Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 151 /Thursday, August 6, 1998 / Notices 42013

pertaining to the use of non-DOE

facilities for disposal of low-level and

mixed low-level waste is reserved.

Background

Under the Atomic Energy Act, DOE is

responsible for research, development,

and defense production involving

nuclear materials, and for managing

nuclear materials in a manner that

protects the public health and safety.

DOE employs service contractors to

carry out these responsibilities at

various sites in the United States. DOE

has broad authority under the Atomic

Energy Act to establish policies to carry

out its responsibilities and to

standardize its approach to using

service contractors (42 U.S.C. § 2201).

Issuance of a final version of today’s

draft Order and Manual will be an

exercise of that authority.

Orders and Manuals are part of the

DOE Directives System. The Directives

System is the means by which DOE

policies, requirements, and

responsibilities are developed and

communicated throughout DOE. Orders

establish management objectives and

requirements, and assign

responsibilities. Compliance with

Orders is mandatory for contractors to

the extent specified in their contract.

Manuals, also part of the DOE Directives

System, establish requirements that

supplement DOE Orders and provide

more instruction about how the

provisions of the Orders shall be carried

out.

It is DOE’s policy to use a consistent

management system for the

development, communication,

implementation, and periodic review of

its Orders. Most DOE Orders are

scheduled for review every two years to

determine whether they should be

continued, revised, or canceled.

Objectives to be achieved when revising

a DOE Order include providing more

effective program direction,

accountability, and performance

assurance.

As early as 1990, DOE began

analyzing, assessing, and reviewing the

existing Order on radioactive waste

management, DOE 5820.2A, which was

issued in September 1988. In 1991, DOE

initiated efforts to revise DOE 5820.2A.

During this initial revision effort, the

Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board

(DNFSB), an independent organization

with oversight of DOE, began to

examine low-level waste management at

DOE’s defense nuclear facilities in terms

of DOE’s past, present, and future

operations. In September 1994, the

DNFSB issued its Recommendation 94–

2, Conformance with Safety Standards

at DOE Low-Level Nuclear Waste and

Disposal Sites, which found that:

• DOE had not kept pace with the

evolution of commercial practices for

waste disposal;

• Six years after DOE 5820.2A was

issued, the performance assessment

process prescribed by the Order had not

been completed for any of DOE’s lowlevel waste disposal facilities;

• The performance assessments

excluded waste buried prior to

September 1988; and

• There was considerable uncertainty

in DOE’s projections of future low-level

waste volumes.

In May 1995, a draft revision to DOE

5820.2A (draft DOE 5820.2B) was

reviewed by DOE and the DNFSB staff.

Based on the DNFSB’s comments and

other comments resulting from the

internal DOE review, DOE’s Office of

Environmental Management committed

in 1996 to a new approach for revising

the existing Order. This new approach

involves a five-step process. First, DOE

used a systems engineering approach to

identify all functions and activities

necessary for managing DOE radioactive

waste. Second, the hazards that would

be posed by performing these functions

and activities were assessed, and actions

that would mitigate the hazards were

identified. Third, existing requirements

(e.g., other DOE directives, Nuclear

Regulatory Commission regulations, and

Environmental Protection Agency

standards) were reviewed and assessed

to determine if existing requirements

adequately addressed the identified

hazards. Fourth, DOE developed

proposed revisions to the procedural

and managerial aspects of its

requirements to address the identified

hazards consistent with existing

directives or regulations, and the

technical basis for each requirement was

documented. Finally, DOE is making the

draft Order and Manual available today

for public review. Following

consideration of any public comments,

a final DOE Order and Manual on

radioactive waste management, to be

designated DOE O 435.1 and DOE M

435.1, will be developed and issued.

In DOE’s implementation plan in

response to DNFSB Recommendation

94–2, DOE stated that it would issue a

final Order and Manual on radioactive

waste management by September 30,

1998. DOE also agreed to requests from

state regulators, the public, and the

National Governors Association that the

draft Order and Manual be made

available for public review prior to

issuance of the final Order and Manual.

