Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Long-Term Management and Storage of Elemental Mercury, 23548-23550 [2013-09291]
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 76 / Friday, April 19, 2013 / Notices
findings and draft recommendations
from the Task Group ‘‘Applying Best
Business Practices for Corporate
Performance Management to DoD.’’
Meeting Agenda:
12:30 p.m.–1:45 p.m. Task Group
Outbrief and Board Deliberations,
‘‘Applying Best Business Practices
for Corporate Performance
Management to DoD’’
Public’s Accessibility to the Meeting:
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b and 41 CFR
102–3.140 through 102–3.165, and the
availability of space, this meeting is
open to the public. Seating is limited
and is on a first-come basis. All
members of the public who wish to
attend the public meeting must contact
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in FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT no
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22, 2013 to register and make
arrangements for a Pentagon escort, if
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Dated: April 16, 2013.
Aaron Siegel,
Alternate OSD Federal Register Liaison
Officer, Department of Defense.
[FR Doc. 2013–09208 Filed 4–18–13; 8:45 am]
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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Navy
Extension of Public Comment Period
for the Draft Environmental Impact
Statement for U.S. Navy F–35C West
Coast Homebasing
Department of the Navy, DoD.
Notice.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
A Notice of Availability for
the Department of the Navy’s (DoN)
Draft Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) for the U.S. Navy F–35C West
Coast Homebasing was published in the
Federal Register by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency on
February 15, 2013 (78 FR 11171). The
public review period ends on April 22,
2013. This notice announces an
extension of the public comment period
until May 7, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Southwest, Attn: Code EV21.AK (F–35C
EIS Project Manager), 1220 Pacific
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SUMMARY:
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Highway, Building 1, 5th Floor, San
Diego, CA 92132.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This
notice announces an extension of the
public comment period until May 7,
2013. Comments may be submitted in
writing to Naval Facilities Engineering
Command Southwest, Attn: Code
EV21.AK (F–35C EIS Project Manager),
1220 Pacific Highway, Building 1, 5th
Floor, San Diego, CA 92132 or
electronically via the project Web site
(www.navyf35cwestcoasteis.com). All
written comments must be postmarked
or received (online) by May 7, 2013, to
ensure they become part of the official
record. All comments will be addressed
in the Final EIS.
A copy of the Draft EIS (with the Draft
Clean Air Act Conformity
Determination) is available for
electronic viewing or download at
www.navyf35cwestcoasteis.com. In
addition, paper copies of the Draft EIS
are available for public review at the
following libraries:
1. City of El Centro Public Library,
1140 North Imperial Avenue, El Centro,
California 92243.
2. City of Imperial Public Library, 200
West 9th Street, Imperial, California
92251.
3. Imperial County Free Library,
Holtville Branch, 101 East 6th Street,
Holtville, California 92250.
4. Imperial County Free Library,
Heber Branch, 1078 Dogwood Road,
Heber, California 92257.
5. Imperial County Free Library,
Seeley Library Services provided at the
Seeley Community Church, 1774 West
Rio Vista Street, Seeley, California
92243.
6. Kings County Library, Lemoore
Branch, 457 C Street, Lemoore,
California 93245.
7. Kings County Library, Hanford
Branch, 401 North Douty Street,
Hanford, California 93230.
8. Fresno County Public Library,
Central Library, 2420 Mariposa Street,
Fresno, California 93721.
9. Fresno County Public Library,
Riverdale Branch Library, 20975
Malsbary Avenue, Riverdale, California
93656.
10. West Hills College Lemoore
Library, 555 College Avenue, Lemoore,
California 93245.
Dated: April 8, 2013.
C.K. Chiappetta,
Lieutenant Commander, Office of the Judge
Advocate General, U.S. Navy, Federal
Register Liaison Officer.
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Draft Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement for the Long-Term
Management and Storage of Elemental
Mercury
Department of Energy (DOE).
Notice of Availability.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The Department of Energy
(DOE) announces the availability of the
Draft Long-Term Management and
Storage of Elemental Mercury
Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (Mercury Storage SEIS, DOE/
EIS–0423–S1) for public comment. As
required by the Mercury Export Ban Act
of 2008 (hereafter referred to as ‘‘the
Act’’), DOE plans to identify a facility or
facilities for the long-term management
and storage of elemental mercury
generated in the United States (U.S.) To
this end, DOE issued the Final
Environmental Impact Statement for the
Long-Term Management and Storage of
Elemental Mercury (Mercury Storage
EIS, DOE/EIS–0423, January 2011) to
analyze reasonable alternatives, in
accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for
locating and developing such a facility.
