Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 173 / Thursday, September 8, 2005 / Notices 53353 

meeting, NIST scientists presented 

preliminary reports on technical work 

tasks defined by resolutions adopted at 

the January plenary meeting and one 

additional resolution was adopted by 

the Development Committee. The 

Development Committee approved with 

edits initial recommendations for 

voluntary voting system guidelines at 

the April 20 and 21, 2005 meeting. The 

document, Voluntary Voting System 

Guidelines Version 1: Initial Report was 

submitted by the Development 

Committee to the EAC as required by 

HAVA on May 9, 2005. The EAC is 

currently accepting public comment on 

proposed voluntary voting system 

guidelines through September 30, 2005. 

Proposed guidelines and public 

comment procedures are available at 

http://www.eac.gov. 

CONTACT INFORMATION: Allan Eustis, 100 

Bureau Drive, Mail Stop 8900, 

Gaithersburg, MD 20899–8900, phone 

301–975–5099. Written comments 

concerning the Development 

Committee’s operations should be 

addressed to the contact person 

indicated above, or to voting@nist.gov. 

Thomas R. Wilkey, 

Executive Director, U.S. Election Assistance 

Commission. 

[FR Doc. 05–17944 Filed 9–6–05; 2:50 pm] 

BILLING CODE 6820–KF–M 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Notice of Availability of a Supplement 

Analysis for Transportation, Storage, 

Characterization, and Disposal of 

Transuranic Waste Currently Stored at 

the Battelle West Jefferson Site Near 

Columbus, OH 

AGENCY: Department of Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of a 

Supplement Analysis. 

SUMMARY: DOE has prepared a 

Supplement Analysis (SA) pursuant to 

DOE regulations implementing the 

National Environmental Policy Act 

(NEPA) at 10 CFR 1021.314. The SA 

addresses DOE’s proposal to ship 

approximately 37 cubic meters (1,307 

cubic feet [ft3]) of transuranic (TRU) 

waste from the Battelle Columbus 

Laboratory West Jefferson site near 

Columbus, Ohio, to the Savannah River 

Site (SRS), a DOE site near Aiken, South 

Carolina, or to Waste Control 

Specialists, LLC (WCS), a commercial 

facility in Andrews, Texas. The waste 

was generated as part of the cleanup of 

the West Jefferson site and consists of 

approximately 12 cubic meters of 

Contact Handled (CH) TRU waste and 

approximately 25 cubic meters of 

Remote Handled (RH) TRU waste. For 

purposes of analysis, DOE assumed that 

at SRS, the CH–TRU waste would be 

characterized and transported to WIPP 

for disposal, and the RH–TRU waste 

would be stored for up to 5 years; at 

WCS, the CH–TRU and RH–TRU waste 

would be stored for up to 5 years. The 

waste would be maintained in a safe, 

secure manner until it can be processed 

and disposed of at the Waste Isolation 

Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, NM. 

The Battelle West Jefferson facility is 

privately owned; however, as part of the 

closeout of its nuclear materials 

research contract, DOE is assisting in 

the remediation of the site. Contract 

terms specify that all radioactive waste 

generated during the facility cleanup is 

‘‘DOE-owned’’ for the purposes of 

disposal. The TRU waste must be 

shipped off-site by December 31, 2005, 

as Battelle’s Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) license will expire at 

that time. 

In the final Waste Management 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (WM PEIS, DOE/EIS–0200, 

May 1997), DOE analyzed the potential 

environmental impacts of the 

management (treatment and storage) of 

TRU waste at DOE sites. The Record of 

Decision for the Department of Energy’s 

Waste Management Program: Treatment 

and Storage of Transuranic Waste (63 

FR 3629 (1998)) (TRU Waste ROD) 

documented DOE’s decision that, except 

for the Sandia National Laboratory, 

which would ship its waste to Los 

Alamos National Laboratory, each DOE 

site that generated or will generate TRU 

waste will prepare and store its TRU 

waste on the site until it can be 

disposed of at WIPP. DOE noted that in 

the future, it may decide to ship TRU 

waste from sites where it may be 

impractical to prepare the waste for 

disposal to sites where DOE has or will 

have the necessary capability. The sites 

that could receive such shipments of 

TRU waste are the Idaho National 

Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho; the 

Oak Ridge Reservation, near Oak Ridge, 

Tennessee; SRS; and the Hanford site, 

near Richland, Washington. 

