[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 66 (Wednesday, April 6, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-8312]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: April 6, 1994]
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Part XIV
Department of Energy
_______________________________________________________________________
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Waste
Management at the Savannah River Site; Notices
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for Waste
Management at the Savannah River Site
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare
an environmental impact statement (EIS) for waste management at the
Savannah River Site, and to conduct a public scoping process pursuant
to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C.
4321 et seq.).
The purpose of the Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS is to
provide a basis for DOE to select a sitewide strategic approach to
managing present and future Savannah River Site waste generated as a
result of ongoing operations, environmental restoration activities,
transition from nuclear production to other missions, and
decontamination and decommissioning programs. This EIS will support
project-level decisions on the operation of specific treatment,
storage, and disposal facilities within the near term (10 years and
less). In addition, this EIS will provide a baseline for analyses of
future waste management activities and a basis for the evaluation of
the specific waste management alternatives. The preparation of the
Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will be in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act, the Council on Environmental Quality
National Environmental Policy Act Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508),
and the DOE National Environmental Policy Act Regulations (10 CFR part
1021). Background information on the Savannah River Site and issues
proposed to be considered in this EIS are presented in the
Supplementary Information below.
DOE is also announcing today its intent to prepare a Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement on the Defense Waste Processing Facility
at the Savannah River Site. (See the notice in this issue of the
Federal Register.)
DOE invites individuals, organizations, and agencies to comment on
issues to be considered, alternatives to be analyzed, and environmental
impacts to be addressed in the Savannah River Site Waste Management
EIS. Written and oral comments will be given equal weight. Written
comments should be directed to Stephen R. Wright at the address below.
Oral comments may be presented by voice mail at the telephone number
below. Interested parties are invited to present comments at three
public scoping meetings to be held at the dates and places indicated
below. Additional notice will be given in appropriate local media. At
the scoping meetings and informal information sessions to be held one
month earlier, DOE also will provide the public with an opportunity to
have information discussions with DOE representatives regarding waste
management at the Savannah River Site. The scoping process and
procedures are described in the Supplementary Information below.
DATES: The public scoping period for the Savannah River Site Waste
Management EIS begins with the publication of this notice and continues
until May 31, 1994. Written comments submitted by mail should be
postmarked by that date to ensure consideration. DOE will consider
comments mailed after that date to the extent practicable.
DOE will host a series of informal information sessions to provide
the public with additional information on waste management at the
Savannah River Site and the proposed actions and alternatives discussed
in this Notice of Intent. These sessions are intended to promote
conversation with DOE representatives available to answer questions.
These informal sessions are scheduled at the following times and
locations:
April 12, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; North Augusta Community
Center, 495 Brookside Avenue, North Augusta, South Carolina.
April 19, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; DeSoto Hilton Hotel, 15
Liberty Street, Savannah, Georgia.
April 21, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; Holiday Inn Coliseum at
University of South Carolina, 630 Assembly Street, Columbia, South
Carolina.
Information sessions on two related EISs--the EIS for Interim
Management of Nuclear Materials at the Savannah River Site (see the
Notice of Intent published in the Federal Register on March 17, 1994;
59 FR 12588) and the Defense Waste Processing Facility Supplemental EIS
at the Savannah River Site--will be held at the same dates and
locations.
DOE will then conduct public scoping meetings to assist in defining
the appropriate scope of the Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS
and identifying significant environmental issues to be addressed. DOE
representatives will be available at the meetings to discuss, in
informal conversations, Savannah River Site waste management. These
meetings are scheduled at the following times and locations:
May 12, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; Coastal Georgia Center for
Continuing Education, 305 Martin Luther King Boulevard (Battlefield
Park), Savannah Georgia.
Mat 17, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; North Augusta Community Center,
495 Brookside Avenue, North Augusta, South Carolina.
May 19, 1994; 1-4 and 6-9 p.m.; Holiday Inn Coliseum at
University of South Carolina, 630 Assembly Street, Columbia, South
Carolina.
Scoping meetings on the EIS for Interim Management of Nuclear
Materials at the Savannah River Site and the Defense Waste Processing
Facility Supplemental EIS will be held at the same dates and locations.