Subsequently, DOE identified three
additional, reasonable alternative
locations in the vicinity of its Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad,
NM. On June 5, 2012, DOE announced
its intent to prepare a supplement to the
Mercury Storage EIS and held a 30-day
public scoping period. This Draft
Mercury Storage Supplemental EIS
(Draft Mercury Storage SEIS or Draft
SEIS) considered all comments received
during the public scoping period.
DATES: DOE invites public comment on
this Draft Mercury Storage SEIS during
a 45-day public coment period
commencing with the date of
publication of this Notice in the Federal
Register, and ending on June 3, 2013. In
preparing the Mercury Storage SEIS,
DOE will consider all comments
received or postmarked by that date.
Comments received after that date will
be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: DOE will hold two public
hearings during the public comment
period. The dates, times and locations of
the public hearings are as follows.
May 7, 2013
Open house 5:00 p.m.—6:00 p.m.
Public hearing 6:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m.
Skeen-Whitlock Building Auditorium
DOE, Carlsbad Field Office
4021 National Parks Highway
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
May 9, 2013
Open house 5:00 p.m.—6:00 p.m.
Public hearing 6:00 p.m.—9:00 p.m.
SUMMARY:
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Crowne Plaza Albuquerque Hotel
1901 University Blvd. NE
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
Written comments not submitted
during the public hearings may be
mailed to:
Mr. David Levenstein, Document
Manager, Office of Environmental
Compliance (EM–11), U.S.
Department of Energy, Post Office Box
2612, Germantown, Maryland 20874
Written comments may also be
submitted via the Draft Mercury Storage
EIS Web site at https://
mercurystorageeis.com/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To
request further information about the
Draft Mercury Storage SEIS or the
Mercury Storage EIS, or to be placed on
the distribution list for the Final
Mercury Storage SEIS, use either of the
methods (mail or Web site) listed under
ADDRESSES. The Draft Mercury Storage
SEIS contains a Summary, all chapters,
appendices and other text within one
volume, and includes a CD ROM of the
full Draft Mercury Storage SEIS and the
full 2011 Mercury Storage EIS.
For general information concerning
DOE’s NEPA process, please contact:
Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office
of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC–
54), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000
Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585. Telephone:
(202) 586–4600, by fax at (202) 586–
7031, by email at
askNEPA@hq.doe.gov or leave a
message at 1–800–472–2756. The
Draft Mercury Storage SEIS is
available on the Internet at https://
www.energy.gov/NEPA/ and on the
project Web site at https://
mercurystorageeis.com/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008
(Pub. L. 110–414) amends the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15
U.S.C. 2605(f)) to prohibit the sale,
distribution, or transfer by Federal
agencies to any other Federal agency,
any state or local government agency, or
any private individual or entity, of any
elemental mercury under the control or
jurisdiction of a Federal agency (with
certain limited exceptions). It also
amends TSCA (15 U.S.C. 2611(c)) to
prohibit the export of elemental
mercury from the U.S. effective January
1, 2013 (subject to certain essential use
exemptions). Section 5 of the Act, LongTerm Storage, amends the Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA,
42 U.S.C. 6939f) and directs DOE to
designate a facility or facilities for the
long-term management and storage of
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elemental mercury generated within the
U.S.
To evaluate the range of reasonable
alternatives for siting, constructing and
operating a facility or facilities to meet
its obligations under the Act, DOE
prepared the Mercury Storage EIS in
accordance with NEPA and its
implementing regulations (40 CFR parts
1500–1508 and 10 CFR part 1021) and
issued the Mercury Storage EIS in
January 2011 (76 FR 5145). The Mercury
Storage EIS and related NEPA
documents are available at the Web sites
listed under ADDRESSES. DOE estimated
that up to approximately 10,000 metric
tons of elemental mercury would need
to be managed and stored at the DOE
facility during the 40-year period of
analysis. These estimates do not include
approximately 4,400 metric tons of
elemental mercury that the Department
of Defense (DOD) stores at its facility in
Hawthorne, Nevada.
Purpose and Need for Action
DOE’s purpose and need for action
remains unchanged from the 2011
Mercury Storage EIS. That is, DOE
needs to designate a facility or facilities
for the long-term management and
storage of elemental mercury generated
within the U.S., as required by the Act.
