[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 245 (Friday, December 21, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72774-72775]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-24875]
[[Page 72774]]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 52-012 and 52-013]
South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company South Texas Project
Site, Units 3 & 4; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact
Statement and Conduct Scoping Process
South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) has
submitted an application for combined licenses (COLs) for its South
Texas Project (STP) site to build Units 3 & 4, located on approximately
12,200 acres in a rural area of Matagorda County, Texas, approximately
12 miles south-southwest of the city limits of Bay City, Texas, and 10
miles north of Matagorda Bay, along the west bank of the Colorado
River. The application for the COLs was submitted by STPNOC by letter
dated October 1, 2007, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 52. A notice of receipt
of application, including the environmental report (ER), was published
in the Federal Register on October 24, 2007 (72 FR 60394). A notice of
acceptance for docketing of the application for COLs for STP was
published in the Federal Register on December 5, 2007, (72 FR 68597).
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 application for
COLs 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 51.45 and 51.50, STPNOC submitted the ER
as part of the application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 CFR
Parts 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 Agency-wide 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 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/col/south-texas-project.html. In addition, the
Bay City Public Library, 1100 7th Street, Bay City, Texas 77414 has
agreed to make the ER available for public inspection.
The following key reference documents related to the application
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 (ESP); 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; and
h. Fact Sheet on Nuclear Power Plant Licensing Process.
The regulations, NUREG-series documents, regulatory guide(s), and
fact sheet can be found under Document Collections in the ERR on the
NRC webpage.
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 COLs at the STP site. Possible alternatives to the
proposed action (issuance of the COLs at the STP 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 COLs. 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 COLs and, as
soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft EIS for public
comment. Participation in this scoping process by members of the
public, 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 the
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 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 EIS to the
NRC and any cooperating agencies; and
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;
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; and
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 scoping meeting for
the EIS regarding STPNOC's COL applications. The scoping meeting will
be held at the Bay City Civic Center, 201 7th Street, Bay City, Texas
77414, on Tuesday, February 5, 2008. The meeting will convene at 1:30
p.m., and will continue until 4:30 p.m., and again at 7:00 p.m., and
will continue until 10:00 p.m., as necessary. The
[[Page 72775]]
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) 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 for one hour prior to the
start of each public meeting at the Bay City Civic Center. No formal
comments on the proposed scope of the COLs 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 January 29, 2008. 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 January 29, 2008, 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 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 February 18, 2008. Electronic comments may be sent by the
Internet to the NRC at [email protected]. Electronic submissions must be
sent no later than February 18, 2008, 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/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 COLs 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 Paul Kallan at (301) 415-2809 or
[email protected].
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17th day of December, 2007.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James E. Lyons,
Director, Division of Site and Environmental Reviews, Office of New
Reactors.
[FR Doc. E7-24875 Filed 12-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P