[Federal Register: March 13, 2003 (Volume 68, Number 49)]
[Notices]
[Page 12044-12048]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr13mr03-54]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship at the West Valley
Demonstration Project and Western New York Nuclear Service Center
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of Intent.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the New York State
Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) are announcing
their intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for
Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship at the West Valley
Demonstration Project (WVDP) and Western New York Nuclear Service
Center (also known as the ``Center''). The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC)
will participate as cooperating agencies under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). In addition,
NYSDEC will participate as an involved agency under the New York State
Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) with respect to NYSERDA's
proposed actions. DOE, under NEPA, and NYSERDA, under SEQRA, plan to
evaluate the range of reasonable alternatives in this EIS to address
their respective responsibilities at the Center, including those under
the West Valley Demonstration Project Act (Pub. L. 96-368), Atomic
Energy Act of 1954 (as amended), and all other applicable Federal and
State statutes.
This EIS will revise the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for
Completion of the West Valley Demonstration Project and Closure or
Long-Term Management of Facilities at the Western New York Nuclear
Service Center (DOE/EIS-0226-D, January 1996, also referred to as the
1996 Cleanup and Closure Draft EIS). Based on decommissioning criteria
for the WVDP issued by NRC since the Cleanup and Closure EIS was
published, DOE and NYSERDA propose to evaluate five alternatives:
Unrestricted Site Release, Partial Site Release without Restrictions,
Partial Site Release with Restrictions, Monitor and Maintain under
Current Operations, and No-Action.
DATES: DOE and NYSERDA are inviting public comments on the scope and
content of the Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship EIS during
a public comment period commencing with the date of publication of this
Notice and ending on April 28, 2003. DOE and NYSERDA will hold two
public scoping meetings on the EIS at the Ashford Office Complex,
located at 9030 Route 219 in the Town of Ashford, NY, from 7 to 9:30
p.m. on April 9, 2003 and April 10, 2003.
ADDRESSES: Address comments on the scope of the Decommissioning and/or
Long-Term Stewardship EIS to the DOE Document Manager: Mr. Daniel W.
Sullivan, West Valley Demonstration Project, U.S. Department of Energy,
WV-49, 10282 Rock Springs Road, West Valley, New York 14171, Telephone:
(800) 633-5280, Facsimile: (716) 942-4199, E-mail:
sonja.allen@wvnsco.com.
The ``Public Reading Rooms'' section under SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION lists the addresses of the reading rooms where documents
referenced herein are available.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: For information regarding the WVDP or
the EIS, contact Mr. Daniel Sullivan as described above. Those seeking
general information on DOE's NEPA process should contact: Ms. Carol M.
Borgstrom, (EH-42), Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance,
U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington,
DC 20585, Telephone: (202) 586-4600, Facsimile: (202) 586-7031, or
leave a message at 1-800-472-2756, toll-free.
Questions for NYSERDA should be directed to: Mr. Paul J. Bembia,
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, 10282 Rock
Springs Road, West Valley, New York 14171, Telephone: (716) 942-4900,
Facsimile: (716) 942-2148, E-mail: pjb@nyserda.org.
Those seeking general information on the SEQRA process should
contact: Mr. Hal Brodie, Deputy Counsel, New York State Energy Research
and Development Authority, 17 Columbia Circle, Albany, New York 12203-
6399, Telephone: (518) 862-1090, ext. 3280, Facsimile: (518) 862-1091,
E-mail: hb1@nyserda.org.
This Notice of Intent will be available on the internet at http://
tis.eh.doe.gov/nepa
, under ``What's New.'' Additional information about
the WVDP is also available on the internet at http://www.wv.doe.gov/
linkingpages/insidewestvalley.htm.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: DOE and NYSERDA intend to prepare a revised
draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Decommissioning and/or
Long-Term Stewardship at the WVDP and Western New York Nuclear Service
Center to examine the potential environmental impacts of the proposed
action to decommission and/or maintain long-term stewardship at the
Center. The NRC, the EPA, and NYSDEC will participate as cooperating
agencies under NEPA. NYSDEC will also participate as an involved agency
under SEQRA with respect to NYSERDA's proposed actions. DOE, under
NEPA, and NYSERDA, under SEQRA, plan to evaluate the range of
reasonable alternatives in this EIS to address their respective
responsibilities at the Center, including those under the WVDP Act,
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (as amended), and all other applicable
Federal and State statutes.
