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[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 120 (Friday, June 21, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37533-37536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14724]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact 
Statement for Engineered High Energy Crop Programs, Southeastern United 
States

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
and conduct public scoping meetings.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Advanced Research 
Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) announces its intent to prepare a 
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) and conduct public 
scoping meetings to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of 
DOE's proposed action to implement one or more programs to catalyze the 
development and demonstration of engineered high energy crops (EHECs). 
EHECs are agriculturally-viable photosynthetic species containing 
genetic material that has been intentionally introduced through 
biotechnology, interspecific hybridization, or other engineering 
processes (excluding processes that occur in nature without human 
intervention), and specifically engineered to produce more energy per 
acre by producing fuel molecules that can be introduced easily into 
existing energy infrastructure.
    EHECs include those being developed under the ARPA-E Plants 
Engineered to Replace Oil (PETRO) program. A main component of the 
proposed EHEC programs would be providing financial assistance for 
field trials to evaluate the performance of EHECs. Confined field 
trials may range in size and could include development-scale (up to 5 
acres), pilot-scale (up to 250 acres), or demonstration-scale (up to 
15,000 acres). All necessary permits, such as from the U.S. Department 
of Agriculture's (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 
(APHIS), would be obtained before initiating confined field trials. 
This PEIS will assess the potential environmental impacts of such 
confined field trials in the southeastern United States.

DATES: DOE invites comments on the proposed scope of this PEIS from all 
interested parties. The scoping period for this PEIS starts with the 
publication of this notice and continues through July 22, 2013. DOE 
will consider all comments submitted electronically or postmarked by 
July 22, 2013. Comments submitted after this date will be considered to 
the extent practicable.
    DOE will conduct scoping meetings to solicit input on the issues, 
concerns, and alternatives of the PEIS. Poster sessions will be hosted 
at each location from 5:00 to 6:45 p.m., followed by an open forum to 
receive comments from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The scoping meetings will be 
held:

 July 9, 2013--Lexington Convention Center, 430 West Vine 
Street, Lexington, KY
 July 10, 2013--Mississippi e-Center at Jackson State 
University (Convention Hall), 1230 Raymond Road, Jackson, MS
 July 11, 2013--Raleigh Convention Center, 500 S. Salisbury 
Street, Raleigh, NC

    DOE will also host one web-based meeting on July 17, 2013 from 3:00 
to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Details regarding the scoping meetings, 
including how to participate in the web-based meeting, are provided 
under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION and on the PEIS Web site: http://engineeredhighenergycropsPEIS.com.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by any of the following 
methods:
     PEIS Web site: http://engineeredhighenergycropsPEIS.com.
     Email: comments@engineeredhighenergycropsPEIS.com.
     Mail: Dr. Jonathan Burbaum, Program Director, ARPA-E, U.S. 
Department of Energy, ATTN: EHEC PEIS, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 
Mailstop-950-8043, Washington, DC 20585. Note: Comments submitted by 
U.S. Postal Service may be delayed by mail screening.
    This Notice of Intent (NOI), the Draft PEIS, and the Final PEIS 
will be posted on the DOE National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Web 
site at http://energy.gov/nepa. These documents and additional 
materials relating to this PEIS will also be available on the PEIS Web 
site at: http://engineeredhighenergycropsPEIS.com.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information on the PEIS or to 
be added to the PEIS distribution list, contact Dr. Jonathan Burbaum, 
Program Director, by one of the methods described in the ADDRESSES 
section, or by telephone at (202) 287-5453.
    For general information on the DOE NEPA process, contact Carol 
Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-54), U.S. 
Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., Washington, DC 
20585, or telephone at (202) 586-4600, voicemail at (800) 472-2756, or 
email at askNEPA@hq.doe.gov. Persons with disabilities who require 
alternative means for communication (Braille, large print, audio tape, 
etc.) should contact (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The EHEC PEIS (DOE/EIS-0481) is being 
prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requirements, the Council on 
Environmental Quality's NEPA regulations (40 CFR parts 1500-1508), and 
DOE's NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR part 1021).
    DOE has prepared this NOI to inform interested parties of the 
planned PEIS and scoping meetings, and to invite public comments on the 
proposed action, reasonable alternatives for program implementation, 
and the range of environmental issues to be considered in the PEIS. DOE 
will consult with interested American Indian Tribes and federal, state, 
regional and local agencies during preparation of the PEIS. In 
addition, DOE invites agencies with jurisdiction by law or special 
expertise to participate as cooperating agencies in the preparation of 
this PEIS.

