[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 183 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55635-55637]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-18915]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-219]


AmerGen Energy Company, LLC, Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating 
Station; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
and Conduct Scoping Process

    AmerGen Energy Company, LLC (AmerGen) has submitted an application 
for renewal of Facility Operating License DPR-16 for an additional 20 
years of operation at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station 
(OCNGS). OCNGS is located along the western shore of Barnegat Bay 
between the South Branch of Forked River and Oyster Creek, in Ocean 
County, New Jersey. The operating license for OCNGS expires April 9, 
2009. The application for renewal, submitted pursuant to Title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations Part 54 (10 CFR Part 54), was received 
on July 22, 2005. A notice of receipt and availability of the 
application, which included the environmental report (ER), was 
published in the Federal Register on August 4, 2005 (70 FR 44940). A 
notice of acceptance for docketing of the application for renewal of 
the facility operating licenses was published in the Federal Register 
on September 15, 2005, (70 FR 54585). 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, AmerGen 
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 from the NRC 
Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, which provides 
access through the Public Electronic Reading Room link. Persons

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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/oystercreek.html. In addition, the Lacey Public Library, 10 East Lacey 
Road, Forked River, NJ 08731 has made 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 OCNGS operating license 
for an additional 20 years. Possible alternatives to the proposed 
action (license renewal) include no action 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:
     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.
    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, AmerGen Energy Company, LLC.
    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 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 OCNGS license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings 
will be held at the Quality Inn located at 815 Route 37 in Toms River, 
New Jersey, on Tuesday, November 1, 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. 
Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour 
before the start of each session at the Quality Inn in Toms River. 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 NRC Senior Environmental Project Manager, Dr. Michael 
Masnik, at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1191, or by e-mail to the NRC at 
[email protected] no later than October 24, 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. Dr. 
Masnik will need to be contacted no later than October 24, 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 OCNGS 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 20852-2738, 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 November 25, 2005. Electronic 
comments may be sent by e-mail to the NRC at [email protected] and 
should be sent no later than November 25, 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 (70 FR 54585). Matters related 
to participation in any hearing are outside

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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 NRC 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 at a later time. 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 Dr. Masnik at the 
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of September 2005.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Samson S. Lee,
Acting Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts 
Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 05-18915 Filed 9-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P