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[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 39 (Tuesday, February 28, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10840-10841]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-4877]

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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Environmental Management; Proposed Site Treatment Plans

AGENCY:Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) is delaying submission 
of the Proposed Site Treatment Plans (Proposed Plans) for developing 
treatment capacity and technologies for mixed radioactive and hazardous 
waste required by the Federal Facility Compliance Act (FFCAct or Act). 
DOE expects to submit the Proposed Plans to the State or the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as appropriate, at the end of 
March 1995, but in any event no later than April 6, 1995. Originally 
scheduled for submission in February 1995, DOE is revising the 
submission date for the Proposed Plans with the support of the affected 
States and EPA to allow additional time for further discussions on 
schedules for developing treatment capacity in light of anticipated 
funding limitations. This revised date still provides the States and 
EPA the six months allowed by the FFCAct to solicit public comments and 
approve the Site Treatment Plans, and to issue compliance orders by 
October 6, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Additional information on the Site Treatment Plan 
development process and related activities can be obtained from the 
Center for Environmental Management Information at 1-800-7EM-DATA (1-
800-736-3282).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as amended by 
the FFCAct, requires DOE to prepare Site Treatment Plans for developing 
treatment capacities and technologies for treating mixed waste for each 
site at which DOE stores or generates mixed waste (section 3021 (b)). 
Mixed waste is defined by the FFCAct as waste containing both hazardous 
waste subject to RCRA, and source, special nuclear, or by-product 
material subject to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Site Treatment Plans 
are being prepared for approximately 48 sites located in 22 States.
    DOE must submit the Site Treatment Plan to the State or EPA, as 
appropriate, for approval, disapproval, or approval with modification. 
The FFCAct provides six months for the regulatory agency to review the 
Plan and make it publicly available. Upon approval, the agency is to 
issue an Order requiring compliance with the approved Plan. Sites that 
are in compliance with approved Plans and Orders by October 1995 will 
not be subject to fines and penalties related to the storage 
prohibitions under section 3004(j) of RCRA.
    After consultation with affected States and EPA, DOE issued a 
Federal Register Notice on April 6, 1993 (58 FR 17875), which set a 
schedule for submission of the Site Treatment Plans in three stages. 
The first stage, the Conceptual Site Treatment Plans, were submitted in 
October 1993 and described a wide range of possible treatment 
alternatives for each mixed waste stream. The Draft Plans were 
submitted in August 1994, and included one or two options identified by 
the site, with input from the State, as the preferred treatment for 
each mixed waste stream. After further analysis of the preferred 
options for the DOE complex as a whole, discussions among the States, 
and consideration of public comments, DOE planned to submit Proposed 
Site Treatment Plans in February 1995 to the appropriate regulatory 
agency (i.e., the State or EPA).

II. Rescheduling of Proposed Plan Submittal Date

    DOE has worked closely with the States and EPA, which will approve 
and enforce the final Plans, throughout the Site Treatment Plan 
development process. The National Governors Association (NGA) is 
facilitating interactions among the States at the national level under 
a cooperative agreement with DOE. At an NGA-sponsored meeting early in 
December 1994 that included affected States, EPA, and Tribal 
governments, several States asked DOE to consider delaying submission 
of the Proposed Site Treatment Plans to allow additional time for 
discussions on funding availability and the potential impacts of 
current and future budgetary constraints on schedules for constructing 
new mixed waste treatment facilities. After NGA confirmed with the 
other States involved in the FFCAct process that such a delay was 
acceptable, DOE postponed submittal of the Proposed Plans.
    DOE expects to submit the Proposed Plans to the appropriate 
regulatory agencies for approval at the end of March 1995, but in any 
event no later than April 6, 1995. This will still allow the States and 
EPA the six months provided by the Act to review the Proposed Plans and 
make them available to the public, and to issue Compliance Orders by 
October 6, 1995. Sites that are in compliance with approved Plans and 
Compliance Orders [[Page 10841]] after October 6, 1995, are not subject 
to fines and penalties related to the RCRA storage prohibitions for 
their mixed waste.

III. Activities in Progress

    During January and February 1995, DOE site offices met with 
representatives of the States that host the largest DOE facilities to 
provide information on the overall Environmental Management budget for 
their sites, and the work in progress and work that needs to be 
accomplished within that budget.1 These general discussions were 
supplemented by specific discussions on the activities and associated 
schedules to be proposed in the Site Treatment Plans, along with 
potential funding impacts on those activities. The smaller DOE sites 
were also encouraged to hold discussions with their States during this 
period on their proposed schedules and funding situation.

    \1\ The host States are Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, 
Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington.
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    In addition, in February 1995, DOE, the affected States, EPA, and 
Tribal representatives again met collectively to discuss funding issues 
related to all of DOE's environmental management activities as well as 
to Site Treatment Plan activities, and to discuss strategies for 
working cooperatively to address anticipated funding limitations.
    DOE believes that communication with, and the involvement of 
affected States, EPA, Tribal representatives, and other interested 
parties is essential in developing Proposed Plans that are acceptable 
to the regulatory agency and the public. However, DOE does not expect 
that all concerns or questions about the schedules for new facilities, 
particularly for large and costly facilities, will be resolved before 
the Proposed Plans are submitted. DOE, like many other Federal 
agencies, will face increasingly limited funding in the future. 
Accordingly, DOE anticipates that discussions will continue with 
regulatory agencies and the public after the Proposed Plans are 
submitted on the relative priority of mixed waste treatment and other 
environmental management activities at each site and across the DOE 
complex before the Plans and schedules are approved.

IV. For Further Information

    Additional information on the development process for the Site 
Treatment Plans, a list of facilities preparing Plans and their 
locations, and related activities can be obtained from the DOE Center 
for Environmental Management Information at 1-800-7EM-DATA (1-800-736-
3282), or through the Internet at address http://www.em.doe.gov/ffcabb/ffcamain.html.

    Issued in Washington DC on February 22, 1995.
Jill E. Lytle,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management, Office of 
Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 95-4877 Filed 2-27-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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