[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18451-18452]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-9293]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Indian Affairs
Bureau of Land Management
[Docket No. 72-22]


Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C., Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation, Skull Valley Indian Reservation, Tooele County, UT; 
Notice of Intent to Prepare Environmental Impact Statement and Notice 
of Public Scoping Meeting

    Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C. (PFS or the applicant) proposes to 
construct and operate an independent spent fuel storage installation 
(ISFSI) at the Skull Valley Indian Reservation, which is bordered on 
all sides by Tooele County, Utah. The proposed Private Fuel Storage 
Facility (PFSF) would be constructed on an 820-acre site that would 
store spent nuclear fuel (SNF) received from commercial U.S. nuclear 
power plants. The applicant proposes constructing a rail line on land 
managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as the preferred 
route for transportation of SNF to its site. To construct and operate 
the facility, the applicant must obtain a license from the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission (NRC), a right-of-way (ROW) for its proposed rail 
line over public lands from BLM, and approval from U.S. Bureau of 
Indian Affairs (BIA) for the proposed lease agreement between the Skull 
Valley Band of Goshute Indians and PFS.
    On June 20, 1997, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 72, PFS submitted an 
application to NRC for a license to receive, possess, store, and 
transfer SNF at an ISFSI to be constructed and operated on the 
Reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians. A notice of 
consideration of issuance of an NRC materials license for the proposed 
PFSF and notice of opportunity for hearing were published in the 
Federal Register on July 31, 1997 (62 FR 41099).
    The applicant executed a lease agreement with the Skull Valley Band 
of Goshute Indians to permit construction and operation of its proposed 
facility on the Skull Valley Band Reservation. On May 23, 1997, BIA 
conditionally approved the lease agreement, contingent upon the 
completion of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the inclusion of 
mitigation measures identified in the Record of Decision, and the 
issuance of an NRC license to construct, maintain, and operate the 
PFSF. The lease includes 820 acres of land where the PFSF is proposed 
to be located, a 202-acre utility and road ROW from the Skull Valley 
Road to the PFSF facility, and a buffer zone adjacent to the PFSF to 
the south and east of the facility including five sections of land, on 
the Skull Valley Indian Reservation.
    By letter dated August 28, 1998, the applicant submitted an 
application for a ROW to BLM, to construct a rail line and related 
facilities for a distance of approximately 32 miles on the western side 
of Skull Valley, along the base of the Cedar Mountains from Skunk 
Ridge, Utah, to the PFSF site. The rail line would traverse land that 
is included within the BLM Pony Express Resource Management Plan (RMP) 
and would be utilized for the transportation of SNF to the proposed 
PFSF site. The current Pony Express RMP does not allow for major ROWs 
such as a rail line in this area, and the PFSF proposal would, 
therefore, require an amendment to the RMP prior to granting on the 
requested ROW. BLM will publish in the Federal Register a notice of 
intent to prepare an RMP amendment. By a separate letter dated August 
28, 1998, PFS also submitted a revision to its application for an NRC 
license to reflect its proposal to construct and utilize a rail line 
over public lands managed by BLM for the transportation of SNF to its 
site.
    The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 requires all Federal 
agencies to consider the environmental impacts of their actions. 
Because NRC, BIA, and BLM required actions for the construction and 
operation of the PFSF are related, the Agencies have agreed to 
cooperate in the preparation of an EIS for these actions. In preparing 
the EIS, NRC will serve as the lead agency and BLM and BIA will serve 
as cooperating agencies. The NRC published a notice of intent to 
prepare an EIS and conduct a scoping process in the Federal Register on 
May 1, 1998 (63 FR 24197). As a part of the scoping process, a public 
scoping meeting was conducted on June 2, 1998, in Salt Lake City, Utah. 
The scoping process also provided interested parties with an 
opportunity to provide written comments. At the conclusion of that 
initial scoping process, NRC issued a scoping report, dated September 
1998.
    NRC's initial scoping process was based on the description of the 
PFSF contained in the applicant's submittal of June 20, 1997, which did 
not include the proposed rail line on public land administered by BLM. 
This rail line proposal was submitted to NRC on August 28, 1998, as an 
amendment to the PFS application. Similarly, BIA's conditional approval 
of the proposed lease agreement was issued prior to the applicant's 
proposal of a rail line over BLM lands adjacent to the Skull Valley 
Reservation.
    As a result of the applicant's August 28, 1998, revision of its 
transportation proposal, NRC, BIA, and BLM have determined that 
additional scoping meetings should be conducted. Therefore, public 
scoping meetings will be held on April 29, 1999, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. 
at the Ballroom of the Little America Inn, 500 South Main Street, Salt 
Lake City, Utah 84101 and April 29, 1999, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. 
at the Tooele High School, 240 West Buffalo Boulevard, Tooele, UT 
80474. The focus of the scoping meetings will be an environmental 
issues associated with the rail line proposed in the applicant's August 
28, 1998, license application amendment, the request for issuance of a 
ROW over public lands managed by BLM, and any environmental concerns 
associated with the proposed lease agreement that may not have been 
addressed in the NRC's initial scoping process. Each meeting will 
include an NRC briefing on the proposed license and a summary of the 
comments received at the previous scoping meeting; a BLM briefing on 
the land use plan amendment and the proposed ROW; and a BIA briefing on 
the lease agreement. The scoping meetings will afford an opportunity 
for interested agencies, organizations, and individuals to submit 
comments or suggestions on environmental issues related to the proposed 
rail line and the lease agreement. Written comments on these issues 
will be accepted until May 28, 1999.
    Persons may register to present oral comments at the scoping 
meeting by writing to (1) Scott C. Flanders, Sr. Environmental Project 
Manager, Licensing and Inspection Directorate, Spent Fuel Project 
Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; (2) Leon

[[Page 18452]]

Berggren, Resource Advisor, U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land 
Management, Salt Lake District Office, 2370 South 2300 West, Salt Lake 
City, Utah 84119; or (3) Dale Hamberg, Land Operation Officer, U.S. 
Department of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Unitah and Ouray 
Agency, P.O. Box 130 Fort Duchesne, Utah 84026; or Amy Heuslein, 
Environmental Protection Officer, U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau 
of Indian Affairs, Phoenix Area Office, P.O. Box 10, Phoenix, Arizona 
85001. Information concerning the proposed actions, the scoping 
process, and the EIS may also be obtained from these individuals. A 
copy of the initial NRC scoping report dated September 1998 can be 
obtained by writing to Scott Flanders at 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland 20855, or by telephone at (301) 415-1172. Also, the 
NRC scoping report is available for public inspection at NRC's Public 
Document Room in the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, NW., Washington, 
DC 20555, and the Local Public Document Room at the University of Utah, 
Marriott Library, Documents Division, 295 S. 1500 East, Salt Lake City, 
Utah 84112-0860. A limited number of copies of NRC's scoping report 
will also be available at the scoping meeting on April 29, 1999.
    Participation in the scoping process does not entitle participants 
to become parties to the adjudicatory proceeding associated with the 
proposed NRC licensing action. Participation in the adjudicatory 
proceeding is governed by the procedures specified in 10 CFR 2.714 and 
2.715 and in the aforementioned Federal Register Notice (62 FR 41099).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of March 1999.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
E. William Brach,
Director, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards.

    Dated at Salt Lake City, Utah, this 1st day of April 1999.

    For the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Glenn A. Carpenter,
Field Manager, Salt Lake Field Office.

    Dated at Fort Duchesne, Utah, this 6th day of April 1999.

    For the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
David Allison,
Superintendent, Unitah and Ouray Agency.
[FR Doc. 99-9293 Filed 4-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M