[Federal Register: December 4, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 232)]
[Notices]
[Page 70371-70372]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr04de06-40]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Notice of Availability; Draft Environmental Impact Statement for
the Western Greenbrier Co-Production Demonstration Project
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of availability and public hearings.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability
of the document, Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Western
Greenbrier Co-Production Demonstration Project, (DOE/EIS-0361), for
public comment. The draft environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzes
the potential environmental consequences of providing Federal funding
for the design, construction, and demonstration of a 98 megawatt (MWe)
net power plant and ash byproduct manufacturing facility to be located
in the municipality of Rainelle, Greenbrier County, West Virginia. The
facility would be constructed and demonstrated through a cooperative
agreement between DOE and Western Greenbrier Co-Generation, LLC (WGC)
under the Clean Coal Power Initiative (CCPI). WGC proposes to design,
construct, and demonstrate an atmospheric pressure circulating
fluidized-bed (CFB) power plant that would generate electricity and
steam by burning approximately 3,000 to 4,000 tons per day of coal
refuse from several local sites as the primary fuel. The proposed power
plant would be the first commercial application within the United
States of a CFB combustor featuring a compact inverted cyclone design.
The Department prepared this draft EIS in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et
seq.), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations that
implement the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508),
and the DOE procedures implementing NEPA (10 CFR part 1021).
DOE's proposed action is to provide cost-shared financial
assistance to WGC through a cooperative agreement under the CCPI for
design, construction, and operation of the Western Greenbrier Co-
Production Demonstration Project. WGC proposes to design, construct,
and operate a 98 MWe (net) power plant that would generate electricity
and steam by burning fuel derived from the beneficiation of
approximately 3,000 to 4,000 tons per day of coal refuse. The proposed
power plant would be the first commercial application within the United
States of an atmospheric circulating fluidized-bed combustor featuring
a compact inverted cyclone design. The design would require less steel
and facilitate erection in remote areas by reducing the boiler system
footprint and height. These innovations could reduce steel costs by
approximately 40 percent and shorten construction time by approximately
10 percent.
DATES: DOE invites the public to comment on the Draft EIS during the
public comment period, which ends January 18, 2007. DOE will consider
all comments postmarked or received during the public comment period in
preparing the Final EIS, and will consider late comments to the extent
practicable.
DOE will hold a public hearing on Thursday, January 4, 2007, at
Western Greenbrier Middle School, Crawley, West Virginia from 7 p.m. to
9 p.m. An informational session will be held at the same location from
4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., preceding the public hearing on the date noted
above.
ADDRESSES: Requests for information about this Draft EIS or to receive
a copy of the Draft EIS should be directed to: Roy G. Spears, NEPA
Document Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology
Laboratory, M/S NO-3, P.O. Box 0880, Morgantown, West Virginia.
Additional information about the Draft EIS may also be requested by
telephone at: (304) 285-5460, or toll-free at: (800) 432-8330, x5460.
The Draft EIS will be available at http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/.
