Final Site-Wide Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact: National Renewable Energy Laboratory's National Wind Technology Center

Technical Report · Fri May 31 04:00:00 EDT 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/823525· OSTI ID:823525

In accordance with the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5801), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) established the Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) in 1977. SERI was designated as a national laboratory and became the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in 1991. NREL was established to support DOE's mission to research and develop energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Among other responsibilities, NREL operates the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) located in Jefferson County, Colorado. The NWTC is a federally-owned, contractor-operated site. In accordance with the DOE National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations, DOE is required to evaluate existing Site-Wide Environmental Assessments (EA) every five years to determine whether the Site-Wide EA adequately addresses current agency plans, functions, programs and resource utilization. A Site-Wide EA for the NWTC was published in 1996 (DOE-EA-1127). DOE has determined that a new comprehensive EA should be prepared for the site to address new site development proposals and changes in the regional environment. DOE is the lead agency for this EA, and other federal, state, and local agencies and the public have been invited to participate in the environmental documentation process. The purpose of the Proposed Action is to support DOE's mission in the research and development of energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Alternative energy technology research is needed to improve technology designs, improve power generation efficiencies, increase economic competitiveness, and fully characterize and minimize environmental impacts from various technologies. The Proposed Action would provide and maintain enhanced facilities and infrastructure that would adequately support the site purpose of state-of-the-art alternative energy research, development, and demonstration.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab., Golden, CO (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance (EH-42) (US)
• OSTI ID: 823525
• Report Number(s): DOE/EA-1378
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
CO
DOCUMENTATION
EA
ECONOMICS
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FONSI
GOLDEN
NATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY LABORATORY
POWER GENERATION
REGULATIONS
SERI
SOLAR ENERGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
US NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT
WIND TECHNOLOGY CENTER