[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 168 (Wednesday, August 31, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-21539]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: August 31, 1994]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Environmental Management
Draft Site Treatment Plan; Notice of Availability
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability
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SUMMARY: Today's notice announces the availability of and requests
public comment on Draft Site Treatment Plans for treating the
Department of Energy's (DOE) mixed radioactive and hazardous waste. As
an interim step toward meeting the requirements of the Federal Facility
Compliance Act of 1992 (FFCAct or the Act), DOE has prepared a Draft
Site Treatment Plan (Draft Plan) for each of 48 sites located in 22
states where DOE is currently storing, generating, or is expected to
generate mixed hazardous and radioactive waste within the next five
years. These Draft Plans contain the sites' preferred treatment options
for this waste, where available. The Draft Plans are being provided at
each site for public review and comment as well as for review and
discussion among the state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) regulators. Comments on the Draft Plans will be considered in
developing Proposed Site Treatment Plans to be submitted to the
regulators for approval in February 1995.
DATES: Comments should be provided to the appropriate site
representative by October 31, 1994.
ADDRESSES: The address for submitting comments on a specific Draft Site
Treatment Plan can be obtained by calling the Center for Environmental
Management Information at 1-800-7EM-DATA (1-800-736-3282).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
The DOE is required by section 3021(b) of the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended by the FFCAct, to prepare Site
Treatment Plans (Plans) describing the development of treatment
capacities and technologies for treating mixed waste for each site at
which DOE stores or generates mixed waste. Mixed waste is defined by
the Act as waste containing both a hazardous waste subject to RCRA, and
source, special nuclear or by-product material subject to the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954. The Site Treatment Plans will be submitted to the
regulating State or the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for
approval, approval with modification, or disapproval. The Draft Plans
are the intermediate version of the Site Treatment Plans and are being
provided to the States and EPA, and made available to the public, for
review and comment. DOE is preparing Site Treatment Plans for the
following sites:
Table 1.--Sites Preparing Site Treatment Plans\1\
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Agency toreceive
Facility/location State plan(EPA/State)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Energy Technology California.......... State.
Engineering Center (ETEC),
Canoga Park.
General Atomics, San Diego.. ......do............ Do.
General Electric, Vallecitos ......do............ Do.
Nuclear Center, Vallecitos.
Lawrence Livermore National ......do............ Do.
Laboratory, Livermore.
Lawrence Berkeley ......do............ Do.
Laboratory, Berkeley.
Laboratory for Energy- ......do............ Do.
Related Health Research,
Davis.
Mare Island Naval Shipyard, ......do............ Do.
Vallejo.
Sandia National Laboratory-- ......do............ Do.
California, Livermore.
Grand Junction Project Colorado............ Do.
Office, Grand Junction.
Rocky Flats Environmental ......do............ Do.
Technology Site, Golden.
Knolls Atomic Power Connecticut......... Do.
Laboratory, Windsor.
Pinellas Plant, Largo....... Florida............. Do.
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, Hawaii.............. EPA.
Honolulu.
Argonne National Laboratory-- Idaho............... State.
West, Idaho Falls.
Idaho National Engineering ......do............ Do.
Laboratory, Idaho Falls.
Ames Laboratory, Ames....... Iowa................ EPA.
Argonne National Laboratory-- Illinois............ State.
East, Argonne.
Site A/Plot M Palos Forest ......do............ Do.
Preserve, Cook County.
Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Kentucky............ State.
Plant, Paducah.
Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Maine............... EPA.
Kittery.
Kansas City Plant, Kansas Missouri............ State.
City.
Weldon Spring Site Remedial ......do............ Do.
Action Project, St. Charles
County.
University of Missouri, ......do............ Do.
Columbia.
Nevada Test Site, Mercury... Nevada.............. State.
Middlesex Sampling Plant, New Jersey.......... EPA.
Middlesex.
Princeton Plasma Physics ......do............ Do.
Laboratory, Princeton.
Inhalation Toxicology New Mexico.......... State.
Research Institute,
Albuquerque.
Los Alamos National ......do............ Do.
Laboratory, Los Alamos.
Sandia National Laboratory-- ......do............ Do.
New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Brookhaven National New York............ State.
Laboratory, Upton.
Colonie Interim Storage ......do............ Do.
Site, Colonie.
Knolls Atomic Power ......do............ Do.
Laboratory--Kesselring,
West Milton.
Knolls Atomic Power ......do............ Do.
Laboratory--Schenectady,
Niskayuna.
West Valley Demonstration ......do............ Do.
Project, West Valley.
Battelle Columbus Ohio................ Do.
Laboratories
Decommissioning Project,
Columbus.
Fernald Environmental ......do............ Do.
Management Project, Fernald.
Mound Plant, Miamisburg..... ......do............ Do.
Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion ......do............ Do.
Plant, Portsmouth.
RMI Titanium Inc., Ashtabula ......do............ Do.
Bettis Atomic Power Pennsylvania........ EPA.
Laboratory, West Mifflin.
Charleston Naval Shipyard, South Carolina...... State.
Charleston.
Savannah River Site, Aiken.. ......do............ Do.
K-25 Site, Oak Ridge Tennessee........... State.
Reservation, Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge National ......do............ Do.
Laboratory, Oak Ridge
Reservation, Oak Ridge.
Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge ......do............ Do.
Reservation, Oak Ridge.
Pantex Plant, Amarillo...... Texas............... Do.
Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia............ EPA.
Norfolk.
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Washington\1\....... State.
Bremerton.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\The Hanford Site in Richland, Washington, has signed a Tri-Party
Agreement with the State of Washington which addresses mixed waste
treatment. Therefore, the Hanford site is not preparing a Site
Treatment Plan, but is actively participating in the FFCAct
discussions.
As outlined in an April 6, 1993, Federal Register notice (58 FR
17875), DOE is developing the Site Treatment Plans in three stages. The
first stage, the Conceptual Site Treatment Plans, were released in
October 1993 and described a wide range of possible treatment
alternatives for each mixed waste stream. The Draft Site Treatment
Plans were issued in August 1994, and include one or two options
identified at 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 will submit Proposed
Site Treatment Plans in February 1995 to the appropriate regulatory
agency (i.e., the State or EPA). The regulatory agency will issue an
Order requiring compliance with the approved Plan. Sites that are in
compliance with approved Plans and Orders after October 1995 will be
exempt from fines and penalties related to the storage prohibitions
[section 3004(j)] under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA).
II. Draft Site Treatment Plans
In response to early discussions with the States, DOE followed a
``bottom-up'' approach in which the DOE Operations Offices evaluated
treatment options for the mixed waste at each site, in conjunction with
the host State and others. The Draft Plans contain the results of this
site-specific evaluation of the treatment options identified in the
Conceptual Plans, and present the currently preferred option for
treating the site's mixed waste. The Draft Plans have not yet been
evaluated as a whole for impacts on other DOE sites and to the overall
DOE program. Changes in the preferred option and associated schedules
are possible as evaluation from the DOE-wide perspective progresses, as
State-to-State discussions take place, and as other stakeholder input
is received. DOE defined a common framework to provide a consistent
approach to Draft Plan development among all of the DOE sites. This
framework, developed with input from State representatives, established
common terminology, objectives, planning assumptions, and a recommended
methodology for narrowing the alternatives presented in the Conceptual
Plan to the preferred options in the Draft Plan. Evaluation criteria
included sound technical judgment; regulatory compliance;
environmental, health, and safety concerns; stakeholder involvement;
implementability; and efficient use of limited resources.
The Draft Plans also follow a common format, consisting of a
Background Volume and a Compliance Plan Volume, supplemented by an
Appendix(s). The Background Volume describes the site's treatment
options, including the associated uncertainties, budget status, and
regulator and stakeholder reactions, when known. The Compliance Plan
Volume identifies the preferred treatment option(s) and associated
schedules, and also broadly describes provisions to implement and
update the Plan once approved. When finalized, the Compliance Plan
Volume is intended to contain information that will ultimately be
enforced through an Order. Each Draft Plan also includes an Appendix
that explains how the options presented in the Conceptual Plan were
narrowed to select the preferred option. Some site Draft Plans include
additional appendices to present other related information.
In conjunction with identifying treatment options, DOE is also
evaluating options for disposal of mixed waste treatment residuals, at
the request of the States. The Background Volume of each Draft Plan
contains a description of the process for evaluating disposal options.
A Draft Site Treatment Plan Summary Report is being prepared to
present a compilation of the information contained in the individual
sites' Draft Plans. The Summary Report will also provide a preliminary
indication of the configuration that may emerge for the DOE complex as
a whole, and is intended to useful for discussions among the States,
EPA and other interested parties. This Summary Report will include
brief discussions of the Draft Plan development process, a DOE complex-
wide look at treatment options for the different mixed waste streams,
information on waste characterization, technology development and other
related topics. The Summary Report will be released as soon as
possible.
III. Availability of Draft Site Treatment Plans and Opportunity for
Comment
The individual Draft Site Treatment Plan will be available at each
site's public reading room or at nearby locations by mid-September,
1994. To review or request information on a specific Draft Plan, a DOE
contact name and reading room address for each site can be obtained by
calling the DOE Center for Environmental Management Information at 1-
800-7EM-DATA. The full set of 48 individual Draft Plans can also be
reviewed by mid-September 1994 at the U.S. Department of Energy
Headquarters reading room, Room 1E-190, 1000 Independence Ave.,
Washington, DC 20585, and at the Center for Environmental Management
Information, 470 East L'Enfant Plaza, Suite 7110, Washington, DC 20585.
Comments should be provided to the appropriate DOE site contact by
October 31, 1994. Additional opportunities for public involvement in
the Site Treatment Plan development process will be offered at many
sites; information on these opportunities can be obtained from the DOE
site contact. Comments from the public will be considered by DOE in
preparing the Proposed Plans, to be submitted to regulators in February
1995.
Additional information on the Site Treatment Plan process, related
activities, and site-specific fact sheets describing the Draft Plans
can be obtained from the DOE Center for Environmental Management
Information at 1-800-7EM-DATA (1-800-736-3282). Persons interested in
receiving the Summary Report when available, or other information on
the development of the Site Treatment Plans and related activities,
such as evaluation of options for disposal, should provide their name,
address, and items of interest to the DOE Center for Environmental
Management Information.
Jill E. Lytle,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management, Environmental
Management.
[FR Doc. 94-21539 Filed 8-30-94; 8:45 am]
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