22 June 2011
DoE Uranium Leasing Program
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 119 (Tuesday, June 21, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36097-36100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-15408]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact
Statement for the U.S. Department of Energy Uranium Leasing Program
AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact
statement for the DOE Uranium Leasing Program.
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SUMMARY: DOE announces its intent to prepare a Programmatic
Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS), pursuant to the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.), the
Council on Environmental Quality's (CEQ) NEPA regulations (40 CFR Parts
1500-1508), and DOE's NEPA implementing procedures (10 CFR part 1021),
to analyze the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts, including
the site-specific impacts, of alternatives for the management of DOE's
Uranium Leasing Program (ULP), under which DOE administers tracts of
land for the exploration, development, and extraction of uranium and
vanadium ores. DOE's ULP includes tracts of land located in Mesa,
Montrose, and San Miguel counties in western Colorado that cover a
cumulative acreage of approximately 25,000 acres. In July 2007, DOE
issued a Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for the ULP (DOE/
EA-1535) (available at http://www.lm.doe.gov/land/sites/uranium_leasing/
uranium_leasing.htm), in which it examined three alternatives
for the management of the ULP for the next ten years. In that same
month, DOE issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) (available
at http://nepa.energy.gov/documents/EA-1535FONSI.pdf), in which DOE
announced its decision to proceed with the preferred ``Expanded Program
Alternative'' that was examined in its July 2007 PEA, and also
determined that the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS) was not required.
DOE has determined that, in light of the site-specific information
that DOE has gathered as a result of the site-specific agency actions
proposed and approved pursuant to the July 2007 PEA/FONSI, it is now
appropriate for DOE to prepare a PEIS in order to analyze the
reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts, including the site-
specific impacts, of a range of alternatives for the management of the
ULP for the remainder of the ten-year period that was covered by the
July 2007 PEA.
DOE is issuing this Notice of Intent (NOI) to inform interested
parties of this PEIS and to invite public comments on its proposed
scope, including the preliminary range of alternatives and
environmental issues to be considered. DOE plans to invite Federal,
state, and local governmental agencies with jurisdiction by law or
special expertise to participate as cooperating agencies in preparing
the PEIS.
DATES: DOE invites comments on the proposed scope of the PEIS. To
ensure consideration, comments must be submitted by August 22, 2011.
DOE will consider comments e-mailed or postmarked after that date to
the extent practicable. In addition to receiving written comments (see
ADDRESSES below), DOE will conduct public scoping meetings during which
interested government agencies, Native American tribes, private-sector
organizations, and the general public are invited to present oral and
written comments. DOE will announce the dates, times, and locations of
the public scoping meetings in a separate Federal Register notice and
in local news media at least 15 days before the meetings.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on the scope of the PEIS and requests to be
included in future communications should be addressed to the ULP
Program Manager, Ms. Laura Kilpatrick, Esq., Realty Officer, Asset
Management Team, Office of Legacy Management, U.S. Department of
Energy, 11025 Dover Street, Suite 1000, Westminster, CO 80021, 720-880-
4338, laura.kilpatrick@lm.doe.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information about this
PEIS, please contact the ULP Program Manager, Ms. Laura Kilpatrick, at
the addresses listed above.
For general information on the DOE NEPA process, please contact Ms.
Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-
54), U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585; telephone (202-586-4600); fax (202-586-7031); or
leave a toll-free message (1-800-472-2756).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Congress directed DOE's predecessor agency, the U.S. Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC), to develop a supply of domestic uranium that would
adequately meet the Nation's defense needs (42 U.S.C. 2096-2097).
Congress gave to AEC the authority to withdraw Federal lands for the
exploration and development of a viable domestic uranium source under a
variety of programs that were carried forward in the Atomic Energy Act
of 1954. Around the same time, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
issued Public Land Order (PLO) 459 that stated, ``Subject to valid
existing rights and existing withdrawals, the public lands and the
minerals reserved to the United States in the patented lands in the
following areas in Colorado are hereby withdrawn from all forms of
appropriation under the public-land laws, including the mining laws but
not the mineral-leasing laws, and reserved for the use of the United
States Atomic Energy Commission.'' The areas under consideration are
located in western Colorado in Mesa, Montrose, and San Miguel counties.