Background

    DOE's mission and strategic goals include promoting U.S. energy 
security by providing reliable, clean, and affordable energy and 
strengthening U.S. technological leadership and economic 
competitiveness through advancements in science and technology. ARPA-
E's goals include enhancing U.S. economic and energy security through 
the development of advanced energy technologies that reduce imports of 
foreign oil, reduce energy-related emissions, and ensure that the U.S. 
maintains a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced 
energy technologies. A core aspect of ARPA-E's mission is to expedite 
the timeline for bringing technologies to market. The proposed

[[Page 37534]]

programs aim to deploy EHECs that produce more energy per acre and 
produce fuel molecules that require little or no processing prior to 
being introduced into existing energy infrastructure (e.g., refineries, 
pipelines, and vehicles), thus promoting agriculturally-derived fuels 
that are cost-competitive with petroleum-based fuels. Programs that 
catalyze the deployment of EHECs to market, including development and 
demonstration field trials, would further the mission and strategic 
goals of DOE.

Purpose and Need for DOE Action

    Present day production of biofuels is limited by the relatively 
inefficient capture of solar energy and conversion of carbon dioxide 
that occurs during plant photosynthesis into a ready-to-use energy 
source. EHEC programs are experimenting with a variety of plants to 
create molecules similar to those found in petroleum-based fuels that 
will facilitate biofuel production. EHECs include those being developed 
under the ARPA-E PETRO program. Successful EHEC programs can advance 
the environmentally responsible deployment of biofuels produced by, or 
through the processing of, engineered plants to provide cost-effective, 
large-scale, and renewable substitute fuels.
    The purpose and need for agency action is to facilitate the 
deployment of EHECs through funding programs that support research, 
development, and demonstration of EHECs up to commercial scale. In the 
absence of DOE funding and support for EHEC programs, scientific 
understanding and innovation in the responsible use of EHEC crops and, 
ultimately, commercial deployment of EHECs would develop more slowly or 
not at all. Accordingly, DOE needs to take action to catalyze the 
development and deployment of EHEC crops.

Proposed Action

    DOE proposes to develop and implement one or more programs to 
catalyze the development and deployment of EHECs. A main component of 
these programs would be providing financial assistance to recipients, 
such as research institutions, independent contract growers, or 
commercial entities, for conducting confined field trials to test the 
effectiveness of EHECs. Confined field trials are experiments to 
evaluate the performance of a crop that are conducted under stringent 
terms and conditions designed to confine the experimental crop. 
Confined field trials may range in size and could include development-
scale (up to 5 acres), pilot-scale (up to 250 acres), or demonstration-
scale (up to 15,000 acres). Confined field trials are essential to test 
the viability of EHECs under real field conditions in local 
environments. Engineered crops within confined field trials are grown 
only after obtaining regulatory permits that identify procedures to 
limit or prevent the unintentional spread and establishment of the 
crop. Specifically, funding recipients would need to acquire a permit 
from the USDA APHIS before initiating each confined field trial. To 
acquire an APHIS permit, a funding recipient would need to prepare a 
permit application that provides detailed information about the nature 
of the crops to be introduced and the conditions that would be used to 
prevent the spread and establishment of the crop in the environment. 
Following a careful review of the permit application and a project-
specific review of the proposed permitting action under NEPA, APHIS may 
determine to issue a permit for the proposed confined field trial. The 
funding recipients could then carry out the confined field trial in 
accordance with the terms and conditions of the APHIS permit and 
applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. 
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), under the 
Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, regulates the 
planting, food, and feed use of transgenic plants into which genetic 
material has been inserted that imparts pesticidal properties. The Food 
and Drug Administration, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
Act, regulates transgenic food and feed crops or products from 
transgenic crops that may come in contact with food. Analyses from this 
PEIS would inform these permit applications as well.
    Examples of EHECs that may be used in confined field trials 
include, but are not limited to, crops being investigated under ARPA-
E's PETRO program such as genetically engineered varieties of camelina, 
loblolly pine, tobacco, giant cane, sugarcane, miscanthus, sorghum, and 
switchgrass. For additional information regarding ARPA-E's PETRO 
program and the specific technologies being investigated in PETRO 
projects, visit the PETRO program Web site at: http://arpa-e.energy.gov/?q=arpa-e-programs/petro.
    This PEIS will assess the potential environmental impacts of 
confined field trials in the southeastern United States. DOE's proposed 
action under this PEIS will be limited to the states of Alabama, 
Florida (excluding the Everglades/Southern Florida coastal plain 
ecoregion), Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. These states offer climate and 
agricultural conditions that favor cultivation of EHECs. If experience 
in these states indicates expansion of the EHEC program is warranted, 
additional states may be assessed in subsequent environmental reviews. 
DOE is proposing to use the EPA's Level II ecoregions (also known as 
``ecological regions'') to assess common and different potential 
environmental impacts of the proposed action. Ecoregions are determined 
based on the presence or absence of common flora, fauna, and non-living 
ecosystems characteristics. The EPA Level II ecoregions are presented 
on the EPA's ``Ecoregions Maps and GIS Resources'' Web page at: http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions/na_eco.htm#Level II.

