Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for NASA's Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Soil Cleanup Activities at Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Ventura County, California, 62328-62330 [2020-21787]

Agencies

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 192 (Friday, October 2, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62328-62330]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-21787]


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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice: 20-079]


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for NASA's 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for Soil Cleanup Activities 
at Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Ventura County, California

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

ACTION: Notice of availability of the Record of Decision (ROD).

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SUMMARY: NASA announces its decision concerning agency actions related 
to soil cleanup activities at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, 
Ventura County, California. NASA's decision is supported by the 
detailed analysis found in the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement for Soil Cleanup Activities (SEIS), as summarized in the 
agency's Record of Decision (ROD).

ADDRESSES: The Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) SEIS ROD and 
related National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents are 
available at NASA's SSFL project website (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/environmental-impact-statement-eis-for-demolition-and-environmental-cleanup-activities).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Zorba, SSFL Project Director, 
email at [email protected], or phone (202) 714-0496. 
Additional information about NASA's SSFL site, the soil and cleanup 
activities, and the associated planning process and documentation (as

[[Page 62329]]

available) may be found on the internet at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/environmental-impact-statement-eis-for-demolition-and-environmental-cleanup-activities or on the California Department of 
Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) website at https://www.dtsc.ca.gov/SiteCleanup/Santa_Susana_Field_Lab/.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    NASA prepared the SSFL SEIS in accordance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4321 
et seq.), CEQ NEPA implementing regulations (40 CFR parts 1500--1508), 
NASA's NEPA Implementing regulations (14 CFR 1216.3), and NASA NEPA 
policy (NASA Procedural Requirements 8580.1--Implementing the National 
Environmental Policy Act and Executive Order 12114). NASA announced its 
intent to prepare a SEIS on April 5, 2018 (84 FR 13725). The SEIS was 
limited in scope to the proposed soil cleanup activities at SSFL.\1\ 
Preparation of the SEIS was required because NASA determined that 
significant new circumstances exist relevant to environmental concerns 
bearing on the cleanup of the SSFL site and the potential environmental 
impacts of those activities exist. Specifically, the estimated quantity 
of soil required to be removed during site cleanup under the California 
DTSC's proposed framework had increased substantially since the 
publication of NASA's 2014 Final EIS. This increase had the potential 
to significantly alter the environmental impacts that were evaluated in 
the 2014 Final EIS. For this reason, pursuant to NEPA, NASA determined 
it was required to prepare a supplement to the 2014 Final EIS. On 
October 25, 2019, NASA published a Notice of Availability (NOA) (84 FR 
57490) for the SSFL Draft SEIS, which initiated a 45-day public comment 
period. On December 9, 2019, NASA published a notice in the FR which 
advised the public that the comment period would be extended by 30 days 
to January 8, 2020 (84 FR 67296). During the comment period, NASA 
received approximately 1,200 comments and hosted two public meetings in 
Ventura County and Los Angeles County respectively. Oral and written 
comments were received at each public meeting. After considering the 
comments received on the Draft SEIS, NASA prepared and published the 
Final SEIS on July 24, 2020 (85 FR 44930).
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    \1\ NASA published a Final Environmental Impact Statement for 
demolition of site infrastructure, soil cleanup and groundwater 
remediation within NASA administered ``Area II'' and a portion of 
``Area I'' (former LOX Plant) of SSFL on March 14, 2014 (79 FR 
14545). NASA subsequently issued a ROD for building demolition on 
April 23, 2014. At that time, a decision was made to defer issuing 
RODs for the cleanup of soil and groundwater until further 
investigations, analysis, and planning could be completed. Upon 
completion of the SSFL Draft Groundwater Corrective Measure Study, a 
ROD allowing groundwater cleanup at SSFL was signed on October 4, 
2018 and published in the Federal Register on October 17, 2018 (83 
FR 52570).
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SSFL Site Background

    SSFL is located on 2,850 acres of open, rocky terrain above 
California's Simi Valley in southeastern Ventura County, approximately 
30 miles northwest of Los Angeles. SSFL is divided into four 
Administrative Areas (Areas I through IV) and two undeveloped areas. 
Area II and a small portion of Area I (the Former Liquid Oxygen (LOX) 
Plant Area) are owned by the U.S. Government and administered by NASA. 
The remainder of the property is owned by The Boeing Company (Boeing). 
In Area IV, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has prepared an 
environmental impact statement for building demolition and the cleanup 
of soil and groundwater and remediation activities related to its 
previous activities at SSFL (see e.g., NOA, 83 FR 67282).
    Since the mid-1950s, when SSFL was administered by the U.S. Air 
Force, this site has been used for developing and testing rocket 
engines. Four test stand complexes were constructed in Area II between 
1954 and 1957 named Alfa, Bravo, Coca, and Delta. These test areas 
along with the LOX Plant portion of Area I were acquired by NASA from 
the U.S. Air Force in the 1970s. NASA conducted rocket engine testing 
in support of the nation's space exploration programs (e.g., Apollo 
program, Space Shuttle program) at SSFL and concluded its activities 
related to rocket engine and component testing in 2006.
    Environmental sampling at SSFL indicates that contaminants are 
present in soil within the NASA-administered portion of SSFL. In 2018, 
the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) approved 
NASA's Soil Treatability Study and in 2019 DTSC approved NASA's Soil 
Data Summary Report. The scientific data from these reports showed the 
soil quantity that may need to be removed from the SSFL site under 
DTSC's Look Up Table (LUT) framework (i.e., Alternative A in the Final 
SEIS) far exceeded the estimate NASA used in its 2014 Final EIS. NASA 
subsequently determined this constituted significant new information 
relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the Proposed Action.
    In 2009, NASA completed a review of its property holdings at SSFL 
and determined SSFL was no longer needed by NASA to meet its then 
current needs or future mission requirements. On September 14, 2009, 
NASA requested the General Services Administration (GSA) take action 
for disposition of its portion of SSFL. On September 17, 2009, the GSA 
conditionally accepted NASA's request to undertake action to dispose of 
the property subject to the following conditions: (1) The receipt of 
NASA's certification that all remedial action necessary to protect 
human health and the environment with respect to any hazardous 
substance remaining on the property has been taken, or receipt of EPA's 
[Environmental Protection Agency's] written concurrence that an 
approved and installed remedial design is operating properly and 
successfully, or; (2) the receipt of the Governor's concurrence in the 
suitability of the property for transfer as provided in CERCLA 
[Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act] 
Section 120(h)(3)(C).

