NEPA Activities

For three decades Argonne National Laboratory scientists and engineers have been at the forefront in providing innovative support for federal agencies' efforts to follow the letter and the spirit of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and its enabling regulations. Argonne has played a major support role in this process for numerous federal actions and programs, including:

• Licensing of new nuclear power plants and re-licensing of existing plants;


• Management and disposition of the DOE inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride;


• Renewal of the federal right-of-way for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System;


• Construction of a facility to convert weapons-grade plutonium into fuel for commercial nuclear power plants;
        

• Energy development on federally managed lands;


• alternative destruction technologies for chemical weapons;


• Various programs to clean up contamination from past site activities; and


• Assessment of the potential impacts of four alternative destruction technologies for assembled chemical weapons, which include mines, projectiles and rockets that contain blister or nerve agent.

EVS staff have been proactive in assisting federal agencies to develop more effective and efficient NEPA compliance strategies and methodologies. From developing and applying unique computer-aided tools to assess impacts and environmental variables to incorporating emerging technologies into the NEPA compliance process, EVS has maintained its position as a source of both experience and innovation.

One important area of EVS innovation in recent years has been incorporation of Internet-based technologies into the NEPA process to benefit both federal agencies and the general public. EVS staff members have developed web-based technologies that increase the efficiency of the NEPA process for federal agencies and make it easier for members of the public to obtain information and participate in the process. Advanced tools for spatial analysis and visualization have also contributed to the effectiveness of the NEPA process in assisting decision makers.

Among EVS's customers for NEPA-related efforts have been the U.S. Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Defense, and the Department of the Interior

Related Topics

• Cumulative and Integrated Risk
  
• Depleted Uranium Management
  
• Ecological Risk Assessment
  
• Internet-based Information Management and Communication
  
• NRC Power Plant License Renewal
  
• Spatial Analysis
  

Related Fact Sheets

• Bangor Hydroelectric Company 345-Kv Transmission Line Interconnection Project
• Environmental, Social, and Economic Analysis of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System

Related EVS Internet Applications

• Alaska Pipeline Renewal EIS Public Information Web Site
  
• Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Management Program Web Site
  
• Intranet Web Site for Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) Renewal EIS
  

Related Publications

• Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Wind Energy Development on BLM-Administered Lands in the Western United States 
• Final Environmental Impact Statement, Renewal of the Federal Grant for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System Right-of Way 
• Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the Construction and Operation of a Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site, South Carolina 
• Final Environmental Impact Statement: Design, Construction and Operation of One or More Pilot Test Facilities for Assembled Chemical Weapons Destruction Technologies at One or More Sites. Volumes I and II 
• Strengthening the Link Between Project Planning and Environmental Impact Assessment: The Assembled Chemical Weapons Assessment Diologue Process 
• Final Environmental Impact Statement for Riparian and Aquatic Habitat Management in the Las Cruces Field Office - New Mexico, Volume 1 and Volume 2 
• Final Environmental Impact Statement for Construction and Operation of the Proposed Bangor Hydro-Electric Company's Second 345-kV Transmission Tie Line to New Brunswick, DOE/EIS-0166 
• Responses to Comments on the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study-Environmental Impact Statement for Remedial Action at the Chemical Plant Area of the Weldon Spring Site (November 1992) 
• Class I Overview of Cultural Resources for the Western Area Power Administration Salt Lake Area Integrated Projects Electric Power Marketing Environmental Impact Statement 

Contact

John Krummel (630)252-3269 jkrummel@anl.gov