[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 5, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17346-17349]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-8359]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Office of Environmental Management; Proposed Site Treatment Plans

AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Today's notice announces the availability of the Department of 
Energy's (DOE) Proposed Site Treatment Plans (Proposed Plans) for 
treating its mixed radioactive and hazardous waste (mixed waste). As 
required by the Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992 (FFCAct or the 
Act), DOE prepared Proposed Plans for 40 sites in 20 States where DOE 
stores or generates mixed waste. The Proposed Plans identify the 
proposed treatment option and related schedule for development of the 
option for each type of mixed waste. Each DOE site is submitting its 
Proposed Plan to either its State regulators, or as appropriate, the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). DOE faces increasingly 
tight funding in the near-term, and anticipates that funding will 
continue to be constrained in the future. The schedules in the Proposed 
Plans reflect those constraints. DOE expects, that for some sites, 
further discussion with the State or Federal regulators concerning 
priorities will result in modified schedules in the approved Plans. The 
Proposed Plans are available at each site for review by the public. 
Public comments on the Proposed Plans will be considered by the 
appropriate regulatory agency in reviewing the plan. Additional 
opportunities for public involvement in the FFCAct process will be 
offered at many sites by the DOE and State or Federal regulators.

DATES: Written comments on the Proposed Plans should be sent to the 
recipients identified in Table 1 by July 6, 1995. Written comments 
received on or before July 6, 1995, will be considered by the State/
Federal regulators in reviewing the Proposed Plans.

ADDRESSES: Table 1 lists the recipient to which written comments should 
be sent on each of the Proposed Plans. Section V of Supplementary 
Information lists the Reading Rooms where the Proposed Plans may be 
reviewed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To obtain general information on a 
site's Proposed Plan or for the address of a Reading Room where 
Proposed Plans may be viewed, contact the Center for Environmental 
Management Information at 1-800-7EM-DATA (1-800-736-3282).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    Section 3021(b) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 
(RCRA), as amended by the Federal Facility Compliance Act of 1992 
(FFCAct or the Act), requires the DOE to prepare Site Treatment Plans 
for developing treatment capacities and technologies for mixed waste at 
each site where the DOE stores or generates mixed waste. Mixed waste is 
defined by the FFCAct as waste containing both hazardous 
[[Page 17347]] waste subject to RCRA, and source, special nuclear, or 
by-product material subject to the Atomic Energy Act of 1954. DOE must 
submit the Site Treatment Plans to the State or U.S. EPA, as 
appropriate, for approval, disapproval, or approval with modification.
    The FFCAct allows for a six month period during which the 
regulatory agency reviews the Proposed Plan, makes it available to the 
public, and approves, disapproves, or modifies the Proposed Plan. Upon 
approval, the regulatory agency is to issue an Order requiring 
compliance with the Proposed Plan. Sites that are in compliance with 
approved Plans and Orders by October 6, 1995, are not subject to fines 
and penalties related to the storage prohibition of section 3004(j) of 
RCRA as long as they continue to comply with their Plan and Order.
    After consultation with State and Federal regulators, the DOE 
published a Federal Register Notice on April 6, 1993 (58 FR 17875), 
which announced the DOE's plan to submit the Site Treatment Plans in 
three stages. In the first stage, Conceptual Site Treatment Plans 
describing a wide range of possible treatment alternatives for each 
mixed waste at each site were submitted in October 1993. Draft Site 
Treatment Plans (Draft Plans) narrowing the list of options to one or 
two identified by each site, with input from the State and Federal 
regulators, were submitted and announced in the Federal Register on 
August 31, 1994, (59 FR 44979). The DOE planned to submit Proposed Site 
Treatment Plans containing the DOE's preferred option for treatment of 
each mixed waste to the appropriate regulatory agency in February 1995. 
However, after consultation with the States and U.S. EPA, DOE announced 
in the Federal Register on February 28, 1995 (60 FR 10840) that the 
date for submitting the Proposed Plans was revised to no later than 
April 6, 1995, to allow additional time for further discussions on 
schedules for developing treatment capacity in light of anticipated 
funding limitations.

