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USING THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT TO FACILITATE THE TRANSFER OF FEDERaL LANDS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Anthony G. Ladino, LANL

Federal Planning Workshop SanDiego, California April 10-11, 1997

DISCLAIMER

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsi- bility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Refer- ence herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, ream- mendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

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N A T I O N A L L A B O R A T O R Y I Los Alamos National Laboratory, an affirmative actionlequal opportunity employer, is operated by the University of California for the US. Department of Energy under contract W-7405-ENG-36. By acceptance of this article, the publisher recognizes that the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, royalty-free license to publish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or to allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. Los Alamos National Laboratory requests that the publisher identify this article as work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Los Alamos National Laboratory strongly supports academic freedom and a researcher's right to publish; as an institution, however, the Laboratory does not endorse the Viewpoint of a publication or guarantee its technical correctness. Form 836 (10196)

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Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Facilitate the Transfer of Federal Lands for

Economic Development

Abstract

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is responsible for all of the nations nuclear weapons research laboratories and production facilities. One of these research laboratories is located on approxi- mately 43 m2 of Federal lands in Northern New Mexico. This facility is known as the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). LANL is managed and operated for DOE by the University of California. Over 85% of the facility is located in Los Alamos County (the County) with the remain- ing 15% being located in Santa Fe County.

In the early 1940s, the Federal government created three so-called Atomic Energy Communities that were needed to house the workforce required to develop and build the necessary components for the first atomic bomb. These three subsidized communities included Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos New Mexico. In 1996, the Federal government decided to discontinue the annual subsidy for Los Alamos by July 1997. The most recent subsidy amount was approximately 2.5 million dollars a year to the County with an additional amount of approximately 8.0 million dollars a year to the school system.

As part of the decision to terminate the Federal subsidy to the County, the Atomic Energy Commu- nity Act of 1955 (as amended) allows DOE to expedite the transfer of underutilized or excess government real estate to affected communities. The intent of this land transfer is to provide land to the County that is suitable for economic development which could be used to offset the loss of Federal dollars. At this time, the County has minimal access to either public or private lands that are suitable for development. Without access to Federal lands, the County has no way to increase the amount of prime real estate that could be used for the purpose of economic development.

In order to evaluate the transfer of certain Federal lands at LANL, DOE determined that the pro- posed action had the potential to result in environmental impacts and required the preparation of an Environmental Assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The specific proposed action evaluated by DOE with support from LANL was the transfer of approximately 28 contiguous acres of underutilized Federal land to the County. This tract was locally referred to as the DP Road tract. Although the land was underutilized, it functioned as part of a larger buffer area between potentially hazardous operations at LANL and the general public. The tract was covered with scrub vegetation. There were no government buildings located on the site. The tract of land had two Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) located within the tract boundary as well as a buried but active liquid radioactive waste pipeline that crossed the site. The tract of land was adjacent to several other DOE SWMUs as well as a public road. In addition, there were ownership issues pertaining to the transfer of the land to persons and agencies other than the County. This particular tract of land was being considered for transfer to the County at the same time DOE and LANL began evaluating another large Federal land tract for lease to the County to be developed as a private research park.

DOE with technical assistance from LANL completed the Environmental Assessment (DOEEA- 1184) and the required public review process under NEPA in less than five months. A Team ap- proach to resolving potential issues and to expediting the NEPA planning process was taken that included DOE, LANL, and the County. In addition, public involvement was actively solicited. Because of this Team approach, the Environmental Assessment was successfully completed on an aggressive schedule and a Finding of No Significant Impact under NEPA was issued by DOE in January 1997. As a result of the preparation of the Environmental Assessment and completion of the public review process, strategies for mitigating potential land transfer issues are being put into place. Also, actions are currently underway to transfer the property to the County enabling DOE to implement government mandates that encourage economic self sufficiency for communities such as Los Alamos. Lessons learned from preparing the Environmental Assessment and successfully completing the NEPA planning process are now being applied to the establishment of a private research park on Federal lands at LANL.

To mitigate the economic impact of ending government subsidies to the City and County of Los Alamos, New Mexico, the “Atomic City”, by transferring certain underutilized Federal land to the County government for economic development.

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Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Facilitate the Transfer of Federal Lands for Economic Development Federal Planning Workshop, April 10-1 1, 1997

Transfer the ownership of 28 acres of undeveloped but previously used Federal land known as the DP Road Tract to the County of Los Alamos. The County would have several limited options to develop the site as detailed by DOE or to relocate certain current County operations to the tract to allow development at other County-owned locations.

Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Facilitate the Transfer of Federal Lands for Economic Development Federal Planning Workshop, April 10-11, 1997

Historical Uses of the Tract Prior to World War II

AEC/ERDA/DOE and LANL Historical Use of the Tract

Recent Legislative Initiatives Regarding DOE Land Transfers

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Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Facilitate the Transfer of Federal Lands for Economic Development Federal Planning Workshop, April 10-1 1, 1997

Condition of the DP Road Tract (Le., structures, utilities, access, previously developed, proximity to other Federal lands and private property)

Ownership (County vs private or tribes; transfer vs lease; planned uses-residential, industrial or County offices, easements and buffer zones)

Proximit to hazardous operations at LANL (Tritium facility, of plutonium facility and research reactor)

ESH (PRSs onloff site,T&E habitat, cultural resources, recreation, Agency consultations, vehicle traffic, construction, housing, LANL accident effects)

Politics election year) and changes in the law (i.e., AE (5 A)

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Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Facilitate the Transfer of Federal Lands for Economic Development Federal Planning Workshop, April 10-1 1, 1997

Jobs (construction and permanent) and revenue to mitigate the loss of government subsidies

Prime County land available for economic development

Minimal initial cost to the government with potential long-term cost avoidance

No significant impact to government operations at LANL

Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Facilitate the Transfer of Federal Lands for Economic Development Federal Planning Workshop, April 10-1 1, 1997

,

NEPA (looks at alternatives, involves the public, overall planning and compliance approach in one combined effort)

DOE commitment to public notificationlinvolvement in the process

Team approach towards NEPA process with DOE, LANL, and County

Tight schedule and budget for an Environmental Assessment

Use U.S. Army COE following NEPA to complete the land transfer process

Develop model for a Public Research Park lease and other DOE land transfers at LANL

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Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Facilitate the Transfer of Federal Lands for Economic Development Federal Planning Workshop, April 10-1 1, 1997

I ....... . .

NEPA Environmental Assessment and FONSI completed

Detailed land transfer document under development

No significant site modifications required by DOE

Schedule and budget were met (5 months and $38,000 dollars)

US COE has begun title search and planning for site survey to transfer property

c Using the National Environmental Policy Act to Facilitate the Transfer of Federal Lands for Economic Development c

Federal Planning Workshop, April 10-11, 1997

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