Notice of Cancellation of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), 31017-31018 [E9-15328]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 123 / Monday, June 29, 2009 / Notices A photovoltaic energy project is any installation of technologies that converts light directly into electricity through a solid-state, semiconductor process. A fuel cell energy project is any application of technologies that uses fuel cells to transport energy. The term ‘‘fuel cell’’ means a device that directly converts the chemical energy of a fuel and an oxidant into electricity by electrochemical processes occurring at separate electrodes in the device. (3) Building Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects. This category of eligible projects consists of energy-efficient buildings and buildingbased renewable energy projects. An energy-efficient building project is one that will retrofit an existing building or build a new building such that the building performs all of its intended roles while using significantly less energy than conventional building stock. DOE considers the term ‘‘new building’’ to mean a building that is completed to the point of being ready for occupancy not earlier than two years before the date of the application for NPPD. A renewable energy project is one using technology that generates electricity or usable energy in the form of heat, steam, or fuel from any of the following sources: solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean (including tidal, wave, current, and thermal), geothermal, municipal solid waste, or new hydroelectric generation capacity achieved from increased efficiency or additions of new capacity at an existing hydroelectric project. (4) First-in-Class Building Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects. DOE considers a first-in-class project to be one that incorporates a new energy-related technology or technique not used before, not used in the same manner before, or not used on the same scale before. sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES B. Time of Construction DOE will accept award applications both for projects that are being planned (are under construction or will begin construction within the next two years) and projects that are complete (were completed within the past two years). II. Designation Criteria To obtain NPPD, a project must: • Utilize energy-efficient or renewable energy technologies and fit into one of the four categories of projects identified in Section I.A. of these guidelines; • Be located within the United States; and • Meet the following criteria (for applicable category): VerDate Nov<24>2008 19:07 Jun 26, 2009 Jkt 217001 » For wind and biomass—the project must involve the installation of not less than 30 megawatts of renewable energy generation capacity.1 » For PV and fuel cells—the project must involve the installation of not less than 3 megawatts of renewable energy generation capacity. » For buildings—the project must have all of the following attributes: ﬁ Meet guidelines for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification (any level); ﬁ Use whole-building integration of energy efficiency and environmental performance design and technology, including advanced building controls; ﬁ Use renewable energy for at least 50 percent of the energy consumption of the project; ﬁ Use ENERGY STAR®-labeled products wherever possible; and ﬁ Include at least 5 million square feet of enclosed space (not necessarily all in one building or at a single site). ‘‘Enclosed’’ means space closed off from the elements that is heated, cooled, or both. • For first-in-class building projects— the project must represent a first-inclass use of renewable energy or a new paradigm of building-integrated renewable energy use or energy efficiency. Any project establishing a new paradigm would need to include techniques that fundamentally change the assumptions made about energy systems as they relate to building science. This category could potentially include innovative project-financing approaches. There are no scale parameters for first-in-class building projects. III. DOE Review and Designation A. Selection Process After the close of the application period, DOE will review the applications and determine which projects have the potential to receive NPPD. DOE will ask the applicants of those projects to have a professional engineer inspect their project and certify that the information contained in their application is correct. The professional engineer may be an employee of the applicant organization. Once this is done, DOE will consider these projects 1 For purposes of the National Priority Project Designation, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has defined the term ‘‘capacity’’ to mean the maximum amount of energy that can be generated or stored by a device at any given time. For example, the capacity for a wind turbine would be the maximum electricity (Watts) it could generate given ideal wind speeds. The capacity of an energy storage device would be the total amount of energy that can be stored in the device under ideal conditions. PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 31017 to be ‘‘certified projects.’’ A certified project is one that is reasonably expected to meet the selection criteria set forth in these Guidelines. DOE technical staff will then conduct an additional review of all certified projects. This review may involve follow-up questions for the applicant organization. At the conclusion of this review, the Secretary of Energy will select a maximum of three projects in each category to be recommended to the President for designation as that year’s National Priority Projects (NPP). While DOE will accept award applications in all four project categories, the Secretary of Energy may not recommend NPPD for projects in all categories. Any organization that applies for NPPD may remove its project from consideration at any time. B. Promotion of Designated Projects Organizations whose projects are designated by the President as NPP will receive recognition from DOE in the form of: • Receipt of a NPPD medal at a national event; • National news releases; • Prominent recognition on the DOE Web site; and • Other suitable forms of publicity and recognition C. Additional Information (1) Applicants may request confidentiality of information that they believe is exempt by law from public disclosure; this information must be clearly marked on the application by the applicant. DOE intends to honor requests for nondisclosure of information to the extent permitted by law, and it will make a final determination with regard to disclosure or nondisclosure of the information in accordance with DOE’s Freedom of Information regulations (10 CFR 1004.11). (2) Submission of an application for designation does not create any obligation on DOE to grant such designation. (3) Questions or requests for additional information about NPPD should be directed to nppd@ee.doe.gov. [FR Doc. E9–15194 Filed 6–26–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Notice of Cancellation of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) AGENCY: Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy. E:\FR\FM\29JNN1.SGM 29JNN1 31018 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 123 / Monday, June 29, 2009 / Notices ACTION: Notice of cancellation of Environmental Impact Statement process. sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or Department) has decided to cancel the preparation of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS–0396). This notice briefly describes the history of the GNEP PEIS. