[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 183 (Thursday, September 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48489-48491]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23446]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Docket Nos. 50-413 AND 50-414


Duke Energy Corporation; Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2; 
Notice of Intent To Prepare An Environmental Impact Statement and 
Conduct Scoping Process

    Duke Energy Corporation (Duke) has submitted an application for 
renewal of operating licenses NPF-35 and NPF-52 for up to an additional 
20 years of operation at Catawba Nuclear Station (Catawba), Units 1 and 
2. Catawba is located in York County, South Carolina. The application 
for renewal was submitted by letter dated June 13, 2001, pursuant to 10 
CFR Part 54. A notice of receipt of application, including the 
environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on 
July 16, 2001 (66 FR 37072). A notice of acceptance for docketing of 
the application for renewal of the facility operating license was 
published in the Federal Register on August 15, 2001 (66 FR 42893). 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), Duke 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 NRC Public 
Document Room located at 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), or from 
the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document 
system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/

[[Page 48490]]

index.html, (NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room). In addition, the 
York County Library, located at 138 Black Street, Rock Hill, South 
Carolina, 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 Catawba operating licenses 
for up to 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, Duke Energy Corporation.
    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 public meetings for 
the Catawba license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping 
meetings will be held in the Council Chamber at the City Hall, located 
at 155 Johnston Street, Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Tuesday, October 
23, 2001. 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 7:00 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 Duke of 
the proposed action, Catawba 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. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal 
discussions one hour prior to the start of each session at the Rock 
Hill City Hall. No scoping comments will be accepted during the 
informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided 
either at the transcribed public meetings or in writing, as discussed 
below. 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 October 18, 2001. 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 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 October 18, 2001, 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 November 22, 2001. Electronic comments may be 
sent by the Internet to the NRC at [email protected]. Electronic 
submissions should be sent no later than November 22, 2001, 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

[[Page 48491]]

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 13th day of September 2001.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
 Chief, Risk Informed Initiatives, Environmental, Decommissioning, and 
Rulemaking Branch, Division of Regulatory Improvements Program, Office 
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-23446 Filed 9-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P