Purpose and Need for Agency Action

    The purpose and need of NASA's proposed action is to use the best 
available science and technology to achieve a soil cleanup at SSFL in a 
timely manner that minimizes impacts to the community, and which is 
fully protective of the public health and welfare. As set forth in the 
ROD, NASA has decided that, based on its comparison of alternatives in 
the Final SEIS, selection of Alternative C--Suburban Residential 
Cleanup (based on the DTSC-approved Standardized Risk Assessment) most 
fully supports the purpose and need and is NASA's preferred and 
environmentally preferred alternative for soil cleanup at SSFL. 
Selection of Alternative C applies an accepted risk methodology to soil 
cleanup activities which accounts for the reasonably foreseeable future 
use of the land, the health and safety of surrounding communities, the 
protection and preservation of significant cultural and natural 
resources, and the implementability of each alternative.

Alternatives

    In the Draft and Final SEIS, NASA evaluated the No Action 
Alternative and four other action alternatives. In the Final SEIS, the 
impacts of soil remediation activities at the NASA-administered Area I 
Former LOX Plant and Area II are comprehensively evaluated. The 
alternatives considered for cleaning up the soil are as follows:

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Alternative A: Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) Cleanup; 
Alternative B: Revised LUT Levels Cleanup; Alternative C: Suburban 
Residential Cleanup; Alternative D: Recreational Cleanup; and the No 
Action Alternative
    These alternatives are described in detail in the Alternatives 
Selection section of the ROD (see section B.4) and Chapters 2 and 3 of 
the Final SEIS. The following specifics apply to the cleanup 
alternatives considered in this SEIS:
     All risk-based alternatives are protective of public 
health and the environment and follow nationwide U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines and the DTSC-approved standardized 
risk-based methodology specific to SSFL.
     The implementation of the ``AOC'' cleanup alternative 
would have the most significant adverse impacts to the surrounding 
community and the protected cultural, natural, and biological 
resources.
     The beneficial impacts for biology, water resources, and 
health and safety are the same for all the cleanup alternatives.

Comments Received on the Final SEIS

    The Notice of Availability for the SSFL Final SEIS published in the 
Federal Register on July 24, 2020 commencing a 30-day pre-decisional 
waiting period that concluded on August 24, 2020. During this pre-
decisional period, NASA received comments from the United States 
Environmental Protection Agency Region IX, the City of Los Angeles, and 
a joint letter from the Committee to Bridge the Gap (CBG), Physicians 
for Social Responsibility--Los Angeles (PSR-LA), and the Natural 
Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The CBG also submitted supplemental 
comments in support of the joint comments described above. Prior to 
making its final decision, NASA considered the matters raised by each 
commenter, evaluated the analysis, scientific basis, and methodology 
used to validate the conclusions set forth in the Final SEIS, and 
determined the received comments do not affect the findings of the 
Final SEIS. Specific responses to the received comments are found in 
Section C.2 of the ROD.

Decision

    NASA has decided to adopt Alternative C--Suburban Residential 
Cleanup as its Preferred Alternative for implementation of soil cleanup 
activities at the NASA administered areas of SSFL. Selection of 
Alternative C applies an accepted risk assessment methodology to soil 
cleanup activities which accounts for the reasonably foreseeable future 
use of the land, is fully protective of the health and safety of 
surrounding communities, preserves significant existing cultural and 
natural resources, reduces the time horizon for project completion, 
reduces the environmental impact of the overall project, provides 
greater flexibility to the U.S. government in the event the property is 
transferred at a later date, and considers the long term 
implementability of each alternative.
    The Associate Administrator for Mission Support Directorate signed 
the Soil Cleanup ROD, which constitutes the final decision by NASA for 
soil cleanup at SSFL. A copy of this document can be found at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/environmental-impact-statement-eis-for-demolition-and-environmental-cleanup-activities.

Cheryl Parker,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-21787 Filed 10-1-20; 8:45 am]
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