DOE will publish additional notices of the information sessions and
scoping meetings in the local media in advance of the scheduled dates.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the scope of the Savannah River Site Waste
Management EIS, requests to speak at the public scoping meetings, and
requests for copies of the EIS Implementation Plan or draft EIS (when
available) should be directed to: Mr. Stephen R. Wright, U.S. DOE,
Savannah River Operations Office, P.O. Box 5031, Aiken, SC 29804-5031;
(803) 725-3957 or (800) 242-8269. Envelopes should be marked:
``Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS''.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:Questions regarding the Savannah River
Site Waste Management EIS should be addressed to: Virginia L. Gardner,
Environmental Restoration Division, U.S. DOE, Savannah River Operations
Office, P.O. Box A, Aiken, SC 29802; (803) 725-5752.
Questions regarding the DOE National Environmental Policy Act
process should be addressed to: Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of
National Environmental Policy Act Oversight (EH-25), U.S. DOE, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585; (202) 586-4600 or leave
a message at (800) 472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Savannah River Site occupies approximately 300 square miles
adjacent to the Savannah River, principally in Aiken and Barnwell
Counties of South Carolina, approximately 25 miles southeast of
Augusta, Georgia, and 20 miles south of Aiken, South Carolina. Since
its establishment, the mission of the Savannah River Site has been to
produce nuclear materials that support the defense, research, and
medical programs of the United States. The Savannah River Site
production process facilities include fuel and target fabrication
facilities, nuclear production reactors, separation facilities, product
preparation facilities, and waste management facilities. These
facilities have generated a variety of low-level radioactive, high-
level radioactive, hazardous, mixed (hazardous and radioactive), and
transuranic wastes.
At present, the Savannah River Site is in transition to other
missions; the new missions include an increased emphasis on waste
management, environmental restoration, and decontamination and
decommissioning. DOE is examining its current integrated waste
management program and the suitability of existing and planned
facilities in light of these recent mission changes.
Two DOE-wide programmatic environmental impact statements, one for
Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (Notice of Intent
published in the Federal Register on October 22, 1990; 55 FR 42693) and
one for Reconfiguration of the Weapons Complex (Notice of Intent
published in the Federal Register on February 11, 1991; 56 FR 5590),
may result in decisions to transfer certain waste management activities
to or from the Savannah River Site. The alternatives for the Savannah
River Site Waste Management EIS will be coordinated with the
alternatives for the Programmatic EISs. The alternatives for the
Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will also bound the range of
waste management activities resulting from the Federal Facility
Compliance Act Site Treatment Plan now under development. The Site
Treatment Plan will describe the development of treatment capacities
and technologies for mixed (a combination of radioactive and hazardous)
wastes.
DOE prepared an Environmental Assessment and issued a subsequent
Finding of No Significant Impact on the Consolidated Incineration
Facility in 1992. In response to a public request, DOE took a ``fresh
look'' into the suitability of constructing and operating the
Consolidated Incineration Facility. DOE decided that while completing
construction, DOE would propose to include the operation of the
Consolidated Incineration Facility within the scope of the Savannah
River Site Waste Management EIS. Under the proposed action, the
Consolidated Incineration Facility would be the preferred facility for
the treatment of only those wastes for which under Environmental
Protection Agency regulations incineration is the specified technology
or Best Demonstrated Available Technology. The proposed action also
will evaluate incineration and other treatment alternatives for wastes
where incineration is not the specified technology or Best Demonstrated
Available Technology. In addition, the proposed action will include the
incineration of low-level radioactive waste for volume reduction and
the EIS will consider other volume reduction and treatment
alternatives. DOE will not conduct any trial burns at the Consolidated
Incineration Facility until DOE completes this EIS and issues a Record
of Decision.
In 1982, DOE published an EIS and a Record of Decision for the
design, construction, and operation of the Defense Waste Processing
Facility, which would immobilize liquid high-level radioactive waste in
glass (vitrification). The vitrified waste would then be encapsulated
in stainless steel canisters and stored onsite until a geologic
repository is available for final disposal. DOE then modified the
Defense Waste Processing Facility to improve facility efficiency and
safety. A Supplement Analysis was prepared to determine whether
modifications as of 1990, primarily the introduction of the In-Tank
Precipitation process and manufacture and disposal of saltstone,
required the preparation of a supplement to the Defense Waste
Processing Facility EIS. On the basis of the Supplement Analysis, DOE
concluded in 1991 that a Supplemental EIS was not needed.
Further modifications to the Defense Waste Processing Facility
system have now been proposed and are in various stages of
implementation, including process safety enhancement and a Late-Wash
Facility. In view of the accumulated changes and the near-term
(estimated 1996) initial operation of the facility, DOE believes that a
focused EIS-level review of the environmental impacts of the facility
as now envisioned would be timely and appropriate.