Subsequently, other PLOs increased or decreased the total acreage in
withdrawn status.
In addition, the Federal Government, through the Union Mines
Development Corporation, acquired a substantial
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number of patented and unpatented mining claims, milling, tunnel sites,
and agricultural patents, until the aggregated acreage managed by AEC
totaled approximately 25,000 acres.
The Mineral Leasing Program, which was in operation from
approximately 1949 to 1962, produced more than 1.2 million pounds of
uranium and 6.8 million pounds of vanadium, and generated $5.9 million
in royalties to the Federal Government. When the program ended in 1962,
AEC directed the lessees to close the mines, but little was done to
reclaim the mine sites.
AEC initiated a second leasing program in 1974 under the Domestic
Uranium Program regulations (10 CFR 760.1) that was called the Uranium
Lease Management Program (ULMP). This program was designed to address
the lack of production capacity of uranium--and vanadium--bearing ores
for the U.S. Government defense needs, and emphasized the need for
uranium in the expanding commercial nuclear energy market. The two main
goals of the ULMP were to recover the resources that had been developed
initially by AEC and to improve the prospects for continued mill
operations, thereby encouraging further exploration and development on
privately-held land. In preparation for the ULMP in 1972, AEC evaluated
potential environmental and economic impacts related to the ULMP in the
Environmental Statement: Leasing of AEC Controlled Uranium Bearing
Lands. AEC and its successor agencies, the U.S. Energy Research and
Development Administration and DOE, administered the ULMP. In 1984, DOE
renewed the lease agreements for a second ten-year term.
During the ULMP, DOE and BLM acknowledged that each agency had
defined jurisdictional authority over the various activities that could
be conducted on the lease tracts. DOE maintained jurisdiction and
authority over all activities on withdrawn lands associated with
uranium and vanadium mining, including exploration, development,
extraction (mining), and transportation. BLM maintained jurisdiction
and authority over all other surface uses. This acknowledgment of the
agencies' jurisdiction continues today.
In July 1995, DOE prepared a programmatic environmental assessment
(PEA) to inform DOE's determination whether the leasing program should
continue. DOE then issued a FONSI in August 1995, in which it
determined to continue the ULP. DOE subsequently entered into
negotiations with the previous lessees. Seven of the lessees informed
DOE that they did not wish to continue with the program and began
reclamation of their lease tracts. DOE then entered into 13 new lease
agreements with the remaining lessees.
In 2005, DOE initiated a review of its 1995 PEA, and began to
prepare a new PEA to evaluate the continuation of the ULP. In the July
2007 PEA, DOE examined three alternatives for the management of the ULP
for the next ten years, including DOE's preferred ``Expanded Program
Alternative,'' under which DOE would continue and expand the existing
ULP. Under that alternative, DOE would extend the 13 existing leases
for a ten-year period, and then expand the ULP to include the
competitive offering of up to 25 additional lease tracts to the
domestic uranium industry. In the July 2007 FONSI, DOE announced its
decision to proceed with the Expanded Program Alternative. DOE
determined that the Expanded Program Alternative would not constitute a
major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human
environment, within the meaning of NEPA; and, therefore, that
preparation of an EIS was not required.
After the issuance of the July 2007 PEA and FONSI, DOE took a
series of site-specific agency actions to implement the ULP. These
actions included: Entering into new lease agreements for 31 lease
tracts after reconfiguring the expanded number of tracts from 38 to 31
(currently, 29 tracts are actively held under lease, and the remaining
two tracts are not leased), approval of exploration plans on some
leases, and approval of reclamation-in-lieu-of-royalties (RILOR) plans
on some leases (under which a lessee agreed to perform necessary
reclamation services on its lease, and in return DOE agreed to reduce
the amount of royalties that the lessee must pay to the U.S.