Background
The Western New York Nuclear Service Center consists of a 3,345-
acre reservation in rural western New York that is the location of the
only NRC-licensed commercial spent nuclear fuel reprocessing facility
to have ever operated in the United States. Reprocessing operations
resulted in the generation of approximately 600,000 gallons of liquid
high-level waste (HLW), which was stored in large underground tanks
adjacent to the reprocessing facility. NYSERDA holds title to the
Center on behalf of the people of the State of New York. (See H. Rep.
No. 96-1000 at 4 (1980) reprinted in 1980 U.S.S.C.A.N 3102, 3103.)
The WVDP Act of 1980 required DOE to solidify the HLW, transport it
to a Federal geologic repository, dispose of the low-level waste (LLW)
and transuranic (TRU) waste generated from Project activities, and
decontaminate and decommission the facilities used for the Project. The
Act also authorized NRC to prescribe decommissioning criteria for the
WVDP. The NRC has placed NYSERDA's NRC site license in abeyance during
DOE's fulfillment of its WVDP Act requirements.
Pursuant to the WVDP Act, on October 1, 1980, DOE and NYSERDA
entered into a Cooperative Agreement (amended September 19, 1981) that
established a framework for the implementation of the Project. Under
the agreement, NYSERDA has made available to DOE, without transfer of
title, an approximately 200-acre portion of the Center, known as the
``Project Premises,'' which includes a formerly operated spent nuclear
fuel reprocessing plant, spent nuclear fuel receiving and
[[Page 12045]]
storage area, underground liquid HLW storage tanks, and a liquid LLW
treatment facility with associated lagoons, as well as other
facilities. Most of the facilities on the Project premises were
radioactively contaminated from reprocessing operations and are located
on a geographic area of the Center known as the North Plateau. Among
the other facilities located within the Project Premises is a
radioactive waste disposal area known as the NRC-licensed disposal area
(NDA). Adjacent to the Project Premises is a radioactive waste disposal
area known as the State Licensed Disposal Area (SDA) for which NYSERDA
has operational responsibility. Both the NDA and SDA are located on the
South Plateau geographic area of the Center.
In 1987, DOE agreed, in a Stipulation of Compromise settling a
lawsuit filed by local citizens, to evaluate the feasibility of onsite
disposal of LLW generated as a result of Project activities in a
Cleanup and Closure EIS, and to initiate the EIS process by the end of
calendar year 1988. DOE and NYSERDA jointly issued the resulting Draft
EIS for Completion of the West Valley Demonstration Project and Closure
or Long-Term Management of Facilities at the Western New York Nuclear
Service Center (DOE/EIS-0226-D, also known as the ``Cleanup and Closure
EIS'') in 1996. The Cleanup and Closure draft EIS evaluated a range of
alternatives that included a broad scope of waste management and
decontamination/decommissioning activities. However, the draft EIS did
not identify a preferred alternative.
In 2001, DOE revised its NEPA strategy to continue its EIS process
in order to complete its obligations under the WVDP Act. DOE announced
that it would prepare a separate EIS to address decontamination and
near-term waste management activities for which it is solely
responsible under the Act (66 FR 16647, March 26, 2001). In addition,
DOE and NYSERDA would jointly prepare a second EIS for decommissioning
and/or long-term stewardship to address activities for which each party
is responsible. After considering public comments on the March 26,
2001, NOI and new information identified under ``New Information to be
Evaluated'' below, DOE believes the scopes of both EISs should be
further modified as follows. The first EIS, the West Valley Waste
Management EIS, would address actions pertaining to waste accumulated
in storage on site as a result of past Project activities as well as
waste to be generated in the near term. The second EIS, this
decommissioning and/or long-term stewardship EIS, would analyze various
decommissioning and/or long-term stewardship alternatives and would
include decontamination as well. It would also include the management
of wastes generated by decommissioning and/or long-term stewardship
actions. Because this second EIS addresses strategies that may be used
to complete the WVDP and disposition the Center, DOE now intends that
this EIS would replace the 1996 Cleanup and Closure EIS. (DOE issued an
Advance Notice of Intent inviting preliminary public input to the scope
of this EIS on November 6, 2001 [66 FR 56090].)