Any comments on the draft Order and

Manual are needed by the date stated at

the beginning of this Notice to allow

DOE sufficient time to consider them

consistent with DOE’s commitment to

the DNFSB to issue the final Order and

Manual. The provisions of DOE 5820.2A

would remain in effect until the

effective date of DOE O 435.1 and DOE

M 435.1.

Review Under the National

Environmental Policy Act

The draft Order and Manual would

not change the substantive requirements

of the current Order, DOE 5820.2A. The

revisions reflected in the Order and

Manual include such procedural

measures as: requiring more

headquarters involvement in reviewing

and approving low-level waste disposal

facility performance assessments;

delegating other authorities to fieldlevel managers; requiring maintenance

of operating basis procedures; and

greater emphasis on performance-based

requirements rather than prescriptive

requirements. Because the draft Order

and Manual amend or revise the

existing Order but do not change its

environmental effect, DOE has

determined that this revision fits within

the class of actions eligible for

categorical exclusion found at paragraph

A5 of Appendix A to subpart D, 10 CFR

Part 1021. DOE has determined that

there are no extraordinary

circumstances related to the proposed

Order and Manual that may affect the

significance of the environmental

impacts of the proposed Order and

Manual, and that the proposed Order

and Manual are not ‘‘connected’’ to

other actions with potentially

significant impacts or to other proposed

actions with cumulatively significant

impacts. Accordingly, neither an

environmental impact statement nor an

environmental assessment is required.

Issued in Washington, DC July 31, 1998.

James M. Owendoff,

Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental

Management.

[FR Doc. 98–21040 Filed 8–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Project No. 7962–025]

Baldwin Hydroelectric Corporation;

Notice Denying Intervention and

Rejecting Request for Rehearing

July 31, 1998.

By unpublished order of June 5, 1998,

the Director, Office of Hydropower

Licensing (Director), granted the
42014 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 151 /Thursday, August 6, 1998 / Notices

1The license was originally issued in 1988, and

transferred to Baldwin in 1991. 42 FERC ¶ 62,007

and 57 FERC ¶ 62,203.

2See Kings River Conservation District, 36 FERC

¶ 61,365 (1986).

Baldwin Hydroelectric Corporation

(Baldwin), licensee of the Baldwin

Project No. 7962,1 an extension of time

from July 7, 1998, until January 7, 2000

to complete project construction. On

July 6, 1998, Trout Unlimited and its

New Hampshire and Vermont Councils

(Trout Unlimited) moved to intervene in

this post-licensing proceeding, and filed

a request for rehearing of the order

granting the extension.

The Commission entertains motions

to intervene in or requests for rehearing

of post-licensing proceedings only

where the actions at issue involve a

substantial or material change in either

the plan of project development or the

license’s terms and conditions, or can

adversely affect the rights of propertyholders in a manner not contemplated

by the license.2 Extending the time to

finish project construction makes no

substantial or material change to the

project, nor will it adversely affect any

property holder’s rights. Therefore Trout

Unlimited’s motion to intervene is

denied and its request for rehearing is

rejected.

This notice constitutes final agency

action. Requests for rehearing by the

Commission of this notice must be filed

within 30 days of the date of issuance

of this notice, pursuant to 18 CFR

385.713.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–20987 Filed 8–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP98–683–000]

Blazer Energy Corporation; Notice of

Petition for Declaratory Order

July 31, 1998.

Take notice that on July 22, 1998,

Blazer Energy Corporation (Blazer), a

wholly owned subsidiary of Statoil

Energy, Inc., 2899 Eisenhower Avenue,

Alexandria, VA 22314, filed a petition

pursuant to section 385.207(a)(2) of the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure for a declaratory order in

Docket No. CP98–683–000 requesting

that the Commission declare that certain

facilities Blazer proposes to acquire

from Columbia Gas Transmission

Corporation (Columbia) are gathering

facilities exempt from Commission

jurisdiction under Section 1(b) of the

Natural Gas Act (NGA), all as more fully

set forth in the petition which is on file

with the Commission and open to

public inspection.

