Environmental assessment for the transfer of the DP Road tract to the County of Los Alamos. Final document

The purpose of an Environmental Assessment (EA) is to provide the DOE with sufficient evidence and analysis to determine whether to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). Additional considerations (such as costs, timing, or non-environmental legal issues) that influence DOE decisions are not analyzed in this EA. As part of its initiative to fulfill its responsibilities to provide support for the County of Los Alamos (the County), in northern New Mexico, the US Department of Energy (DOE) proposes to transfer ownership of the undeveloped, so called, DP Road property to the County. Transfer of this tract would permanently reduce the size of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) by approximately 0.1%. Approximately 12 hectares (28 acres) would be changed from an undeveloped to a developed status. This would result in an equivalent loss of wildlife habitat. A hypothetical accident was analyzed that evaluated potential radiological dose to the public at the DP Road tract from LANL operations. The dose to the hypothetical worker population of 450 new employees could result in an increase of approximately three latent cancer fatalities in the population. The DOE finds that there would be no significant impact from proceeding with the transfer of the 28-acre tract for development and use as a business park or for light industrial purposes