Department of Energy October 13, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Energy (DOE) has submitted an information collection package to the OMB for extension under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The package requests a three-year extension of the information collection entitled, ``Reporting and Recordkeeping Requirements for Safety Management System.'' Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the extended information collections are necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the information collections, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the information collections on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology.

The Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) is providing this Amended Notice of Intent to expand the scope of the ongoing Environmental Impact Statement for the Alignment, Construction and Operation of a Rail Line to a Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada (DOE/EIS-0369, Rail Alignment EIS, Notice of Intent, April 8, 2004, 69 FR 18565). In the ongoing Rail Alignment EIS, DOE has undertaken an analysis of alternative rail alignments in which to construct and operate a rail line within what is referred to as the Caliente corridor. Based on new information, DOE now plans to expand the Rail Alignment EIS to incorporate analysis of a new rail corridor alternative. This additional analysis will supplement the corridor analyses in the ``Final Environmental Impact Statement for a Geologic Repository for the Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste at Yucca Mountain, Nye County, Nevada'' (DOE/EIS- 0250F, Yucca Mountain Final EIS, February 2002). The expanded analysis will consider the potential environmental impacts of a newly proposed Mina rail corridor at the same level of corridor analysis as is contained in the Yucca Mountain Final EIS, and will review the rail corridor analyses of that Final EIS, and update, as appropriate. The expanded scope will then proceed to include a detailed analysis of alternative alignments within the Mina corridor at the same level of analysis of the ongoing alignment analysis for the Caliente corridor. The result will be to provide the public with information concerning both the potential corridor and alignment impacts of the Mina corridor at the same time DOE presents the potential impacts for the construction and operation of a rail line within the Caliente corridor. The expanded EIS will be entitled the Supplemental Yucca Mountain Rail Corridor and Rail Alignment EIS (DOE/EIS-0250F-S2 and DOE/EIS-0369). On April 8, 2004 (69 FR 18557), the Department issued a Record of Decision announcing its selection, both nationally and in the State of Nevada, of the mostly rail scenario analyzed in the Yucca Mountain Final EIS. This decision will ultimately require the construction of a rail line to connect the repository site at Yucca Mountain to an existing rail line in the State of Nevada for the shipment of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. To that end, the Department also selected the Caliente rail corridor in which to examine possible alignments for construction of that rail line. On April 8, 2004 (69 FR 18565), DOE issued a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for the alignment, construction, and operation of a rail line for shipments of spent nuclear fuel, high-level radioactive waste, and other materials from a site near Caliente, Nevada, to a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (the Rail Alignment EIS). During subsequent public scoping, DOE received comments that offered preferences for various rail corridors analyzed in detail in the Yucca Mountain Final EIS, and identified other rail corridors for consideration. In particular, commenters recommended that DOE consider the Mina route, which would include use of an existing rail line from Hazen, Nevada, to the Thorne siding in Hawthorne, Nevada, and the construction of new rail line that would follow an abandoned rail line nearly to Yucca Mountain. In the Yucca Mountain Final EIS, DOE considered, but eliminated from detailed study, several potential rail routes. One of those potential rail routes, the Mina route, could only connect to an existing rail line by crossing the Walker River Paiute Tribe Reservation northwest of Hawthorne, Nevada, and the Tribe had informed DOE that it would refuse to allow nuclear waste to be transported across its reservation (letter dated December 6, 1991). For this reason, the Department considered the Mina route to pose an unavoidable land use conflict and thus to be unavailable for further consideration. Following review of the scoping comments for the Rail Alignment EIS, DOE held discussions with the Walker River Paiute Tribe regarding the availability of the Mina route. Subsequently, in May 2006, the Walker River Paiute Tribe informed DOE that the Tribal Council had withdrawn its objection to the completion of an EIS studying the transportation of nuclear waste across its reservation. The Tribe stated that its Tribal Council had not decided to allow such shipments, but indicated that inclusion of the Mina route in an EIS would allow the Tribe to make a more informed, final decision about the matter. In view of the Tribal Council's decision, DOE initiated a study to determine the feasibility of the Mina route, and to identify a specific corridor (Mina corridor) and associated preliminary alternative alignments (described below under Mina Alternative Alignments). Based on DOE's preliminary analysis, in comparison with other rail corridors, the Mina corridor appears to offer potential advantages to the extent it would cross fewer mountain ranges, utilize existing rail bed, and also be a shorter distance. These potential advantages would simplify design and construction of a rail line, and therefore would be less costly to construct. The Mina corridor also would appear to have fewer land use conflicts, and would involve less land disturbance, which tends to result in lower adverse environmental impacts overall. For these reasons, DOE has concluded that the Mina corridor warrants further detailed study. Accordingly, DOE is announcing its intent to expand the scope of the Rail Alignment EIS to supplement the rail corridor analyses of the Yucca Mountain Final EIS, and analyze the Mina corridor. This Supplemental Yucca Mountain Rail Corridor and Rail Alignment EIS \1\ also will consider, in detail, alignments for the construction and operation of a rail line within the Caliente and Mina rail corridors.