Government). DOE reviewed each of the exploration plans and RILOR plans
in accordance with DOE's NEPA regulations, and determined that each of
the plans was categorically excluded from further environmental
evaluation under categorical exclusions set forth in DOE's NEPA
regulations. DOE has not received any mining plans from any of its ULP
lessees; and no mining activities are currently being performed on any
of the ULP leases.
DOE believes that in light of the site-specific information that it
has gathered as a result of the site-specific agency actions proposed
and approved pursuant to the July 2007 PEA and FONSI, it is now
appropriate to prepare a PEIS in order to analyze the reasonably
foreseeable environmental impacts, including the site-specific impacts,
of a range of alternatives for the management of the ULP for the
remainder of the ten-year period that was covered by the July 2007 PEA.
DOE's preparation of this PEIS is in accordance with DOE's NEPA
regulation at 10 CFR 1021.300(b), which provides that DOE may prepare a
NEPA document for any DOE action at any time in order to further the
purposes of NEPA, and may do so ``to analyze the consequences of
ongoing activities, support DOE planning, assess the need for
mitigation, fully disclose the potential environmental consequences of
DOE actions, or for any other reason.''
DOE is separately preparing to enter into consultation with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in compliance with Section 7 of the
Endangered Species Act, concerning DOE's management of the ULP.
The ULP lease tracts are located in the western portions of Mesa,
Montrose, and San Miguel Counties, in western Colorado. Elevations of
the mesas and valleys throughout this semiarid area vary from 5,500
feet above sea level in the valleys to approximately 8,000 feet above
sea level on top of the higher mesas. Except for the cities of Montrose
and Grand Junction, which are each more than 50 miles from the nearest
lease tract, the region is sparsely populated and has few towns.
The lease tracts are located in four geographical areas referred to
as the Gateway, Uravan, Paradox Valley, and Slick Rock lease tracts.
The Gateway lease tracts are remotely located on the tops and side
slopes of Outlaw and Calamity Mesas; surface runoff from these areas
travels through Maverick and Calamity Creeks, which are tributaries of
the Dolores River. The Uravan lease tracts in Montrose County are
located on the tops and side slopes of Spring Creek, Atkinson, and Club
Mesas, near the historical community of Uravan, which has only two
remaining buildings. The Dolores River and its main tributary, the San
Miguel River, flow in the valley bottoms below the lease tracts. The
Paradox Valley lease tracts are in Montrose and San Miguel Counties in
a broad valley flanked by the high plateaus of Monogram Mesa and Long
Park. The Slick Rock lease tracts are located near the historical
community of Slick Rock in San Miguel County. In this area the land
surface is deeply incised by the Dolores River and its tributaries; the
Dolores River Canyon in this area is approximately 500 feet wide at the
bottom and is characterized by steep slopes and sheer cliffs.
Land use on and around the ULP lease tracts include mining, oil and
gas exploration and production, timber
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harvesting, recreation, agriculture, and grazing. DOE and BLM
administer the lands within the lease tract boundaries. Considerable
mineral exploration and development has occurred historically in the
lease tract areas. Mined minerals have included coal, oil and gas, sand
and gravel, radium, uranium, and vanadium; uranium and vanadium mining,
and oil and gas exploration, are the predominant mineral activities.
Sections of the more active lease tracts, such as in Paradox Valley,
have been substantially mined and are restricted from public access;
other tracts remain open for other surface and subsurface uses. The
public uses many of the unimproved roads around and near some of the
lease tracts for recreational purposes, grazing, and general ranching.
Purpose and Need for Agency Action
In light of the site-specific information that DOE has gathered as
a result of the site-specific agency actions proposed and approved
pursuant to the July 2007 ULP PEA/FONSI, it is now appropriate for DOE
to prepare a PEIS in order to analyze the reasonably foreseeable
environmental impacts, including the site-specific impacts, of the
range of reasonable alternatives for the management of the ULP for the
remainder of the ten-year period that was covered by the July 2007 PEA.
