[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 98 (Thursday, May 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29381-29382]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-12305]


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TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY


Environmental Impact Statement for the Disposal of Coal 
Combustion Residuals From the Bull Run Fossil Plant

AGENCY: Tennessee Valley Authority.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: This notice of intent is provided in accordance with the 
Council on Environmental Quality's regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508) 
and Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) procedures implementing the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). TVA intends to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) to address the continued disposal 
of Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) from the Bull Run Fossil Plant 
(BRF).

DATES: To ensure consideration, comments on the scope of the EIS must 
be postmarked or emailed no later than July 6, 2015.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the Disposal of Coal 
Combustion Residuals from Bull Run Fossil Plant EIS should be sent to 
Anita E. Masters, Project Environmental Planning, NEPA Project Manager, 
Tennessee Valley Authority, 1101 Market Street, Mail Stop BR 4A, 
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402. Comments may also be submitted on the 
project Web site at http://www.tva.com/environment/reports/index.htm or 
by email at [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Other project related questions should 
be sent to Myra Ireland, Senior Strategic Communications Partner, 
Communications, Tennessee Valley Authority, 1101 Market Street, Mail 
Stop LP 5B, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402 or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

TVA Power System

    TVA operates the nation's largest public power system, producing 4 
percent of all the electricity in the nation. TVA provides electricity 
to most of Tennessee and parts of Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, 
Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky. It serves about 9 million people in 
this seven-state region through 155 power distributors and 57 directly 
served large industries and federal facilities. The TVA Act requires 
the TVA power system to be self-supporting and operated on a nonprofit 
basis, and directs TVA to sell power at rates as low as feasible.
    TVA is in the process of converting its handling of CCR from wet 
systems to dry systems across its coal-fired system. In September 2012, 
TVA decided to construct a mechanical dewatering facility at BRF. This 
facility is currently under construction and will allow TVA to manage 
bottom ash and gypsum using a dry stack basis. Fly ash generated at BRF 
is already being handled and stored on a dry basis. TVA needs to plan 
for the future management of material since existing storage capacity 
for dry stack CCRs at BRF is limited.

Purpose and Need

    TVA proposes to expand its capacity for managing CCRs from BRF by 
constructing a new dry storage area on TVA property adjacent to BRF. 
BRF has state-of-the-art air pollution controls and is one of TVA's 
coal plants that is planned to continue to operate in the future. 
Construction of a new CCR dry storage area will provide additional CCR 
management capacity enabling TVA to continue operations at BRF. This 
proposal would be consistent with TVA's voluntary commitment to convert 
wet CCR management systems to dry systems. This also would help TVA 
comply with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recently 
issued Coal Combustion Residuals Rule.

Alternatives

    This EIS will address alternatives that have reasonable prospects 
of providing a solution to the disposal of CCRs generated from BRF. TVA 
has determined that BRF has limited

[[Page 29382]]

capacity for additional CCR storage onsite and will need to consider 
additional options for storage. TVA has further determined that either 
the construction of a new CCR storage area or hauling CCR to an 
existing permitted landfill are the most reasonable alternatives. 
Alternative site locations for a CCR storage suitable for meeting TVA's 
needs and objectives will also be considered. However, based on 
preliminary analysis there are unlikely to be any other alternatives 
that have fewer impacts than the proposed location adjacent to BRF. 
Additionally, the EIS will consider a ``No Action'' Alternative under 
which TVA would not seek additional storage capacity for CCR from BRF.
    No decision has been made about CCR disposal beyond the current 
available onsite capacity. TVA is preparing this EIS to inform decision 
makers, other agencies, and the public about the potential for 
environmental impacts associated with a decision to dispose of CCR 
generated from BRF. The draft EIS will be made available for public 
comment. In making its final decision, TVA will consider the analyses 
in this EIS and substantive comments that it receives. A final decision 
on proceeding with construction and operation will depend on a number 
of factors, including the results of the EIS, engineering and risk 
evaluations, and financial considerations.

Preliminary Identification of Environmental Issues

    This EIS will analyze potential impacts on the quality of the human 
and natural environment resulting from disposal of CCRs through the 
construction and operation of a new CCR storage area, utilizing 
existing permitted sites, and other reasonable alternatives. The impact 
analyses will include, but are not necessarily limited to:
     Water resources (surface water, groundwater quality, and 
use);
     vegetation;
     wildlife;
     aquatic ecology;
     endangered and threatened species;
     floodplains and wetlands;
     geology;
     land use;
     transportation;
     recreational and managed areas;
     visual resources;
     archaeological and historic resources;
     solid and hazardous waste;
     public health and safety;
     noise;
     air quality and climate change; and
     socioeconomics and environmental justice.
    These and other important issues identified during the scoping 
process will be addressed as appropriate in the EIS.

Public Participation

    This EIS is being prepared to provide the public an opportunity to 
comment on TVA's assessment of the potential environmental impacts of 
constructing and operating a new CCR storage area or utilizing an 
existing permitted site for the disposal of CCR from BRF. Applicable 
regulations require an early and open process for deciding what should 
be discussed in an EIS. Known as ``scoping,'' this process involves 
requesting and using comments from the public, interested agencies, and 
recognized Native American tribes to help identify the issues and 
alternatives that should be addressed in the EIS, as well as the 
temporal and geographic coverage of the analyses.
    The public is invited to submit comments on the scope of this EIS 
no later than the date given under the DATES section of this notice. 
Any comments received, including names and addresses, will become part 
of the administrative record and will be available for public 
inspection.
    After consideration of the comments received during this scoping 
period, TVA will develop and distribute a document that will summarize 
public and agency comments that were received and identify the issues 
and alternatives to be addressed in the EIS and identify the schedule 
for completing the EIS process. Following analysis of the issues, TVA 
will prepare a draft EIS for public review and comment. Notice of 
availability of the draft EIS will be published by the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency in the Federal Register. The public, 
governmental agencies, and recognized Native American tribes will be 
invited to submit comments on the draft EIS. TVA expects to release a 
draft EIS in Summer 2016 and the final EIS is expected to be issued in 
2017.

Wilbourne (Skip) C. Markham,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2015-12305 Filed 5-20-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8120-08-P