Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 132 / Tuesday, July 9, 1996 / Notices 36043

that the Department sell these materials

within a particular period of time.

However, Congress anticipated in the

Energy and Water Development

Appropriations Act of 1996 that DOE

would sell about $35 million worth of

these materials in fiscal year 1996 and

use the proceeds to offset some of the

costs of maintaining and improving the

gaseous diffusion plants. The

Department believes that it will need to

sell additional amounts of these

materials beginning in 1996 in order to

continue financing maintenance and

other activities at the gaseous diffusion

plants.

Congress imposed three conditions on

the sale of material from DOE’s

inventory in section 3112(d) of the

USEC Privatization Act; two of these

conditions are relevant to the 21.5

million pounds of inventory material

considered in this Environmental

Assessment. Before selling materials

from DOE’s inventory, the Secretary of

Energy must make a determination that:

(1) the sale will not have an ‘‘adverse

material impact’’ on the domestic

uranium industry and (2) the

Department will receive a price that is

at least equal to the fair market value of

the materials.

Proposed Action

DOE proposes to sell the 21.5 million

pounds of surplus material in its

inventory and the 14.2 million pounds

of material associated with the Russian

HEU Agreement that the Department

will receive from USEC. All of the 35.7

million pounds are in the form of

uranium hexafluoride (UF6). DOE

proposes to sell these 35.7 million

pounds of uranium over six or more

years beginning in 1996. The potential

buyers are entities that already purchase

or manage inventories of uranium for

use in commercial applications: USEC,

utilities, convertors, brokers and

uranium producers. Accordingly, the

proposed action would not result in

new or different uses of uranium.

DOE would comply with sections

3112 (b) and (d) of the USEC

Privatization Act in making the sales it

is proposing. In 1996, DOE proposes to

sell some of the 14.2 million pounds it

will receive under the Russian HEU

Agreement to the Russian Executive

Agent, or the Agent’s representative, for

use in matched sales pursuant to the

Suspension Agreement. The Department

would sell, to the extent practical, the

remainder of this 14.2 million pounds

for end use outside the United States or

for overfeeding the gaseous diffusion

plants during the period 1997 through

2000. Any remaining material would be

sold in 2001 for consumption by

domestic end users beginning in 2002 at

a rate not to exceed 3 million pounds

per year. As to the 21.5 million pounds

from DOE’s inventory, the Department

proposes to sell the one million pounds

of LEU in 1996 in order to obtain the

revenue Congress anticipated DOE

would receive in the Energy and Water

Development Appropriations Act of

1996. DOE would sell the remaining

20.3 million pounds of inventory

materials during the period 1997

through 2002 in order to continue

financing maintenance and other

activities at the gaseous diffusion plants.

All sales of inventory materials would

be contingent on the Secretary making

the determinations required by section

3112(d)(2) of the USEC Privatization

Act.

The sales proposed and evaluated in

this Environmental Assessment would

be in addition to sales evaluated in two

other NEPA analyses: (1) the Disposition

of Surplus Highly Enriched Uranium

Final EIS (DOE/EIS—0240, June 1996),

and (2) the Environmental Assessment

for the Purchase of Russian Low

Enriched Uranium Derived from the

Dismantlement of Nuclear Weapons in

the Countries of the Former Soviet

Union (USEC/EA—94001, DOE/EA—

0837, January 1994). The Department

will analyze the cumulative effects of

the sales proposed in this

environmental assessment, those

proposed in the two other NEPA

analyses, and those scheduled under the

Russian HEU Agreement and the

Suspension Agreement.

Alternatives

DOE has identified alternatives to its

proposed sale of these materials, and

may identify others during the

preparation of the EA. All alternatives

will be evaluated against the purpose

and need for action by the Department,

and those that are reasonable and meet

the need for action by the Department

will be evaluated in the EA.

No Action

The Council on Environmental

Quality’s NEPA regulations require that

federal agencies analyze the impacts of

not taking the proposed action (the ‘‘No

Action Alternative’’). In this case, the

No Action Alternative would be that

DOE would continue to store the 35.7

million pounds of uranium at

Portsmouth and Paducah rather than

selling it.

Alternatives that Satisfy the Need for

Department Action

Alternatives that are under

consideration for evaluation in the EA

include:

(1) Different schedules for the sale of

this uranium; and

(2) Selling amounts other than 21.5

million pounds of inventory material.

Preliminary Identification of Potential

Environmental Impacts

The Department has tentatively

identified the following potential

impacts for evaluation in the EA. This

list is not intended to be all-inclusive or

to predetermine the potential impacts of

any of the alternatives.

(1) Potential health and safety impacts

to on-site workers and to the public

from storage, handling, and transport of

uranium, including accidents;

(2) Socioeconomic impacts on the

uranium industry in the United States;

(3) Potential cumulative impacts of

these and other sales; and

(4) Considerations of environmental

justice.

DOE anticipates that it will issue a

draft EA by July 30, 1996, which it will

forward for review by affected states,

Indian tribes, and other parties who

have expressed an interest in the

proposed action or requested a copy of

the draft for review. The Department

will accept comments on the EA for 30

days following issuance of the draft EA.

Based on the EA and any comments it

receives, DOE will then determine

whether it will prepare an

environmental impact statement or

issue a finding of no significant impact.

Issued in Washington, D.C., this 1st day of

July, 1996, for the United States Department

of Energy.

Ray A. Hunter,

Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Energy,

Science and Technology.