DOE proposes to perform the Defense Waste Processing Facility
review in a supplement to the 1982 EIS for the Defense Waste Processing
Facility. Although the analysis could be included in the Savannah River
Site Waste Management EIS, DOE believes public review and DOE's
decision making process would be facilitated by preparing a separate
document because the Defense Waste Processing Facility is a very
specialized operation with limited connections to the activities to be
covered in the Waste Management EIS. Where there are interconnections,
duplicate discussions within both documents may be required or the
documents may cross reference one another.
Activities at the Defense Waste Processing Facility have proceeded
on the basis of the 1982 EIS and Record of Decision. Construction of
the Defense Waste Processing Facility is almost complete, testing of
the system with cold chemicals has begun and processing runs of
simulated (non-radioactive) material will begin in the next few months.
DOE committed in an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency
and the state of South Carolina to adhere to a schedule that provides
for radionuclide testing at the Defense Waste Processing Facility to
begin in December, 1995. In order to support that schedule and to
manage efficiently the high level radioactive wastes contained in the
tank farms, in-tank precipitation must begin in late 1994 or early
1995. A supplemental EIS focussing on the changes to the Defense Waste
Processing Facility can be completed in time to meet this schedule,
while the Waste Management EIS is expected to take several more months
to prepare. These two EISs will be closely coordinated. Delay of start-
up for the Defense Waste Processing Facility would cost approximately
$21,000,000 per month.
The Supplemental EIS will examine all reasonably foreseeable
impacts of operating the Defense Waste Processing Facility, including
alternative methods of managing the waste streams from the facility.
DOE believes that this will provide sufficient information to decide
whether to proceed with operation of the facility in advance of
completion of the Savannah River Waste Management EIS.
The proposed scope for the Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS
does not include management of spent nuclear fuel and other materials
that have historically been the feed materials for Savannah River Site
materials production and reprocessing programs. Such nuclear materials
are being addressed in several National Environmental Policy Act
documents under preparation by DOE: (1) The Programmatic EIS for Spent
Nuclear Fuel Management will include, among other issues, a
programmatic analysis of the transportation, receipt, processing, and
storage of spent nuclear fuel at DOE sites, including the Savannah
River Site; (2) the Environmental Assessment for Urgent Relief
Acceptance of Foreign Research Reactor Nuclear Spent Fuel and a
subsequent broader scope EIS (Notice of Intent published October 21,
1993; 58 FR 54336) will analyze the proposed adoption and
implementation of a policy for the acceptance of as many as 15,000
spent nuclear fuel elements from foreign research reactors; and (3) the
EIS for the Interim Management of Nuclear Materials at the Savannah
River Site (Notice of Intent published March 17, 1994; 59 FR 12588),
will evaluate and determine materials that can safely remain in their
current form for an interim period (approximately five years) until
disposition decisions can be made and materials that require near-term
stabilization to help maintain the health and safety of workers and the
public and to maintain environmental quality. In addition, DOE will
also evaluate converting some material into a useable form.
Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic EIS
The Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will be prepared at
the same time as, and in close coordination with, the DOE Environmental
Restoration and Waste Management Programmitic EIS, which will address
DOE complex-wide issues and alternatives for environmental restoration
and waste management policies and practices. Alternatives under that
Programmatic EIS will include decentralization, regionalization, and
centralization of waste management functions.
The alternatives analysis in the Savannah River Site Waste
Management EIS will be consistent with the DOE complex-wide policies
and practices that will be analyzed in the Programmatic EIS. The
Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will be supplemented, as
necessary, to maintain consistency with decisions reached on broader
programmatic issues.
Site Treatment Plan
The Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS will also be
coordinated with the development of the Savannah River Site Treatment
Plan that DOE is preparing in compliance with the Federal Facility
Compliance Act of 1992. The Conceptual Site Treatment Plan issued in
October 1993 identifies waste treatment needs, capabilities, and
options for Savannah River Site mixed waste. The Draft Site Treatment
Plan scheduled to be issued in August 1994 will identify DOE's
preferred options for treating the Savannah River Site mixed wastes and
proposed schedules for constructing treatment capacity. The preferred
options will correspond to the proposed action in the Savannah River
Site Waste Management EIS.
