[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47739-47741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-23046]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Draft Hanford Remedial Action; Environmental Impact Statement and
Comprehensive Land-Use Plan, Richland, WA
AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of availability (NOA).
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SUMMARY: DOE announces the availability of the Draft Hanford Remedial
Action Environmental Impact Statement and Comprehensive Land-Use Plan
(HRA-EIS). The Draft EIS addresses DOE's proposed alternatives for
establishing future land-use objectives for the Hanford Site. Decisions
resulting from the assessment of the environmental impacts associated
with these alternatives, in consultation with stakeholders and
regulators, will establish a desired future land use for a given area.
The scope of the HRA-EIS is based on the Hanford Future Site Uses
Working Group (Working Group) recommendations which were developed by
stakeholders representing a diverse combination of interests that
worked for a number of years to identify future use options for the
Hanford Site. The HRA-EIS addresses potential remediation impacts for
four of the six Hanford geographic areas identified by the Working
Group; (1) The Columbia River (Hanford Reach), (2) Reactors on the
River (100 Areas), (3) the Central Plateau (200 Areas), and (4) All
Other Areas (300, 400, 600, 1100, and 3000 Areas). Remediation of all
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA) operable units and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) past-practice waste site as defined under the Tri-Party
Agreement located within these geographic areas are included in the
scope of this EIS. Decommissioning of selected surplus facilities is
also addressed, along with RCRA waste treatment, storage, and disposal
(TSD) units located in or near past-practice waste units. The Fitzner-
Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve and the area north of the Columbia
River (North Slope) have been remediated and are considered available
for unrestricted uses, and therefore have not been analyzed as part of
this EIS. However, potential future land uses for these two areas are
addressed in the Comprehensive Land-Use Plan portion of the Draft HRA-
EIS. The alternatives presented in this EIS were developed by applying
different levels-of-access scenarios (i.e., restricted use,
unrestricted use, and exclusive use) to the different geographic areas
identified by the Working Group.
DATES: DOE invites all interested parties to submit written comments
concerning the Draft EIS during the comment period ending November 1,
1996. Comments postmarked after that date will be considered to the
extent practicable. A public hearing will be conducted on October 17,
1996.
ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Draft EIS, further information on
the Draft EIS, and/or written comments on the Draft EIS should be
directed to Mr. Thomas W. Ferns, DOE National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) Document Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations
Office, P.O. Box 550, MSIN HO-12, Richland, Washington 99352-0550.
Requests for copies of the Draft EIS or comments on the Draft EIS can
also be made through (1) the Internet at Thomas__W__ Ferns@rl.gov, (2)
by calling 1-800-786-2018, or (3) by FAX at (509) 376-4360. Locations
of Public Reading Rooms and information repositories where the Draft
EIS will be available for review are listed in this notice under
``Supplementary Information.'' The Draft EIS is also available on the
DOE Hanford Internet Home Page at http://www.hanford.gov/eis/hraeis/
hraeis.htm.
Information on the DOE NEPA process may be obtained from Ms. Carol
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance, U.S.
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, MSIN EH-42,
Washington, D.C. 20585. Ms. Borgstrom may be contacted by telephone at
(202) 586-4600 or by leaving a message at 1-800-472-2756.
The public is also invited to attend a hearing in which oral and
written comments will be received on the Draft EIS. Oral and written
comments will be considered equally in preparation of the Final EIS.
The public hearing will be held on the date and at the location listed
below:
Dates: October 17, 1996.
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Shilo Inn.
Addresses: 50 Comstock Street, Ballroom # 1, Richland, WA 99352.
