Department of Energy October 19, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or Department), announces its intent to prepare a Supplement to the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic Environmental Impact StatementComplex 2030 (Complex 2030 SEIS or SEIS, DOE/EIS-0236-S4), pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ's) and DOE's regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR part 1021, respectively). The SEIS will analyze the environmental impacts from the continued transformation of the United States' nuclear weapons complex by implementing NNSA's vision of the complex as it would exist in 2030, which the Department refers to as Complex 2030, as well as alternatives. Since the end of the Cold War, there continue to be significant changes in the requirements for the nation's nuclear arsenal, including reductions in the number of nuclear weapons. To fulfill its responsibilities for certifying the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons without underground testing, DOE proposed and implemented the Stockpile Stewardship and Management (SSM) Program in the 1990s. Stockpile Stewardship includes activities required to maintain a high level of confidence in the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons in the absence of underground testing, and in the capability of the United States to resume nuclear testing if directed by the President. Stockpile Management activities include dismantlement, maintenance, evaluation, repair, and replacement of weapons and their components in the existing stockpile. NNSA's proposed action is to continue currently planned modernization activities and select a site for a consolidated plutonium center for long-term research and development, surveillance, and pit \1\ manufacturing; consolidate special nuclear materials throughout the complex; consolidate, relocate, or eliminate duplicative facilities and programs and improve operating efficiencies; identify one or more sites for conducting NNSA flight test operations; and accelerate nuclear weapons dismantlement activities. This Notice of Intent (NOI), the initial step in the NEPA process, informs the public of NNSA's intention to prepare the Complex 2030 SEIS, announces the schedule for public scoping meetings, and solicits public input. Following the scoping period, NNSA will prepare and issue a draft of the Complex 2030 SEIS that will describe the Complex 2030 proposal, the alternatives analyzed, and potential impacts of the proposal and the alternatives.

In compliance with the requirements of Section 3506(c) (2) (a) of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-13), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) is soliciting public comment on the specific aspects of the information collection described below.