Waste Types To Be Addressed in the Savannah River Site Waste Management
EIS
Solid low-level radioactive waste forms include operating and
laboratory wastes (for example protective clothing, plastic sheeting,
gloves, analytical wastes, decontamination residues), contaminated
equipment, reactor and reactor fuel hardware, spent lithium-aluminum
targets from which tritium has been extracted, and spent deionizer
resin from reactor areas. The Analytical Laboratories, Reactor
Materials, Reactors, Separations, Savannah River Technology Center,
Tritium facilities, and waste management and environmental restoration
activities generate the Savannah River Site low-level radioactive
waste.
High-level radioactive waste includes the highly radioactive
material resulting from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel,
including the liquid waste that contains fission products in sufficient
concentrations. In the production of nuclear materials, DOE used the F-
and H-Area chemical separations plants to separate and purify
plutonium-238 and -239 produced in Savannah River Site reactors and to
reclaim fissionable material (uranium-235) from onsite and offsite
sources (e.g., research reactor fuel and material from disassembled
retired weapons) for recycling. These processes dissolved target
elements in nitric acid and separated them into (1) a solution of
plutonium, uranium, and neptunium, and (2) liquid high-level
radioactive waste. Further processing separated and purified the metals
in solution, and converted the plutonium to solid form for shipment and
the other materials for storage or reuse. The liquid high-level
radioactive waste is stored in steel tanks in the F- and H-Area Tank
Farms.
Hazardous waste and mixed waste include materials such as lead,
solvents, paints, tritiated mercury, tritiated oil contaminated with
mercury, other mercury-contaminated materials and equipment from the
tritium facilities in H-Area, filter paper takeup rolls from the Liquid
Effluent Treatment Facility, cadmium-plated high-efficiency particulate
air filters, and contaminated soils. The Analytical Laboratories,
Reactor materials, Reactors, and Separations facilities and waste
management and environmental restoration activities generate the
Savannah River Site hazardous and mixed waste.
Transuranic wastes include job control wastes (e.g., paper, wipes,
cloth, rags, tools, instruments), sludges, resins, filters, and various
other miscellaneous wastes. Transuranic waste contains radioactive
isotopes with atomic numbers greater than 92 and half-lives longer than
20 years at concentrations exceeding 100 nanocuries per gram. Savannah
River Site also manages low-level radioactive waste with transuranic
radionuclides at concentration of 10 to 100 nanocuries per gram in a
manner similar to transuranic waste. The Savannah River Technology
Center, F-Area laboratories, and F- and H-Area separations facilities
generate the Savannah River Site transuranic waste.
Preliminary Description of Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS
Alternatives
(1) The ``No-Action'' Alternative
DOE will analyze a no-action alternative that would assume
continued waste generation and current waste management practices. DOE
would continue ongoing activities and implement planned actions,
including high-level radioactive waste management, for which National
Environmental Policy Act review has been completed and decisions made.
Further, decisions reached through ongoing National Environmental
Policy Act reviews that are completed before the issuance of a Record
of Decision for this EIS will be incorporated into the no-action
alternative. Although the no-action alternative may not be a reasonable
alternative in all respects, its analysis will establish a baseline for
comparison of the environment impacts of the proposed action and its
alternatives.
DOE would continue waste management practices that are now in
effect, including packaging and disposal of low-level radioactive waste
in the Solid Waste Disposal Facility, storage of liquid high-level
radioactive waste in the F- and H-Area Tank Farm, disposal of salt
solution at the Saltstone Facility, preparation for vitrification in
the Defense Waste Processing Facility, storage of liquid high-level
radioactive waste in the F- and H-Area Tank Farm, disposal of salt
solution at the Saltstone Facility, preparation for vitrification in
the Defense Waste Processing Facility, storage of hazardous waste in
hazardous waste storage buildings and the solid waste storage pads, and
continued storage of mixed waste. Drums of transuranic waste on mounded
pads would be retrieved, overpacked, and stored with existing
transuranic waste drums on concrete pads; DOE would leave undisturbed
the transuranic waste that is in stored in below-grade culverts or in
culverts on mounded pads.
Also included as part of the no-action alternative are operation of
the already-constructed Solid Waste Disposal Facility Expansion Vaults
for disposal of low-level radioactive waste (E-Area) and continued
construction, but not operation, of the Consolidated Incineration
Facility.