Proposed Action
As also stated in the 2011 Mercury
Storage EIS, DOE proposes to construct
one or more new facilities and/or select
one or more existing facilities (including
modification as needed) for the longterm management and storage of
elemental mercury in accordance with
the Act. Facilities to be constructed as
well as existing or modified facilities
must comply with applicable
requirements of section 5(d) of the Act,
Management Standards for a Facility,
including the requirements of the Solid
Waste Disposal Act as amended by the
Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), and other
permitting requirements.
Proposed Alternatives
The January 2011 Mercury Storage
EIS evaluated seven candidate sites for
the facility or facilities, as well as a No
Action Alternative as required under
NEPA. The candidate sites are: DOE
Grand Junction Disposal site near Grand
Junction, Colorado; DOE Hanford site
near Richland, Washington; Hawthorne
Army Depot near Hawthorne, Nevada;
DOE Idaho National Laboratory near
Idaho Falls, Idaho (2 locations); DOE
Kansas City Plant in Kansas City,
Missouri; DOE Savannah River Site near
Aiken, South Carolina; and Waste
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Control Specialists, LLC, site near
Andrews, Texas.
Since publication of the 2011 Mercury
Storage EIS, DOE has reconsidered the
range of reasonable alternatives
evaluated in that EIS and on June 5,
2012, DOE announced its intent to
prepare a supplement to the Mercury
Storage EIS (77 FR 33204). DOE held
two public meetings during a 30-day
public scoping period and considered
all comments received during that
period in preparing this Draft SEIS.
The scope of this Draft Mercury
Storage SEIS includes three locations for
a long-term mercury storage facility at or
near the WIPP site, which DOE operates
for disposal of defense transuranic
waste. The additional locations
evaluated in the Draft Mercury Storage
SEIS are in: Section 20, Township 22
South, Range 31 East within the land
subject to the WIPP Land Withdrawal
Act (Pub. L. 102–579) as amended;
Section 10, Township 22 South, Range
31 East, in the vicinity of WIPP, but
outside of the lands withdrawn by the
WIPP Land Withdrawal Act; and
Section 35, Township 22 South, Range
31 East, also outside of the lands
withdrawn by the WIPP Land
Withdrawal Act. Each of these locations
is suitable for an above-ground storage
facility and can take advantage of
existing roads and other infrastructure.
DOE identified the Waste Control
Specialists, LLC location near Andrews,
Texas, as the Preferred Alternative in
the 2011 Mercury Storage EIS. DOE has
not changed its preferred alternative in
the Draft Mercury Storage SEIS;
however, the preferred alternative may
or may not change as a result of public
comment on this draft and further
analysis in completing the Final
Mercury Storage SEIS.
Among the potential health and
environmental impacts evaluated in the
Draft Mercury Storage SEIS is an
evaluation of the potential cumulative
impacts of constructing and operating a
facility for long-term management and
storage of elemental mercury with the
ongoing and planned operations of
WIPP for disposal of defense transuranic
waste. The Draft Mercury Storage SEIS
also considers the potential disposal of
greater-than-Class C waste (Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for the
Disposal of Greater-Than-Class C
(GTCC) Low-level Radioactive Waste
and GTCC-Like Waste (DOE/EIS–0375,
February 2011)), which included two
separately identified locations at WIPP
and the WIPP vicinity.
Public Participation in the SEIS Process
At each public hearing, DOE
representatives will be available during
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an open house to greet stakeholders and
review presentational materials.
Participants wishing to speak during
each public hearing will be asked to
register and will be given 10 minutes to
speak, in the order in which
participants have signed up. Once all
those who wish to speak have had an
opportunity to do so, participants will
be given additional time until time for
the public hearings to conclude. A court
reporter will record the proceedings at
each public hearing.
DOE invites Federal agencies, state,
local, and tribal governments, and the
general public to comment on the Draft
Mercury Storage SEIS during the public
comment period. DOE will consider all
public comments on the Draft SEIS
equally in preparing the Final Mercury
Storage SEIS. Any comments received
after the deadline will be considered to
the extent practicable.
Issued in Washington, DC, on April 16,
2013.
Mark Gilbertson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Site
Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2013–09291 Filed 4–18–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450–01–P
1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585–0121,
Telephone: (202) 287–1941, Email:
jeremiah.williams@ee.doe.gov.
Kavita Vaidyanathan, U.S.