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or copies of the Draft GNEP PEIS, please contact Dr. Rajendra Sharma, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Compliance Officer, Office of Nuclear Energy (NE–43), U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874, Telephone: 301–903–2899 or electronic mail: rajendra.sharma@nuclear.energy.gov. For general information regarding the DOE NEPA process contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC–20), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: 202–586–4600, or leave a message at 1–800–472–2756. Additional information regarding DOE NEPA activities and access to many of DOE’s NEPA documents are available on the DOE Web site at https:// www.gc.energy.gov/NEPA. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background On March 22, 2006, DOE published an Advance Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Technology Demonstration Program (71 FR 14505), soliciting comments on the proposed scope, alternatives and environmental issues to be analyzed. DOE stated that the technology demonstration program would demonstrate technologies needed to implement a closed fuel cycle that enables recycling and consumption of spent nuclear fuel in a proliferationresistant manner. The comments that DOE received included suggestions to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement addressing the entire GNEP Program. DOE agreed and on January 4, 2007, published its Notice of Intent to prepare the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (GNEP PEIS) in the Federal Register (72 FR 331). The public scoping period for the GNEP PEIS was later extended (72 FR 15871, April 3, 2007) and concluded on June 4, 2007. DOE considered the scoping comments in preparing the VerDate Nov<24>2008 19:07 Jun 26, 2009 Jkt 217001 Draft GNEP PEIS. The Draft GNEP PEIS analyzed the potential environmental impacts of expanding nuclear power in the U.S. using either the existing fuel cycle or various alternative closed and open fuel cycles. DOE’s stated preference in the Draft was to close the fuel cycle, although it did not identify a specific preferred alternative. Publication of the Notice of Availability of the Draft GNEP PEIS (73 FR 61858, October 17, 2008; also see 73 FR 61845, October 17, 2008) commenced a 60-day public comment period and provided a schedule for 13 public hearings to receive comments on the Draft GNEP PEIS. Consistent with the announced schedule, DOE conducted public hearings on the Draft GNEP PEIS during November and December 2008. In response to the public requests, on December 10, 2008, DOE announced an extension of the public comment period by 90 days, i.e., through March 16, 2009 (73 FR 75087). On December 24, 2008, DOE announced (73 FR 79073) an additional public hearing which was held on January 12, 2009, in the town of Pahrump in Nye County, NV. At the close of the public comment period on March 16, 2009, DOE had received more than 14,500 comment documents on the Draft GNEP PEIS. Via this notice, DOE announces that it has decided to cancel the GNEP PEIS because it is no longer pursuing domestic commercial reprocessing, which was the primary focus of the prior Administration’s domestic GNEP program. The Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009, provides $145 million for the continuation of research and development (R&D) on proliferationresistant fuel cycles and waste management strategies. As described in the President’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget request, the Department’s fuel cycle R&D’s focus is on ‘‘long-term, sciencebased R&D of technologies with the potential to produce beneficial changes to the manner in which the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear waste is managed.’’ Issued in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2009. R. Shane Johnson, Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy. [FR Doc. E9–15328 Filed 6–26–09; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450–01–P DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board, Idaho National Laboratory AGENCY: PO 00000 Department of Energy. Frm 00019 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 ACTION: Notice of open meeting. SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Idaho National Laboratory. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Tuesday, July 14, 2009, 8 a.m.– 5 p.m. Opportunities for public participation will be held on Tuesday, July 14, 2009, from 1:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. These times are subject to change; please contact the Federal Coordinator (below) for confirmation of times prior to the meeting. ADDRESSES: Hilton Garden Inn, 700 Lindsay Boulevard, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Robert L. Pence, Federal Coordinator, Department of Energy, Idaho Operations Office, 1955 Fremont Avenue, MS– 1203, Idaho Falls, ID 83415. Phone (208) 526–6518; Fax (208) 526–8789 or e-mail: pencerl@id.doe.gov or visit the Board’s Internet home page at: https:// www.inlemcab.org. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management, and related activities. Tentative Topics (agenda topics may change up to the day of the meeting; please contact Robert L. Pence for the most current agenda): • Progress to Cleanup; • Snake River Plain Aquifer Briefing; • Integrated Waste Treatment Unit Status; • Integrated Approach to Dispositioning All Remote-Handled Transuranic Waste; • Remedial Design Work Plan for Waste Area Group (WAG)–7; • WAG–10 Record of Decision Update. Public Participation: The EM SSAB, Idaho National Laboratory, welcomes the attendance of the public at its advisory committee meetings and will make every effort to accommodate persons with physical disabilities or special needs. If you require special accommodations due to a disability, please contact Robert L. Pence at least seven days in advance of the meeting at the phone number listed above. Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral E:\FR\FM\29JNN1.SGM 29JNN1

