Issued on: May 26, 2006
Draft Environmental Impact Statement Published for Proposed Expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve
Washington, DC – A Notice of Availability has been published in the Federal Register for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for "Site Selection for the Expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve." Publication in the Federal Register begins a 45-day public comment period during which five public scoping meetings will be held in Mississippi, Texas, and Louisiana as part of the Public Scoping Process.
The actions are being taken as a result of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which requires the Secretary of Energy to select sites to expand the SPR capacity to one billion barrels – the volume necessary to enable acquisition of the full authorized inventory of the SPR. The selection process is dictated by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended.
DOE prepared the DEIS to address the environmental impacts of the proposed expansion of the capacity of the SPR and the range of reasonable alternatives, including the “No Action” alternative, under which SPR storage capacity would not be expanded. DOE will use the DEIS and comments received from the public to ensure that it has the information needed for purposes of informed decision-making. DOE’s decisions will be issued subsequent to the Final EIS in the form of a Record of Decision no sooner than 30 days after publication of the Notice of Availability of the Final EIS, expected in late August 2006.
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