[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19797-19798]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-9058]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company and Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear 
Plant; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
and Conduct Scoping Process

    Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) has submitted an 
application for renewal of operating licenses DPR-57and NPF-5 for an 
additional 20 years of operation at the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, 
Units 1 and 2 (Hatch). Hatch is located in Appling County, Georgia. The 
application for renewal was submitted by letter dated February 29, 
2000, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 54. A notice of receipt of application, 
including the environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal 
Register on March 10, 2000 (65 FR 13061). A notice of acceptance for 
docketing of the application for renewal of the facility operating 
license was published in the Federal Register on April 3, 2000 (65 FR 
17543). The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be preparing an 
environmental impact statement in support of the review of the license 
renewal application and to provide the public an opportunity to 
participate in the environmental scoping process as defined in 10 CFR 
51.29.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 54.23 and 10 CFR 51.53(c), SNC submitted 
the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 
CFR Part 51 and is available for public inspection at the Commission's 
Public Document Room in the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, N.W., 
Washington, DC, 20003-1527. In addition, the Appling County Library, 
located at 242 East Parker Street, Baxley, GA, 31513, has agreed to 
make the ER available for public inspection.
    This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the 
information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the 
Commission's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for 
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' (NUREG-1437) in support of the 
review of the application for renewal of the Hatch operating licenses 
for an additional 20 years. Possible alternatives to the proposed 
action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative 
energy sources. 10 CFR 51.95 requires that the NRC prepare a supplement 
to the GEIS in connection with the renewal of an operating license. 
This notice is being published in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the NRC's regulations found in 10 
CFR Part 51.
    The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the supplement to 
the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft 
supplement to the GEIS for public comment. Participation in this 
scoping process by members of the public and local, State, and Federal 
government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the 
supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:
    a. Define the proposed action which is to be the subject of the 
supplement to the GEIS.
    b. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify 
the significant issues to be analyzed in depth.
    c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are 
peripheral or that are not significant.
    d. Identify any environmental assessments and other environmental 
impact statements (EISs) that are being or will be prepared that are 
related to but are not part of the scope of the supplement to the GEIS 
being considered.
    e. Identify other environmental review and consultation 
requirements related to the proposed action.
    f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation 
of environmental analyses and the Commission's tentative planning and 
decision-making schedule.
    g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate 
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement 
to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies.
    h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, 
including any contractor assistance to be used.
    The NRC invites the following entities to participate in the 
scoping process:
    a. The applicant, Southern Nuclear Operating Company.
    b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special 
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved, or that is 
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards.
    c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those 
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards.
    d. Any affected Indian tribe.
    e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to 
participate in the scoping process.
     f. Any person who intends to petition for leave to intervene.
    Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS 
does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to 
which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Notice of opportunity for a 
hearing regarding the renewal application was the subject of the 
aforementioned Federal Register notice of acceptance for docketing. 
Matters related to participation in any hearing are outside the scope 
of matters to be discussed at this public meeting.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS may 
include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant issues 
related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope of issues to 
be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold a public meeting 
for the Hatch license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping 
meeting will be held at the small auditorium at the Southeastern 
Technical Institute 3001 East First Street, Vidalia, Georgia, on 
Wednesday, May 10, 2000. There will be two sessions to accommodate 
interested parties. The first session will convene at 1:30 p.m. and 
will continue until 4:30 p.m. The second session will convene at 7 p.m. 
with a repeat of the overview portions of the meeting and will continue 
until 10:00 p.m. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include (1) 
an overview by the NRC staff of the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) environmental review process, the proposed scope of the 
supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule; (2) an 
overview by SNC of the proposed action, Hatch license renewal, and the 
environmental impacts as outlined in the ER; and (3) the opportunity 
for interested Government agencies, organizations, and individuals to 
submit comments or suggestions on the environmental issues or the 
proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS. Persons may register to 
attend or present oral comments at the meeting on the NEPA scoping 
process by contacting Mr. James H. Wilson by telephone at 1 (800) 368-
5642, extension 1108, or by Internet to the NRC at [email protected] no 
later than May 5, 2000. Members of the public may also register to 
speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of each session. 
Individual oral comments may be limited by the time

[[Page 19798]]

available, depending on the number of persons who register. Members of 
the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to 
speak, if time permits. Public comments will be considered in the 
scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS. If special equipment or 
accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the 
public meeting, the need should be brought to Mr. Wilson's attention no 
later than May 5, 2000, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the 
request can be accommodated.
    Members of the public may send written comments on the 
environmental scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS to Chief, 
Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, 
Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6 D 59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Comments may be hand-delivered to the NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland, between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal 
workdays. To be considered in the scoping process, written comments 
should be postmarked by June 9, 2000. Electronic comments may be sent 
by the Internet to the NRC at [email protected]. Electronic submissions 
should be sent no later than June 9, 2000, to be considered in the 
scoping process. Comments will be available electronically and 
accessible through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room (PERR) link 
http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html at the NRC Homepage.
    At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a 
concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached, including 
the significant issues identified, and will send a copy of the summary 
to each participant in the scoping process. The summary will also be 
available for inspection through the PERR link. The staff will then 
prepare and issue for comment the draft supplement to the GEIS, which 
will be the subject of separate notices and a separate public meeting. 
Copies will be available for public inspection at the above-mentioned 
addresses, and one copy per request will be provided free of charge. 
After receipt and consideration of the comments, the NRC will prepare a 
final supplement to the GEIS, which will also be available for public 
inspection.
    Information about the proposed action, the supplement to the GEIS, 
and the scoping process may be obtained from Mr. Wilson at the 
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of April 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David B. Matthews,
Director, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-9058 Filed 4-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P