Based on the SA, DOE has determined 

that a supplement to the WM PEIS or a 

new EIS is not needed. DOE plans to 

issue an amended Record of Decision 

(ROD) under the Waste Management 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (WM PEIS) for this waste no 

sooner than 30 days from the 

publication of this Notice. 

DATES: DOE will consider all public 

comments on this matter submitted by 

October 11, 2005 before issuing a ROD. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

directed to: Mr. Harold Johnson, 

Carlsbad Field Office, U.S. Department 

of Energy, 4021 National Parks 

Highway, Carlsbad, NM 88220, 

Telephone: 505–234–7349, E-mail: 

harold.johnson@wipp.ws. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Copies of the Supplement Analysis for 

Transportation, Storage, 

Characterization, and Disposal of 

Transuranic Waste Currently Stored at 

the Battelle West Jefferson Site near 

Columbus, Ohio (DOE/EIS–0200–SA–

02) will be available on DOE’s Office of 

Environmental Management Web site at: 

http://www.em.doe.gov and on DOE’s 

NEPA Web site at http:// 

www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/whatsnew/html. 

To request printed copies of this 

document, please write or call: The 

Center for Environmental Management 

Information, P.O. Box 23769, 

Washington, DC 20026–3769, 

Telephone: 1–800–736–3282 (in 

Washington, DC: 202–863–5084). 

For further information regarding the 

storage characterization, and disposal of 

Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste, 

contact: Mr. Harold Johnson, Carlsbad 

Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy, 

4021 National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, 

NM 88220, Telephone: 505–234–7349. 

For further information on the DOE 

program for the management of TRU 

waste, contact: Ms. Lynne Smith, WIPP 

Office EM–13, Office of Environmental 

Management, U.S. Department of 

Energy, 19001 Germantown Road, 

Germantown, MD 20874, Telephone: 

301–903–6828. 

For information on DOE’s NEPA 

process, contact: Ms. Carol Borgstrom, 

Director, Office of NEPA Policy and 

Compliance, EH–42, U.S. Department of 

Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, 

SW., Washington, DC 20585, Telephone 

202–586–4600, or leave a message at 1–

800–472–2756. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. 

Department of Energy (DOE) is 

responsible for the disposal of 

approximately 37 cubic meters (m3) 

(1,307 cubic feet [ft3]) of transuranic 

(TRU) waste generated as part of the 

cleanup of the Battelle Columbus 

Laboratory West Jefferson site near 

Columbus, Ohio, and currently stored 

on-site. TRU waste is waste that 

contains alpha particle-emitting 

radionuclides with atomic numbers 

greater than uranium (92) and half-lives 

greater than 20 years in concentrations 

greater than 100 nanocuries per gram of 

waste. 

TRU waste is categorized as either 

contact handled (CH) or remote handled 

(RH), based on the radiation level at the 

53354 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 173 / Thursday, September 8, 2005 / Notices 

1Record of Decision for the Solid Waste Program, 

Hanford Site, Richland, Washington: Storage and 

Treatment of Low-Level Waste and Mixed LowLevel Waste; Disposal of Low-Level Waste and 

Mixed Low-Level Waste; and Storage, Processing, 

and Certification of Transuranic Waste for 

Shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, 69 FR 

39449 (2004) (Hanford Solid Waste ROD). 

surface of the waste container. Some 

TRU waste is also mixed waste, having 

both radioactive and hazardous 

components. 

The Battelle West Jefferson facility is 

privately owned; however, as part of the 

closeout of its nuclear materials 

research contract, DOE is assisting in 

the remediation of the site. Contract 

terms specify that all radioactive waste 

generated during the facility cleanup is 

‘‘DOE-owned’’ for the purposes of 

disposal. DOE needs to ship the TRU 

waste off-site by December 31, 2005, to 

comply with Battelle’s Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission (NRC) license, 

which will expire at that time. Removal 

of the TRU waste from the Battelle West 

Jefferson site is also required to allow 

site closure in fiscal year (FY) 2006. 