II. Proposed Site Treatment Plans

    After submission of the Draft Plans in August 1994, the DOE, with 
input from the State and Federal regulators, evaluated the treatment 
options listed in the Draft Plans for the mixed waste at each site. The 
goal of this evaluation was to gain a better understanding of the 
appropriate configuration of treatment systems across the DOE complex, 
and to eliminate redundancies and inefficiencies among the Draft Plans. 
Discussions with the regulators led to further refinement of the 
treatment configuration. The Proposed Plans reflect the results of this 
evaluation and present the DOE's proposed option for treating each 
site's mixed waste. The Proposed Plans follow a common format, 
consisting of a Background Volume and a Compliance Plan Volume. The 
Background Volume describes the site's treatment options, including the 
associated technical uncertainties and funding constraints, to the 
extent they are known. The Compliance Plan Volume identifies the 
preferred treatment option(s) and associated schedules, and broadly 
describes provisions for implementing and updating the Proposed Plan 
once it is approved. The Compliance Plan Volume is intended to contain 
requirements that will ultimately be enforced through a Consent or 
Compliance Order. In addition to identifying treatment options, DOE is 
also evaluating options for disposal of treatment residuals at the 
request of the States. The Background Volume of each Proposed Plan 
contains a description of the process for evaluating disposal options.
    DOE will prepare a National Summary of the Proposed Site Treatment 
Plans that compiles the information contained in the individual site 
Proposed Plans and discusses the complex-wide treatment configuration. 
The National Summary Report will describe the process used to develop 
the Proposed Plans, the treatment options for each mixed waste, 
technology development activities, and other related topics. The 
National Summary Report is expected to be available to the public by 
the end of June 1995.

III. Activities Occurring Between Submission of the Draft Plans and 
Preparation of the Proposed Plans

    In February 1995, between submission of the Draft Plans and 
preparation of the Proposed Plans, the DOE, the State and Federal 
regulators, and Tribal representatives met to discuss future funding of 
DOE's Environmental Management Program, its Site Treatment Plans, and 
strategies for working cooperatively to address anticipated funding 
limitations.
    Because of recent changes in funding projections, the schedules in 
the Proposed Plans have not yet been fully integrated with those of 
other DOE sites from a complex-wide perspective. Based on discussions 
concerning its Fiscal Year 1997 Budget, the DOE anticipates that 
funding will continue to be constrained. Accordingly, DOE anticipates 
that after submission of the Proposed Plans and before Proposed Plans 
and schedules are approved discussions will continue with regulatory 
agencies and the public concerning the priority of mixed waste 
treatment and other activities.

IV. Sites No Longer Preparing Proposed Site Treatment Plans

    DOE has prepared Proposed Plans for 40 sites in 20 States. However, 
because two of the Proposed Plans each address more than one site, only 
37 Proposed Plans have been submitted for approval. The Idaho National 
Engineering Laboratory and the Argonne Laboratory-West are located on a 
single federally-owned reservation near Idaho Falls, Idaho, and both 
are addressed within the Proposed Plan submitted by the U.S. DOE Idaho 
Operations Office. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory, K-25 Site, and Y-
12 Plant are all located within the federally-owned Oak Ridge 
Reservation near Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and are addressed within the 
Proposed Plan submitted by the U.S. DOE Oak Ridge Operations Office. 
Additionally, eight sites that initially developed Conceptual or Draft 
Site Treatment Plans have not submitted Proposed Plans for approval. 
These sites are: (1) General Electric, Vallecitos Nuclear Center, 
Vallecitos, California; (2) Sandia National Laboratory, Livermore, 
California; (3) Pinellas Plant, Largo, Florida; (4) Site A/Plot M Palos 
Forest Preserve, Cook County, Illinois; (5) Kansas City Plant, Kansas 
City, Missouri; (6) Middlesex Sampling Plant, Middlesex, New Jersey; 
(7) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, New Jersey; and (8) 
the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 
These sites are not submitting Proposed Plans for one or more of the 
following reasons: (1) The site is not generating or storing mixed 
waste at this time; (2) the site no longer has mixed waste because the 
waste has been consolidated at another site or has been treated; (3) 
the site can already treat the waste it generates on a routine basis in 
compliance with RCRA; or (4) it has not yet been determined through the 
environmental restoration process whether mixed waste subject to RCRA 
land disposal restrictions will be generated.
    These eight sites have submitted and will update information on 
their mixed waste compliance to the regulatory agencies as needed. In 
the future, if any of these sites generate mixed waste that cannot be 
treated in compliance with RCRA, the site will propose a Plan for 
approval that meets the requirements of the Act. In addition, the 
Hanford Site in Richland, Washington, has signed an agreement with the 
State of Washington that addresses mixed waste treatment as 
[[Page 17348]] specified in the FFCAct. Therefore, the Hanford site is 
not required to prepare a Site Treatment Plan; however, the Hanford 
Site and its State regulators are actively participating in the FFCAct 
discussions.