Department of Energy, Office of the
General Counsel, Forrestal Building,
Mailstop GC–71, 1000 Independence
Ave. SW., Washington, DC 20585,
Telephone: (202) 586–0669, Email:
kavita.vaidyanathan@hq.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
supports the International Energy
Conservation Code (IECC) by
participating in the code development
processes administered by the
International Code Council (ICC). As a
participant in this process, DOE
considers and evaluates concepts to be
submitted as proposed changes to the
IECC (‘‘code’’). This Notice outlines the
process by which DOE produces code
change proposals, and participates in
the ICC code development process. Note
that, if approved through the ICC code
development process, DOE’s proposed
changes would be contained in the next
edition of the IECC.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
A. Statutory Requirements
Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy
Title III of the Energy Conservation
and Production Act, as amended
(ECPA), establishes requirements related
to energy conservation standards for
new buildings. (42 U.S.C. 6831–6837).
Section 307 (b) of ECPA directs DOE to
support voluntary building energy codes
by periodically reviewing the technical
and economic basis of the voluntary
building codes, recommending
amendments to such codes, seeking
adoption of all technologically feasible
and economically justified energy
efficiency measures, and otherwise
participate in any industry process for
review and modification of such codes.
(42 U.S.C. 6836(b))
[Docket No. EERE–2012–BT–BC–0030]
Department of Energy’s (DOE)
Participation in Development of the
International Energy Conservation
Code
Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy.
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
The DOE participates in the
code development process of the
International Code Council (ICC), which
produces the International Energy
Conservation Code (IECC). DOE will
continue to publish code change
proposals for the IECC before submitting
them to the ICC to allow interested
parties an opportunity to provide
suggested revisions, enhancements to
and comments on DOE code change
proposals. This notice outlines the
process by which DOE produces code
change proposals, and participates in
the ICC code development process.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeremiah Williams, U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency
and Renewable Energy, Building
Technologies Office, Mailstop EE–2J,
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B. Background
The IECC serves as a model building
energy code and is adopted by many
U.S. states, territories, the District of
Columbia, and localities across the
nation. Development of the IECC is
administered by the ICC, with revisions
taking place every three years under the
ICC governmental consensus process.
Any party can propose changes to the
IECC with proposed code changes
subject to the bylaws, policies and
procedures as defined by the ICC.1
1 See https://www.iccsafe.org/cs/codes/pages/
default.aspx.
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II. DOE’s Participation in the ICC Code
Development Process
As described above, under ECPA, one
of the methods by which DOE supports
the upgrade of voluntary building
energy codes is through participation in
the IECC development process. DOE
participates in the ICC code
development process by:
1. Developing code change proposals
for submission to the ICC;
2. Gathering public input on DOE
code change proposals from interested
parties prior to submitting them to ICC;
3. Conducting necessary technical
analyses to document the validity of
DOE code change proposals; and
4. Participating in the ICC code
development hearings.
DOE Proposal Development
DOE seeks to advance energy
efficiency in the IECC by strengthening
the code where cost-effective, and
improving the criteria to be more easily
understood, applied, implemented and
enforced. Prior to submitting code
change proposals to the ICC, DOE has
and will continue to publish code
change proposals that it has developed,
along with documentation of concepts,
for public review and comment at:
https://www.energycodes.gov/
development. This represents an
opportunity for parties to provide
information they wish DOE to be aware
of during the evaluation of proposals for
the IECC. Following the opportunity for
public review and comment DOE will
not provide responses to individual
comments, but will consider any and all
comments timely submitted in
developing final code change proposals.
Final proposals will be posted at the
same web address for public viewing
prior to submitting to the ICC.
