NNSA NEPA reading room

NNSA Announces Its Intent to Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production and Public Scoping Meetings 

On Friday May 9, 2025, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced 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.

DATES: NNSA invites all interested agencies (Federal, State, Native American Tribes, county, and local), public interest groups, businesses, and members of the public to submit comments on the scope, environmental issues, and alternatives for consideration by NNSA in the draft PEIS until July 14, 2025. Comments received after this date will be considered to the extent practicable. NNSA will hold two virtual public scoping meetings for the proposed PEIS as follows: 

Tuesday, May 27, 2025
5:00-7:30 pm ET
Meeting Link:https://bit.ly/PuPEISMtg1
Dial in by Phone: (571) 429-4592
Phone ID: 808 821 801#

Wednesday, May 28, 2025
7:00 pm-9:30 pm ET
Meeting Link: https://bit.ly/PuPEISMtg2 
Dial in by Phone: (571) 429-4592
Phone ID:  989 289 432# 

All meeting times Eastern time.

NNSA will provide a brief presentation on the NEPA process and the PEIS and then NNSA will accept public comments on the scope of the PEIS.

ADDRESSES: 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 PitPEIS@nnsa.doe.gov. 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. Also, NNSA requests Federal, State, 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. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Please contact Ms. Kristen M. Dors, NEPA Compliance Officer, NNSA Office of Environment, Safety and Health, Los Alamos Field Office, 3747 West Jemez Road, Los Alamos, NM 87544; telephone: 505-606-8953; or email to: PitPEIS@nnsa.doe.gov. This Notice will be available on the Internet at: Notice of intent article page: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/articles/doeeis-0573-notice-intent-may-2025

DRAFT LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY (LANL) SITE-WIDE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT (SWEIS) AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS

NNSA is making a Draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for Continued Operation of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL SWEIS) (DOE/ EIS-0552) available for public review and comment in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). NNSA is also announcing a 60-day public comment period and four public hearings to receive comments on the Draft LANL SWEIS. NNSA prepared the Draft LANL SWEIS to analyze the potential environmental impacts associated with continuing LANL operations and foreseeable new and/or modified operations and facilities for approximately the next 15 years. NNSA announced its intent to prepare a new LANL SWEIS on August 19, 2022 (87 FR 51083). 

NNSA invites Federal and state agencies, Native American Tribes, state and local governments, industry, other organizations, and members of the public to submit comments on the Draft LANL SWEIS through April 10, 2025. NNSA will consider all comments received or postmarked by the end of the comment period in preparing the Final LANL SWEIS. Comments received or postmarked after the comment period will be considered to the extent practicable.

NNSA will hold four public hearings (two of which will include a virtual component) to receive comments on the Draft LANL SWEIS. The in-person meetings will be held: 

Written comments on the Draft LANL SWEIS should be submitted no later than April 10, 2025 and sent to: 

Mail:
Mr. Stephen Hoffman
LANL SWEIS Document Manager
DOE/NNSA
3747 W. Jemez Road
Los Alamos, New Mexico 87544

Email: LANLSWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov

Phone: 505-665-8980 to leave a message

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. 

The Draft LANL SWEIS will be available here for your review: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/articles/doeeis-0552-draft-environmental-impact-statement

Copies of the Draft LANL SWEIS are available for review at the LANL Public Reading Room at 94 Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque, New Mexico.

NNSA’s Federal Register (FR) Notice of Availability (NOA) is available here for your review: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/articles/doeeis-0552-nnsa-notice-availability-draft-environmental-impact-statement

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA’s) NOA in the FR is available here for your review: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/articles/doeeis-0552-epa-notice-availability-draft-environmental-impact-statement

For more information on the Draft LANL SWEIS, please visit this page: https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0552-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-continued-operation-los-alamos-national-0

Record of Decision (ROD) for the final EIS for Plutonium Pit Production at the Savannah River Site (SRS)

Amended Record of Decision (AROD) of the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (CT SPEIS) for Pit Production at SRS  

Final SRS Pit Production EIS

NNSA’s Notice of Availability (NOA) of the final SRS Pit Production EIS in the Federal Register

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Notice of Availability (NOA) of the final SRS Pit Production EIS in the Federal Register

Amended Record of Decision (AROD) of the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (CT SPEIS) for Pit Production at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)

AROD of the 2008 LANL Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for Pit Production at LANL

Final SA of the SWEIS for pit production at LANL

The draft SA of the 2008 SWEIS for Continued Operations of LANL is available here for your review

More information on the 2008 SWEIS for Continued Operations of LANL is available here.

