Environmental statements; availability, etc.: wastewater hazardous waste treatment,
[Federal Register: August 5, 1998 (Volume 63, Number 150)]
[Notices]
[Page 41810-41813]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05au98-58]
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Record of Decision for the Department of Energy's Waste Management Program: Treatment of Non-wastewater Hazardous Waste
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Record of decision.
SUMMARY: The Department of Energy's (DOE) Final Waste Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (WM PEIS) (May 1997) analyzed alternatives for the annual treatment of approximately 3,440 metric tons of non-wastewater hazardous waste that is currently being transported to commercial facilities for treatment. DOE has decided to continue to use off-site facilities for the treatment of major portions of the non-wastewater hazardous waste generated at DOE sites, based in part on analyses in the WM PEIS. The Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in Tennessee and the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina will treat some of their own non-wastewater hazardous waste on-site, where capacity is available in existing facilities and where this is economically favorable. This decision does not involve any transfers of non-wastewater hazardous waste among DOE sites.
This decision differs slightly in two respects from the Preferred Alternative (the No Action Alternative) identified in the WM PEIS. First, in the Preferred Alternative (and all other alternatives analyzed), DOE's Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) was assumed to treat some of its own non-wastewater hazardous waste on site. However, all non-wastewater hazardous waste at INEEL is currently treated at off-site facilities, and DOE's decision is to continue this practice for the site. Second, the Preferred Alternative did not assume any on-site treatment at SRS. However, treatment of non-wastewater hazardous waste at SRS was analyzed in the Decentralized Alternative (as was on-site treatment of non-wastewater hazardous waste at ORR). Since publication of the WM PEIS, the Consolidated Incineration Facility has become available at SRS for the treatment of some of the site's non-wastewater hazardous wastes. Use of
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this facility is economically favorable for treating some of the site's non-wastewater hazardous waste. The potential health and environmental impacts of the No Action and Decentralized Alternatives are small, with negligible differences between these two alternatives.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Copies of the WM PEIS and this Record of Decision are available in DOE public reading rooms and selected libraries located across the United States. A list of the public reading rooms at which the WM PEIS and this Record of Decision are available can also be accessed on the DOE Office of Environmental Management's World Wide Web site at http://www.em.doe.gov/em30/.
To request copies of the WM PEIS, this Record of Decision, or a list of the reading rooms and public libraries, 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 on DOE's national Waste Management Program, the WM PEIS, or this Record of Decision, please write or call: Mr. Jay Rhoderick, Acting Director, Office of Planning and Analysis (EM-35), United States Department of Energy, Office of Environmental Management, 20400 Century Boulevard, Germantown, MD 20874. Telephone: (301) 903- 7211.
For general information on the U.S. Department of Energy National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, please write or call: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH- 42), United States Department of Energy, Office of Environment, Safety, and Health, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20585-0119. Telephone: (202) 586-4600, or leave a message at (800) 472-2756
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The WM PEIS analyzed alternatives for the annual treatment of approximately 3,440 metric tons of non-wastewater hazardous waste that is currently being transported to commercial facilities for treatment. DOE prepared this Record of Decision pursuant to the Council on Environmental Quality's regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500-1508) and DOE's NEPA Implementing Procedures (10 CFR Part 1021). This Record of Decision is based in part on analyses contained in the WM PEIS, DOE/EIS-0200-F. DOE published a notice of its intent to prepare the WM PEIS in the Federal Register on October 25, 1990. DOE issued a Draft WM PEIS on September 22, 1995, and hearings were held during the public comment period, which closed on February 19, 1996. All public comments were addressed in the Final WM PEIS, which DOE issued on May 30, 1997.
Purpose and Need for Agency Action
DOE needs to manage (i.e., treat, store, and dispose of) its wastes in ways that will maintain safe, efficient, and cost-effective control of these wastes; comply with applicable Federal and state laws; and protect public health and the environment. The WM PEIS evaluates the potential environmental impacts of managing five types of waste generated by defense and research activities at DOE sites around the United States. The five waste types are: mixed low-level radioactive waste, low-level radioactive waste, transuranic waste, high-level radioactive waste, and non-wastewater hazardous waste. The WM PEIS examines, from a nation-wide perspective, the potential impacts of managing these waste types and the cumulative impacts of waste management, transportation and other ongoing and reasonably foreseeable activities.
This Record of Decision applies only to the treatment of non- wastewater hazardous waste as analyzed in the WM PEIS, and addresses the extent to which the Department will continue to rely on off-site treatment of non-wastewater hazardous waste. More specifically, the WM PEIS analyzed alternatives for whether to thermally ‹SUP›1‹/SUP› treat non-wastewater hazardous waste on DOE sites or to continue to use off- site treatment. The Appendix to this Record of Decision identifies the DOE sites evaluated in the WM PEIS as potential locations for waste management operations, and the sites analyzed that have hazardous waste.
\1\ For purposes of this discussion, ``thermal treatment'' means incineration.