DOE Technical Analysis
In developing concepts for
submission to the ICC, DOE conducts a
series of analyses to evaluate energy
savings and economic impacts of
potential code change proposals. As this
analysis is completed, resources have
been and will be published online,
including: the DOE residential costeffectiveness methodology, energy and
economic assumptions, energy
simulation models, investigations into
special topic areas, and draft proposal
language. Any interested party wishing
to review or build-upon the DOE
analysis can access it via the DOE
Building Energy Codes Web site.2
DOE references all analysis and
supporting documentation as required
by the ICC. Analysis performed by DOE
2 See
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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 76 (Friday, April 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23548-23550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-09291]
=======================================================================
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Long-
Term Management and Storage of Elemental Mercury
AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of
the Draft Long-Term Management and Storage of Elemental Mercury
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Mercury Storage SEIS, DOE/
EIS-0423-S1) for public comment. As required by the Mercury Export Ban
Act of 2008 (hereafter referred to as ``the Act''), DOE plans to
identify a facility or facilities for the long-term management and
storage of elemental mercury generated in the United States (U.S.) To
this end, DOE issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the
Long-Term Management and Storage of Elemental Mercury (Mercury Storage
EIS, DOE/EIS-0423, January 2011) to analyze reasonable alternatives, in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for
locating and developing such a facility. Subsequently, DOE identified
three additional, reasonable alternative locations in the vicinity of
its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, NM. On June 5,
2012, DOE announced its intent to prepare a supplement to the Mercury
Storage EIS and held a 30-day public scoping period. This Draft Mercury
Storage Supplemental EIS (Draft Mercury Storage SEIS or Draft SEIS)
considered all comments received during the public scoping period.
DATES: DOE invites public comment on this Draft Mercury Storage SEIS
during a 45-day public coment period commencing with the date of
publication of this Notice in the Federal Register, and ending on June
3, 2013. In preparing the Mercury Storage SEIS, DOE will consider all
comments received or postmarked by that date. Comments received after
that date will be considered to the extent practicable.
ADDRESSES: DOE will hold two public hearings during the public comment
period. The dates, times and locations of the public hearings are as
follows.
May 7, 2013
Open house 5:00 p.m.--6:00 p.m.
Public hearing 6:00 p.m.--9:00 p.m.
Skeen-Whitlock Building Auditorium
DOE, Carlsbad Field Office
4021 National Parks Highway
Carlsbad, New Mexico 88220
May 9, 2013
Open house 5:00 p.m.--6:00 p.m.
Public hearing 6:00 p.m.--9:00 p.m.
[[Page 23549]]
Crowne Plaza Albuquerque Hotel
1901 University Blvd. NE
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102.
Written comments not submitted during the public hearings may be
mailed to:
Mr. David Levenstein, Document Manager, Office of Environmental
Compliance (EM-11), U.S. Department of Energy, Post Office Box 2612,
Germantown, Maryland 20874
Written comments may also be submitted via the Draft Mercury
Storage EIS Web site at https://mercurystorageeis.com/.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request further information about
the Draft Mercury Storage SEIS or the Mercury Storage EIS, or to be
placed on the distribution list for the Final Mercury Storage SEIS, use
either of the methods (mail or Web site) listed under ADDRESSES. The
Draft Mercury Storage SEIS contains a Summary, all chapters, appendices
and other text within one volume, and includes a CD ROM of the full
Draft Mercury Storage SEIS and the full 2011 Mercury Storage EIS.
For general information concerning DOE's NEPA process, please
contact:
Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance
(GC-54), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW.,
Washington, DC 20585. Telephone: (202) 586-4600, by fax at (202) 586-
7031, by email at askNEPA@hq.doe.gov or leave a message at 1-800-472-
2756. The Draft Mercury Storage SEIS is available on the Internet at
https://www.energy.gov/NEPA/ and on the project Web site at https://mercurystorageeis.com/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-414) amends the
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. 2605(f)) to prohibit the
sale, distribution, or transfer by Federal agencies to any other
Federal agency, any state or local government agency, or any private
individual or entity, of any elemental mercury under the control or
jurisdiction of a Federal agency (with certain limited exceptions). It
also amends TSCA (15 U.S.C. 2611(c)) to prohibit the export of
elemental mercury from the U.S. effective January 1, 2013 (subject to
certain essential use exemptions). Section 5 of the Act, Long-Term
Storage, amends the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 42
U.S.C. 6939f) and directs DOE to designate a facility or facilities for
the long-term management and storage of elemental mercury generated
within the U.S.
To evaluate the range of reasonable alternatives for siting,
constructing and operating a facility or facilities to meet its
obligations under the Act, DOE prepared the Mercury Storage EIS in
accordance with NEPA and its implementing regulations (40 CFR parts
1500-1508 and 10 CFR part 1021) and issued the Mercury Storage EIS in
January 2011 (76 FR 5145). The Mercury Storage EIS and related NEPA
documents are available at the Web sites listed under ADDRESSES. DOE
estimated that up to approximately 10,000 metric tons of elemental
mercury would need to be managed and stored at the DOE facility during
the 40-year period of analysis. These estimates do not include
approximately 4,400 metric tons of elemental mercury that the
Department of Defense (DOD) stores at its facility in Hawthorne,
Nevada.