In the Waste Management 

Programmatic Environmental Impact 

Statement (WM PEIS), DOE analyzed 

the potential environmental impacts of 

the management (treatment and storage) 

of TRU waste at DOE sites. The Record 

of Decision for the Department of 

Energy’s Waste Management Program: 

Treatment and Storage of Transuranic 

Waste (63 FR 3629 (1998)) (TRU Waste 

ROD) documented DOE’s decision that, 

with the exception of the Sandia 

National Laboratory, which would send 

its waste to Los Alamos National 

Laboratory, each DOE site that has 

generated or will generate TRU waste 

will prepare and store its TRU waste on 

the site, pending disposal at WIPP. 

In an amended WM PEIS TRU Waste 

ROD issued in 2002, DOE decided to 

ship the Battelle West Jefferson TRU 

waste to the Hanford Site for storage and 

characterization prior to disposal at the 

Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), 

located near Carlsbad, New Mexico [67 

FR 56989 (2002)]. After issuing that 

decision, DOE completed three 

shipments of the Battelle West Jefferson 

TRU waste to Hanford (approximately 5 

m3 [177 ft3]). In March 2003, DOE 

suspended further shipments of this 

TRU waste to Hanford, and 

subsequently a preliminary injunction 

stopping further shipments of TRU 

waste to Hanford was issued by the U.S. 

District Court for the Eastern District of 

Washington in response to actions filed 

by the State of Washington and 

Columbia Riverkeeper. 

Shipments of TRU waste to Hanford 

for storage and characterization prior to 

disposal at WIPP remained suspended 

pending completion of the Hanford 

Solid (Radioactive and Hazardous) 

Waste Program Environmental Impact 

Statement (Hanford Solid Waste EIS) 

(DOE 2004a) and lifting of the 

preliminary injunction. The Hanford 

Solid Waste EIS was completed in 

January 2004, and a Record of Decision 

(ROD) was issued in June 2004.1 On 

May 13, 2005, the district court issued 

a decision allowing the shipment of 

non-mixed TRU waste from the Battelle 

West Jefferson site to Hanford. However, 

the court has retained a preliminary 

injunction against off site shipments of 

mixed TRU to Hanford. 

Although shipment of non-mixed 

TRU waste to Hanford is no longer 

enjoined, DOE has discovered 

information that calls into question the 

accuracy of some of the analyses 

contained in the Hanford Solid Waste 

EIS. Until these questions can be 

addressed, DOE has decided not to ship 

additional waste from Battelle West 

Jefferson to Hanford. Nevertheless, by 

the end of 2005, DOE needs to ship all 

Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste to offsite storage so that Battelle can comply 

with its NRC license and site closure 

can occur in FY 2006. 

DOE is now proposing to ship the 

Battelle West Jefferson TRU waste to the 

Savannah River Site (SRS), a DOE site 

near Aiken, South Carolina, or to Waste 

Control Specialists, LLC (WCS), a 

commercial facility in Andrews, Texas. 

For purposes of analysis, at SRS, the 

CH-TRU waste would be characterized 

and transported to WIPP for disposal, 

and the RH-TRU waste would be stored 

for up to 5 years pending ultimate 

disposal at WIPP. At WCS, the CH- and 

RH-TRU waste would be stored for up 

to 5 years pending ultimate disposal at 

WIPP. 

DOE has a Hazardous Waste Facility 

Permit modification request pending 

before the New Mexico Environment 

Department that seeks to modify the 

characterization requirements for CHTRU waste, apply those modified 

requirements to RH-TRU waste, and 

allow DOE to dispose of RH-TRU waste 

at WIPP. If DOE’s request is granted 

without substantial modification, it may 

be possible to characterize the Battelle 

West Jefferson waste based on 

knowledge of the contents of the waste, 

without performing sampling and 

analysis currently required for CH-TRU 

waste under the WIPP Hazardous Waste 

Facility Permit. If characterization can 

be performed without additional 

sampling and analysis, DOE would ship 

the stored waste directly from SRS or 

WCS to WIPP. 

