Public Notice: Environmental Assessment and Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact – City and Borough of Juneau for the Compost Facility Project

FILES FOR DOWNLOAD

Environmental Assessment and Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact for the City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska, Compost Facility Project; https://cdxapps.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-II/public/action/nepa/details?nepaId=443044

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) and Preliminary Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for public review and comment for 30 calendar days before making the decision on whether, and if so how, to proceed with a proposed action.

The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) is proposing to develop a municipal compost facility at the former Lemon Creek Gravel Pit at 2300 Anka Street, Juneau, Alaska. The municipal compost facility will provide increased capacity and capability for solid waste management. With Juneau’s only landfill having a life of 20 years left, the community has limited choices for landfill expansion or the placement of a new landfill. The former gravel pit is currently owned by the CBJ and is zoned for industrial use. By constructing a composting facility within the footprint of the former gravel pit, the community will have an option to divert up to 22% of the annual waste stream to the landfill and convert the organic waste material into a usable finished compost. By keeping food waste and other organics out of the landfill, CBJ can significantly extend the life of the landfill. Congress appropriated $2.5 million earmarked for the CBJ for the municipal compost facility under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (P.L. 117 – 328).

EPA considered two alternatives for the Proposed Project: the Proposed Action and the No Action Alternative, which are analyzed in this EA pursuant to Section 102 of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and EPA’s NEPA procedures under 40 CFR part 6. The EA did not identify significant effects to resources as a result of implementing either the Proposed Action or the No Action Alternative. However, EPA will consider public and agency comments prior to making its decision regarding implementation of the proposed project. After evaluating any comments received, EPA will make a final decision. The preliminary decision and finding will become final after the 30-day comment period expires if no new significant information is provided to alter this finding.

The EA and preliminary FONSI is available for download from EPA’s NEPA Compliance Database at https://cdxapps.epa.gov/cdx-enepa-II/public/action/nepa/search. Questions and public comments may be sent to Domenic Calabro, [email protected], (206) 553-6640, on or prior to December 26, 2023.