[[Page 47740]]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On August 21, 1992, DOE published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to
prepare the HRA-EIS in the Federal Register (57 FR 37959). The scoping
period for the HRA-EIS was scheduled to run from August 21, 1992, to
November 25, 1992, but was extended, at the public's request, to
January 15, 1993. A notice of this extension was printed on November
25, 1992 (57 FR 55517). During the public scoping period, four scoping
meetings were held in the Northwest: Spokane, Washington, on September
29, 1992; Pasco, Washington, on October 1, 1992; Seattle, Washington,
on October 5, 1992; and Portland, Oregon, on October 8, 1992. Public
comments received during the scoping period were considered by DOE in
developing the Draft HRA-EIS. Some comments resulted in modifications
of the scope and content of the EIS as set forth in the original NOI.
Comments from the public scoping process and the DOE responses to those
comments can be found in the Implementation Plan for the HRA-EIS,
issued in June 1995 (DOE/RL-93-66).
Recently, DOE issued a policy requiring land and facility-use
planning at large multi-function DOE sites (this policy has been
incorporated into DOE Order 430.1, ``Life-Cycle Asset Management''). To
satisfy the requirements of this Order, DOE began development of the
Hanford Site Comprehensive Land-Use Plan (Comprehensive Plan). The
purpose of the Comprehensive Plan is to guide land and facility-use
decisions through the integration of natural, cultural, and
socioeconomic factors and to designate existing and future land uses
that are appropriate for the Hanford Site, including an evaluation of
DOE's responsibilities, authorities, and applicable requirements. In
addition, the land-use analysis considers values expressed by other
federal agencies; state and local governments; the Tribal Nations;
businesses, labor, environmental, and other groups and organizations;
and members of the public concerned with or affected by the Hanford
Site. These values, taken in conjunction with specific characteristics
of the natural and built landscape within the Hanford Site, are used to
identify areas of the Hanford Site which could be designated for
various future uses.
Copies of the Draft HRA-EIS have been distributed to federal,
state, and local officials; Tribal Nations; and agencies,
organizations, and individuals who may be interested or affected by the
proposed action. The document number for this EIS is DOE/EIS-0222D.
This EIS has been prepared in accordance with NEPA; the Council on
Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations, 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508; and
the DOE NEPA Implementing Procedures, 10 CFR Part 1021. DOE plans to
issue the Final EIS in February of 1996, with a Record of Decision
issued no sooner than 30 days after issuance of the Final EIS. The
Draft EIS and key supporting technical documentation can be found in
the DOE reading rooms and designated information repositories
identified at the end of this notice.
Alternatives Considered
Future land-use alternatives discussed in detail in the HRA-EIS
are:
``No-Action''--conduct a long-term monitoring and
maintenance program instead of continuing the current program of TSD
unit closures, past-practice waste site remedial actions, and surplus
facility decommissioning actions (the No-Action Alternative is common
to all of the geographic areas, but the specific monitoring and
maintenance activities would vary depending on the types of waste sites
and facilities found in each area);
``Columbia River Unrestricted Future Land-Use
Alternative''--unrestricted use of the Columbia River geographic area
would be achieved through excavation and removal of contaminated
riverbank, riverbottom, and island sediments, in conjunction with
removal of the river discharge pipelines. This alternative would result
in residual contamination levels that would not preclude any human uses
within the Columbia River geographic area;
``Columbia River Restricted Future Land-Use
Alternative''--restricted use would be achieved through the removal of
physical hazards and contaminants combined with engineering and/or
institutional controls. This alternative would result in residual
contaminant levels that require some continuing restrictions on human
use of the Columbia River geographic area;
``Reactors on the River Unrestricted Future Land-Use
Alternative''--unrestricted use of the Reactors on the River geographic
area would be achieved through excavation of contaminated soil and
remediation of past-practice waste sites and ground water in
conjunction with closure of TSD units and decommissioning of surplus
contaminated and uncontaminated facilities associated with the
reactors. This alternative would include ground-water remediation to
address existing contaminant plumes located in, or potentially entering
into, the Reactors on the River geographic area. Under this