Alternatives

    The PEIS will evaluate the range of reasonable implementation 
alternatives. DOE will consider a range of plant characteristics and 
engineered modifications when analyzing the potential environmental 
impacts of each alternative at the ecoregion level. The plant 
characteristics to be considered include, but are not limited to, 
potential for existing compatible relatives in the region, means of 
pollination, level of domestication, weediness and competitiveness, 
toxicity, alternative commercial uses, nativity and range, persistence 
in the environment, agricultural planting cycles and inputs (water, 
fertilizers, pesticides), and fire hazard potential. DOE is considering 
the following alternatives:
     Development-scale Confined Field Trials (up to 5 acres). 
This scale is small in size and common for testing whether a plant will 
grow under agricultural conditions.
     Pilot-scale Confined Field Trials (up to 250 acres). 
Pilot-scale field trials begin to experiment with an engineered plant 
in a larger sized area and inform decisions of whether to proceed to 
demonstration-scale. Pilot-scale field trials could involve multiple 
growers at multiple smaller non-contiguous locations.
     Demonstration-scale Confined Field Trials (up to 15,000 
acres). Demonstration-scale field trials test whether crops are 
commercially viable. This is the estimated acreage of EHECs necessary 
to demonstrate a hypothetical, small-scale, commercial ethanol plant. 
Demonstration-scale field trials could involve multiple growers at 
multiple smaller non-contiguous locations.

[[Page 37535]]

     No Action Alternative. Under the No Action Alternative, 
DOE would not provide financial assistance for the development and 
implementation of EHEC programs. Although some private-sector field 
trials involving EHEC crops may be undertaken under permits issued by 
APHIS, for purposes of the no-action analysis DOE assumes that 
development of EHEC crops would occur slowly or in an uncoordinated 
fashion, and that wide-scale commercial deployment would not occur.

Preliminary Environmental Issues for Consideration

    DOE issued a public Request for Information (RFI) (DE-FOA-0000908) 
on April 12, 2013 soliciting input regarding concerns about and 
barriers to the development of EHECs (including potential environmental 
impacts), such as those crops being investigated under the ARPA-E PETRO 
program and potential future DOE programs. Responses were submitted by 
individuals, academic/research institutions and laboratories, 
environmental and health organizations, and industry groups. Responses 
focused on potential environmental issues such as: invasiveness, 
lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural runoff; the potential 
for EHECs to compete with food and feed crops; specific plants to 
consider for EHEC programs; issues with the location, duration, and 
scale of field trials; the desirable environmental and commercial 
traits of EHECs; and specific agencies and organizations DOE should 
engage while developing EHEC programs. DOE considered the comments 
received from the RFI in developing this NOI.
    DOE proposes to address the environmental issues listed below. This 
list is not intended to be comprehensive or to provide a predetermined 
set of potential impacts. DOE invites comments on whether the following 
resource areas and impacts are appropriate to be addressed in this 
PEIS. The preliminary list of potentially affected resources or 
activities and their related environmental issues includes:
     Biological resources: including potential impacts to 
vegetation, wildlife, threatened or endangered species, migratory 
birds, ecologically sensitive habitats, alteration in weediness 
characteristics (invasiveness), biodiversity, and susceptibility to 
disease or insects;
     Water resources: including surface water, groundwater, 
soil hydrology, sedimentation, runoff, and erosion;
     Cultural and historic resources;
     Floodplains and wetlands;
     Socioeconomic resources: including food and feed crop 
supplies and prices, schools, housing, public services, employment, and 
local revenues;
     Transportation;
     Air quality: including regional air quality;
     Greenhouse gas emissions and climate change;
     Land use: including agriculture, farmland availability, 
recreation, timber harvesting, grazing, and soils;
     Environmental justice: including potential for 
disproportionately high and adverse impacts on minority and low-income 
populations;
     Noise;
     Wilderness areas;
     Wild and scenic rivers;
     Wildfires;
     Visual resources;
     Human health and safety;
     Terrorism and accidents; and
     Cumulative impacts: for each alternative, DOE will assess 
potential effects that could result from the incremental impacts of the 
action when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 
future actions, including potential impacts from commercial deployment 
and use of EHECs.

