[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 213 (Monday, November 5, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62497-62499]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-21683]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-334 and 50-412]
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company; Beaver Valley Power
Station, Units 1 and 2; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) has submitted an
application for renewal of Facility Operating Licenses Nos. DPR-66 and
NPF-73, for an additional 20 years of operation at Beaver Valley Power
Station, Units 1 and 2. Beaver Valley Power Station is located in
Shippingport, Pennsylvania.
The current operating licenses for Beaver Valley Power Station,
Units 1 and 2, expire on January 29, 2016 and May 27, 2027,
respectively. The application for renewal, dated August 27, 2007, was
submitted pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR) Part 54. A notice of receipt and availability of the application,
which included FENOC's environmental report (ER), was published in the
Federal Register on September 24, 2007 (72 FR 54301). A notice of
acceptance for docketing of the application for renewal of the facility
operating license was published in the Federal Register on October 26,
2007, (72 FR 60916). 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) related to 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'' (NEPA), the NRC plans to
coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act in meeting the requirements of NEPA of 1969.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, FENOC
submitted the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 51 and is publicly available at the NRC Public
Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555
[[Page 62498]]
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRC's Agencywide
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). The ADAMS Public
Electronic Reading Room is accessible at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The Accession Number for the ER is ML072430913. 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 by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or via e-mail at
[email protected]. The ER may also be viewed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/bvalley.html. In addition, the ER is available for public inspection
near Beaver Valley Power Station at the following public libraries:
Beaver Area Memorial Library, 100 College Avenue, Beaver, Pennsylvania
15009 and the Beaver County Library System, 1 Campus Drive, Monaca,
Pennsylvania 15061.
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), related to the review
of the application for renewal of the Beaver Valley Power Station,
Units 1 and 2, operating licenses 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 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 ElSs 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, FENOC.
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 scoping
meetings for the Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2, license
renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings will be held at
the Embassy Suites Pittsburgh-International Airport, 550 Cherrington
Parkway, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15108, on Tuesday, November 27, 2007.
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 Embassy
Suites Pittsburgh-International Airport in Pittsburgh. 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's Project Manager, Mr. Kent L. Howard, at 1-800-368-
5642, extension 2989, or via e-mail to the NRC at
[email protected] no later than November 15, 2007. 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. Mr.
Howard will need to be contacted no later than November 15, 2007, 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 Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 and 2
license renewal review to: 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 U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Room T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, 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 January 2, 2008. Electronic
comments may be sent by e-mail to the NRC at
[[Page 62499]]
[email protected], and should be sent no later than January 2,
2008, to be considered in the scoping process. Comments will be
available electronically and accessible through ADAMS at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm.
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 (72 FR 60916). 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://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the
draft supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of a separate
notice 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. Howard at the
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of October 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Rani Franovich,
Branch Chief, Projects Branch 2, Division of License Renewal, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E7-21683 Filed 11-2-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P