Integrating NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) and CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act) requirements during remedial responses at DOE facilities

Technical Report · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6723954· OSTI ID:6723954

Levine, M. B.; Smith, E. D.; Sharples, F. E.; Eddlemon, G. K.

US Department of Energy (DOE) Order 5400.4, issued October 6, 1989, calls for integrating the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with those of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for DOE remedial actions under CERCLA. CERCLA requires that decisions on site remediation be made through a formal process called a Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS). According to the DOE order, integration is to be accomplished by conducting the NEPA and CERCLA environmental planning and review procedures concurrently. The primary instrument for integrating the processes is to be the RI/FS process, which will be supplemented as needed to meet the procedural and documentational requirements of NEPA. The final product of the integrated process will be a single, integrated set of documents; namely, an RI report and an FS-EIS that satisfy the requirements of both NEPA and CERCLA. The contents of the report include (1) an overview and comparison of the requirements of the two processes; (2) descriptions of the major tasks included in the integrated RI/FS-EIS process; (3) recommended contents for integrated RI/FS-EIS documents; and (4)a discussion of some potential problems in integrating NEPA and CERCLA that fall outisde the scope of the RI/FS-EIS process, with suggestions for resolving some of these problems. 15 refs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/NE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 6723954
• Report Number(s): ORNL/TM-11564; ON: DE90014775
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COMPLIANCE
CONTAMINATION
DECISION MAKING
DOCUMENT TYPES
DOCUMENTATION
ENERGY FACILITIES
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE PATHWAY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
IMPLEMENTATION
LAWS
LEGAL ASPECTS
MANAGEMENT
MONITORING
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
PLANNING
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
PUBLIC RELATIONS
RADIATION MONITORING
RECOMMENDATIONS
REMEDIAL ACTION
SITE SURVEYS