18564
Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 68 / Thursday, April 8, 2004 / Notices
rail corridor appears to have the fewest land use or other conflicts that could lead to substantial delays in acquiring the necessary land and rights-of-way, or in beginning construction. DOE also considered concerns expressed by the public in Nevada. In these comments, the public stated that DOE should avoid rail corridors in the Las Vegas Valley. The Department also considered the direct costs of constructing and operating a rail line, and the indirect costs resulting from potential delays in the availability of the rail line. The Jean and Valley Modified corridors are the shortest and have the lowest estimated construction costs. The Carlin and Caliente corridors are the longest and on the basis of construction cost alone would be more expensive to develop. However, delays in the construction of the rail line because of land use or other conflicts and the resulting inability to accept large amounts of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste transported by a railroad to the repository in a timely manner could add to both the liability costs for delayed acceptance of commercial spent nuclear fuel and the costs of continued storage of DOE wastes. Based on all of the above, DOE concludes that the Caliente corridor is preferable to the other corridors it evaluated as a potential corridor in which to construct a rail line. Therefore, DOE has decided to select the Caliente corridor as the one within which to evaluate possible alignments for the rail line connecting the repository to an existing main rail line in Nevada. Use of All Practicable Means To Avoid or Minimize Harm—Rail Corridor In the Final EIS, DOE identified transportation-related measures that would be implemented, and other measures that would require further consideration and refinement before adoption to avoid or minimize environmental harm. As described in minimize adverse environmental impact that could result from the transportation of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes to a repository at Yucca Mountain appropriate at this stage of decision-making. Construction of a rail line will be consistent with applicable Federal, state and Native American tribal requirements. In addition to these measures, other potential mitigation measures associated with the construction of a rail line will be identified and evaluated during preparation of future NEPA documentation. Part I, this decision adopts all practicable measures to avoid or
line to connect the repository site to an existing rail line in the State of Nevada. To that end, the Department has decided to select the preferred rail corridor alternative, the Caliente corridor, in which to evaluate alignments for a rail line. Basis for Rail Corridor Decision The Department decided to evaluate alignments within the Caliente corridor for possible construction of a rail line based, in large part, on the analyses of the Final EIS. The Department, however, also considered other factors discussed below, such as potential for construction delay, direct and indirect costs of each alternative, and comments received from the public. The Department considered irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources and cumulative impacts in making its decision. There would be an irreversible and irretrievable commitment of resources, such as electric power, fossil fuels, construction materials, and water associated with the construction of a rail line in Nevada, although this commitment of resources would not significantly diminish the resources in question in Nevada. DOE recognizes that for all rail corridors there could be cumulative impacts from past, present and reasonably foreseeable future activities. The Department considered potential land use conflicts and their potential to affect adversely construction of a rail line, as analyzed in the Final EIS in making this decision. If the Department were to select the Valley Modified rail corridor there may be conflicts with the Desert National Wildlife Range and local community plans for development in the greater Las Vegas metropolitan area. If the Department were to select the Caliente-Chalk Mountain corridor there would be conflicts with U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense testing and training activities directly related to national security interests on the Nevada Test and Training Range. If the Department were to select the Jean corridor it may require crossing relatively greater amounts of private land, and would pose greater potential land use conflicts because of its proximity to the greater Las Vegas metropolitan area. If the Department were to select the Carlin corridor it would also require crossing relatively greater amounts of private land. Moreover, little infrastructure, such as roads and electric power, is available over long segments, which would tend to make logistics during construction as well as emergency response capabilities more challenging. Overall, the Caliente
sculpture project. Others raised the potential for impacts to ranchers living in proximity to the proposed Caliente corridor, including questions regarding the design and operation of a rail line and the nature of measures that could mitigate resulting adverse impacts. Finally, several commenters thanked DOE for announcing its corridor preference, recognizing the challenges and opportunities and associated need to coordinate closely as DOE proceeds with transportation planning. Comments calling for DOE to prepare a programmatic transportation EIS and the need to avoid all major Nevada population centers with transportation routes were addressed in the response to comments in the Final EIS. DOE believes a programmatic EIS to be unnecessary as its Final EIS provides the environmental impact information necessary to make certain broad transportation-related decisions (as described above in Transportation- Related Decisions). With regard to avoiding population centers, the analyses of the Final EIS illustrate that potential public health and safety impacts would be so low for individuals who lived and worked along any route that individual impacts would not be discernible, even if the corresponding doses could be measured. Although some commenters stated that DOE’s intent in identifying the Carlin corridor as a secondary preference was unclear, the decision to select the Caliente corridor also represents DOE’s intent to no longer consider the Carlin corridor for development of a rail line. This decision and the basis for not selecting the Carlin corridor are discussed below in Rail Corridor Decision and Basis for Rail Corridor Decision. The remaining concerns and issues regarding potential environmental impacts associated with the development of a rail line, potential mitigation measures, and opportunities for public involvement and project participation will be addressed during the future preparation of a rail alignment EIS. As part of developing this documentation, DOE will identify and adopt measures to avoid or minimize environmental harm that could result from the construction and operation of a rail line within the Caliente corridor. Rail Corridor Decision In Part I of this Record of Decision, the Department selected, both on a national basis and in the State of Nevada, the mostly rail scenario. That decision is premised on the assumption that DOE will ultimately construct a rail
VerDate mar<24>2004 16:47 Apr 07, 2004 Jkt 203001 PO 00000 Frm 00046 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\08APN1.SGM 08APN1
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker