Notice of Intent To Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production

National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous agency within the United States (U.S.) Department of Energy (DOE), announces its intent to initiate a National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) process to ensure NEPA compliance for the production of plutonium pits in support of NNSA's Stockpile Stewardship and Management Program. The PEIS will evaluate the programmatic environmental impacts of producing pits at the Congressionally mandated rate (and potentially other reasonable rates) using various single site and multi-site alternatives; associated activities at other NNSA sites; and associated waste management and transportation activities. The purpose of this Notice is to invite public participation in the PEIS process and to solicit public comment on the scope, environmental issues, and alternatives for consideration by NNSA in the draft PEIS.

NNSA will hold initial virtual public scoping meetings and subsequent public hearings on the draft PEIS. During scoping, NNSA invites other Federal agencies, Native American Tribes, State and local governments, industry, other organizations, and members of the public to review and submit comments on the scope and alternatives of the PEIS. The deadline to submit these comments will be 45 days after the final public scoping meeting. As noted, the final public scoping meeting is currently scheduled for May 28, 2025, and therefore, the current deadline for comments is July 14, 2025. Comments received after this date will be considered to the extent practicable. NNSA will hold two virtual public scoping meetings. The information about the scoping meetings ( i.e., date, time, phone number, and accessible hyperlink) is provided in the table below. If there are future changes to this information, it would be provided in a future notice posted on the following website: https://www.energy.gov/​nnsa/​nnsa-nepa-reading-room, no fewer than 15 days from the planned meeting date.

Written comments on the scope of the PEIS, requests to be placed on the PEIS distribution list, and comments or questions on the scoping process should be sent to: Ms. Jade Fortiner, NEPA Document Manager, National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of Pit Production Modernization, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585 or email to [email protected]. Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, please be advised that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available. If you wish for NNSA to withhold your name and/or other personally identifiable information, please state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. You may also submit comments anonymously. NNSA requests all Federal, State, Native American Tribes, and local agencies that desire to be designated as cooperating agencies on the PEIS to contact the NEPA Document Manager at the address listed in this section by the end of the scoping period.