Copies of the Draft EIS are also available for review at the locations
listed in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this Notice. Written
comments on the Draft EIS can be mailed to Roy G. Spears, NEPA Document
Manager, at the address noted above. Written comments may also be
submitted by fax to: (412) 285-4403, or submitted electronically to:
roy.spears@netl.doe.gov. Oral comments on the Draft EIS will be
accepted only during the public hearing scheduled for the date and
location provided in the DATES section of this Notice. Requests to
speak at the public hearing can be made by calling or writing the EIS
Document Manager (see ADDRESSES). Requests to speak that have not been
submitted prior to the hearing will be accepted in the order in which
they are received at the hearing. Speakers are encouraged to provide a
written version of their oral comments for the record. Each speaker
will be allowed five minutes to present comments unless more time is
requested and available. Comments will be recorded by a court reporter
and will become part of the public hearing record.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For further information on the
proposed project or the draft environmental impact statement, please
contact Mr. Roy G. Spears, as directed above. For general information
regarding the DOE NEPA process, please contact: Ms. Carol M. Borgstrom,
Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Compliance (GC-20), U.S. Department
of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585,
Telephone: (202) 586-4600, or leave a message at: (800) 472-2756.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Description of Alternatives
DOE analyzed two alternatives in the Draft EIS: The proposed action
and the no-action alternative. Under the proposed action, DOE would
provide cost-shared funding to a private-sector applicant for the
design, construction and demonstration of a Co-Production Facility
based on an innovative atmospheric-pressure circulating fluidized-bed
(ACFB) boiler with a compact inverted-cyclone design. In addition to
producing electricity and steam, the Co-Production facility would
include a kiln that would produce cement for use in the production of
structural brick and other similar products. The Co-Production Facility
would utilize coal refuse (also referred to as ``gob'') from nearby
coal refuse sites as the primary fuel source, and portions of the ash
generated by the circulating fluidized-bed (CFB) would be returned to
the coal refuse sites for use in site reclamation efforts. DOE has
entered into a 5-year cooperative agreement with WGC to provide
financial support through the CCPI program.
WGC was a successful applicant in Round 1 of the CCPI program and
will be ultimately responsible for the siting, design, construction,
and operation of the facility and related components.
[[Page 70372]]
WGC is collectively owned by the towns of Rainelle, Rupert, and
Quinwood, and its mission is to provide economic development for the
area through the construction and operation of the proposed facility.
The main focus of the WGC Co-Production Facility Project is the
construction and operation of the 98 MWe generating plant that utilizes
the technologies described in Section 2.3 of the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement. However, there are several unique and important
aspects of the project that extend beyond the construction and
operation of the power plant. In addition to generating power for the
national grid and demonstrating the inverted cyclone technology, the
proposed plant is intended to use coal refuse as its primary fuel
source, to apply potential waste streams to beneficial uses, and to
serve as an economic catalyst for the region by providing an anchor
tenant for a planned industrial park (the ``EcoPark'') to be located in
Rainelle. As a result, there are connected actions associated with the
excavation and reclamation of the proposed coal refuse piles (e.g.,
beneficiation of the coal refuse by a third party), the additional
industrial activities that may occur with the project (e.g., potential
production of building products from the cement), and potential future
commercial and industrial development that are intended to occur as a
result of the plant. These additional project aspects are not integral
to the DOE decision on whether to provide cost-shared funding to
demonstrate the clean coal technologies of interest.
Under the No Action Alternative, DOE would not provide cost-shared
funding to demonstrate the Co-Production Facility Project. Although WGC
could proceed to implement the proposed project in spite of DOE's No
Action Alternative, it is unlikely that this project would be completed
successfully without DOE funding support. The No Action alternative
would not involve new construction, new discharges, or changes in land
or water uses in the planning area. Because this alternative would not
involve introducing new emission sources, no impact on the air quality,
either locally or regionally, is expected. Aesthetic and scenic
conditions, as well as surface and ground water, would remain
unchanged. The No Action alternative would not contribute to the goal
of the CCPI program, which is to accelerate commercial deployment of
advanced technologies that provide the United States with clean,
reliable, and affordable energy.
Availability of the Draft EIS
Copies of this Draft EIS have been distributed to Members of
Congress, Federal, State, and local officials, and agencies,
organizations and individuals who may be interested or affected. This
Draft EIS will be available on the Internet at: http://www.eh.doe.gov/nepa/.
Additional copies can also be requested by telephone at: 304-
285-5460, or (800) 432-8330, x5460. Copies of the Draft EIS are also
available for public review at the Greenbrier County Public Library,
301 Courtney Drive, Lewisburg, West Virginia, and at the Rainelle
Municipal Public Library, 312 7th Street, Rainelle, West Virginia.
Issued in Washington, DC, on November 28, 2006.
Mark J. Matarrese,
Director, Office of Environment, Security, Safety and Health, Office of
Fossil Energy.
[FR Doc. E6-20435 Filed 12-1-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P