Department of Energy October 27, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Energy (DOE) announces its intent to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and to hold a public scoping meeting on the proposed Federal action to fund the construction and operation of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) on the campus of Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing, Michigan. FRIB's design is composed of buildings and/or building additions for a heavy ion/proton accelerator, ancillary laboratories, and support facilities. Construction/operation would occur adjacent to the existing National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL), which would ultimately be subsumed into FRIB. The EA will identify and assess potential environmental impacts from the Proposed Action and a range of reasonable alternatives so DOE can determine whether to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) or issue a finding of no significant impact (FONSI). DOE is also opening a 45-day scoping period to allow the public the opportunity to voice any concerns it might have and to make recommendations about the analytical approach and alternatives. During the scoping period, a public meeting will be held. If at any point during the preparation of the EA DOE determines that it is necessary to prepare an EIS, this scoping process will serve as the scoping process that would normally follow a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS.

This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Oak Ridge Reservation. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register.