[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 122 (Friday, June 23, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39206-39208]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-15933]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Surface Transportation Board

[Docket No. 72-22]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
and Notice of Public Meetings for the Proposed Private Fuel Storage, 
L.L.C.; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation on the Reservation 
of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians and the Related 
Transportation Facility in Tooele County, UT

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[[Page 39207]]


ACTION: Notice of availability of draft environmental impact statement 
and notice of public meetings.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Notice is hearby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC), in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs 
(BIA), the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Surface 
Transportation Board (STB), has published a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS), ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Construction and Operation of an Independent Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage 
Installation on the Reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute 
Indians and the Related Transportation Facility in Tooele County, 
Utah'' NUREG-1714, June 2000, regarding the proposal of Private Fuel 
Storage, L.L.C. (PFS) to construct and operate an independent spent 
fuel storage installation (ISFSI) on the Reservation of the Skull 
Valley Band of Goshute Indians.
    The Reservation is located approximately 44 km (27 miles) west-
southwest of Tooele, Utah. PFS intends to transport spent nuclear fuel 
(SNF) by rail from commercial power reactor sites to an existing rail 
line north of Skull Valley. To transport the SNF from the existing rail 
line to the proposed facility, PFS proposes the construction and 
operation of a rail siding and rail line from Skunk Ridge (near Low, 
Utah) to the site of the ISFSI on the Reservation. This DEIS discusses 
the purpose and need for the PFS proposal and describes the proposed 
action and its reasonable alternatives, including the no-action 
alternative. The DEIS also discusses the environment potentially 
affected by the proposal, presents and compares the potential 
environmental impacts resulting from the proposed action and its 
alternatives, and identifies mitigation measures that could eliminate 
or lessen the potential environmental impacts.
    The PFS proposal requires approval from four federal agencies: NRC, 
BIA, BLM, and STB. The environmental issues that each of these agencies 
must evaluate pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA) are interrelated; therefore, the agencies have cooperated in the 
preparation of this DEIS, and this document serves to satisfy each 
agency's statutory responsibilities under NEPA.
    Based on the evaluation in this DEIS, the NRC, BIA, BLM, and STB 
environmental review staffs have concluded that (1) Measures required 
by Federal and State permitting authorities other than the cooperating 
agencies and (2) mitigation measures that the cooperating agencies 
recommend be required would reduce any short-or long-term adverse 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action (i.e., 
construction and operation of the proposed ISFSI and rail line) to 
acceptable levels. This DEIS is a preliminary analysis of the 
environmental impacts of the PFS proposal and its alternatives. The 
Final EIS and any decision documentation regarding the proposed action 
will not be issued until public comments on the DEIS have been received 
and evaluated. Notice of the availability of the Final EIS will be 
published in the Federal Register.
    Public Availability: The DEIS is available for public inspection 
and duplication at the NRC's Public Document Room at the Gelman 
Building, 2120 L Street, NW, Washington, DC. The DEIS will be available 
for review on the NRC Web site, and a comment form will be available 
for those who wish to submit comments. Upon written request and to the 
extent supplies are available, a single copy of the draft report can be 
obtained for free by writing to the Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Reproduction and Distribution Services Section, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; by e-mail 
([email protected]); or by fax at (301) 415-2289.
    Public Comment: The cooperating Federal agencies are offering an 
opportunity for public review and comment on the DEIS in accordance 
with applicable regulations, including NRC requirements in 10 CFR 
51.73, 51.74 and 51.117. Any interested party may submit written 
comments on the proposed action and on the DEIS for consideration by 
the staffs of the four cooperating agencies. To be certain of 
consideration, comments must be received by September 21, 2000. 
Comments received after the due date will be considered if it is 
practical to do so, but the staffs of the cooperating agencies are able 
to assure consideration only for comments received on or before this 
date.

ADDRESSES: Written comments on the DEIS should be sent to: David L. 
Meyer, Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Freedom of 
Information and Publications Services, Office of Administration, 
Mailstop T-6D-59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001. Comments may also be hand-delivered to the NRC at 11545 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on 
Federal workdays.
    All comments received by the NRC, including those made by Federal, 
State, and local agencies, Indian tribes, or other interested persons, 
will be made available for public inspection at the NRC's Public 
Document Room in Washington, DC (address is listed above).
    Public Meetings: The cooperating agencies will hold two public 
meetings to present an overview of the DEIS and to accept oral public 
comments. The public meetings will be held on July 27, 2000, from 7 
p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Arizona Room of the Little America Inn, 500 
South Main Street, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 and July 28, 2000, from 7 
p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Grantsville Middle School, 318 South Hale 
Street, Grantsville, UT 84029. Both meetings will be transcribed and 
will include (1) A presentation summarizing the contents of the DEIS 
and (2) an opportunity for interested government agencies, 
organizations, and individuals to provide comments on the DEIS. Persons 
may register to present oral comments at the public meeting by 
contacting either Scott Flanders, Sr. Environmental Project Manager, or 
Mark Delligatti, Sr. Project Manager, at Licensing and Inspection 
Directorate, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001 no later than July 14, 2000. Persons can also register by 
telephone (to Mr. Flanders at (301) 415-1172 or Mr. Delligatti at (301) 
415-8518) no later than July 21, 2000. Information concerning this DEIS 
may also be obtained from these individuals. Persons may also register 
within 15 minutes of the start of each meeting to provide oral 
comments. Individual oral comments may have to be limited by the time 
available, depending upon the number of persons who register.
    If special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or 
present information at the public meeting, the need should be brought 
to Mr. Flanders' attention no later than July 14, 2000, to provide NRC 
staff with adequate notice to determine whether the request can be 
accommodated.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 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. Telephone (301) 
415-1172.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The proposed action involves the 
construction and operation of the proposed SNF storage facility at a 
site (known as Site A) located in the

