Notice2023-20319
Notice of Availability of Interim Guidance on Packaging, Transportation, Receipt, Management, Short-Term and Long-Term Storage of Elemental Mercury
Primary source
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Published
September 20, 2023
Issuing agencies
Energy Department
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) gives notice of interim guidance U.S. Department of Energy Interim Guidance on Packaging, Transportation, Receipt, Management, Short-Term and Long- Term Storage of Elemental Mercury. The interim guidance updates DOE's 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Interim Guidance on Packaging, Receipt, Management, and Long-Term Storage of Elemental Mercury (2009 Long-Term Storage Guidance) and 2019 Guidance for Short-Term Storage of Elemental Mercury by Ore Processors (2019 Short-Term Storage Guidance).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 181 (Wednesday, September 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64897-64898]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20319]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability of Interim Guidance on Packaging,
Transportation, Receipt, Management, Short-Term and Long-Term Storage
of Elemental Mercury
AGENCY: Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability of guidance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE or the Department) gives
notice of interim guidance U.S. Department of Energy Interim Guidance
on Packaging, Transportation, Receipt, Management, Short-Term and Long-
Term Storage of Elemental Mercury. The
[[Page 64898]]
interim guidance updates DOE's 2009 U.S. Department of Energy Interim
Guidance on Packaging, Receipt, Management, and Long-Term Storage of
Elemental Mercury (2009 Long-Term Storage Guidance) and 2019 Guidance
for Short-Term Storage of Elemental Mercury by Ore Processors (2019
Short-Term Storage Guidance).
DATES: A 30-day public comment period began on May 2, 2023, with the
issuance of the Notice of Availability of the Interim Guidance (88 FR
27495) and following a request to extend the comment period, was later
extended to July 3, 2023 (88 FR 34491).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Haught, U.S. Department of
Energy, Office of Environmental Management, Office of Waste Disposal
(EM-4.22), 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, (202)
586-5000, or by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e78386918e83c98f8692808f93a78f96c9838882c9808891"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="debabfa8b7baf0b6bfabb9b6aa9eb6aff0bab1bbf0b9b1a8">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 (Pub. L. 110-414) (MEBA of 2008)
as amended by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st
Century Act (Pub. L. 114-182) (Chemical Safety Act of 2016) banned the
export of elemental mercury and certain mercury compounds and provided
for long-term and interim (i.e., short-term) management and storage of
elemental mercury. Specifically, MEBA of 2008 required the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) to designate a facility or facilities for
the long-term management and storage of elemental mercury (referred to
herein as the Long-Term Elemental Mercury Storage Facility (LTEMSF))
and to issue guidance on recommended standards and procedures for
receipt, management, and long-term storage of elemental mercury. 42
U.S.C. 6939f(a)(1), (d)(1). In accordance with these requirements, DOE,
after consultation with the EPA and appropriate State agencies in
potentially affected States, issued the 2009 Long-Term Storage Guidance
on November 13, 2009. The Chemical Safety Act of 2016 provided for
interim onsite storage of elemental mercury for certain generators,
while awaiting availability of the DOE-designated LTEMSF. 42 U.S.C.
6939f(g)(2)(D). It further required DOE to issue guidance on
recommended standards and procedures for management and short-term
onsite storage. 42 U.S.C. 6939f(g)(2)(E). In accordance with this
requirement, DOE issued the 2019 Short-Term Storage Guidance.
Interim Guidance Document
Both the 2009 Long-Term and 2019 Short-Term Storage Guidance
documents were based on certain planning assumptions. However, in
recognition that some key underlying assumptions of the guidance
documents had changed since the issuance of those documents, DOE
decided to revise both documents in a new, combined guidance document.
On May 2, 2023, after both consultation with EPA and DOT and an
opportunity for consultation with potentially affected States, DOE
issued draft U.S. Department of Energy Interim Guidance on Packaging,
Transportation, Receipt, Management, Short-Term and Long-Term Storage
of Elemental Mercury and requested comments on that draft guidance (88
FR 27495). Following a request to extend the comment period, DOE
extended the period for public comment to July 3, 2023 (88 FR 34491).
DOE received a total of about 50 comments from eight entities,
including EPA, DOT, and potentially affected States, and has made
certain changes in the interim guidance to reflect responses to the
comments received. The interim guidance document, U.S. Department of
Energy Interim Guidance on Packaging, Transportation, Receipt,
Management, Short-Term and Long-Term Storage of Elemental Mercury, may
be found at: <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>. This interim guidance document supersedes
and rescinds the 2009 Long-Term Storage Guidance and the 2019 Short-
Term Storage Guidance.
Signing Authority
This document of the Department of Energy was signed on September
14, 2023, by Kristin G. Ellis, Acting Associate Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Regulatory and Policy Affairs, 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 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 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 September 15, 2023.
Treena V. Garrett,
Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. Department of Energy.
[FR Doc. 2023-20319 Filed 9-19-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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