Notice of Availability of the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Soil Cleanup Activities at Santa Susana Field Laboratory, 44930-44932 [2020-16076]

Agencies

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 143 (Friday, July 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44930-44932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16076]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice (20-063)]


Notice of Availability of the Final Supplemental Environmental 
Impact Statement for Soil Cleanup Activities at Santa Susana Field 
Laboratory

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Final Supplemental 
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Soil

[[Page 44931]]

Cleanup Activities at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL).

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), as amended, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) 
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA, and 
NASA's NEPA-implementing regulations, policy, and procedures, NASA has 
prepared a Final SEIS for soil cleanup activities at SSFL in Ventura 
County, California. The purpose of this NOA is to announce the issuance 
and public availability of the Final SEIS and inform the public of 
where the document may be viewed. The Final SEIS is intended to inform 
NASA decision-makers, regulating agencies, and the public about the 
environmental impact of proposed soil cleanup in the NASA-administered 
portion of SSFL.

DATES: NASA will execute a Record of Decision (ROD) no sooner than 30 
calendar days from the date of publication in the Federal Register (FR) 
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) NOA of the Final 
SEIS.

ADDRESSES: The Final SEIS may be reviewed at the following locations:
    1. Simi Valley Library, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road, Simi Valley, CA 
93063, Phone: (805) 526-1735.
    2. Platt Library, 23600 Victory Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91367, 
Phone: (818) 340-9386.
    3. California State University, Northridge Oviatt Library, 18111 
Nordhoff Street, 2nd Floor, Room 265, Northridge, CA 91330, Phone: 
(818) 677-2285.
    4. Department of Toxic Substances Control, 9211 Oakdale Avenue, 
Chatsworth, CA 91311, Phone: (818) 717-6521.
    The Final SEIS is also available on the internet at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/environmental-impact-statement-eis-for-demolition-and-environmental-cleanup-activities.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Zorba, SSFL Project Director, by 
email at [email protected], or 202-714-0496. 
Additional information about NASA's SSFL Site, the proposed soil 
cleanup activities, and the associated planning process and 
documentation (as available) may be found on the internet at https://ssfl.msfc.nasa.gov or on the California Department of Toxic Substances 
Control (DTSC) website at https://www.dtsc.ca.gov/SiteCleanup/Santa_Susana_Field_Lab/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SSFL site is 2,850 acres located in 
Ventura County, California, approximately 7 miles northwest of Canoga 
Park and approximately 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. SSFL 
is composed of four areas known as Areas I, II, III, and IV and two 
``undeveloped'' areas. The NASA-administered portion is 41.7 acres 
within Area I and all 409.5 acres of Area II and was historically used 
for developing and testing rocket engines. The Boeing Company (Boeing) 
owns the remaining 2,398.8 acres within Areas I, III, IV, and the two 
undeveloped areas. The Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for 
building demolition and cleanup of soils and groundwater in Area IV and 
the Northern Buffer Zone.
    Rocket engine testing has been discontinued at SSFL and the 
property has been excessed to the General Services Administration 
(GSA). GSA has conditionally accepted the Report of Excess pending 
certain environmental cleanup requirements are met.
    NASA entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) for 
Remedial Action with DTSC on December 6, 2010, ``to further define and 
make more specific NASA's obligations with respect to the cleanup of 
soils at the Site.'' Based on the 2010 Order, NASA is required to 
complete a federal environmental impact analysis pursuant to NEPA and 
NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) 8580.1.
    NASA completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) per 
NEPA for demolition of site infrastructure, soil cleanup, and 
groundwater remediation within Area II and a portion of Area I (former 
Liquid Oxygen [LOX] Plant) of SSFL on March 14, 2014 (79 FR 14545). 
