at Washington, DC, on January 17, 2012.
David Huizenga,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 2012-1139 Filed 1-20-12; 8:45 am]
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