[[Page 39208]]

northwest corner of the Reservation and transporting SNF from the 
existing railroad to the site by building a new rail siding and rail 
line to connect the proposed facility at Site A to the existing Union 
Pacific main line at Skunk Ridge, Utah. 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 to obtain comments on 
the intended scope of the EIS on June 2, 1998, in Salt Lake City, Utah. 
Two additional scoping meetings were held on April 29, 1999 (64 FR 
18451) in Salt Lake City and Tooele, Utah, to address the PFS proposal 
to construct and operate the proposed rail line and to address any 
environmental impacts associated with the lease agreement that might 
not have been discussed at the previous scoping meeting.
    This DEIS has been prepared in compliance with NEPA, NRC 
regulations for implementing NEPA (10 CFR Part 51), guidance provided 
by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations implementing 
the procedural provisions of NEPA (40 CFR Part 1500), STB regulations 
for implementing NEPA (49 CFR Part 1105), and BLM and BIA policy 
procedures and guidance documents.
    Federal agencies' actions are considered in this DEIS. NRC's action 
is to grant or deny a 20-year license to PFS to receive, transfer, and 
possess SNF on the Reservation. BIA's action is to either approve or 
disapprove a 25-year lease between PFS and the Skull Valley Band for 
use of Reservation land to construct and operate the proposed facility. 
Both the license and the lease may be renewed. BLM's action is to 
either grant or deny one of two requests for rights-of-way through BLM 
land for transporting SNF from the existing rail line to the proposed 
facility site, including amending its resource management plan if 
necessary. STB's action is to grant or deny PFS's application for a 
license to construct and operate a new rail line to the proposed 
facility site.
    This DEIS not only evaluates the proposed action (Alternative 1) 
described above, but also the environmental impacts of the alternative 
actions. Alternatives involving the Skull Valley site include an 
alternative site location on the Reservation (known as Site B), and an 
alternative transportation method (i.e., heavy-haul vehicles). 
Consideration of an alternative site location on the Reservation and an 
alternative transportation method resulted in evaluating the following 
alternatives:
     Alternative 2--the construction and operation of the 
proposed facility at Site B on the Reservation with a rail siding and a 
rail line similar to that described above.
     Alternative 3--construction and operation of the proposed 
facility at Site A, construction and operation of a new Intermodal 
Transfer Facility (ITF) near Timpie, Utah, and use of heavy-haul 
vehicles to transport SNF down Skull Valley Road.
     Alternative 4--the construction and operation of the 
proposed facility at Site B with the same ITF and SNF transport 
described in Alternative 3 above.
    Additionally, the DEIS compares the construction and operation of a 
SNF storage facility in Wyoming in lieu of the Skull Valley site. This 
comparison was made to determine if an identified alternative site is 
obviously superior to the proposed site. Lastly, the DEIS evaluates the 
no-action alternative, i.e, not to build the proposed facility in Skull 
Valley. Under the no-action alternative, the potential impacts of 
constructing and operating the proposed facility and associated SNF 
transportation facilities in Skull Valley would not occur.
    This DEIS assesses the impacts of the proposed action and its 
alternatives for minerals, soils, water resources, air quality, 
ecological resources, socioeconomics and community resources, cultural 
resources, human health impact, noise, scenic qualities, recreation, 
and environmental justice. Additionally, an analysis and comparison of 
the costs and benefits of the proposed action has been performed.
    Based on the evaluation in the DEIS, the NRC's preferred 
alternative is the proposed action with implementation of the 
mitigation measures recommended by the cooperating agencies.
    A BLM decision to grant a right-of-way to PFS would be dependent 
upon the decisions made by the NRC and BIA. If the NRC issues a license 
to PFS for the proposed facility and BIA approves the lease, then BLM's 
preferred alternative would be to amend the Pony Express Resource 
Management Plan and issue a right-of-way for the Skunk Ridge rail 
siding and rail line. Absent such findings by the NRC and BIA, BLM 
would not grant either of PFS' rights-of-way requests.
    Based on the information and analysis to date, the STB 
environmental review staff's preliminary conclusion is that the 
proposed project, with the implementation of the cooperating agencies 
recommended mitigation measures, would not result in significant 
adverse impacts to the environment; therefore, its preferred 
alternative would be to recommend approval of the construction and 
operation of the proposed rail line.
    BIA does not have a preferred alternative but will choose one in 
the Final EIS based upon its trust responsibility to the Skull Valley 
Band, including consideration of environmental impacts and mitigation 
measures identified in the DEIS and public comments on the DEIS.
    This DEIS is a preliminary analysis of the environmental impacts of 
the PFS proposal. The cooperating Federal agencies will review the 
comments, conduct any necessary analyses, and make appropriate 
revisions in developing the Final EIS.
    Participation in the public 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 16th day of June 2000.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
E. William Brach,
Director, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards.

    Dated at Washington, D.C., this 15th day of June 2000.
For the Surface Transportation Board.
Victoria J. Rutson,
Acting Chief, Section of Environmental Analysis.

    Dated at Salt Lake City, Utah, this 13th day of June 2000.

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

    Dated at Fort Duchesne, Utah, this 13th day of June 2000.

    For the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.
David Allison,
Superintendent, Unitah and Ouray Agency.
[FR Doc. 00-15933 Filed 6-22-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P