On January 23, 1998, the Department published (63 FR 3629) a Record of Decision for the treatment and storage of its transuranic waste based in part on analyses in the WM PEIS. Records of Decision for the three other waste types analyzed in the WM PEIS will be issued in due course.
Hazardous Waste Treatment
Hazardous waste, regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), is non-radioactive waste exhibiting the characteristics of ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity, or toxicity as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulations implementing RCRA, or waste that EPA has listed under RCRA as hazardous waste. In addition, DOE manages some state-regulated hazardous wastes and hazardous wastes regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act, which, for the purposes of this decision, are considered hazardous wastes. The hazardous waste covered by this decision is generated as a result of research and development activities and nuclear weapons production.
According to the WM PEIS analyses, most of DOE's hazardous waste is wastewater containing less than a 1% concentration of organic hazardous waste. The Department currently treats its wastewater hazardous waste on-site, and will continue to do so in the future. This waste is not difficult to treat and is not cost-effective to transport off-site for treatment.
DOE's non-wastewater hazardous waste consists primarily of sludges, solids and organic liquids (water containing higher concentrations of organic hazardous waste than wastewater). DOE currently ships a large portion of its non-wastewater hazardous waste to off-site commercial facilities for treatment as well as disposal (commercial facilities take title to the waste and, after treatment, dispose of it in a manner consistent with applicable state and federal laws and regulations). In addition, some DOE sites use on-site non-thermal treatment capability for non-wastewater hazardous waste to meet applicable regulatory requirements.
Alternatives Considered for Treatment of Non-wastewater Hazardous Waste
In the WM PEIS, the term ``alternative'' refers to a nationwide configuration of sites for treating, storing, or disposing of a waste type. The WM PEIS analyzed a No Action alternative, a Decentralized and two Regionalized alternatives under which DOE would, to varying extents, seek permits for, construct, and use facilities at DOE sites for treating non-wastewater hazardous wastes generated at DOE sites. The potential environmental impacts associated with the use of off-site commercial facilities were also analyzed in the WM PEIS. The alternatives analyzed were as follows.
No Action Alternative--treatment of 3% of non-wastewater hazardous waste at 2 DOE sites (INEEL and ORR); 97% at commercial facilities. The analysis of a ``no action'' alternative, required by Council on Environmental Quality regulations implementing NEPA (40 CFR Parts 1500- 1508) and DOE NEPA
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implementing procedures (10 CFR Part 1021), provides an environmental baseline against which the impacts of other alternatives can be compared. Under this alternative, all non-wastewater hazardous waste would continue to be treated off-site at commercial facilities, except at INEEL and ORR, where a small proportion of those sites non- wastewater hazardous waste would be treated in existing on-site facilities.
Decentralized Alternative--treatment of 9% of non-wastewater hazardous waste at 3 DOE sites (INEEL, ORR and SRS); 91% at commercial facilities. Under this alternative, DOE would utilize thermal treatment technology at the INEEL, ORR, and SRS, to treat organic non-wastewater hazardous wastes from these 3 sites and continue the use of commercial treatment facilities to treat all other non-wastewater hazardous waste.
Regionalized Alternative 1--treatment of 50% of non-wastewater hazardous waste at 5 DOE sites (INEEL, ORR, SRS, Hanford, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory); 50% at commercial facilities. Under this alternative, 5 DOE sites would use thermal treatment and organic removal/recovery technologies to treat 50% of the non-wastewater hazardous waste from all sites analyzed in the WM PEIS. These 5 sites are: the Hanford Site, INEEL, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, ORR, and SRS. DOE would use commercial facilities for the remaining 50% of its non-wastewater hazardous treatment needs.
Regionalized Alternative 2--treatment of 90% of non-wastewater hazardous waste at 2 DOE sites (INEEL and ORR); 10% at commercial facilities. Under this alternative, facilities at INEEL and ORR would use organic treatment and deactivation/neutralization for the treatment of 90% of the non-wastewater hazardous waste from all sites analyzed in the WM PEIS. DOE would continue to use commercial facilities for metal recovery and recycling, battery recycling, and stabilization of the remaining 10% of DOE's non-wastewater hazardous waste.
Environmentally Preferable Alternative
The WM PEIS analyzed a number of potential impacts, including those on human health, air and water resources, ecological resources, land use, and site infrastructures for each of the major sites at which waste management facilities might be located. All potential impacts identified in the WM PEIS were considered in DOE's selection of the preferred alternative and its decision regarding treatment of non- wastewater hazardous waste.
Potential health and environmental impacts for all alternatives are generally low. The No Action and Decentralized Alternatives have slightly lower transportation and air quality impacts than the regionalized alternatives and are therefore considered to be environmentally preferable.
Decision: Treatment of Non-wastewater Hazardous Waste
The Department has decided to continue to use off-site facilities for the treatment of major portions of the non-wastewater hazardous waste generated at DOE sites. ORR and SRS will treat some of their own non-wastewater hazardous waste on-site, where capacity is available in existing facilities and where this is economically favorable. This decision does not involve any transfers of non-wastewater hazardous waste among DOE sites. The potential health and environmental impacts of this decision are identified in the Decentralized Alternative analyzed in the WM PEIS.