If the WIPP TRU waste 

characterization requirements that are 

established by the hazardous waste 

facility permit modification cannot be 

met at SRS or WCS, then DOE would 

ship the waste from SRS or WCS to 

Hanford, Idaho National Laboratory 

(INL) (formerly known as the Idaho 

National Engineering and 

Environmental Laboratory), or Oak 

Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for 

characterization prior to shipment to 

WIPP for disposal. If SRS can meet the 

characterization requirements, but WCS 

cannot, the waste might also be shipped 

from WCS to SRS for characterization 

prior to shipment to WIPP for disposal. 

Future decisions regarding where to 

characterize the Battelle West Jefferson 

TRU waste would be made based on (1) 

consideration of the characterization 

requirements that are eventually 

established for that waste, and (2) the 

characterization capabilities existing or 

to be established at the different DOE 

sites to meet those requirements. After 

TRU waste characterization 

requirements have been established, if 

additional characterization were 

needed, DOE would conduct 

appropriate further National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) 

review, for any additional 

characterization activities if necessary, 

including the associated transportation 

and shipment of the TRU waste to WIPP 

for disposal. 

DOE has prepared the SA in 

accordance with DOE NEPA regulations 

(10 CFR 1021.314) to determine whether 

the proposed shipment of the Battelle 

West Jefferson TRU waste for storage at 

SRS or WCS prior to disposal at WIPP 

is a substantial change to the proposal 

or whether there are significant new 

circumstances or information, relevant 

to environmental concerns, such that a 

supplement to the WM PEIS or a new 

EIS would be needed. DOE has 

concluded, based on the analysis in the 

SA that the impacts of shipping the 

waste to WCS or SRS would be very 

small and would not add significantly to 

impacts reported in prior NEPA 

analyses. Accordingly, DOE has 

determined that a supplement to the 

WM–PEIS or a new EIS is not needed. 

DOE plans to issue an amended ROD 

under the WM PEIS for this waste no 

sooner than 30 days from the 

publication of this Notice. DOE will 

consider all public comments on this 

matter submitted by October 11, 2005 

before issuing a ROD. 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 173 / Thursday, September 8, 2005 / Notices 53355 

Issued in Washington, DC, September 1, 

2005. 

James A. Rispoli, 

Assistant Secretary for Environmental 

Management. 

[FR Doc. 05–17791 Filed 9–7–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket Nos. RT04–1–015, ER04–48–015] 

Southwest Power Pool, Inc.; Notice of 

Filing 

August 31, 2005. 

Take notice that on August 26, 2005, 

Southwest Power Pool, Inc., (SPP) 

submitted an Independent Market 

Monitoring Service Agreement with 

Boston Pacific Company, Inc., as part of 

SPP’s Open Access Transmission Tariff 

pursuant to the request of the 

Commission Staff. SPP requests an 

effective date of July 1, 2005. 

Any person desiring to intervene or to 

protest this filing must file in 

accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of 

the Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedure (18 CFR 385.211, 385.214). 

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 proceeding. Any person wishing to 

become a party must file a notice of 

intervention or motion to intervene, as 

appropriate. Such notices, motions, or 

protests must be filed on or before the 

comment date. Anyone filing a motion 

to intervene or protest must serve a copy 

of that document on the Applicant and 

all the parties in this proceeding. 

The Commission encourages 

electronic submission of protests and 

interventions in lieu of paper using the 

‘‘eFiling’’ link at http://www.ferc.gov. 

Persons unable to file electronically 

should submit an original and 14 copies 

of the protest or intervention to the 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20426. 

This filing is accessible on-line at 

http://www.ferc.gov, using the 

‘‘eLibrary’’ link and is available for 

review in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room in Washington, DC. 

There is an ‘‘eSubscription’’ link on the 

Web site that enables subscribers to 

receive email notification when a 

document is added to a subscribed 

docket(s). For assistance with any FERC 

Online service, please email 

FERCOnlineSupport@ferc.gov, or call 

(866) 208–3676 (toll free). For TTY, call 

(202) 502–8659. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on September 16, 2005. 

Linda Mitry, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E5–4872 Filed 9–7–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Combined Notice of Filings #1 

August 31, 2005. 

