[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 193 (Thursday, October 5, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58882-58884]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-16559]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 52-011]
Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Vogtle ESP Site; Notice
of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct
Scoping Process
Southern Nuclear Operating Corporation (SNC) has submitted an
application for an early site permit (ESP) for its Vogtle ESP site,
located on the west bank of the Savannah River in eastern Burke County,
in east-central Georgia. The site is approximately 100 miles northwest
of Savannah, Georgia, and approximately 26 miles southeast of Augusta,
Georgia, and across the river from the U.S. Department of Energy's
Savannah River Site (Barnwell County, South Carolina). The application
for the ESP was submitted by letter dated August 15, 2006, pursuant to
10 CFR Part 52. A notice of receipt of application, including the
environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on
August 29, 2006 (71 FR 51222). A notice of acceptance for docketing of
the application for an early site permit for Vogtle was published in
the Federal Register on September 26, 2006 (71 FR 56187). 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 ESP application and to provide
the public with 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 52.17 (a)(2), 51.45 and 51.50, SERI
submitted the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 51 and 52 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 (ERR) link. Persons
who do not
[[Page 58883]]
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/new-licensing/esp/vogtle.html. In addition, the
Burke County Library, 130 Highway 24 South, Waynesboro, GA 30830-4572,
has agreed to make the ER available for public inspection.
The following key reference documents related to the ESP
applications and the NRC staff's review process are available through
the NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov:
a. 10 CFR Part 51, Environmental protection regulations for
domestic licensing and related regulatory functions.
b. 10 CFR Part 52, Early site permits; standard design
certifications; and combined licenses for nuclear power plants.
c. 10 CFR Part 100, Reactor site criteria.
d. NUREG-1555, Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for
Nuclear Power Plants.
e. NUREG/BR-0298, Brochure on Nuclear Power Plant Licensing
Process.
f. Regulatory Guide 4.2, Preparation of Environmental Reports for
Nuclear Power Stations.
g. Regulatory Guide 4.7, General Site Suitability Criteria for
Nuclear Power Stations.
h. Fact Sheet on Nuclear Power Plant Licensing Process.
i. Draft review Standard RS-002, Processing Applications for Early
Site Permits.
j. NRR Office Instruction LIC-203, Procedural Guidance for
Preparing Environmental Assessments and Considering Environmental
Issues.
The regulations, NUREG-series documents, regulatory guide(s), and
fact sheet can be found under Document Collections in the Electronic
Reading Room on the NRC Web page. The draft review standard is at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/license-reviews/esp/esp-public-comments-rs-002.html. Finally, Office Instruction LIC-203 can be
found in ADAMS in two parts under accession numbers ML011710073 (main
text) and ML011780314 (charts and figures).
This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the
information necessary to prepare an EIS in support of the review of the
application for an ESP at the Vogtle ESP site. Possible alternatives to
the proposed action (issuance of the ESP at the Vogtle ESP site)
include no action and alternate sites. The NRC is required by 10 CFR
52.18 to prepare an EIS in connection with the issuance of an ESP. This
notice is being published in accordance with NEPA and the NRC's
regulations found in 10 CFR Part 51.
The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the EIS and, as
soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft EIS for public
comment. Participation in this scoping process by members of the public
and local, State, Tribal, and Federal government agencies is
encouraged. The scoping process for the draft EIS will be used to
accomplish the following:
a. Define the proposed action which is to be the subject of EIS.
b. Determine the scope of the EIS 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 EIS 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 EIS to the
NRC and any cooperating agencies.
h. Describe how the EIS 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, SNC.
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
including the State Historic Preservation Officer.
d. Any affected Indian tribe including the Tribal Historic
Preservation Officer.
e. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
f. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to
participate in the scoping process.
g. Any person who 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 will hold a public meeting for the
Vogtle early site permit application EIS. The scoping meeting will be
held at the Augusta Technical College, Waynesboro Campus Auditorium,
216 Hwy 24 South, Waynesboro, GA 30830, on Thursday, October 19, 2006.
The meeting will convene at 7 p.m., and will continue until 10 p.m., as
necessary. The meeting will be transcribed and will include the
following: (1) An overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental
review process, the proposed scope of the EIS, and the proposed review
schedule; (2) an overview by SNC of the proposed action, the Vogtle
ESP, 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 EIS. Additionally, the NRC staff
will host informal discussions during the two hours prior to the start
of the public meeting at Augusta Technical College. No formal comments
on the proposed scope of the EIS will be accepted during the informal
discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the
transcribed public meeting 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 Ms. Cristina Guerrero by telephone
at 1 (800) 368-5642, extension 2981, or by Internet to the NRC at
[email protected] no later than October 12, 2006. Members of the
public may also register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of
the start of the 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 EIS. If special equipment or
accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the
public meeting, the need should be brought to Ms. Guerrero's attention
no later than October 12, 2006, so that the NRC staff can determine
whether the request can be accommodated.
Members of the public may send written comments on the
environmental
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scoping process for the EIS 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 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. To be considered in the scoping process, written
comments must be postmarked or delivered by December 4, 2006.
Electronic comments may be sent by the Internet to the NRC at [email protected]. Electronic submissions must be sent no later than December
4, 2006, to be considered in the scoping process. The staff will not
consider comments submitted later than as specified above unless time
permits. Comments will be available electronically and accessible
through the NRC's ERR link http://www.nrc.gov/nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html at the NRC Homepage.
Participation in the scoping process for the EIS does not entitle
participants to become parties to the proceeding to which the EIS
relates. Notice of a hearing regarding the application for an ESP will
be the subject of a future Federal Register notice.
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 ERR link. The staff will then
prepare and issue for comment the draft EIS, 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 EIS, which
will also be available for public inspection.
Information about the proposed action, the EIS, and the scoping
process may be obtained from Mark Notich at (301) 415-3053 or
[email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of October, 2006.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas A. Bergman,
Acting Director, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E6-16559 Filed 10-4-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P