Notice2022-04775
Amended Record of Decision for the Long-Term Management and Storage of Elemental Mercury
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
March 7, 2022
Issuing agencies
Energy Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is issuing this Amended Record of Decision (AROD) to amend its previous AROD for the long-term management and storage of elemental mercury published in the Federal Register on October 6, 2020. This AROD withdraws the decision to store at Waste Control Specialists (WCS) certain elemental mercury to which DOE accepts the conveyance of title pursuant to a legal settlement or proceeding.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 44 (Monday, March 7, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 44 (Monday, March 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12680-12681]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-04775]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Amended Record of Decision for the Long-Term Management and
Storage of Elemental Mercury
AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Amended record of decision.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is issuing this Amended
Record of Decision (AROD) to amend its previous AROD for the long-term
management and storage of elemental mercury published in the Federal
Register on October 6, 2020. This AROD withdraws the decision to store
at Waste Control Specialists (WCS) certain elemental mercury to which
DOE accepts the conveyance of title pursuant to a legal settlement or
proceeding.
ADDRESSES: For electronic copies of this Amended Record of Decision,
the October 6, 2020, Amended Record of Decision, the December 6, 2019,
Record of Decision, or any of the documents prepared under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) related to long-term management and
storage of elemental mercury, please go to the following website:
<a href="https://www.energy.gov/nepa/nepa-documents">https://www.energy.gov/nepa/nepa-documents</a>. For paper copies, please
contact Dave Haught at DOE, Office of Environmental Management, Office
of Waste Disposal (EM-4.22), 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington,
DC 20585 or at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1f5b7e69767b31577e6a78776b5f776e317b707a31787069"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="763217001f12583e1703111e02361e075812191358111900">[email protected]</span></a>.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the
management and storage of elemental mercury, please contact Dave Haught
at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#2c684d5a454802644d594b44586c445d02484349024b435a"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="befadfc8d7da90f6dfcbd9d6cafed6cf90dad1db90d9d1c8">[email protected]</span></a> or visit <a href="https://www.energy.gov/em/long-term-management-and-storage-elemental-mercury">https://www.energy.gov/em/long-term-management-and-storage-elemental-mercury</a>. For general information
on the Office of Environmental Management's NEPA process, please
contact Bill Ostrum, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#edba848181848c80c3a29e999f9880ad859cc3898288c38a829b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3a6d535656535b571475494e484f577a524b145e555f145d554c">[email protected]</span></a> and at (202) 586-
2513.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Pursuant to Section 5(a)(1)-(2) of the Mercury Export Ban Act of
2008 (Pub. L. 110-414), and the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for
the 21st Century Act, (Pub. L. 114-182) (herein together referred to as
MEBA) (42 U.S.C. 6939f(a)(1)-(2)), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
was directed to designate and have operational a facility or facilities
of DOE for the long-term management and storage of elemental mercury
generated within the United States. On December 6, 2019, DOE published
a record of decision (ROD) in the Federal Register (84 FR 66890)
announcing DOE's decision to designate the Waste Control Specialists
(WCS) site near Andrews, Texas, as a DOE facility
[[Page 12681]]
for management and storage of up to 6,800 metric tons (7,480 tons) of
elemental mercury pursuant to Section 5(a)(1) of MEBA. Two domestic
generators of elemental mercury subsequently filed complaints in United
States District Court challenging, among other things, the ROD
designating the WCS site as a DOE facility for the long-term management
and storage of elemental mercury (Coeur Rochester, Inc. v. Brouillette
et al., Case No. 1:19-cv-03860-RJL (D.D.C. filed December 31, 2019);
Nevada Gold Mines LLC v. Brouillette et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-00141-RJL
(D.D.C. filed January 17, 2020)). On August 21, 2020, DOE and Nevada
Gold Mines, LLC (NGM) executed a settlement agreement intended to
resolve NGM's complaint in its entirety. Under the settlement agreement
with NGM, DOE agreed to withdraw the designation of WCS as a facility
of DOE for the purpose of long-term management and storage of elemental
mercury, and DOE agreed to accept title to and store 112 metric tons of
elemental mercury that is currently in temporary storage at NGM
facilities. On October 6, 2020, DOE published an AROD in the Federal
Register (85 FR 63105) withdrawing the designation of the WCS site
pursuant to MEBA as the DOE facility for long-term management and
storage of elemental mercury. In that October 6, 2020, AROD, DOE also
decided to store at WCS certain elemental mercury to which DOE accepts
the conveyance of title pursuant to a legal settlement or proceeding.
DOE did not store mercury at WCS as a result of the AROD and is not
currently storing any mercury at the WCS site. The lease agreement
between DOE and WCS for management and storage of elemental mercury
expired on June 4, 2021.
On May 24, 2021, DOE published in the Federal Register (86 FR
27838) a notice of intent to prepare a second Long-Term Management and
Storage of Elemental Mercury Supplemental Environmental Impact
Statement (Mercury Storage SEIS-II, DOE/EIS-0423-S2). This Mercury
Storage SEIS-II would supplement both the 2011 Environmental Impact
Statement for the Long-Term Management and Storage of Elemental Mercury
(DOE/EIS-0423) and the 2013 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement
for the Long-Term Management and Storage of Elemental Mercury (DOE/EIS-
0423-S1) by updating these previous analyses of potential environmental
impacts and analyzing additional alternatives, in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and will inform DOE's
decision related to designation of a facility or facilities for the
long-term management and storage of elemental mercury as required in
MEBA Section 5(a)(1).
To address the elemental mercury subject to the settlement
agreement, on February 4, 2022, DOE issued a Request for Task Order
Proposals seeking proposals to provide ancillary services for the
interim long-term management and storage of up to 120 MT of elemental
mercury. DOE will evaluate received proposals to determine how to
proceed with the interim long-term management and storage of the
elemental mercury for which DOE accepts title prior to designation of a
long-term elemental mercury storage facility.
Amended Decision
This AROD rescinds DOE's decision in the October 6, 2020, AROD to
store at WCS certain elemental mercury to which DOE accepts the
conveyance of title pursuant to a legal settlement or proceeding.
Signing Authority
This document of the U.S. Department of Energy was signed on March
1, 2022, by William I. White, Senior Advisor for Environmental
Management, Office of Environmental Management, pursuant to delegated
authority from the Secretary of Energy. That document with the original
signature and date is maintained by DOE. For administrative purposes
only, and in compliance with the requirements of the Office of the
Federal Register, the undersigned DOE Federal Register Liaison Officer
has been authorized to sign and submit the document in electronic
format for publication, as an official document of the U.S. Department
of Energy. This administrative process in no way alters the legal
effect of this document upon publication in the Federal Register.
Signed in Washington, DC, on March 2, 2022.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2022-04775 Filed 3-4-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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