alternative, the Reactors on the River geographic area would be
remediated to levels that do not preclude any human use. However,
access or certain uses might continue to be controlled for other
reasons (i.e., the presence of physical hazards or to protect cultural
resources and/or sensitive wildlife habitat);
``Reactors on the River Restricted Future Land-Use
Alternative''--restricted future land use for the Reactors on the River
geographic area would be achieved through a combination of remedial
activities, including excavation and disposal of contaminated soil,
remediation of past-practice waste sites, closure of TSD units, site
reclamation, decommissioning of surplus facilities, and/or use of
engineering and institutional controls. In addition to these potential
remediation activities, a ground-water remediation strategy would be
employed for the Reactors on the River geographic area. The EIS
assesses two primary options for achieving a Restricted Future Land-Use
for the Reactors on the River geographic area. The first option (R1)
would emphasize removal and disposal of waste and contaminated
materials, ground-water remediation, and continuing access
restrictions. The second option (R2) would emphasize the placement of
engineered caps, or barriers, over waste sites, in addition to ground-
water remediation;
``Central Plateau Exclusive Future Land-Use
Alternative''--exclusive future land use of the Central Plateau
geographic area would be achieved primarily through engineering and
institutional controls, ground-water remediation, and capping of past-
practice waste sites and TSD units. Potential health risks due to
residual contamination would require strict controls on access. Use of
the area would be limited to management of radioactive and hazardous
waste, and similar compatible uses;
`` All Other Areas Restricted Future Land-Use
Alternative''--restricted future land use in the All Other Areas
geographic area could be achieved through a variety of remediation
activities, including excavation and disposal of contaminated soil,
remediation of past-practice waste sites, closure of TSD units, site
reclamation, decommissioning of surplus facilities, and/or use of
engineering and institutional controls. In addition to these potential
remediation activities, a ground-water remediation strategy would be
developed and employed for
[[Page 47741]]
the All Other Areas geographic area. The EIS assesses two primary
options for achieving a restricted future land use for the All Other
Areas geographic area. The first option (R1) would emphasize removal
and disposal of waste and contaminated materials, ground-water
remediation, and continuing access restrictions. The second option (R2)
would emphasize the placement of engineered caps, or barriers, over
waste sites, in addition to ground-water remediation.
Preferred Alternative
DOE has not selected a preferred alternative at this time.
Following public comment on the Draft EIS, DOE will develop a preferred
alternative to be presented in the Final EIS.
Invitation to Comment
DOE has completed the general distribution of the EIS and has filed
the document with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which will
publish a separate Notice of Availability elsewhere in the Federal
Register. The Draft EIS also is available to the public in the DOE
reading rooms and designated information repository locations
identified in this notice.
Persons interested in speaking at the hearing (see address at the
beginning of this notice) may register at the hearing and will be
called on to speak on a first-come, first-served basis. Written
comments will also be accepted at the hearing, and speakers are
encouraged to provide written versions of their oral comments for the
record. Oral and written comments will be considered equally in
preparing the Final EIS.
The Summary of the HRA-EIS is available for review for those who do
not wish to receive the entire Draft EIS. When requesting copies of the
HRA-EIS, please specify whether you wish to receive only the Summary
(38 pages) or the entire Draft EIS including associated appendices (4
volumes).
DOE Public Reading Rooms and Information Repositories
Suzzallo Library, University of Washington, Government Publications
Room, Seattle, Washington 98159, (206) 543-4664
Foley Center, Gonzaga University, E. 502 Boone, Spokane, Washington
99258, (509) 328-4220, Ext. 3125
DOE Public Reading Room, Washington State University, Tri-Cities
Campus, 100 Sprout Road, Room 130, Richland, Washington 99352, (509)
376-8583
Branford Price Millar Library, Science and Engineering Floor, Portland
State University, SW Harrison and Park, Portland, Oregon 97207, (503)
725-3690
DOE Freedom of Information Reading Room, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202) 586-5955
Issued this 3rd day of September 1996.
James M. Owendoff,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Restoration.
[FR Doc. 96-23046 Filed 9-9-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
