[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 141 (Tuesday, July 22, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42628-42630]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-16731]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-282 and 50-306]


Nuclear Management Company, LLC.; Prairie Island Nuclear 
Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process

    Nuclear Management Company, LLC. (NMC) has submitted an application 
for renewal of Facility Operating Licenses No. DPR-42 and DPR-60 for an 
additional 20 years of operation at the Prairie Island Nuclear 
Generating Plant, Units 1 and 2 (PINGP). PINGP is located in the city 
of Red Wing, Minnesota, on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
    The operating licenses for PINGP, Units 1 and 2, expire on August 
9, 2013, and October 29, 2014, respectively. The application for 
renewal, dated April 11, 2008, and supplemented by letter dated May 16, 
2008, 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 the environmental report (ER), was 
published in the Federal Register on May 6, 2008 (73 FR 25034), as 
corrected on May 27, 2008 (73 FR 30423). A notice of acceptance for 
docketing of the application for renewal of the facility operating 
license was published in the Federal Register on June 17, 2008 (73

[[Page 42629]]

FR 34335). 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, which is described 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, NMC 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 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 Numbers for the ER are ML081130677, 
ML081130681, and ML081130684. 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 by e-mail at [email protected]. The ER may also be 
viewed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/prairie-island.html. In addition, the ER 
is available for public inspection near PINGP at the Red Wing Public 
Library, 225 East Ave, Red Wing, MN 55066.
    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 PINGP 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 follow 10 CFR 51.29 and will be used to:
    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, Nuclear Management 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 PINGP license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings 
will be held at the Red Wing Public Library, 225 East Ave., Red Wing, 
MN 55066, on Wednesday, July 30, 2008. 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 
prior to the start of each session at the same location. 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 the NRC Project Manager, Mr. Richard Plasse, by telephone at 
1-301-415-1427, or by e-mail to the NRC at [email protected] no 
later than July 24, 2008. 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. Plasse will need to be contacted no 
later than July 24, 2008, 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 PINGP license renewal review to: Chief, 
Rulemaking, Directives

[[Page 42630]]

and Editing 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, 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 September 22, 2008. Electronic 
comments may be sent by e-mail to the NRC at [email protected], 
and should be sent no later than September 22, 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 (73 FR 34335). 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 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. Plasse at the 
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of July 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Rani Franovich,
Branch Chief, Projects Branch 2, Division of License Renewal, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E8-16731 Filed 7-21-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P