CaseStudy:Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository Programmatic Agreement

The Department of Energy (DOE) has been consulting with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), the Nevada State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO), and many others over the past decade on its plans to construct a high-level radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada.

Details
The resulting Programmatic Agreement (PA), executed in late March 2009, provides a process for identification and assessment of effects to historic properties, and for extensive consultation to resolve adverse effects and deal with special situations—notably disturbance of human remains and post-review discoveries. The major potential for adverse effects in regards to the Yucca Mountain facility involves archaeological sites and historic properties of traditional religious and cultural significance to Indian tribes. The desert area of Nevada where the repository is located has been a part of DOE’s secure Nevada Test Site, so there has not been much activity or development that would destroy or compromise historic properties.

This agreement addresses the issues DOE will face in completion of the repository and provides a roadmap to identify historic properties, assess effects to them, and consult to reach agreement on mitigation measures. The PA also contains provisions for curation of artifacts and records, for education and outreach for workers and people in surrounding communities, and for periodic reassessment of historic properties on Yucca Mountain.

While it appears that Congress is likely to cut funding for completion and then operation of the Yucca Mountain repository, and the facility may be shut down permanently, DOE wanted to go forward on this PA because it would also guide any closure or mothballing of the facility.

In addition to the Nevada SHPO, many Indian tribes were involved in the consultation. They include the Las Vegas Paiute Tribe, Moapa Band of Paiutes, Paiute Indian Tribes of Utah, Kaibab Paiute Tribe, Pahrump Indian Tribe, Colorado River Indian Tribes, Chemehuevi Indian Tribe, Timbisha Shoshone Tribe, Duckwater Shoshone Tribe, Ely Shoshone Tribe, Yomba Shoshone Tribe, Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, Bishop Paiute Tribe, Fort Independence Tribe, Big Pine Paiute Tribe, and Benton Paiute Tribe. The consultation also included the Las Vegas Indian Center, Inc.

The ACHP has been assisting DOE in meeting its Section 106 responsibilities regarding the Yucca Mountain repository since the 1990s.

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