On February 1, 2002, the NRC published in the Federal Register (67
FR 5003) its Decommissioning Criteria for the West Valley Demonstration
Project (M-32) at the West Valley Site; Final Policy Statement. The NRC
decided that it would apply its License Termination Rule (10 CFR 20,
Subpart E) as the decommissioning criteria for the WVDP and the
decommissioning goal for the entire NRC-licensed site. The NRC intends
to use this West Valley EIS to evaluate the environmental impacts of
the various alternatives before deciding whether to accept the
preferred alternative as meeting the criteria permitted by the License
Termination Rule.
Purpose and Need for Action
DOE is required by the WVDP Act to decontaminate and decommission
the tanks and facilities used in the solidification of the HLW, and any
material and hardware used in connection with the WVDP, in accordance
with such requirements as the NRC may prescribe. The NRC has prescribed
its License Termination Rule as the decommissioning criteria for the
WVDP. Therefore, DOE needs to determine the manner that facilities,
materials, and hardware for which the Department is responsible are
managed or decommissioned, in accordance with applicable Federal and
State requirements. To this end, DOE needs to determine what, if any,
material or structures for which it is responsible will remain on site,
and what, if any, institutional controls, engineered barriers, or
stewardship provisions would be needed.
NYSERDA needs to determine the manner that facilities and property
for which NYSERDA is responsible, including the State-Licensed Disposal
Area, will be managed or decommissioned, in accordance with applicable
Federal and State requirements. To this end, NYSERDA needs to determine
what, if any, material or structures for which it is responsible will
remain on site, and what, if any, institutional controls, engineered
barriers, or stewardship provisions would be needed. It is NYSERDA's
intent to pursue termination of the existing 10 CFR Part 50 license for
the Western New York Nuclear Service Center (currently held in
abeyance) upon DOE's completion of decontamination and decommissioning
under the WVDP Act in accordance with criteria prescribed by the NRC.
NYSERDA plans to use the analysis of alternatives in the
Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship EIS to support any
necessary NRC or NYSDEC license or permit applications.
Areas of Disagreement With Respect to Responsibilities
DOE and NYSERDA currently do not agree on their respective
responsibilities, including whether DOE is required under the WVDP Act
to remediate the North Plateau groundwater plume and decommission the
NDA, and which party is responsible for any long-term stewardship
following the decommissioning actions required under the WVDP Act.
In accordance with their respective applicable legal requirements,
DOE and NYSERDA each have unilateral decision-making authority for
those actions for which they are responsible. DOE will determine the
manner in which it will decommission Project facilities as required
under the WVDP Act. NYSERDA will determine the manner in which non-
Project facilities, not required to be decommissioned under the WVDP
Act, will be managed.
Potential Range of Alternatives
DOE and NYSERDA intend to use the NRC's License Termination Rule
and associated guidance provided in the NRC's Final Policy Statement as
the framework to evaluate possible alternatives for decommissioning
and/or long-term stewardship actions involving WVDP facilities, as well
as decommissioning and/or long-term stewardship actions involving
NYSERDA-controlled facilities and areas on the Center. In the Final
Policy Statement, the NRC recognized that it does not have the
regulatory authority to apply the License Termination Rule to the SDA,
and said that a cooperative approach with the State will be utilized to
the extent practical to apply the License Termination Rule in a
coordinated manner.