NASA subsequently issued a ROD for building demolition on April 25, 
2014. A ROD for groundwater cleanup was published in the Federal 
Register on October 17, 2018 (83 FR 52570). On October 25, 2019, an NOA 
was published in the FR (84 FR 57490) for the Draft SEIS, which 
initiated a 45-day public comment period. On December 9, 2019, NASA 
published a notice in the FR that advised the public that the comment 
period would be extended by 30 days to January 8, 2020 (84 FR 67296).
    This Final SEIS has been prepared by NASA for soil cleanup within 
its administered portion of SSFL.
    Alternatives: The CEQ's implementing regulations for NEPA require 
that where significant new information relevant to environmental 
concerns and bearing on a proposed action or its impacts exists, an 
SEIS must be prepared for the original EIS so that the Agency has the 
best possible information to make any necessary substantive changes in 
its decisions regarding the proposed action. NASA initiated preparation 
of this Final SEIS when it determined that pursuant to information 
found in the DTSC's Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Review for 
the SSFL cleanup, the soil quantity which may need to be removed from 
the SSFL site far exceeded the estimate NASA used in its 2014 Final 
EIS. NASA determined this constituted significant new information 
relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the proposed action.
    NEPA requires analysis of a range of reasonable alternatives to the 
proposed action. The alternatives section is the heart of any NEPA 
document, including this Final SEIS. In determining the scope of 
alternatives to be considered, NASA considered those alternatives that 
are: (1) Practical and feasible using both the AOC framework and a 
risk-based approach based on criteria provided for in the National 
Contingency Plan and as set forth in applicable California state law, 
(2) protective both environmentally and from a human health-based 
perspective, and (3) feasible from a technical implementability 
standpoint.
    As it prepared the Final SEIS and evaluated the alternatives set 
forth below, NASA was mindful of its responsibility to implement an 
environmental cleanup of residual contaminants in Area II and the 
portion of Area I over which it has continued oversight in a manner 
that is fully protective of public health and the environment, 
preserves to the maximum extent possible the Site's natural and 
cultural resources, and is feasible (i.e., implementable). The Final 
SEIS takes into account other responsible party cleanup obligations for 
the areas of SSFL that surround NASA's property to ensure a long-term, 
cohesive, and uniform remedial action is implemented. The Final SEIS 
considers the following range of alternatives that meet NASA's 
objectives to clean up soil at the portion of the SSFL site 
administered by NASA.
     Alternative A: AOC Cleanup using DTSC-proposed Look-up 
Table (LUT) values (similar to the Proposed Action from the 2014 Final 
EIS with the impacts of increased soil volumes considered)
     Alternative B: Revised LUT Cleanup (this alternative 
involves proposed revisions to seven of the 139 LUT values to reflect 
standard California Water Board and California Human Health screening 
values. All other DTSC-proposed LUT values would remain the same.)
     Alternative C: Suburban Residential Cleanup (based on the 
DTSC-approved Standardized Risk Assessment

[[Page 44932]]

Methodology [SRAM] Revision 2 Addendum, EPA risk assessment guidelines 
for residential land use, and California Environmental Protection 
Agency [Cal EPA] risk assessment guidance)
     Alternative D: Recreational Cleanup (based on DTSC-
approved SRAM Revision 2 Addendum, EPA risk assessment guidelines for 
recreational land use, and Cal EPA risk assessment guidance)
    A No Action alternative, which is required per NEPA, was also 
included in the analysis, though it would not meet the purpose and need 
of the proposed action.
    Public meetings on the Draft EIS were held in the vicinity of SSFL 
on November 20 and 21, 2019. During the review period, NASA received 
approximately 1,200 comments, over 800 of which were form letters. 
After considering all comments received, NASA prepared the Final SEIS. 
There are no substantive changes to the range of alternatives 
considered. Alternative C, Suburban Residential Cleanup, is identified 
as the Agency's Preferred Alternative, and, along with Alternative D, 
the Agency's Environmentally Preferable Alternative.

Cheryl Parker,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-16076 Filed 7-23-20; 8:45 am]
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