(2) The Proposed Action Alternative
The proposed action is comprised of the no-action alternative
activities plus programmatic and project-level actions to enhance waste
management operations over the next 10 years, comply with regulatory
requirements, protect human health and the environment, and support
Savannah River Site missions. Project specific National Environmental
Policy Act review that supplements this EIS might be required to reach
final decisions on some of these activities.
DOE will consider various combinations of pollution prevention,
waste minimization, treatment, storage and disposal technologies, with
pollution prevention and waste minimization as the highest priority.
For each waste type, DOE will identify the optimal mix of technologies
for the protection of human health and the environment, cost-
effectiveness, and waste minimization. DOE will identify the preferred
strategy for each waste type that will contain the optimum approaches
developed for specific individual waste streams at the Savannah River
Site. Any potential shipments to or from the Savannah River Site of DOE
weapons complex waste and establishment of onsite waste treatment
capabilities would be examined in a manner that is consistent with the
Site Treatment Plan for mixed waste and the two DOE-wide Programmatic
EISs.
Programmatic considerations regarding the Site Treatment Plan, land
use planning, technology development, and pollution prevention would be
included in the proposed action alternative. DOE will ensure that these
strategies are consistent with those identified in the Environmental
Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic EIS. Although specific
environmental restoration and decontamination and decommissioning
activities would be subject to separate National Environmental Policy
Act review, as appropriate, DOE will provide its best current estimate
of waste streams anticipated from the environmental restoration of
existing waste sites and the decontamination and decommissioning of
surplus facilities. Similarly, DOE will base the proposed action on
this best current estimate of waste streams that might be received from
offsite under decisions resulting from the Environmental Restoration
and Waste Management and Reconfiguration Programmatic EISs and the
Federal Facility Compliance Act/Site Treatment Plan process.
Low-Level Radioactive Waste
DOE proposes to reduce the volume of solid nonhazardous low-level
radioactive waste. DOE would package the low-level radioactive waste in
accordance with the Waste Acceptance Criteria established for the Solid
Waste Disposal Facility (E-Area) Expansion Vaults (operation of the E-
Area vaults is based on completed National Environmental Policy Act
reviews and is included in the no-action alternative). As part of the
proposed action alternative, volume reduction technology(ies) would
replace existing Savannah River Site compactors, which are reaching the
end of their useful lives. The immediate requirement is to process
contact-handled waste; the proposed facility(ies) would have limited
capability to volume-reduce equipment. Subsequently, DOE would develop
the capability to volume-reduce remotely handled waste. DOE would also
develop treatment capabilities for liquid low-level radioactive waste
(e.g., tritiated oil).
Liquid High-Level Radioactive Waste
The management of liquid high-level radioactive waste including
storage in the F- and H-Area Tank Farm, disposal of salt solution at
the Saltstone Facility, and preparation for vitrification in the
Defense Waste Processing Facility is the same for the proposed action
as for the no-action alternative. The examination of the potential
environmental impacts of operating the Defense Waste Processing
Facility and associated high-level radioactive waste facilities at the
Savannah River Site as they are presently designed will be done in the
Defense Waste Processing Facility Supplemental EIS. The cumulative
impacts of liquid high-level radioactive waste management, including
the results from the Defense Waste Processing Facility Supplemental
EIS, will be incorporated into the Savannah River Site Waste Management
EIS.
Hazardous Waste/Mixed Waste
The Draft Site Treatment Plan will consider the Consolidated
Incineration Facility a ``planned'' facility for mixed waste treatment.
As part of the proposed action, this EIS will consider other
alternatives for waste for which incineration has not been established
as the Best Demonstrated Available Technology or specified technology,
including potential offsite options and commercialization, for
incinerable Savannah River Site hazardous and mixed wastes. For
example, DOE could construct and operate a new facility permitted under
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act at the Savannah River Site
to receive, handle, treat, and repackage hazardous and mixed waste.
This facility could also provide size reduction and repackaging of
hazardous and mixed wastes in preparation for treatment at the
Consolidated Incineration Facility. The proposed treatment building
would be able to handle waste that DOE could not treat elsewhere on the
Savannah River Site or send such waste offsite for treatment and
disposal. DOE would also evaluate treatment options for non-incinerable
hazardous and mixed wastes.