As required by NEPA, the EIS will present the environmental impacts
associated with the range of reasonable
[[Page 12046]]
alternatives to meet DOE's and NYSERDA's purposes and needs for action,
and a no-action alternative. This range encompasses release of the
Center for re-use under unrestricted and restricted conditions as
allowed under the License Termination Rule. The EIS will present the
health and environmental consequences of the alternatives in comparable
form to provide a clear basis for informed decision making. DOE's and
NYSERDA's preferred alternative will be identified in the Draft EIS.
This Draft EIS will also include an evaluation of whether the
alternatives would meet the NRC decommissioning criteria and other
applicable requirements.
Alternative 1--Unrestricted Site Release
DOE and NYSERDA intend to evaluate an alternative that could
satisfy the License Termination Rule criteria and permit termination of
NYSERDA's NRC license without restrictions. DOE and NYSERDA are
proposing that this alternative involve removal of WVDP and non-WVDP
wastes, structures, and contaminated soils to the extent required so
that the radiological criteria specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 can be met
for Project and non-Project facilities and the balance of the 3,345-
acre Center. This alternative includes exhumation and offsite disposal
of waste and contaminated soils from the NDA and SDA on the South
Plateau.
DOE and NYSERDA intend to evaluate the need for new onsite interim
waste storage capacity under Alternative 1 for some waste types, such
as Greater-Than-Class C waste, that may not be able to be disposed of
in a time frame that would support timely implementation of this EIS
alternative. Such an interim storage facility would remain under
institutional control until the waste it contains is removed from the
site. Following implementation of this alternative, including removal
of any wastes in interim storage, the Center could be released without
restrictions.
Alternative 2--Partial Site Release without Restrictions
DOE and NYSERDA intend to evaluate an alternative that could
satisfy the radiological criteria specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 for
facilities and areas on the North Plateau geographic area of the
Center, including the North Plateau groundwater plume, as well as the
balance of the 3,345-acre Center, with the exception of the NDA and
SDA. This would include removal of WVDP and non-WVDP wastes,
structures, and contaminated soils to the extent required so that the
radiological criteria specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 can be met for the
North Plateau. Appropriate infiltration controls would be evaluated for
the NDA and the SDA. The NDA and SDA on the South Plateau would not be
released but would be managed, monitored, and maintained under permit,
license, or other appropriate regulatory oversight. With the exception
of the NDA and SDA, the WVDP Project Premises and Center could be
released without restrictions. DOE and NYSERDA also intend to evaluate
the need for new onsite interim waste storage that may be required to
support timely completion of this alternative.
Alternative 3--Partial Site Release with Restrictions
DOE and NYSERDA intend to evaluate an alternative that may permit
release with restrictions of portions of the North Plateau geographic
area and the balance of the 3,345-acre Center, with the exception of
the NDA and SDA. DOE and NYSERDA are proposing that this alternative
involve removal of wastes and structures to the extent technically and
economically practical so that the radiological criteria specified in
10 CFR 20.1403 can be met for the North Plateau. This would involve in-
place closure of the Process Building, Vitrification Facility, HLW Tank
Farm, wastewater treatment facility lagoons, and the North Plateau
contaminated groundwater plume in a manner that is protective of public
health, safety, and the environment. Other ancillary North Plateau
facilities would be removed. Appropriate infiltration controls would be
evaluated for the NDA and the SDA. The application of institutional
controls and engineered barriers would be required and evaluated. The
NDA and SDA on the South Plateau would not be released but would be
managed, monitored, and maintained under permit, license, or other
appropriate regulatory oversight. With the exception of the NDA and
SDA, the end state would be the release of the WVDP Project Premises
and Center under restricted conditions. However, unimpacted and/or
remediated areas of the Center could be considered for release without
restrictions. DOE also intends to evaluate the need for new onsite
interim HLW storage that may be required to support timely completion
of this alternative.