Basis for the Decision
The potential health, environmental, and cost impacts of continued use of off-site commercial facilities for treating DOE's non-wastewater hazardous waste are low, and this decision fully meets DOE's regulatory responsibilities for the safe management of its non-wastewater hazardous wastes. The additional potential costs of expanding existing or constructing new on-site capabilities are not justified in view of the current availability of DOE and commercial facilities to treat this waste. Commercial facilities used for treating non-wastewater hazardous waste from DOE sites are required to meet all applicable regulatory requirements.
Differences From the Preferred Alternative in the WM PEIS
This decision differs slightly in two respects from the Preferred Alternative (the No Action Alternative) identified in the WM PEIS. First, in the Preferred Alternative (and all other alternatives analyzed), INEEL was assumed to treat some of its own non-wastewater hazardous waste on site. In the Preferred Alternative, the amount of waste assumed for on-site treatment at INEEL was less than 3% of the total annual volume of non-wastewater hazardous waste from the 11 DOE sites that generated over 90% of the annual total volume analyzed in the WM PEIS. However, all non-wastewater hazardous waste at INEEL is currently treated at off-site facilities, and DOE's decision is to continue this practice for the site. Second, the No Action alternative did not assume any on-site treatment at SRS. However, treatment of non- wastewater hazardous waste at SRS was analyzed in the Decentralized Alternative. Since publication of the WM PEIS, the Consolidated Incineration Facility has become available at SRS for the thermal treatment of some of the site's non-wastewater hazardous wastes. Use of this facility is economically favorable for treating some of the site's non-wastewater hazardous waste.
Mitigation
Chapter 12 of the WM PEIS describes measures that DOE takes in order to minimize the impacts of its waste management activities. Mitigation measures are an integral part of the Department's operations, so as to avoid, reduce, or eliminate potentially adverse environmental impacts. Some of the more important mitigation measures that DOE will continue to utilize in its management of hazardous waste are:
‹bullet› Pollution prevention plans;
‹bullet› Reuse of existing facilities wherever feasible rather than construction of new facilities;
‹bullet› Occupational safety and health training to ensure that workers understand operational safety procedures.
Site-specific, non-routine mitigation measures may also be identified and implemented in the course of further decision making under site-specific NEPA reviews.
As provided by 10 CFR Sec. 1021.315, the Department may revise this Record of Decision in the future as long as the potential environmental impacts associated with the revised decision have been adequately analyzed by existing NEPA documents. Revision of this Record of Decision could occur, for example, as new technologies or additional cost information becomes available.
This Record of Decision will be implemented in compliance with all applicable Federal, State, and local requirements.
Issued in Washington, DC this 30th day of July, 1998. James M. Owendoff, Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
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Appendix.--Sites Evaluated in the WM PEIS
Hazardous waste Abbreviation
Full name
State
Major site \1\ site \2\
ANL-E........................... Argonne National
IL
Yes............. Yes.
Laboratory--East.
BNL............................. Brookhaven National NY
Yes............. No.
Laboratory.
FEMP............................ Fernald Environmental OH
Yes............. No.
Management Project.
Fermi........................... Fermi National
IL
No.............. Yes.
Accelerator Laboratory.
Hanford......................... Hanford Site............ WA
Yes............. Yes.
INEEL........................... Idaho National
ID
Yes............. Yes.
Engineering and
Environmental
Laboratory.
KCP............................. Kansas City Plant....... KS
No.............. Yes.
LLNL............................ Lawrence Livermore
CA
Yes............. Yes.
National Laboratory.
LANL............................ Los Alamos National NM
Yes............. Yes.
Laboratory.
NTS............................. Nevada Test Site........ NV
Yes............. No.
ORR............................. Oak Ridge Reservation... TN
Yes............. Yes.
PGDP............................ Paducah Gaseous
KY
Yes............. No.
Diffusion Plant.
Pantex.......................... Pantex Plant............ TX
Yes............. Yes.
PORTS........................... Portsmouth Gaseous
OH
Yes............. No.
Diffusion Plant.
RFETS........................... Rocky Flats
CO
Yes............. No.
Environmental
Technology Site.
SNL/NM.......................... Sandia National
NM
Yes............. Yes.
Laboratories--New
Mexico.
SRS............................. Savannah River Site..... SC
Yes............. Yes.
WIPP............................ Waste Isolation Pilot NM
Yes............. No.
Plant.
WVDP............................ West Valley
NY
Yes............. No.
Demonstration Project.
\1\ Sites analyzed in the WM PEIS as potential locations for waste management facilities for one or more types of waste.
\2\ Sites analyzed in the WM PEIS alternatives for the treatment of non-wastewater hazardous waste. These sites generated over 90% of the annual total volume analyzed in the WM PEIS.
[FR Doc. 98-20895Filed8-4-98; 8:45 am]
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