[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64897-64898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20319]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Availability of Interim Guidance on Packaging, 
Transportation, Receipt, Management, Short-Term and Long-Term Storage 
of Elemental Mercury

AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability of guidance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) gives 
notice of interim guidance U.S. Department of Energy Interim Guidance 
on Packaging, Transportation, Receipt, Management, Short-Term and Long-
Term Storage of Elemental Mercury. The

[[Page 64898]]

interim guidance updates DOE's 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Interim 
Guidance on Packaging, Receipt, Management, and Long-Term Storage of 
Elemental Mercury (2009 Long-Term Storage Guidance) and 2019 Guidance 
for Short-Term Storage of Elemental Mercury by Ore Processors (2019 
Short-Term Storage Guidance).

DATES: A 30-day public comment period began on May 2, 2023, with the 
issuance of the Notice of Availability of the Interim Guidance (88 FR 
27495) and following a request to extend the comment period, was later 
extended to July 3, 2023 (88 FR 34491).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Haught, U.S. Department of 
Energy, Office of Environmental Management, Office of Waste Disposal 
(EM-4.22), 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 
586-5000, or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-414) (MEBA of 2008) 
as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st 
Century Act (Pub. L. 114-182) (Chemical Safety Act of 2016) banned the 
export of elemental mercury and certain mercury compounds and provided 
for long-term and interim (i.e., short-term) management and storage of 
elemental mercury. Specifically, MEBA of 2008 required the U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE) to designate a facility or facilities for 
the long-term management and storage of elemental mercury (referred to 
herein as the Long-Term Elemental Mercury Storage Facility (LTEMSF)) 
and to issue guidance on recommended standards and procedures for 
receipt, management, and long-term storage of elemental mercury. 42 
U.S.C. 6939f(a)(1), (d)(1). In accordance with these requirements, DOE, 
after consultation with the EPA and appropriate State agencies in 
potentially affected States, issued the 2009 Long-Term Storage Guidance 
on November 13, 2009. The Chemical Safety Act of 2016 provided for 
interim onsite storage of elemental mercury for certain generators, 
while awaiting availability of the DOE-designated LTEMSF. 42 U.S.C. 
6939f(g)(2)(D). It further required DOE to issue guidance on 
recommended standards and procedures for management and short-term 
onsite storage. 42 U.S.C. 6939f(g)(2)(E). In accordance with this 
requirement, DOE issued the 2019 Short-Term Storage Guidance.

Interim Guidance Document

    Both the 2009 Long-Term and 2019 Short-Term Storage Guidance 
documents were based on certain planning assumptions. However, in 
recognition that some key underlying assumptions of the guidance 
documents had changed since the issuance of those documents, DOE 
decided to revise both documents in a new, combined guidance document. 
On May 2, 2023, after both consultation with EPA and DOT and an 
opportunity for consultation with potentially affected States, DOE 
issued draft U.S. Department of Energy Interim Guidance on Packaging, 
Transportation, Receipt, Management, Short-Term and Long-Term Storage 
of Elemental Mercury and requested comments on that draft guidance (88 
FR 27495). Following a request to extend the comment period, DOE 
extended the period for public comment to July 3, 2023 (88 FR 34491).
    DOE received a total of about 50 comments from eight entities, 
including EPA, DOT, and potentially affected States, and has made 
certain changes in the interim guidance to reflect responses to the 
comments received. The interim guidance document, U.S. Department of 
Energy Interim Guidance on Packaging, Transportation, Receipt, 
Management, Short-Term and Long-Term Storage of Elemental Mercury, may 
be found at: https://www.energy.gov/em/long-term-management-and-storage-elemental-mercury. This interim guidance document supersedes 
and rescinds the 2009 Long-Term Storage Guidance and the 2019 Short-
Term Storage Guidance.

Signing Authority

    This document of the Department of Energy was signed on September 
14, 2023, by Kristin G. Ellis, Acting Associate Principal Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, Office of 
Environmental Management, pursuant to delegated authority from the 
Secretary of Energy. That document with the original signature and date 
is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes only, and in 
compliance with requirements of the Office of the Federal Register, the 
undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer has been authorized to 
sign and submit the document in electronic format for publication, as 
an official document of the Department of Energy. This administrative 
process in no way alters the legal effect of this document upon 
publication in the Federal Register.

    Signed in Washington, DC, on September 15, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-20319 Filed 9-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P