Alternative 4--Monitor and Maintain under Current Operations
This alternative involves the continued management and oversight of
the Center and all facilities located upon the Center property,
including the WVDP, after DOE's implementation of its Record of
Decision for the WVDP Waste Management EIS. No decommissioning
decisions would be made nor actions taken to make progress toward
decommissioning, including decontamination beyond the scope that DOE is
currently performing. No facilities would be closed in place, but would
be left in their current configuration and actively monitored and
maintained as required by existing regulations to protect public,
worker, and environmental health and safety. When required, remedial
actions would be taken in response to any releases of contamination
into the environment that may present a health and safety risk, such as
would be experienced from the eventual failure of the underground HLW
storage tanks. Under this alternative, no portion of the Project
Premises or the Center would be released for any present or future use.
Alternative 5--No Action (Walk Away)
This alternative involves the cessation of all management and
oversight of the Center and all facilities located upon the Center
property, including the WVDP, immediately after implementation of DOE's
Record of Decision for the WVDP Waste Management EIS. The Process
Building, Waste Tank Farm, Vitrification Facility, North Plateau
groundwater plume, NDA, SDA, and other smaller facilities would remain
and would not be monitored or maintained. Unmitigated natural
processes, including erosion, groundwater transport of contamination,
and concrete degradation, would be assumed to occur. The purpose of
evaluating this alternative is to establish the basis against which the
environmental impacts from all other decommissioning and/or long-term
stewardship alternatives are compared.
Alternatives Considered But Eliminated From Further Evaluation
DOE does not consider the use of existing structures or
construction of new aboveground facilities at the WVDP for indefinite
storage of Project and non-Project LLW and mixed low-level waste (MLLW)
to be a reasonable alternative for further consideration. Under the
Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (WMPEIS,
DOE/EIS-0200-F) Record of Decision, DOE decided that sites such as the
WVDP would ship their LLW and MLLW to other DOE sites that have
disposal capabilities for these wastes. (This decision did not preclude
the use of commercial disposal facilities as well.) The construction,
subsequent maintenance, and periodic replacement over time of new
facilities for indefinite onsite waste storage at West Valley
[[Page 12047]]
would be impractical from a cost, programmatic, health, and
environmental standpoint. Thus, given the capacity to safely and
permanently disposition LLW and MLLW in available off site facilities,
DOE would not consider indefinite onsite waste storage in new or
existing facilities to be a viable waste management alternative for its
decommissioning actions at the WVDP. For similar reasons, NYSERDA would
use available commercial facilities for disposal of any non-Project LLW
and MLLW that it may generate, in lieu of incurring the costs of new
construction.
New Information To Be Evaluated
As discussed above, the NRC published its Final Policy Statement
prescribing decommissioning criteria for the WVDP on February 1, 2002,
stating that NRC intends to apply its License Termination Rule (10 CFR
20.1401 et seq.) as decommissioning criteria in assessing the health
and environmental impacts of decommissioning the WVDP facilities. DOE
and NYSERDA will utilize the NRC's Final Policy Statement and the
License Termination Rule as the benchmark to develop and analyze their
decommissioning alternatives in the Decommissioning and/or Long-Term
Stewardship EIS.
For the 1996 Draft Cleanup and Closure EIS, DOE and NYSERDA
developed or modified a variety of analytical tools specifically for
that document. DOE has continued to refine many of these analytical
tools as a result of public comments received on the 1996 Draft Cleanup
and Closure EIS and ongoing interactions with stakeholders and
regulatory agencies such as the NRC. DOE and NYSERDA intend to apply
these improved analytical tools to the preparation of the
Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship EIS. To address
significant issues such as erosion, for example, DOE and NYSERDA have
developed a site-specific erosion model, with ongoing advice from NRC,
and integrated that model into a revised performance assessment
methodology, incorporating the use of sensitivity and uncertainty
analyses.
There are also some additional areas where new information has or
will be obtained specifically for the Decommissioning and/or Long-Term
Stewardship EIS. This work includes updated site characterization and
census data and the performance of a seismic reflection survey in the
vicinity of the Center. This seismic reflection survey, performed in
consultation with academic, government, and industry participants, will
contribute to knowledge about the regional structural geology as it may
relate to the WVDP and the Center.