Transuranic Waste
Under the proposed action, DOE would prepare both currently-stored
and newly-generated transuranic waste for certification and disposal at
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or for reclassification and disposal as
low-level radioactive waste. Facilities would be provided to sort,
characterize, and repackage drums of low-activity (less than a total of
0.5 curie per 55-gallon drum) transuranic waste in preparation for
direct shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or for storage until
treatment to a final waste form. Portions of these activities are
included in the no-action alternative because they are covered in the
completed Environmental Assessment for Management Activities for
Retrieved and Newly Generated Transuranic Waste (DOE/EA-0315).
DOE would provide treatment, such as vitrification or
stabilization, for retrievably stored transuranic wastes with activity
greater than 0.5 curie per container if required to meet future
criteria of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant or another Federal
repository. The proposed action would provide the capability to treat
high-activity waste drums, boxes, etc., for shipment to the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant or another repository. DOE would design treatment
facilities when it has a better understanding of Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant acceptance requirements for the transuranic waste stream.
(3) The ``Minimum Treatment, Storage, and Disposal'' Alternative
The alternative represents a lower-bound of waste management
activities at the Savannah River Site. The quantities and
characteristics of the waste would be based on reasonable lower-bound
estimates of ongoing operations, onsite environmental restoration and
decontamination and decommissioning waste, and wastes that DOE might
receive from offsite as a result of Federal Facility Compliance Act,
Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Programmatic EIS, and
Reconfiguration Programmatic EIS decisions. Also consistent with
alternatives being considered in the Environmental Restoration and
Waste Management Programmatic EIS, certain quantities of waste in
storage and newly generated waste would be shipped offsite.
(4) The ``Maximum Treatment, Storage, and Disposal'' Alternative
This alternative represents a condition where the Savannah River
Site would manage more waste than that anticipated under the proposed
action. The quantities and characteristics of the waste would be based
on reasonable upper-bound estimates of ongoing operations, on site
environmental restoration and decontamination and decommissioning
waste, and wastes that DOE might receive from offsite as a result of
Federal Facility Compliance Act, Environmental Restoration and Waste
Management Programmatic EIS, and Reconfiguration Programmatic EIS
decisions. Under this alternative, DOE would augment its waste
treatment, storage, and disposal facilities at the Savannah River Site.
This increase will be described and analyzed in terms of an increment
above the current and projected quantities used in the analysis of the
proposed action.
Identification of Environmental and Other Issues
DOE has identified the following issues to be addressed in the
analysis of proposed and alternative actions in the EIS. Additional
issues may be identified as a result of the scoping process.
1. Public and worker safety and health risk assessment:
radiological and nonradiological impacts of the proposed action and
alternatives, including projected effects on workers and the public
from construction, normal operation, and potential accidents.
2. Impacts from releases to air, water, and soil.
3. Impacts to plants, animals, and habitat, including impacts to
wetlands, and threatened or endangered species and their habitat.
4. The consumption of natural resources and energy including water,
natural gas, and electricity.
5. Impacts of the transportation of construction and operation
supplies, materials, equipment, products, and wastes to, from, and
within the site.
6. Socioeconomic impacts to affected communities from construction
and operation labor forces and support services.
7. Environmental Justice: disproportionately high or adverse human
health and environmental effects on minority and low-income
populations.
8. Impacts to cultural resources such as historic, archaeological,
scientific, or culturally important sites.
9. Accuracy of projected waste volumes.
10. Status of compliance with applicable Federal, state, and local
statutes and regulations.
11. Cumulative impacts from the proposed action and other past,
present, and reasonably foreseeable actions at the Savannah River Site.
12. Potential irreversible and irretrievable commitments of
resources.
13. Pollution prevention, waste minimization, and potential
mitigative measures.
Related Documentation
Completed and ongoing environmental reviews may affect the scope of
this EIS. Background information listed below on past, present, and
future waste management activities at the Savannah River Site is
available in the public reading rooms listed below.
(1) Final Environmental Impact Statements, Environmental
Assessments, and Other National Environmental Policy Act Documents
Waste Management Operations, ERDA-1537, 1977.
Long-Term Management of Defense High-Level Radioactive Wastes
(Research and Development Program for Immobilization), DOE/EIS-0023,
1979.
Double-Shell Tanks for Defense High-Level Radioactive Waste
Storage, DOE/EIS-0062, 1980.
Defense Waste Processing Facility, DOE/EIS-0082, 1982.
Waste Form Selection for Savannah River Plant High-Level Waste,
DOE/EA-179, 1982.
Waste Management Activities for Groundwater Protection DOE/EIS-
0120, 1987.
