[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 143 (Friday, July 24, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44930-44932]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-16076]
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NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[Notice (20-063)]
Notice of Availability of the Final Supplemental Environmental
Impact Statement for Soil Cleanup Activities at Santa Susana Field
Laboratory
AGENCY: National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of Availability (NOA) of the Final Supplemental
Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for Soil
[[Page 44931]]
Cleanup Activities at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL).
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), as amended, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
Regulations for Implementing the Procedural Provisions of NEPA, and
NASA's NEPA-implementing regulations, policy, and procedures, NASA has
prepared a Final SEIS for soil cleanup activities at SSFL in Ventura
County, California. The purpose of this NOA is to announce the issuance
and public availability of the Final SEIS and inform the public of
where the document may be viewed. The Final SEIS is intended to inform
NASA decision-makers, regulating agencies, and the public about the
environmental impact of proposed soil cleanup in the NASA-administered
portion of SSFL.
DATES: NASA will execute a Record of Decision (ROD) no sooner than 30
calendar days from the date of publication in the Federal Register (FR)
of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) NOA of the Final
SEIS.
ADDRESSES: The Final SEIS may be reviewed at the following locations:
1. Simi Valley Library, 2969 Tapo Canyon Road, Simi Valley, CA
93063, Phone: (805) 526-1735.
2. Platt Library, 23600 Victory Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91367,
Phone: (818) 340-9386.
3. California State University, Northridge Oviatt Library, 18111
Nordhoff Street, 2nd Floor, Room 265, Northridge, CA 91330, Phone:
(818) 677-2285.
4. Department of Toxic Substances Control, 9211 Oakdale Avenue,
Chatsworth, CA 91311, Phone: (818) 717-6521.
The Final SEIS is also available on the internet at: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/environmental-impact-statement-eis-for-demolition-and-environmental-cleanup-activities.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Peter Zorba, SSFL Project Director, by
email at [email protected], or 202-714-0496.
Additional information about NASA's SSFL Site, the proposed soil
cleanup activities, and the associated planning process and
documentation (as available) may be found on the internet at https://ssfl.msfc.nasa.gov or on the California Department of Toxic Substances
Control (DTSC) website at https://www.dtsc.ca.gov/SiteCleanup/Santa_Susana_Field_Lab/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The SSFL site is 2,850 acres located in
Ventura County, California, approximately 7 miles northwest of Canoga
Park and approximately 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. SSFL
is composed of four areas known as Areas I, II, III, and IV and two
``undeveloped'' areas. The NASA-administered portion is 41.7 acres
within Area I and all 409.5 acres of Area II and was historically used
for developing and testing rocket engines. The Boeing Company (Boeing)
owns the remaining 2,398.8 acres within Areas I, III, IV, and the two
undeveloped areas. The Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for
building demolition and cleanup of soils and groundwater in Area IV and
the Northern Buffer Zone.
Rocket engine testing has been discontinued at SSFL and the
property has been excessed to the General Services Administration
(GSA). GSA has conditionally accepted the Report of Excess pending
certain environmental cleanup requirements are met.
NASA entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) for
Remedial Action with DTSC on December 6, 2010, ``to further define and
make more specific NASA's obligations with respect to the cleanup of
soils at the Site.'' Based on the 2010 Order, NASA is required to
complete a federal environmental impact analysis pursuant to NEPA and
NASA Procedural Requirement (NPR) 8580.1.
NASA completed a Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) per
NEPA for demolition of site infrastructure, soil cleanup, and
groundwater remediation within Area II and a portion of Area I (former
Liquid Oxygen [LOX] Plant) of SSFL on March 14, 2014 (79 FR 14545).
NASA subsequently issued a ROD for building demolition on April 25,
2014. A ROD for groundwater cleanup was published in the Federal
Register on October 17, 2018 (83 FR 52570). On October 25, 2019, an NOA
was published in the FR (84 FR 57490) for the Draft SEIS, which
initiated a 45-day public comment period. On December 9, 2019, NASA
published a notice in the FR that advised the public that the comment
period would be extended by 30 days to January 8, 2020 (84 FR 67296).
This Final SEIS has been prepared by NASA for soil cleanup within
its administered portion of SSFL.
Alternatives: The CEQ's implementing regulations for NEPA require
that where significant new information relevant to environmental
concerns and bearing on a proposed action or its impacts exists, an
SEIS must be prepared for the original EIS so that the Agency has the
best possible information to make any necessary substantive changes in
its decisions regarding the proposed action. NASA initiated preparation
of this Final SEIS when it determined that pursuant to information
found in the DTSC's Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Review for
the SSFL cleanup, the soil quantity which may need to be removed from
the SSFL site far exceeded the estimate NASA used in its 2014 Final
EIS. NASA determined this constituted significant new information
relevant to environmental concerns and bearing on the proposed action.
NEPA requires analysis of a range of reasonable alternatives to the
proposed action. The alternatives section is the heart of any NEPA
document, including this Final SEIS. In determining the scope of
alternatives to be considered, NASA considered those alternatives that
are: (1) Practical and feasible using both the AOC framework and a
risk-based approach based on criteria provided for in the National
Contingency Plan and as set forth in applicable California state law,
(2) protective both environmentally and from a human health-based
perspective, and (3) feasible from a technical implementability
standpoint.
As it prepared the Final SEIS and evaluated the alternatives set
forth below, NASA was mindful of its responsibility to implement an
environmental cleanup of residual contaminants in Area II and the
portion of Area I over which it has continued oversight in a manner
that is fully protective of public health and the environment,
preserves to the maximum extent possible the Site's natural and
cultural resources, and is feasible (i.e., implementable). The Final
SEIS takes into account other responsible party cleanup obligations for
the areas of SSFL that surround NASA's property to ensure a long-term,
cohesive, and uniform remedial action is implemented. The Final SEIS
considers the following range of alternatives that meet NASA's
objectives to clean up soil at the portion of the SSFL site
administered by NASA.
Alternative A: AOC Cleanup using DTSC-proposed Look-up
Table (LUT) values (similar to the Proposed Action from the 2014 Final
EIS with the impacts of increased soil volumes considered)
Alternative B: Revised LUT Cleanup (this alternative
involves proposed revisions to seven of the 139 LUT values to reflect
standard California Water Board and California Human Health screening
values. All other DTSC-proposed LUT values would remain the same.)
Alternative C: Suburban Residential Cleanup (based on the
DTSC-approved Standardized Risk Assessment
[[Page 44932]]
Methodology [SRAM] Revision 2 Addendum, EPA risk assessment guidelines
for residential land use, and California Environmental Protection
Agency [Cal EPA] risk assessment guidance)
Alternative D: Recreational Cleanup (based on DTSC-
approved SRAM Revision 2 Addendum, EPA risk assessment guidelines for
recreational land use, and Cal EPA risk assessment guidance)
A No Action alternative, which is required per NEPA, was also
included in the analysis, though it would not meet the purpose and need
of the proposed action.
Public meetings on the Draft EIS were held in the vicinity of SSFL
on November 20 and 21, 2019. During the review period, NASA received
approximately 1,200 comments, over 800 of which were form letters.
After considering all comments received, NASA prepared the Final SEIS.
There are no substantive changes to the range of alternatives
considered. Alternative C, Suburban Residential Cleanup, is identified
as the Agency's Preferred Alternative, and, along with Alternative D,
the Agency's Environmentally Preferable Alternative.
Cheryl Parker,
Federal Register Liaison Officer.
[FR Doc. 2020-16076 Filed 7-23-20; 8:45 am]
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