DOE/EIS-0293 Final Environmental Impact Statement for The
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DOE/EIS – 0293 Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Conveyance and Transfer of Certain Land Tracts Administered by the U.S. Department of Energy and Located at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos and Santa Fe Counties, New Mexico October 1999 U.S. Department of Energy Los Alamos Area Office Los Alamos, New Mexico THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE CONVEYANCE AND TRANSFER OF CERTAIN LAND TRACTS ADMINISTERED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND LOCATED AT LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY, LOS ALAMOS AND SANTA FE COUNTIES, NEW MEXICO Section 102 (c) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) states that all Federal agencies shall prepare a detailed statement for major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) published the Conveyance and Transfer Environmental Impact Statement (CT EIS) Notice of Intent in the Federal Register (FR) on May 6, 1998 (63 FR 25022), which identified possible issues and alternatives to be analyzed. The DOE then held a series of public meetings during the scoping period to provide opportunities for stakeholders to identify issues, environmental concerns, and alternatives that should be analyzed in the CT EIS. The results of comments received during the scoping period are summarized at the end of Chapter 1 of the CT EIS; these comments were used to shape the CT EIS analysis and are incorporated as appropriate and to the extent practicable within the CT EIS. The Draft CT EIS was distributed to interested stakeholders for comment in February 1999. Public hearings were conducted within the 45-day comment period following issuance of the draft document and the publication of the Notice of Availability in the Federal Register (38 FR 9438) on February 26, 1999. Oral and written comments were accepted, and these were considered for use in making changes to the Draft CT EIS, as appropriate. The Final CT EIS includes responses to comments received on the Draft CT EIS in Appendix H. The DOE will prepare one or more Records of Decision (ROD[s]) no sooner than 30 days after the Final CT EIS Notice of Availability is published in the Federal Register. The ROD(s) will describe the rationale used for the DOE’s selection of an alternative or portions of the alternatives. Following the issuance of a ROD, a Mitigation Action Plan also may be issued to describe any mitigation measures that the DOE commits to in concert with its decision(s). TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures................................................................................................................................ iii List of Tables................................................................................................................................. iii Acronyms and Abbreviations.......................................................................................................... v Measurements and Conversions .................................................................................................... vii SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................S-1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................S-1 Background .............................................................................................................S-1 Public Law 105-119........................................................................................S-3 Process Steps Associated with Public Law 105-119 ...........................................................S-5 Land Transfer Report...............................................................................................S-5 Title Report .............................................................................................................S-7 The Environmental Restoration Report....................................................................S-7 CT EIS ...................................................................................................................S-7 Combined Data Report ............................................................................................S-8 Agreement on Allocation of Parcels.........................................................................S-8 Conveyance and Transfer Plan.................................................................................S-8 Conveyance or Transfer of Land..............................................................................S-8 Environmental Compliance Actions Required Prior to Conveyance or Transfer ..........................................................................................................S-8 NEPA Process ...................................................................................................................S-9 Role of Cooperating Agencies .................................................................................S-9 General Scope of the CT EIS .............................................................................................S-9 Results of Scoping...................................................................................................S-9 Related NEPA Studies .....................................................................................................S-10 1999 Final LANL Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement..............................S-11 DP Road Tract Environmental Assessment............................................................S-11 Research Park Environmental Assessment.............................................................S-11 Electric Power Systems Upgrade Project Environmental Assessment ....................S-11 Strategic Computing Complex Environmental Assessment ....................................S-12 Nonproliferation International Security Center Environmental Assessment............S-12 Purpose and Need for Agency Action ..............................................................................S-12 DOE Decisions to be Supported by the CT EIS................................................................S-13 Proposed Action and Alternatives ....................................................................................S-14 No Action Alternative............................................................................................S-15 Proposed Action Alternative ..................................................................................S-15 Preferred Alternative..............................................................................................S-16 Convey or Transfer Entire Tract in the Year 2000, or Soon Thereafter: .........S-18 Convey or Transfer Entire Tract or Partial Tract (Portions of Tract Without Potential Contamination Issues or Mission Support Concerns) in the Year 2000, or Soon Thereafter, But Before the End of the Year 2007: .............................................................................S-18 October 1999 i Final CT EIS TABLE OF CONTENTS Convey or Transfer Partial Tract (Portions of Tract Without Potential Contamination Issues or Mission Support Concerns) at a Later Time, But Before the End of the Year 2007:............................................S-18 Alternatives Considered but Eliminated from Detailed Analysis ............................S-19 Changes Since the Issuance of the Draft CT EIS..............................................................S-20 Summary of Public Comments and DOE Responses ........................................................S-21 General Issue 1: Purpose and Need ........................................................................S-21 General Issue 2: Deed Restrictions.........................................................................S-22 General Issue 3: Basis for DOE’s Decisions...........................................................S-24 General Issue 4: Public Law Process and the CT EIS.............................................S-25 General Issue 5: Environmental Restoration Process..............................................S-27 General Issue 6: Environmental Justice..................................................................S-28 General Issue 7: Homesteaders Association Claims ...............................................S-30 Environmental Impacts ....................................................................................................S-31 Analysis of Impacts ...............................................................................................S-32 Timeframe of Analyses .................................................................................S-32 Direct and Indirect Impacts ...........................................................................S-32 Comparison of Direct Impacts ...............................................................................S-32 Land Use.......................................................................................................S-33 Transportation...............................................................................................S-33 Ecological Resources ....................................................................................S-33 Cultural Resources ........................................................................................S-34 Air Resources................................................................................................S-34 Comparison of Indirect Impacts.............................................................................S-34