Integrating NEPA Into Long-Term Planning at DOE

• Date: 01 July 2009

39 ELR 10642 EnviRonmEntaL Law REpoRtER 7-2009

Integrating NEPA Into

Long-Term Planning at DOE

by Carol Borgstrom

Carol Borgstrom is Director, Oce of NEPA Policy and Compliance, U.S. Department of Energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has had exten-

sive experience in the use of the National Environ-

mental Policy Act (NEPA)1 process to support its

long-term planning. is is demonstrated by t he fact that

DOE has prepared more than 50 programmatic environ-

mental impact st atements (PEISs) covering major activities,

such a s the management of the nuclear weapons complex,

the demonstration of new clean coal technologies, DOE-

wide radioa ctive waste treatment, storage and disposal

plans, and the conti nued operat ion of large, multipurpose

DOE sites.

DOE uses the term PEIS to refer to a broad EIS that

addresses:

• strategic planning;

• a new program;

• related or similar actions proposed at multiple sites;

• technology development; and

• sitewide EISs that cover all activities at certain large

multiple facility sites.

While a project-specic EIS may address long-term issues

and impacts and therefore may be integrated with long-term

planning, a PEIS is likely to be broader in perspective and

more suitable for integration with long-term planning.

In preparing a PEIS, DOE usually begins by looking at

the big picture. Before embarking on a new direction or

undertaking a major program initiative, DOE takes a broad

look at the long-term consequences of such action, before

resources are committed a nd detailed plans are developed.

Just as it makes sense to consider the cost, schedule, and

technical issues when charting a new course (or even when

proposing to stay the course), so too it is prudent to consider

both the immediate and the long-term environmental rami-

cations of signicant actions.

Preparing a PEIS takes considerable time, eort, and

resources. e median cost for DOE’s PEISs in the past

decade is about $5 million; although some PEISs have cost far

less, a few have cost $30 million and more. e median time

1. 42 U.S.C. §§4321-4370f, ELR S. NEPA §§2-209.

to complete a PEIS at DOE is about 35 months, although

many a re done in two years or less. An investment of this

magnitude demands ta ngible results and enduring payback.

To reap the maximum benets from a PEIS, thoughtful

upfront planning and a long-term planning perspective are

essential. A programmatic EIS with built-in exibility, i.e.,

the ability to respond to potentially changing conditions,

will have a longer shelf-life and therefore continue to pro-

duce dividends.

For exa mple, DOE issued its Final Waste Mana gement

Programmatic EIS2 (DOE/EIS-0200) in 1997, after nearly

seven years of eort and with a total cost of $35 million.

is was a very complex, technically dicult, and politically

sensitive undertaking. e PEIS was prepared to support

long-term national planning and ultimate implementation

of activities for the treatment, storage, and disposal of ve

radioactive waste types. DOE included extensive public

involvement in the identication and ana lysis of rea sonable

alternative sites, decentralized versus centrali zed strategies,

disposal capacities, transport ation issues, and technology

options. Initially, four major records of decision (RODs)

were issued: Treatment and Storage of Transuranic Waste

ROD (1998); Non-Wastewater Ha zardous Waste ROD

(1998); Storage of Hig h-Level Rad ioactive Waste ROD

(1999); and Treatment and Disposal of Low-Level Waste and

Mixed Low-Level Waste ROD (2000). ese basic RODs

were followed by three supplement analyses (a brief analy-

sis that DOE uses to determine whether a supplemental EIS

is required) that supported six amended RODs, the most

recent in March 2008. Further, multiple site-specic EISs,

e.g., at the Hanford site, Nevada test site, and Savannah

River site, were tiered from the PEIS. e initial PEIS is still

relied upon today as DOE continues to implement the waste

management decisions.

Another example of a major DOE programmatic EIS for

long-term planning is the Complex Transformation Supple-

mental Programmatic EIS,3 completed in October 2008.

is supplemental PEIS was built on a n earlier strategic

planning EIS, the Stockpile Stewardship and Management

2. DOE/EIS-0200.

3. DOE/EIS-0236-S4.