Purpose and Need for Action
DOE's purpose and need for action remains unchanged from the 2011
Mercury Storage EIS. That is, DOE needs to designate a facility or
facilities for the long-term management and storage of elemental
mercury generated within the U.S., as required by the Act.
Proposed Action
As also stated in the 2011 Mercury Storage EIS, DOE proposes to
construct one or more new facilities and/or select one or more existing
facilities (including modification as needed) for the long-term
management and storage of elemental mercury in accordance with the Act.
Facilities to be constructed as well as existing or modified facilities
must comply with applicable requirements of section 5(d) of the Act,
Management Standards for a Facility, including the requirements of the
Solid Waste Disposal Act as amended by the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), and other permitting
requirements.
Proposed Alternatives
The January 2011 Mercury Storage EIS evaluated seven candidate
sites for the facility or facilities, as well as a No Action
Alternative as required under NEPA. The candidate sites are: DOE Grand
Junction Disposal site near Grand Junction, Colorado; DOE Hanford site
near Richland, Washington; Hawthorne Army Depot near Hawthorne, Nevada;
DOE Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho (2 locations);
DOE Kansas City Plant in Kansas City, Missouri; DOE Savannah River Site
near Aiken, South Carolina; and Waste Control Specialists, LLC, site
near Andrews, Texas.
Since publication of the 2011 Mercury Storage EIS, DOE has
reconsidered the range of reasonable alternatives evaluated in that EIS
and on June 5, 2012, DOE announced its intent to prepare a supplement
to the Mercury Storage EIS (77 FR 33204). DOE held two public meetings
during a 30-day public scoping period and considered all comments
received during that period in preparing this Draft SEIS.
The scope of this Draft Mercury Storage SEIS includes three
locations for a long-term mercury storage facility at or near the WIPP
site, which DOE operates for disposal of defense transuranic waste. The
additional locations evaluated in the Draft Mercury Storage SEIS are
in: Section 20, Township 22 South, Range 31 East within the land
subject to the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (Pub. L. 102-579) as amended;
Section 10, Township 22 South, Range 31 East, in the vicinity of WIPP,
but outside of the lands withdrawn by the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act; and
Section 35, Township 22 South, Range 31 East, also outside of the lands
withdrawn by the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act. Each of these locations is
suitable for an above-ground storage facility and can take advantage of
existing roads and other infrastructure.
DOE identified the Waste Control Specialists, LLC location near
Andrews, Texas, as the Preferred Alternative in the 2011 Mercury
Storage EIS. DOE has not changed its preferred alternative in the Draft
Mercury Storage SEIS; however, the preferred alternative may or may not
change as a result of public comment on this draft and further analysis
in completing the Final Mercury Storage SEIS.
Among the potential health and environmental impacts evaluated in
the Draft Mercury Storage SEIS is an evaluation of the potential
cumulative impacts of constructing and operating a facility for long-
term management and storage of elemental mercury with the ongoing and
planned operations of WIPP for disposal of defense transuranic waste.
The Draft Mercury Storage SEIS also considers the potential disposal of
greater-than-Class C waste (Draft Environmental Impact Statement for
the Disposal of Greater-Than-Class C (GTCC) Low-level Radioactive Waste
and GTCC-Like Waste (DOE/EIS-0375, February 2011)), which included two
separately identified locations at WIPP and the WIPP vicinity.
Public Participation in the SEIS Process
At each public hearing, DOE representatives will be available
during
[[Page 23550]]
an open house to greet stakeholders and review presentational
materials. Participants wishing to speak during each public hearing
will be asked to register and will be given 10 minutes to speak, in the
order in which participants have signed up. Once all those who wish to
speak have had an opportunity to do so, participants will be given
additional time until time for the public hearings to conclude. A court
reporter will record the proceedings at each public hearing.
DOE invites Federal agencies, state, local, and tribal governments,
and the general public to comment on the Draft Mercury Storage SEIS
during the public comment period. DOE will consider all public comments
on the Draft SEIS equally in preparing the Final Mercury Storage SEIS.
Any comments received after the deadline will be considered to the
extent practicable.
Issued in Washington, DC, on April 16, 2013.
Mark Gilbertson,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Site Restoration.
[FR Doc. 2013-09291 Filed 4-18-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