Agencies

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 123 (Monday, June 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31017-31018]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15328]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Notice of Cancellation of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership 
(GNEP) Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS)

AGENCY: Office of Nuclear Energy, U.S. Department of Energy.

[[Page 31018]]


ACTION: Notice of cancellation of Environmental Impact Statement 
process.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or Department) has decided 
to cancel the preparation of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (DOE/EIS-0396). This notice 
briefly describes the history of the GNEP PEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information or copies of 
the Draft GNEP PEIS, please contact Dr. Rajendra Sharma, National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Compliance Officer, Office of Nuclear 
Energy (NE-43), U.S. Department of Energy, 19901 Germantown Road, 
Germantown, MD 20874, Telephone: 301-903-2899 or electronic mail: 
rajendra.sharma@nuclear.energy.gov.
    For general information regarding the DOE NEPA process contact: Ms. 
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-
20), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., 
Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: 202-586-4600, or leave a message at 1-
800-472-2756. Additional information regarding DOE NEPA activities and 
access to many of DOE's NEPA documents are available on the DOE Web 
site at https://www.gc.energy.gov/NEPA.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    On March 22, 2006, DOE published an Advance Notice of Intent to 
Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Global Nuclear Energy 
Partnership Technology Demonstration Program (71 FR 14505), soliciting 
comments on the proposed scope, alternatives and environmental issues 
to be analyzed. DOE stated that the technology demonstration program 
would demonstrate technologies needed to implement a closed fuel cycle 
that enables recycling and consumption of spent nuclear fuel in a 
proliferation-resistant manner.
    The comments that DOE received included suggestions to prepare a 
programmatic environmental impact statement addressing the entire GNEP 
Program. DOE agreed and on January 4, 2007, published its Notice of 
Intent to prepare the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Programmatic 
Environmental Impact Statement (GNEP PEIS) in the Federal Register (72 
FR 331). The public scoping period for the GNEP PEIS was later extended 
(72 FR 15871, April 3, 2007) and concluded on June 4, 2007. DOE 
considered the scoping comments in preparing the Draft GNEP PEIS. The 
Draft GNEP PEIS analyzed the potential environmental impacts of 
expanding nuclear power in the U.S. using either the existing fuel 
cycle or various alternative closed and open fuel cycles. DOE's stated 
preference in the Draft was to close the fuel cycle, although it did 
not identify a specific preferred alternative.
    Publication of the Notice of Availability of the Draft GNEP PEIS 
(73 FR 61858, October 17, 2008; also see 73 FR 61845, October 17, 2008) 
commenced a 60-day public comment period and provided a schedule for 13 
public hearings to receive comments on the Draft GNEP PEIS. Consistent 
with the announced schedule, DOE conducted public hearings on the Draft 
GNEP PEIS during November and December 2008. In response to the public 
requests, on December 10, 2008, DOE announced an extension of the 
public comment period by 90 days, i.e., through March 16, 2009 (73 FR 
75087). On December 24, 2008, DOE announced (73 FR 79073) an additional 
public hearing which was held on January 12, 2009, in the town of 
Pahrump in Nye County, NV. At the close of the public comment period on 
March 16, 2009, DOE had received more than 14,500 comment documents on 
the Draft GNEP PEIS.
    Via this notice, DOE announces that it has decided to cancel the 
GNEP PEIS because it is no longer pursuing domestic commercial 
reprocessing, which was the primary focus of the prior Administration's 
domestic GNEP program. The Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009, provides 
$145 million for the continuation of research and development (R&D) on 
proliferation-resistant fuel cycles and waste management strategies. As 
described in the President's Fiscal Year 2010 budget request, the 
Department's fuel cycle R&D's focus is on ``long-term, science-based 
R&D of technologies with the potential to produce beneficial changes to 
the manner in which the nuclear fuel cycle and nuclear waste is 
managed.''

    Issued in Washington, DC, on June 23, 2009.
R. Shane Johnson,
Acting Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy.
[FR Doc. E9-15328 Filed 6-26-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

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