V. Availability of Proposed Site Treatment Plans and Opportunity for 
Comment

    The Proposed Site Treatment Plans for all DOE sites subject to the 
FFCAct will be available for review at the site's public reading room 
or at nearby locations by mid-April 1995. To review or request 
information on a specific Proposed Plan, contact the Center for 
Environmental Management Information at 1-800-7EM-DATA (1-800-736-
3282). Full sets of the Proposed Plans from the 40 sites will also be 
available for review by mid-April 1995 at the following locations:

U.S. Department of Energy Headquarters Reading Room, Room 1E-190, 
1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, D.C. 20585, 202/586-6025
Center for Environmental Management Information, 470 L'Enfant Plaza 
East, SW., Suite 7110, Washington, D.C. 20024, 800/736-3282
Albuquerque Operations Office, National Atomic Museum, P.O. Box 
5400, Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, NM 87185-5400, 505/845-
6670
Hanford Site, U.S. DOE Reading Room, Washington State University, 
Tri-Cities, 100 Sprout Road, Room 130, Richland, WA 99352, 509/376-
8583
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, INEL Technical Library, 1776 
Science Center Drive, P.O. Box 1625, Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2300, 
208/526-1185
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, DOE Reading Room, 1301 Clay 
Street, Oakland, CA 94612, 510/637-1762
Mound Plant, Miamisburg Senior Adult Center Public Reading Room, 305 
Central Ave., Miamisburg, OH 45343, 513/866-8999
Nevada Test Site, Nevada Test Site Reading Room, 3084 South Highland 
Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89109, 702/295-3521
Oak Ridge Reservation, DOE Public Reading Room, 55 Jefferson Circle, 
Oak Ridge, TN 37831, 615/576-1216
Rocky Flats Plant, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site Reading 
Room, Front Range Community College Library, 3645 West 112th Ave., 
Westminster, CO 80030, 303/469-4453
Savannah River Site, Gregg-Graniteville Library, University of South 
Carolina-Aiken, 171 University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801, 803/641-
3465

    Opportunities for public involvement in the FFCAct process will be 
offered at many sites. To obtain information about these opportunities 
contact the Center for Environmental Management Information at 1-800-
7EM-DATA (1-800-736-3282). Persons interested in receiving the National 
Summary of the Proposed Site Treatment Plans when available, or other 
information on the development of the Site Treatment Plans and related 
activities, should contact the Center for Environmental Management 
Information. Information about the FFCAct may also be obtained 
electronically through the FFCAct Bulletin Board on the Internet at 
http://eagle.haz.ornl.gov/ffcabb/ffcamain.html.

    Issued in Washington, DC on March 30, 1995.
Stephen Cowan,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Waste Management, Environmental 
Management.