Public Scoping Process and Invitation To Comment

    Scoping Process: This NOI initiates the scoping process under NEPA, 
which helps guide the development of the Draft PEIS. To ensure that all 
issues related to the proposed action are addressed, DOE requests 
comments to further delineate the scope, including alternatives and 
potential environmental issues. Interested government agencies, 
American Indian tribes, private-sector organizations, and the general 
public are encouraged to submit comments or suggestions on the scope of 
the PEIS. DOE is particularly interested in receiving comments on the 
proposed action, such as: suggestions for reasonable alternatives; the 
environmental issues to be considered in the PEIS; methods for 
assessing the common and unique impacts of confined field trials in 
different ecoregions; and comments concerning the proposed scale of 
confined field trials. DOE encourages the submission of scientific 
data, studies, or research to support comments.
    DOE will conduct in-person and web-based scoping meetings to 
solicit input on the potential issues, concerns, and alternatives of 
the PEIS:

 July 9, 2013--Lexington Convention Center, 430 West Vine 
Street, Lexington, KY
 July 10, 2013--Mississippi e-Center at Jackson State 
University (Convention Hall), 1230 Raymond Road, Jackson, MS
 July 11, 2013--Raleigh Convention Center, 500 S. Salisbury 
Street, Raleigh, NC

    DOE will also host one web-based scoping meeting on July 17, 2013 
from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Information about the web-based 
meeting, how to register, and to sign up to provide comments, as well 
as information about the scoping meetings and comment instructions are 
provided on the PEIS Web site: http://engineeredhighenergycropsPEIS.com.
    The in-person scoping meetings will include a poster session from 
5:00 to 6:45 p.m. for the public to view exhibits related to the 
project and to talk with subject matter experts, followed by an open 
forum to provide oral comments from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. The open forum 
will begin with a presentation that will provide an overview of the 
project and the NEPA process and then the formal commenting session 
will begin. All oral comments will be transcribed by a court reporter 
to ensure that all comments are available to DOE for consideration 
during preparation of the Draft PEIS. Comments will be accepted at the 
scoping meetings, by mail, by email, and electronically through the 
online comment form on the PEIS Web site: http://engineeredhighenergycropsPEIS.com (see ADDRESSES). DOE will give equal 
consideration to oral and written comments.
    The scoping period will end July 22, 2013. Comments should be 
submitted by that date to ensure consideration (see ADDRESSES). DOE 
will consider comments emailed or postmarked after that date to the 
extent practicable.
    Personally Identifiable Information: Personally identifiable 
information, such as address, telephone number, email address, or other 
personal identifying information submitted in comments may become 
publicly available during the PEIS process. Individual commenters may 
choose to withhold personally identifiable information from their 
comments on the PEIS.
    PEIS Schedule and Availability: DOE will consider public scoping 
comments in preparing the Draft PEIS. After consideration of comments, 
DOE will issue the Draft PEIS for public review. The EPA will publish a 
notice of availability of the Draft PEIS in the Federal Register, which 
will begin a public comment period of at least 45 days. DOE will 
announce the methods for commenting on the Draft PEIS, and

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will hold at least one public hearing. DOE will consider public 
comments on the Draft PEIS and respond as appropriate in the Final 
PEIS. No sooner than 30 days following publication in the Federal 
Register of the EPA's notice of availability of the Final PEIS, DOE 
will issue a Record of Decision regarding the proposed action.

    Signed in Washington, DC, this 14th day of June, 2013.
Cheryl Martin,
Deputy Director for Commercialization, Advanced Research Projects 
Agency--Energy.
[FR Doc. 2013-14724 Filed 6-20-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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