Additional information that has become available since publication
of the 1996 Draft Cleanup and Closure EIS includes DOE's WM PEIS and
its associated Records of Decision. The WM PEIS analyzed on a national
scale the centralization, regionalization, or decentralization of
managing HLW, transuranic waste, low-level radioactive waste, mixed
radioactive low-level waste (containing hazardous constituents), and
non-wastewater hazardous waste.
Potential Environmental Issues for Analysis
DOE has tentatively identified the following issues for analysis in
the Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship EIS. The list is
presented to facilitate early comment on the scope of the EIS. It is
not intended to be all-inclusive nor to predetermine the alternatives
to be analyzed or their potential impacts.
[sbull] Potential impacts to the general population and on-site
workers from radiological and non-radiological releases from
decommissioning and/or long-term stewardship activities.
[sbull] Potential environmental impacts, including air and water
quality impacts, caused by decommissioning and/or long-term stewardship
activities.
[sbull] Potential transportation impacts from shipments of
radioactive, hazardous, mixed, and clean waste generated during
decommissioning activities.
[sbull] Potential impacts from postulated accidents.
[sbull] Potential costs for implementation and long-term
stewardship of alternatives considered.
[sbull] Potential disproportionately high and adverse effects on
low-income and minority populations (environmental justice).
[sbull] Potential Native American concerns.
[sbull] Irretrievable and irreversible commitment of resources.
[sbull] Short-term and long-term land use impacts.
[sbull] Ability of alternatives to meet the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act risk range.
[sbull] Ability of alternatives to satisfy WVDP decommissioning
criteria.
[sbull] Compliance with applicable Federal, State, and local
requirements.
[sbull] Identification of Derived Concentration Guideline Limits,
where appropriate.
[sbull] The influence of, and potential interactions of, any wastes
remaining at the Center after decommissioning.
[sbull] Unavoidable adverse impacts.
[sbull] Issues associated with long-term site stewardship,
including regulatory and engineering considerations, institutional
controls, and land use restrictions, including the need for buffer
areas.
[sbull] Long-term health and environmental impacts, including
potential impacts on groundwater quality.
[sbull] Long-term site stability, including erosion and seismicity.
[sbull] Waste Incidental to Reprocessing.
[sbull] Disposition of wastes generated as a result of
decommissioning and/or long-term stewardship activities.
Other Agency Involvement
Nuclear Regulatory Commission: NRC has the regulatory
responsibility under the Atomic Energy Act for the Center, which is the
subject of the NRC license issued to NYSERDA pursuant to 10 CFR part
50, with the exception of the SDA. The NRC license is currently in
abeyance pending completion of the WVDP.
The WVDP Act specifies certain responsibilities for NRC, including:
(1) Prescribing requirements for decontamination and decommissioning;
(2) providing review and consultation to DOE on the Project; and (3)
monitoring the activities under the Project for the purpose of assuring
the public health and safety. NRC will participate as a cooperating
agency under NEPA on the West Valley Decommissioning and/or Long-Term
Stewardship EIS. NRC may adopt this EIS for determining that the
preferred alternative meets NRC's decommissioning criteria, assuming
that NRC will find the preferred alternative acceptable.
Notwithstanding the WVDP, NRC retains the regulatory responsibility
for the non-DOE activity in the non-Project area and non-SDA area to
the extent that contamination exists both on and offsite resulting from
activities performed when the facility was operating under its NRC 10
CFR part 50 license. Following completion of the WVDP and reinstatement
of the license, NRC will have the regulatory responsibility for
authorizing termination of the license, should NYSERDA seek license
termination.
United States Environmental Protection Agency: The United States
Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) will participate as a
cooperating agency under NEPA on the West Valley Decommissioning and/or
Long-Term Stewardship EIS. As a
[[Page 12048]]
cooperating agency, EPA will review the EIS and other documents
developed by DOE in conjunction with NYSERDA to provide early input on
the analyses of environmental impacts associated with the
decommissioning alternatives to be analyzed.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation: With
respect to DOE proposed actions, NYSDEC will participate as a
cooperating agency under NEPA on the West Valley Decommissioning and/or
Long-Term Stewardship EIS. As a cooperating agency, NYSDEC will review
the EIS and other documents developed by DOE in conjunction with
NYSERDA to provide early input on the analyses of environmental impacts
associated with the decommissioning alternatives to be analyzed, and as
part of their regulatory responsibilities. NYSDEC will participate as
an involved agency under SEQRA with respect to NYSERDA's proposed
actions.