The Final SA for the Complex Transformation SPEIS is available here for your review.

The Notice of Availability of Final Supplement Analysis for the Complex Transformation SPEIS is available here for your review.

The Draft SA for the Complex Transformation SPEIS is available here for your review.

The Federal Register Notice of Availability is available here for your review.

More information on the Complex Transformation SPEIS is available for your review.

The Federal Register Notice of Intent for the Savannah River Site (SRS) Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) announcing the plutonium pit production NEPA strategy is available here for your review.

SRS Pit Production EIS Scoping Meeting presentation from 6/27/2019 public scoping meeting.

The draft SRS Pit Production EIS

NNSA’s Federal Register Notice of Availability (NOA) of the draft SRS Pit Production EIS

The Environmental Protection Agency’s NOA of the draft SRS Pit Production EIS in the Federal Register

The SRS Pit Production EIS page

• Environmental Assessment (EA) - A concise public document that a Federal agency prepares under NEPA to provide sufficient evidence and analysis to determine whether a proposed agency action would require preparation of an environmental impact statement or a finding of no significant impact.
• Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) - The detailed written statement that is required by section 102(2)(C) of NEPA for a proposed major Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.
• Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) - A public document issued by a Federal agency briefly presenting the reasons why an action for which the agency has prepared an environmental assessment will not have a significant effect on the human environment and, therefore, will not require preparation of an environmental impact statement.
• A Floodplain and Wetland Assessment is an evaluation that DOE prepares under DOE Floodplain and Wetland Environmental Review Requirements (10 CFR Part 1022) consisting of a description of a proposed action, a discussion of its potential effects on the floodplain or wetland, and consideration of alternatives. A Floodplain Statement of Findings is a brief document issued pursuant to 10 CFR 1022.14 that describes the results of the floodplain assessment.
• A Mitigation Action Plan is a document DOE prepares in accordance with DOE NEPA regulations (10 CFR 1021.331) that describes the plan for implementing commitments made in a DOE environmental impact statement and its associated record of decision, or, when appropriate, an EA or FONSI, to mitigate adverse environmental impacts associated with an action.
• Notice of Availability (NOA) is a formal notice, published in the Federal Register, that announces the issuance and public availability of a draft or final EIS. The Environmental Protection Agency NOA is the official public notification of an EIS; a DOE NOA is an optional notice used to provide information to the public.
• Notice of Intent (NOI) is a formal announcement of intent to prepare an EIS as defined in Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) NEPA regulations (40 CFR 1508.22). DOE publishes NOIs in the Federal Register in accordance with DOE NEPA regulations (10 CFR 1021.311). On rare occasions we may produce and issue an Advance NOI which means a formal public notice of DOE's intent to prepare an EIS, which is published in advance of an NOI in order to facilitate public involvement in the NEPA process.
• Programmatic NEPA document means a broad-scope EIS (PEIS) or EA that identifies and assesses the environmental impacts of a DOE program; it may also refer to an associated NEPA document, such as an NOI, ROD, or FONSI.
• A Record of Decision (ROD) is a concise public document that records a Federal agency's decision(s) concerning a proposed action for which the agency has prepared an environmental impact statement (See CEQ and DOE NEPA regulations at 40 CFR 1505.2 and 10 CFR 1021.315, respectively).
• Scoping means the process described at 40 CFR 1501.7; “public scoping process” refers to that portion of the scoping process where the public is invited to participate, as described at 40 CFR 1501.7 (a)(1) and (b)(4).
• Site-wide NEPA document means a broad-scope EIS (SWEIS) or EA that is programmatic in nature and identifies and assesses the individual and cumulative impacts of ongoing and reasonably foreseeable future actions at a DOE site; Site-wide may also refer to an associated NEPA document, such as an NOI, ROD, or FONSI.
• Supplement Analysis (SA) means a DOE document used to determine whether a supplemental EIS should be prepared pursuant to 40 CFR 1502.9(c), or to support a decision to prepare a new EIS.
• Supplemental EIS (SEIS) means an EIS prepared to supplement a prior EIS as provided at 40 CFR 1502.9(c).