The underlying purpose and need for agency action is that, in
support of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. 109-58), which
emphasized the reestablishment of nuclear power (Sections 601 through
657), DOE needs to determine the future course of the ULP, including
whether to continue leasing some or all of DOE's withdrawn lands and
government-owned patented claims (referred to as ``DOE-managed lands'')
for the exploration and production of uranium and vanadium ores for the
remainder of the ten-year period that was covered by the July 2007 PEA.
The Domestic Uranium Program regulation (10 CFR 760.1) gives DOE the
flexibility to continue leasing these DOE-managed lands via a
competitive bidding process to achieve the highest returns for the
government. A key element in this determination is the analysis of
environmental impacts attributable to lease tract operations and
associated activities. Therefore, DOE will prepare this PEIS to provide
such information to decision-makers, as well as to the public.
Proposed Action
DOE's proposed action is to decide whether to continue the ULP for
the remainder of the ten-year period covered by the July 2007 PEA; and,
if it decides to continue the ULP, to determine which alternative to
adopt in order to manage the ULP during that period.
Alternatives
As required by the CEQ and DOE NEPA implementing procedures, at 40
CFR parts 1500-1508 and 10 CFR part 1021, respectively, DOE will
analyze the range of reasonable alternatives for continuation of the
ULP. In accordance with CEQ's NEPA implementing procedures at 40 CFR
1508.25(b), DOE will also analyze the ``no action'' alternative. DOE
proposes that the alternatives to be analyzed in the PEIS include the
following:
(1) DOE would terminate the leases for the ULP; lessees would be
required to reclaim their operations on their respective leases; and,
once final reclamation activities were completed, DOE would continue
its management of the withdrawn lands, without leasing, in accordance
with applicable requirements.
(2) DOE would terminate the leases for the ULP; lessees would be
required to reclaim their operations on their respective leases; and,
once final reclamation activities were completed, all lands would be
restored to the public domain with the approval of BLM and under BLM's
administrative control, and DOE's leasing program would end.
(3) DOE would continue the ULP as it existed before the issuance of
the July 2007 PEA/FONSI; the 13 then-active leases would be continued
for the ten-year period covered by the July 2007 PEA/FONSI, or for
another reasonable period; and DOE would terminate the leases for the
remaining leases tracts. Regarding the leases that would be terminated,
DOE would follow the procedures proposed either in alternative (1)
above, or in alternative (2) above. Regarding the 13 leases that would
be continued, the lessees would be allowed to file plans to explore for
and mine uranium and vanadium ore reserves on their respective tracts,
and to engage in reclamation activities on those tracts. For those 13
leases, DOE would analyze, among other things, the reasonably
foreseeable environmental impacts, including the site-specific impacts,
of leasing, exploration, mining activities (including any resumption of
mining activities that were previously approved), transportation, and
reclamation, as well as cumulative impacts resulting from the
incremental impacts of those actions when added to other past, present,
and reasonably foreseeable future actions. DOE would explore reasonable
mitigation measures to avoid or minimize potential environmental
impacts.
(4) DOE would continue the ULP for the expanded number of leases in
the July 2007 PEA/FONSI; the expanded number of leases would be
continued for the ten-year period covered by the July 2007 PEA/FONSI,
or for another reasonable period. For all of those ULP leases, the
lessees would be allowed to file plans to explore for and mine uranium
and vanadium ore reserves on their respective tracts, and to engage in
reclamation activities on those tracts. DOE would analyze, among other
things, the reasonably foreseeable environmental impacts, including the
site-specific impacts, of leasing, exploration, mining activities
(including any resumption of mining activities that were previously
approved), transportation, and reclamation, as well as cumulative
impacts resulting from the incremental impacts of those actions when
added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future
actions. DOE would explore reasonable mitigation measures to avoid or
minimize potential environmental impacts.
(5) DOE would continue the ULP exactly as it was approved in the
July 2007 PEA/FONSI, and would continue to approve plans by lessees as
it has done since the issuance of the July 2007 PEA/FONSI.
Alternative (5) would be the ``no action'' alternative in the PEIS.