NYSDEC regulates the SDA through issuance of permits under 6 New
York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) Part 380 Rules and
Regulations for Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by
Radioactive Materials. NYSDEC also regulates hazardous and mixed waste
at the Center pursuant to 6 NYCRR Part 370 Series. This includes
permitting activities under Interim Status for RCRA regulated units and
Corrective Action Requirements for investigation and if necessary,
remediation of hazardous constituents from Solid Waste Management
Units.
NYSDEC is also responsible for ensuring compliance with the 1992
joint NYSDEC/USEPA 3008 (h) [New York State Environmental Conservation
Law, Article 27, Titles 9 and 13] Order issued to the DOE and NYSERDA.
The Order required investigation of solid waste management units,
performance of interim corrective measures, and completion of
Corrective Measures Studies, if necessary. NYSDEC and EPA intend to
accommodate the DOE's and NYSERDA's efforts to coordinate and integrate
the EIS process pursuant to the Order.
Public Scoping Meetings
DOE and NYSERDA will hold two public scoping meetings on the
Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship EIS at the Ashford Office
Complex, located at 9030 Route 219 in the Town of Ashford, NY, from 7
to 9:30 p.m. on April 9 and April 10, 2003. The purpose of scoping is
to encourage public involvement and solicit public comments on the
proposed scope and content of the EIS. Requests to speak at the public
meeting should be made by calling or writing the DOE Document Manager
(see ADDRESSES, above). Speakers will be scheduled on a first-come,
first-served basis. Individuals may sign up at the door to speak and
will be accommodated as time permits. Written comments will also be
accepted at the meeting. Speakers are encouraged to provide written
versions of their oral comments for the record.
The meetings will be facilitated by a moderator. Time will be
provided for meeting attendees to ask clarifying questions. Individuals
requesting to speak on behalf of an organization must identify the
organization. Each speaker will be allowed five minutes to present
comments unless more time is requested and available. Comments will be
recorded by a court reporter and will become part of the scoping
meeting record.
These two public scoping meetings will be held during a public
scoping comment period. The comment period begins with publication of
this NOI and will formally close on April 28, 2003. Comments received
after this date will be considered to the extent practical. Comments
provided during scoping will be addressed in the revised draft
Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship EIS. Written comments will
be received during the scoping period either in writing, by facsimile,
or by email to Mr. Daniel Sullivan, DOE Document Manager (see
ADDRESSES, above, for contact information).
Schedule
The DOE intends to issue the draft Decommissioning and/or Long-Term
Stewardship EIS as early as December 2003. A public comment period of
up to 180 days will start upon publication of the EPA's Federal
Register Notice of Availability. DOE will consider and respond to
comments received on the draft Decommissioning and/or Long-Term
Stewardship EIS in preparing the final EIS.
Comments received during the 1989 scoping process and from the
public comment period on the 1996 Cleanup and Closure EIS (DOE/EIS-
0226-D) will be considered in the Decommissioning and/or Long-Term
Stewardship EIS.
Public Reading Rooms
Documents referenced in this Notice of Intent and related
information are available at the following locations: Central Buffalo
Public Library Science and Technology Department, Lafayette Square,
Buffalo, New York 14203, (716) 858-7098; The Olean Public Library, 134
North 2nd Street, Olean, New York 14760, (716) 372-0200; The Hulbert
Library of the Town of Concord, 18 Chapel Street, Springville, New York
14141, (716) 592-7742; West Valley Central School Library, 5359 School
Street, West Valley, New York 14141, (716) 942-3261; Ashford Office
Complex, 9030 Route 219, West Valley, New York 14171, (716) 942-4555.
Issued in Washington, DC on March 7, 2003.
Beverly A. Cook,
Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 03-6055 Filed 3-12-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P