§10244 Environmental Assessment of Sites

Summary

When the Negotiator asks, the Secretary must prepare an environmental assessment for any site being negotiated under section 10243(a). For a proposed repository, the assessment must describe likely effects of studying the site and of building and running a repository there. For a monitored retrievable storage facility, it must describe likely effects of building and running that facility. The assessment counts as a final agency action and can be reviewed in court under chapter 7 of title 5 and section 10139. The Secretary must hold public hearings near the site to tell neighbors it is being considered, get their comments, and hear suggestions about what the assessment and the site characterization plan (section 10133(b)(1)) should cover. The assessment must be made available to the public. When preparing an assessment, the Secretary must use existing scientific data (for example, geologic and water information and other studies) and must not do new test borings or digs unless those tests were already happening on or before December 22, 1987, or the Secretary certifies they are needed because otherwise required information won’t be available. Any allowed preliminary boring or excavation under this rule may not be over 40 inches in diameter.