Preliminary Identification of Environmental Issues
DOE proposes to address the environmental issues listed below. This
list is neither intended to be all-inclusive, nor a predetermined set
of potential impacts. DOE invites comments on whether this is an
appropriate list of issues that should be considered in the PEIS. The
preliminary list of potentially affected resources or activities and
their related environmental issues includes:
Biological resources: including potential impacts to vegetation,
wildlife, threatened or endangered species, migratory birds, and
ecologically sensitive habitats;
Water resources: potential impacts on surface water and ground
water;
Cultural and historic resources;
Floodplains and wetlands: DOE will assess potential impacts of
actions that may occur in a floodplain or wetland in accordance with
DOE floodplain and wetland environmental review requirements (10 CFR
part 1022). (Portions of three lease tracts are located within the 100-
year floodplain of the Dolores River.);
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Socioeconomics: potential impacts to schools, housing, public
services, and local revenues, including the creation of jobs;
Transportation: including potential impacts on transportation
corridors;
Accidents and intentional destructive acts;
Air quality: including potential impacts on regional air quality
and climate change;
Land use: potential impacts on mining, recreation, timber
harvesting, agriculture, grazing, and soils;
Environmental justice: potential for disproportionately high and
adverse impacts on minority and low-income populations;
Noise and light: potential disturbance impacts from construction,
transportation of materials, and operations;
Wilderness areas; Wild and scenic rivers: DOE will assess potential
impacts on the Dolores River Canyon Wilderness Study Area from
increased activity and mining on portions of three lease tracts, and
potential impacts on the Dolores River and San Miguel River;
Visual resources;
Human health and safety: including potential impacts from public
exposure to radioactive or hazardous materials, traffic accidents, land
subsidence, and other potential hazards;
Cumulative impacts: for each alternative DOE will assess potential
effects that could result from the incremental impacts of the action
when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future
actions.
Public Scoping Process
This NOI initiates the scoping process under NEPA, which will guide
the development of the Draft PEIS. To ensure that all issues related to
DOE's proposed action are addressed, DOE invites public comments on the
scope of the PEIS. Interested government agencies, Native American
tribes, private-sector organizations, and the general public are
encouraged to submit comments or suggestions on the scope of the PEIS,
including potential issues and environmental impacts that should be
addressed and the alternatives that should be considered. The scoping
period will end August 22, 2011. Comments should be submitted by that
date to ensure consideration (see ADDRESSES above). DOE will consider
comments e-mailed or postmarked after that date to the extent
practicable.
DOE will conduct public scoping meetings in the vicinity of the ULP
lease tracts at dates, times, and locations to be announced in a
separate Federal Register notice and in local news media at least 15
days before the meetings. Oral comments will be heard during the formal
portion of the scoping meetings. The public is also invited to learn
more about the project at an informal session at each location. DOE
requests that anyone who wishes to speak at the public scoping meetings
should contact Ms. Laura Kilpatrick, by e-mail or postal mail (see
ADDRESSES above).
Those who do not arrange in advance to speak may register at the
meeting (preferably at the beginning of the meeting) and would be given
an opportunity to speak after previously scheduled speakers. Speakers
will be given approximately five minutes to present their comments.
Those speakers who want more than five minutes should indicate the
length of time desired in their request. Depending on the number of
speakers, DOE may need to limit all speakers to five minutes initially
and provide additional opportunity as time permits. Individuals may
also provide written materials in lieu of, or supplemental to, their
presentations. DOE will give equal consideration to oral and written
comments.
DOE will consider public scoping comments in preparing the Draft
PEIS. DOE will issue the Draft PEIS for public review and conduct
public hearings. DOE will consider public comments on the Draft PEIS
and respond as appropriate in the Final PEIS. No sooner than 30 days
following completion of the Final PEIS, DOE will issue a Record of
Decision regarding the proposed action.
Issued in Washington, DC, this 15th day of June 2011.
David W. Geiser,
Director, Office of Legacy Management.
[FR Doc. 2011-15408 Filed 6-20-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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