[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2188-2189]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-591]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-324 and 50-325]


Carolina Power & Light Company; Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, 
Units 1 and 2; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact 
Statement and Conduct Scoping Process

    Carolina Power & Light Company (CP&L), now doing business as 
Progress Energy Carolinas, Inc., has submitted an application for 
renewal of Facility Operating Licenses, DPR-71 and DPR-62, for an 
additional 20 years of operation at the Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, 
Units 1 and 2 (BSEP). BSEP is located in Brunswick County in 
southeastern North Carolina, near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The 
operating licenses for BSEP, Units 1 and 2, expire on September 8, 
2016, and December 27, 2014, respectively. The application for renewal 
was received on October 20, 2004, pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations Part 54 (10 CFR Part 54). A notice of receipt and 
availability of the application, which included the environmental 
report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on November 18, 2004 
(69 FR 67611). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application 
and a notice of opportunity for hearing regarding renewal of the 
facility operating licenses was published in the Federal Register on 
December 6, 2004 (69 FR 70471-70473). 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 (EIS) 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 addition, as outlined in 36 CFR 800.8, 
``Coordination with the National Environmental Policy Act,'' the NRC 
plans to coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act in meeting the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, CP&L 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 (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 
Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the Publicly 
Available Records component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, which provides access through the NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room link. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, 
or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, 
should contact the NRC's PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-
415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected]. The application may also be 
viewed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications.html. In addition, the William Madison 
Randall Library, located at 601 S. College Road, Wilmington, North 
Carolina 28403, 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 BSEP operating licenses 
for an additional 20 years. Possible alternatives to the proposed 
action (license renewal) include the no action alternative and 
reasonable alternative energy sources. The NRC is required by 10 CFR 
51.95 to 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 of 1969 (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 the scoping 
process by members of the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal 
government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the 
supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:

[[Page 2189]]

    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 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 the 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; and
    h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, and 
include any contractor assistance to be used.
    The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
    a. The applicant, Carolina Power & Light Company, now doing 
business as Progress Energy Carolinas, Inc;
    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; and
    f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave 
to intervene.
    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 BSEP license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings 
will be held at the Southport City Hall, 201 E. Moore Street, 
Southport, North Carolina 28461, on Thursday, January 27, 2005. 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., as 
necessary. The second session will convene at 7 p.m. with a repeat of 
the overview portions of the meeting and will continue until 10 p.m., 
as necessary. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) 
An overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, 
the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed 
review schedule; and (2) 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. No formal comments on the proposed scope of the 
supplement to the GEIS 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 meetings on the 
scope of the NEPA review by contacting Mr. Richard L. Emch, Jr., by 
telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1590, or by e-mail to the NRC at 
[email protected] no later than January 18, 2005. 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. The 
meeting room is on the second floor of the building, and there is no 
elevator. Therefore, the meeting room is not handicap accessible. Mr. 
Emch will need to be contacted no later than January 18, 2005, if 
special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present 
information at the public meeting, so that the NRC staff can determine 
whether the request can be accommodated.
    Members of the public may send written comments on the 
environmental scope of the BSEP license renewal review to the Chief, 
Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, 
Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the publication 
date and page number of this Federal Register notice. Comments may also 
be delivered to the NRC, Room T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during 
Federal workdays. To be considered in the scoping process, written 
comments should be postmarked by March 11, 2005. Electronic comments 
may be sent by email to the NRC at [email protected] and should be 
sent no later than March 11, 2005, to be considered in the scoping 
process. Comments will be available electronically and accessible 
through ADAMS at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 
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 (69 FR 70471). Matters related 
to participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be 
discussed at this public meeting.
    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 in ADAMS at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the draft 
supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of separate notices 
and separate public meetings. 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. Emch at the 
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of January 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo,
Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, 
Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 05-591 Filed 1-11-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P