[FR Doc. 96–17432 Filed 7–8–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board, Pantex Plant;

Meeting

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of Open Meeting.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of

the Federal Advisory Committee Act

(Public Law 92–463, 86 Stat. 770) notice

is hereby given of the following

Advisory Committee meeting:

Environmental Management SiteSpecific Advisory Board (EM SSAB),

Pantex Plant.

DATE AND TIME: Tuesday, July 23, 1996:

10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.

ADDRESSES: Carson County Square

House Museum, 5th and Elsie,

Panhandle, Texas.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom

Williams, Program Manager,
36044 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 132 / Tuesday, July 9, 1996 / Notices

Department of Energy, Amarillo Area

Office, P.O. Box 30030, Amarillo, TX

79120, (806)477–3121.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of

the Committee: The Board provides

input to the Department of Energy on

Environmental Management strategic

decisions that impact future use, risk

management, economic development,

and budget prioritization activities.

Tentative Agenda:

10:00 am Welcome—Agenda Review—

Approval of Minutes

10:15 am Co-Chairs’ Comments

10:45 am Subcommittee Reports

Community Outreach

Budget and Finance

Nominations

Program and Training

Policy and Personnel

11:15 am Updates

Occurrence Reports—DOE

Gerald Johnson Update

Pantex Fatality Update, Paul Sowa

12:00 pm Lunch

12:30 pm Presentation

1:30 pm Task Force Reports

Site-wide Environmental Impact

Statement

Environmental Restoration

2:00 pm Adjourn

Public Participation: The meeting is

open to the public. Written statements

may be filed with the Committee either

before or after the meeting. Written

comments will be accepted at the

address above for 15 days after the date

of the meeting. Individuals who wish to

make oral statements pertaining to

agenda items should contact Tom

Williams’ office at the address or

telephone number listed above.

Requests must be received 5 days prior

to the meeting and reasonable provision

will be made to include the presentation

in the agenda. The Designated Federal

Official is empowered to conduct the

meeting in a fashion that will facilitate

the orderly conduct of business. Each

individual wishing to make public

comment will be provided a maximum

of 5 minutes to present their comments.

Minutes: The minutes of this meeting

will be available for public review and

copying at the Pantex Public Reading

Rooms located at the Amarillo College

Lynn Library and Learning Center, 2201

South Washington, Amarillo, TX phone

(806) 371–5400. Hours of operation are

from 7:45 am to 10:00 pm, Monday

through Thursday; 7:45 am to 5:00 pm

on Friday; 8:30 am to 12:00 noon on

Saturday; and 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm on

Sunday, except for Federal holidays.

Additionally, there is a Public Reading

Room located at the Carson County

Public Library, 401 Main Street,

Panhandle, TX phone (806) 537–3742.

Hours of operation are from 9:00 am to

7:00 pm on Monday; 9:00 am to 5:00

pm, Tuesday through Friday; and closed

Saturday and Sunday as well as Federal

Holidays. Minutes will also be available

by writing or calling Tom Williams at

the address or telephone number listed

above.

Issued at Washington, DC on July 3, 1996.

Rachel M. Samuel,

Acting Deputy Advisory Committee

Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 96–17433 Filed 7–08–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P

Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission

Information Collection Submitted for

Review and Request for Comments

(FERC–598)

July 2, 1996.

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission.

ACTION: Notice of submission for review

by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

requirements of Section 3507 of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (Pub.

L. 104–13), the Federal Energy

Regulatory Commission (Commission) is

submitting a collection of information

listed in this notice to OMB for review

under the provisions of the Act.

DATES: Comments regarding this

collection of information are best

assured of having their full effect if

received within 30 days of this

notification.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the collection of

information can be obtained from and

written comments may be submitted to

the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, Attn: Michael P. Miller,

Information Services Division, ED–12.4,

888 First Street N.E., Washington, D.C.

20426. Comments should also be

addressed to: Desk Officer, Federal

Energy Regulatory Commission, Office

of Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget

(OMB), Washington, D.C. 20503.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Michael P. Miller may be reached by

telephone at (202) 208–1415, by fax at

(202) 273–0873, and by e-mail at

mmiller@ferc.fed.us.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Abstract

The information collected under the

requirements of FERC–598

‘‘Determinations for Entities Seeking

Exempt Wholesale Generator Status’’

OMB No. 1902–0166) is used by the

Commission to implement the statutory

provisions of Section 711 of the Energy

Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct), Public Law

102–46 which amended the Public

Utility Holding Company Act of 1935

(PUHCA) to create a category of power

producers. Section 2(a)(11)(B) define an

EWG as an entity engaged directly, or

indirectly through one or more affiliates

in the business exclusively of owning

and/or operating all or part of one or

more eligible facilities, and selling

electric energy at wholesale. The

Commission implements these filing

requirements in the code of Federal

Regulations (CFR) under 18 CFR Part

365.

Action

The Commission is requesting a threeyear extension of the current expiration

date, with no changes to the existing

collection of data. The Commission did

not receive any comments in response

to the public notice published in the

Federal Register, April 12, 1996 (61 FR,

16904–05).

Burden Statement

Public reporting burden for this

collection is estimated as

No. of respondents annually

No. of responses per

respondent

Average burden hours per

response

Total annual

burden hours

(1) (2) (3) (1)×(2)×(3)

280 ................................................................................................................................................ 1 6 hours 1,680 hours.