ANALYSIS OF THE NUMBER OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENTS
                 PREPARED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: 1970-19901

                                   February 6, 1990



               One indication of the Department of Energy's (DOE's)2

          responsiveness to the mandate of the National Environmental

          Policy Act (NEPA) is the number of Environmental Impact

          Statements (EISs) and Supplemental EISs prepared since NEPA's

          enactment in 1970.  Using Environmental Protection Agency

          computer records and Federal Register notices, the Natural

          Resources Defense Council (NRDC) compiled the number of EISs

          prepared by DOE and predecessor agencies from 1970 to 1989 (see

          Attachment A).  An analysis of these records indicates that in

          recent years DOE has substantially reduced the number of EISs it

          prepares.  The analysis also shows that DOE has prepared site-

          wide EISs on only half of the defense programs facilities and has

          prepared only five supplemental EISs on its nuclear weapons

          operations.






                              

          1  Prepared by Randall Booker and James D. Werner, NRDC.

          2  Including predecessor agencies to DOE - the Atomic Energy
          Commission and the Energy Research and Development
          Administration.







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          1.   The Number of EISs Prepared Annually By DOE Has Fallen Since
               the Early 1980s

               The number of EISs prepared by DOE has decreased

          substantially since the 1970s and early 1980s when an average of

          12 EIS were prepared annually (see Tables 1 and 2 and Figure 1). 

          From 1970 to 1974, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), a DOE

          predecessor agency, prepared 50 EISs.3  From 1975 to 1979, the

          Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA), another

          DOE predecessor, and DOE prepared 49 EISs.  Between 1980 and

          1984, DOE prepared 63 EISs.  From 1985 to 1989, however, only 25

          EISs were prepared by DOE - half the number prepared during any

          previous five-year period.

                                       Table 1

               Period                   No. of EISs         Ave. No./Year



               1970-1974                     50*                 10

               1975-1979                     49                  10

               1980-1984                     63                  13

               1985-1989                     25                  5

          ___________

          *Excludes 122 commercial nuclear power plant EISs prepared for

          AEC licensing decisions.



                              

          3  During the early 1970s, the AEC also prepared EISs on
          commercial nuclear power plant licensing decisions.  The number
          of EISs listed above for this period specifically excludes these
          power plant EISs to facilitate comparison with post-AEC period
          EIS tallies.







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          2.   DOE Has Prepared Site-Wide EISs for Only Half of the Weapons
               Facilities

               DOE and its predecessor agencies (AEC and ERDA) have

          prepared site-wide Environmental Impact Statements on only eight

          defense program sites (see Attachment A).4  Site-wide EISs have

          not been prepared for the other eight nuclear weapons facilities

          including several large and heavily contaminated nuclear weapons

          facilities.5  Although EISs have been prepared for specific

          operations, e.g., waste management or reactor restart, at a

          number of these facilities, no comprehensive analysis of

          integrated site operations impacts and alternatives have been

          prepared.  Such an analysis would consider, among other things,

          cumulative or synergistic impacts not otherwise included in EISs

          regarding individual operations.

               There is no obvious reason why site-wide EISs were prepared

          for some facilities but not others.  Perhaps nowhere is the lack

          of consistency in preparing EISs more apparent than with the

                              

          4  Defense Program Sites for which site-wide EISs were prepared
          include: (1) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, (2) Los
          Alamos National Laboratory, (3) Mound, (4) Nevada Test Site, (5)
          Pantex, (6) Rocky Flats, (7) Sandia National Laboratory Livermore
          (Lawrence Livermore and Sandia Livermore were combined into one
          EIS because they are adjacent facilities), (8) Waste Isolation
          Pilot Plant.  DOE has prepared EISs at three non-defense sites:
          Portsmouth, Brookhaven, and Fermilab.

          5  Defense program sites for which site-wide EISs have not been
          prepared include: (1) Feed Materials Production Center (Fernald,
          Ohio), (2) Hanford Reservation, (3) Idaho National Engineering
          Laboratory, (4) Kansas City Plant, (5) Pinellas Plant (Florida),
          (6) Sandia National Laboratory/Albuquerque (New Mexico), (7)
          Savannah River Site, or the (8) Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant.







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          uranium enrichment operations.  An EIS was prepared for the

          Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, but not for the Paducah or

          Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plants6, which involve the use of

          exactly the same technology, at similar levels of operation.



          3.   DOE Has Prepared Only Five Supplemental EISs On Defense
               Facilities

               DOE has prepared only five Supplemental EISs on nuclear

          weapons facilities and only an additional 14 on other DOE

          facilities.  The NEPA regulations issued by the President's

          Council on Environmental Quality state that supplemental EISs

          must be prepared where there are:

                    Significant new circumstances or information
                    relevant to the environmental concerns and
                    bearing on the proposed action or its
                    impacts.7

          Clearly, both the circumstances and information on which many of

          the 145 EISs prepared by DOE before 1985 have changed.  DOE

          should reassess the need to update old EISs with supplemental

          EISs.8

           




                              

          6  The Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant was permanently shutdown
          in 1985.

          7  40 CFR 1502.9(c)(2)(ii)

          8  See e.g., "Notice of Intent to Sue Letter" to James D.
          Watkins, from Natural Resources Defense Council, Hanford
          Environmental Action League, and the Nuclear Safety Campaign,
          January 12, 1990.