                      Table 1.--Sites Preparing Site Treatment Plans and Comment Recipients                     
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        State                  Facility/location                  Reviewing agency recipient of comments        
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California..........  Energy Technology Engineering       Chet Kawashige, California Department of Toxic        
                       Center; Canoga Park.                Substances Control, P.O. Box 806, Mail Code HQ-10,   
                      General Atomics; San Diego........   Sacramento, CA 95812-0806.                           
                      Lawrence Livermore National                                                               
                       Laboratory; Livermore.                                                                   
                      Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory;                                                             
                       Berkeley.                                                                                
                      Laboratory for Energy-Related                                                             
                       Health Research; Davis.                                                                  
                      Mare Island Naval Shipyard;                                                               
                       Vallejo.                                                                                 
Colorado............  Grand Junction Project Office;      Jacqueline Hernandez-Berardini, Director,             
                       Grand Junction.                     Environmental Integration Group. Colorado Department 
                      Rocky Flats Environmental            of Public Health and Environment, 4300 Cherry Creek  
                       Technology Site; Golden.            Drive South, OE-EIG-B2, Denver, CO 80222-1530.       
Connecticut.........  Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory;     Fred Scheuritzel, Air Monitoring and Radiation,       
                       Windsor.                            Department of Environmental Protection, 79 Elm       
                                                           Street, 6th Floor, Hartford, CT 06106-5127.          
Hawaii..............  Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard;        Tony Terrell, U.S. EPA (H41), Region 9, 75 Hawthorne  
                       Honolulu.                           Street, San Francisco, CA 94105.                     
Idaho...............  Argonne National Laboratory-West;   Brian Monson, Bureau Chief, DEQ, 1410 North Hilton    
                       Idaho Falls.                        Street, Boise, ID 83706-1290.                        
                      Idaho National Engineering                                                                
                       Laboratory; Idaho Falls.                                                                 
Illinois............  Argonne National Laboratory-East;   Richard Allen, Manager, Office of Environmental       
                       Argonne.                            Safety, Department of Nuclear Safety, 1034 Outer Park
                                                           Drive, 5th floor, Springfield, IL 62704.             
Iowa................  Ames Laboratory; Ames.............  Ken Herstowki, U.S. EPA (Iowa Section), Region 7, 726 
                                                           Minnesota Avenue, Kansas City, KS 66101.             
Kentucky............  Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant;    Caroline P. Haight, Director of Division of Waste     
                       Paducah.                            Management, 14 Rally Road--OMEGA Bldg., Frankfort, KY
                                                           40601.                                               
Maine...............  Portsmouth Naval Shipyard; Kittery  Joan Serra, U.S. EPA (HRR-CNN3), Region 1, JFK Federal
                                                           Building, Boston, MA 02203.                          
Missouri............  Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action  Dan Tschirgi, Missouri Department of Natural          
                       Project; St. Charles County.        Resources, P.O. Box 176, Jefferson City, MO 65102-   
                      University of Missouri; Columbia..   0176.                                                
Nevada..............  Nevada Test Site; Mercury.........  Paul Liebendorfer, Bureau Chief, Bureau of Federal    
                                                           Facilities, Division of Environmental Protection, 123
                                                           W. Nye Lane, Carson City, NV 89710.                  
New Mexico..........  Los Alamos National Laboratory;     Jim Seubert, Environmental Specialist 525 Camino, De  
                       Los Alamos.                         Los Marquez, Santa Fe, NM 87502.                     
                      Sandia National Laboratory--New                                                           
                       Mexico; Albuquerque.                                                                     
[[Page 17349]]                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                
New York............  Brookhaven National Laboratory;     Norm Drapeau, Environmental Engineer III, 50 Wolf     
                       Upton.                              Road, Albany, NY 12233.                              
                      Colonie Interim Storage Site;                                                             
                       Colonie.                                                                                 
                      Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory--                                                          
                       Kesselring; West Milton.                                                                 
                      Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory--                                                          
                       Schenectady; Niskayuna.                                                                  
                      West Valley Demonstration Project;                                                        
                       West Valley.                                                                             
Ohio................  Battelle Columbus Laboratories      Thomas Crepeau, Manager, Data Management Section,     
                       Decommissioning Project; Columbus.  Division of Hazardous Waste Management, Ohio EPA,    
                      Fernald Environmental Management     P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio 43216-1049.            
                       Project; Fernald.                                                                        
                      Mound Plant; Miamisburg...........                                                        
                      Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion                                                              
                       Plant; Portsmouth.                                                                       
                      RMI Titanium Inc.; Ashtabula......                                                        
Pennsylvania........  Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory;     David Friedman, U.S. EPA, Region 3, 841 Chestnut      
                       West Mifflin.                       Building, Philadelphia, PA 19107.                    
South Carolina......  Charleston Naval Shipyard;          David Wilson, Jr., Assistant Bureau Chief, 8901 Farrow
                       Charleston.                         Road, Columbia, SC 29223.                            
                      Savannah River Site; Aiken........                                                        
Tennessee...........  K-25 Site, Y-12 Plant and Oak       Earl Leming, Tennessee Department of Environment and  
                       Ridge National Laboratory; Oak      Conservation, DOE Oversight Office, 761 Emory Road,  
                       Ridge Reservation; Oak Ridge.       Oak Ridge, TN 37830.                                 
Texas...............  Pantex Plant; Amarillo............  Dan Pearson, Executive Director, Natural Resource     
                                                           Conservation Commission, P.O. Box 13087, Austin,     
                                                           Texas 78711-3087.                                    
Virginia............  Norfolk Naval Shipyard; Norfolk...  David Friedman, U.S. EPA, Region 3, 841 Chestnut      
                                                           Building, Philadelphia, PA 19107.                    
Washington..........  Puget Sound Naval Shipyard;         Jeff Breckel, Washington-Oregon Interstate Liaison,   
                       Bremerton.                          Nuclear and Mixed Waste Management Program,          
                                                           Washington Department of Ecology, P.O. Box 47600, 300
                                                           Desmond Drive SE, Lacey, WA 98503.                   
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[FR Doc. 95-8359 Filed 4-4-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P