Management Activities for Retrieved and Newly Generated
Transuranic Waste, Savannah River Plant, DOE/EA-0315, 1988.
Continued Operation of K-, L-, and P-Reactors, Savannah River
Site, DOE/EIS-0147, 1990.
Consolidated Incineration Facility, DOE/EA-0400, 1992.
Implementation Plan; Nuclear Weapons Reconfiguration
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, DOE/EIS-0161IP,
February 1992.
Nonnuclear Consolidation Environmental Assessment, DOE/EA-0792,
1993.
Implementation Plan; Environmental Restoration and Waste
Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, DOE/EIS-
0200, January 1994.
(2) Other Documents
Facility Pollution Prevention Guide, EPA/600/R-92/088, May 1992.
Savannah River Site Environmental Report for 1992, Volumes 1 and
2, WSRC-TR-93-075, 1993.
Interim Mixed Waste Inventory Report: Waste Streams, Treatment
Capacities and Technologies, DOE/NBM-1100, 1993.
Land Disposal Restrictions Federal Facility Compliance
Agreement, between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region
IV and the U.S. DOE, March 13, 1991. Amended April 27, 1992 and
April 2, 1993.
Federal Facility Agreement for the Savannah River Site, and
Responsiveness Summary, between the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Region IV; U.S. DOE; and South Carolina Department of Health
and Environmental Control, effective August 16, 1993.
Savannah River Site Conceptual Site Treatment Plan, ESH-FSS-93-
0744, 1993.
Public Meetings
DOE will host a series of informal information sessions to provide
the public with additional information on waste management at the
Savannah River Site and the proposed actions and alternatives discussed
in this Notice of Intent. These sessions are intended to promote
conversation with DOE representatives available to answer questions.
Oral and written comments will be received at public scoping
meetings to be held at the locations and times indicated above. The
meetings will be chaired by a presiding officer and attended by DOE
officials. The public scoping meetings will not be conducted as
evidentiary hearings; speakers will not be cross-examined, although the
presiding officer and DOE representatives present may ask clarifying
questions. The DOE panel members will respond to comments and questions
from the public. In addition DOE representatives will be available to
discuss the Savannah River Site waste management program in informal
conversations.
To facilitate scheduling of speakers, requests to speak at these
meetings may be made in advance by calling 1-800-242-8269 between 8:30
a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, or by calling Mr.
Stephen R. Wright at 803-725-3957 at least two days before the
designated meeting. To ensure that everyone has an adequate opportunity
to speak, five minutes will be allotted each speaker. Depending on the
number of persons who request an opportunity to speak, the presiding
officer may allow more time for speakers representing multiple parties
or organizations. Persons wishing to speak on behalf of organizations
should identify the organization in their request. Persons who have not
submitted an advance request to speak may register at the meetings and
will be called on to speak in the order of registration as time
permits. Written comments also will be accepted at the meetings, and
speakers are encouraged to provide written versions of their oral
comments for the record.
DOE will prepare transcripts of the scoping meetings. Individuals
may review the transcripts, other National Environmental Policy Act
documents, and unclassified background information on waste management
at the Savannah River Site at the following DOE public reading rooms
during normal business hours:
U.S. DOE Reading Room, University of South Carolina, Aiken
Campus, University Library--2nd Floor, University Parkway, Aiken, SC
29801; (803) 648-6851.
U.S. DOE, Freedom of Information Reading Room, Room 1E-190,
Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC
20585; (202) 586-6020.
Development of the Savannah River Site Waste Management EIS
DOE will consider comments and suggestions received during the
scoping period in its preparation of the draft EIS. Results of the
scoping process (including a summary of comments received, DOE's
response to public comments, and an outline of the intended scope and
environmental issues to be discussed in the EIS) will be presented in a
publicly available Implementation Plan. On completing the draft EIS,
DOE will announce its availability in the Federal Register and local
media, and will again solicit public comments. DOE will consider
comments on the draft EIS in its preparation of the final EIS.
The preliminary schedule for issuance of the Savannah River Site
Waste Management EIS is shown below.
Availability of Implementation Plan: June 1994.
Availability of Draft EIS: October 1994.
Draft EIS Public Comment Period: November 1994 through December
1994.
Availability of Final EIS: April 1995.
Record of Decision: June 1995.
Issued in Washington, DC on April 1, 1994.
Tara O'Toole,
Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 94-8312 Filed 4-5-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