Concurrently with this application,

Columbia filed an application, in Docket

No. CP98–684–000 (i) to abandon, by

sale to Blazer, certain certificated

facilities designated as Lines KA–7, KA–

12, KA–13, and the Carbon Compressor

Station, located in West Virginia; (ii) to

abandon the services provided through

the facilities to be sold; and (iii) to

abandon a point of exchange with CNG

Transmission Corporation and

permission to amend Columbia’s

Exchange Agreement X–35 to remove

that point.

Any person desiring to be heard or to

make any protest with reference to said

petition should on or before August 21,

1998, file with the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission, 888 First

Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20426, a

motion to intervene or a protest in

accordance with the requirements of the

Commission’s Rules of Practice and

Procedure (18 CFR 385.211 and 18 CFR

385.214) and the regulations under the

Natural Gas Act (18 CFR 157.10). All

protests filed with the Commission will

be considered by it in determining the

appropriate action to be taken but will

not serve to make protestants parties to

the proceeding. Any person wishing to

become a party in any proceeding

herein must file a motion to intervene

in accordance with the Commission’s

rules.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–20980 Filed 8–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. RP98–305–001]

Canyon Creek Compression Company;

Notice of Compliance Filing

July 31, 1998.

Take notice that on July 29, 1998,

Canyon Creek Compression Company

(Canyon) tendered for filing as part of its

FERC Gas Tariff, Third Revised Volume

No. 1, Substitute Third Revised Sheet

No. 193 and Second Revised Sheet No.

194 to be effective August 1, 1998.

Canyon states that these tariff sheets

were filed in compliance with the

Commission’s letter order issued July

17, 1998 in Docket No. RP98–305–000

(Letter Order). Canyon believes that the

tariff revisions made in the instant filing

will bring Canyon’s Tariff into full

compliance with the Commission’s

Order No. 587–G.

Canyon requested waiver of the

Commission’s Regulations to the extent

necessary to permit the tendered tariff

sheets to become effective August 1,

1998, pursuant to Order No. 587–G and

the Letter Order.

Canyon states that copies of the filing

are being mailed to Canyon’s customers,

interested state regulatory agencies and

all parties set out on the official service

list in Docket No. RP98–305.

Any person desiring to protest this

filing should file a protest with the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC

20426, in accordance with Section

385.211 of the Commission’s Rules and

Regulations. All such protests must be

filed as provided in Section 154.210 of

the Commission’s Regulations. Protests

Will be considered by the Commission

in determining the appropriate action to

be taken, but will not serve to make

protestants parties to the proceedings.

Copies of this filing are on file with the

Commission and are available for public

inspection in the Public Reference

Room.

David P. Boergers,

Acting Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–20989 Filed 8–5–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6717–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

[Docket No. CP98–691–000]

Caprock Pipeline Company; Notice of

Request Under Blanket Authorization

July 31, 1998.

Take notice that on July 24, 1998,

Caprock Pipeline Company (Caprock),

P.O. Box 281304, Lakewood, Colorado

80228, filed in Docket No. CP98–691–

000 a request pursuant to Sections

157.205 and 157.212 of the

Commission’s Regulations (18 CFR

157.205, 157.212) under the Natural Gas

Act (NGA) for authorization to construct

and operate a delivery tap and

appurtenant facilities in Yoakum

County, Texas, under Caprock’s blanket

certificate issued in Docket No. CP93–

269–000, pursuant to Section 7 of the

NGA, all as more fully set forth in the

request that is on file with the

Commission and open to public

inspection.

Caprock proposes to construct and

operate delivery point facilities on its

main transmission system in Texas for