Take notice that the Commission 

received the following electric rate 

filings: 

Docket Numbers: ER96–719–007. 

Applicants: MidAmerican Energy 

Company. 

Description: MidAmerican Energy 

Company submits Second Substitute 

Sheet No. 5 to FERC Gas Tariff, Original 

Volume No. 9, amending its compliance 

filing submitted on 7/1/05 in Docket No. 

ER96–719–005. 

Filed Date: 08/24/2005. 

Accession Number: 20050826–0187. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on Wednesday, September 14, 2005. 

Docket Numbers: ER01–642–003. 

Applicants: Cottonwood Energy 

Company LP. 

Description: Cottonwood Energy 

Company, LP submits a notice of change 

in status and a revised market-based rate 

tariff and a revised market-based rate 

tariff. 

Filed Date: 08/24/2005. 

Accession Number: 20050826–0188. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on Wednesday, September 14, 2005. 

Docket Numbers: ER04–810–001. 

Applicants: TransAlta Centralia 

Generating L.L.C. 

Description: TransAlta Centralia 

Generation, L.L.C. submitted a 

compliance filing to inform the 

Commission that the Parties to the 

settlement agreement approved by the 

Commission in the order issued 4/19/ 

05, 111 FERC ¶ 61,087 (2005), have 

recalculated and agreed to a revised 

service factor beginning 10/1/05 in 

accordance with the computation set 

forth in TransAlta’s Rate Schedule FERC 

No. 1. 

Filed Date: 08/26/2005. 

Accession Number: 20050829–0208. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on Friday, September 16, 2005. 

Docket Numbers: ER05–1395–000. 

Applicants: Covanta Delaware Valley, 

L.P. 

Description: Covanta Delaware Valley, 

L.P. submits a notice of succession 

notifying the Commission that, as the 

result of name change, it adopts 

American Ref-Fuel Company of 

Delaware Valley, L.P.’s Supplement No. 

3 to FERC Electric Rate Schedule 

Original Volume No. 1 and FERC 

Electric Tariff Original Volume No. 3 

and submits amendments to the rate 

schedules and tariffs to reflect the name 

change. 

Filed Date: 08/26/2005. 

Accession Number: 20050829–0207. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on Friday, September 16, 2005. 

Docket Numbers: ER05–1396–000. 

Applicants: Covanta Essex Company. 

Description: Covanta Essex Company 

submits a notice of succession notifying 

the Commission that, as a result of a 

name change, it adopts American RefFuel Company of Essex County’s 

Supplement No. 3 to Rate Schedule 

FERC No. 1 and FERC Electric Tariff, 

Original Volume No. 2 and submits 

amendments to the rate schedules and 

tariffs to reflect the name change. 

Filed Date: 08/26/2005. 

Accession Number: 20050829–0206. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on Friday, September 16, 2005. 

Docket Numbers: ER05–1397–000. 

Applicants: Covanta Hempstead 

Company. 

Description: Covanta Hempstead 

Company submits a notice of succession 

to notifying the Commission that as the 

result of a name change, it adopts 

American Ref-Fuel Company of 

Hempstead’s FERC Electric Tariff, 

Original Volume No. 1 as its own and 

submits amendments to the rate 

schedule to reflect the name change. 

Filed Date: 08/26/2005. 

Accession Number: 20050829–0205. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on Friday, September 16, 2005. 

Docket Numbers: ER05–1398–000. 

Applicants: Covanta Niagara, L.P. 

Description: Covanta Niagara, L.P. 

submits a notice of succession notifying 

the Commission that as a result of a 

name change, it adopts American RefFuel Company of Niagara, L.P.’s FERC 

Electric Tariff, Original Volume No. 1 as 

its own and submits amendments to the 

Rate Schedule to reflect the name 

change. 

Filed Date: 08/26/2005. 

Accession Number: 20050829–0204. 

Comment Date: 5 p.m. Eastern Time 

on Friday, September 16, 2005. 

Docket Numbers: ER05–1399–000. 

Applicants: Mississippi Power 

Company. 

Description: Mississippi Power 

Company submits a request for