[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 28, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10840-10841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4877]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Environmental Management; Proposed Site Treatment Plans
AGENCY:Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) is delaying submission
of the Proposed Site Treatment Plans (Proposed Plans) for developing
treatment capacity and technologies for mixed radioactive and hazardous
waste required by the Federal Facility Compliance Act (FFCAct or Act).
DOE expects to submit the Proposed Plans to the State or the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as appropriate, at the end of
March 1995, but in any event no later than April 6, 1995. Originally
scheduled for submission in February 1995, DOE is revising the
submission date for the Proposed Plans with the support of the affected
States and EPA to allow additional time for further discussions on
schedules for developing treatment capacity in light of anticipated
funding limitations. This revised date still provides the States and
EPA the six months allowed by the FFCAct to solicit public comments and
approve the Site Treatment Plans, and to issue compliance orders by
October 6, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Additional information on the Site Treatment Plan
development process and related activities can be obtained from the
Center for Environmental Management Information at 1-800-7EM-DATA (1-
800-736-3282).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended by
the FFCAct, requires DOE to prepare Site Treatment Plans for developing
treatment capacities and technologies for treating mixed waste for each
site at which DOE stores or generates mixed waste (section 3021 (b)).
Mixed waste is defined by the FFCAct as waste containing both hazardous
waste subject to RCRA, and source, special nuclear, or by-product
material subject to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Site Treatment Plans
are being prepared for approximately 48 sites located in 22 States.
DOE must submit the Site Treatment Plan to the State or EPA, as
appropriate, for approval, disapproval, or approval with modification.
The FFCAct provides six months for the regulatory agency to review the
Plan and make it publicly available. Upon approval, the agency is to
issue an Order requiring compliance with the approved Plan. Sites that
are in compliance with approved Plans and Orders by October 1995 will
not be subject to fines and penalties related to the storage
prohibitions under section 3004(j) of RCRA.
After consultation with affected States and EPA, DOE issued a
Federal Register Notice on April 6, 1993 (58 FR 17875), which set a
schedule for submission of the Site Treatment Plans in three stages.
The first stage, the Conceptual Site Treatment Plans, were submitted in
October 1993 and described a wide range of possible treatment
alternatives for each mixed waste stream. The Draft Plans were
submitted in August 1994, and included one or two options identified by
the site, with input from the State, as the preferred treatment for
each mixed waste stream. After further analysis of the preferred
options for the DOE complex as a whole, discussions among the States,
and consideration of public comments, DOE planned to submit Proposed
Site Treatment Plans in February 1995 to the appropriate regulatory
agency (i.e., the State or EPA).
II. Rescheduling of Proposed Plan Submittal Date
DOE has worked closely with the States and EPA, which will approve
and enforce the final Plans, throughout the Site Treatment Plan
development process. The National Governors Association (NGA) is
facilitating interactions among the States at the national level under
a cooperative agreement with DOE. At an NGA-sponsored meeting early in
December 1994 that included affected States, EPA, and Tribal
governments, several States asked DOE to consider delaying submission
of the Proposed Site Treatment Plans to allow additional time for
discussions on funding availability and the potential impacts of
current and future budgetary constraints on schedules for constructing
new mixed waste treatment facilities. After NGA confirmed with the
other States involved in the FFCAct process that such a delay was
acceptable, DOE postponed submittal of the Proposed Plans.
DOE expects to submit the Proposed Plans to the appropriate
regulatory agencies for approval at the end of March 1995, but in any
event no later than April 6, 1995. This will still allow the States and
EPA the six months provided by the Act to review the Proposed Plans and
make them available to the public, and to issue Compliance Orders by
October 6, 1995. Sites that are in compliance with approved Plans and
Compliance Orders [[Page 10841]] after October 6, 1995, are not subject
to fines and penalties related to the RCRA storage prohibitions for
their mixed waste.
III. Activities in Progress
During January and February 1995, DOE site offices met with
representatives of the States that host the largest DOE facilities to
provide information on the overall Environmental Management budget for
their sites, and the work in progress and work that needs to be
accomplished within that budget.1 These general discussions were
supplemented by specific discussions on the activities and associated
schedules to be proposed in the Site Treatment Plans, along with
potential funding impacts on those activities. The smaller DOE sites
were also encouraged to hold discussions with their States during this
period on their proposed schedules and funding situation.
\1\ The host States are Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico,
Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington.
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In addition, in February 1995, DOE, the affected States, EPA, and
Tribal representatives again met collectively to discuss funding issues
related to all of DOE's environmental management activities as well as
to Site Treatment Plan activities, and to discuss strategies for
working cooperatively to address anticipated funding limitations.
DOE believes that communication with, and the involvement of
affected States, EPA, Tribal representatives, and other interested
parties is essential in developing Proposed Plans that are acceptable
to the regulatory agency and the public. However, DOE does not expect
that all concerns or questions about the schedules for new facilities,
particularly for large and costly facilities, will be resolved before
the Proposed Plans are submitted. DOE, like many other Federal
agencies, will face increasingly limited funding in the future.
Accordingly, DOE anticipates that discussions will continue with
regulatory agencies and the public after the Proposed Plans are
submitted on the relative priority of mixed waste treatment and other
environmental management activities at each site and across the DOE
complex before the Plans and schedules are approved.
IV. For Further Information
Additional information on the development process for the Site
Treatment Plans, a list of facilities preparing Plans and their
locations, and related activities can be obtained from the DOE Center
for Environmental Management Information at 1-800-7EM-DATA (1-800-736-
3282), or through the Internet at address http://www.em.doe.gov/ffcabb/
ffcamain.html.
Issued in Washington DC on February 22, 1995.
Jill E. Lytle,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management, Office of
Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 95-4877 Filed 2-27-95; 8:45 am]
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