[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 14 (Friday, January 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4257-4258]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1383]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 52-037; NRC-2008-0556]


Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren UE Callaway Plant Unit 2 
Combined License Application; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process

    Union Electric Company d/b/a Ameren UE (AmerenUE) has submitted an 
application for a combined license (COL) to build and operate Unit 2 at 
its Callaway Plant site, located on approximately 2,800 acres 10 miles 
southeast of the city of Fulton in Callaway County, Missouri, and 80 
miles west of the St. Louis metropolitan area. AmerenUE submitted the 
application for the COL to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
by letter dated July 24, 2008, pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52. A notice of receipt and 
availability of the application, including the environmental report 
(ER), was published in the Federal Register on October 9, 2008 (73 FR 
59677). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application for the 
COL was published in the Federal Register on December 18, 2008 (73 FR 
77078). A notice of hearing and opportunity to petition for leave to 
intervene in the proceeding of the application will be published in a 
future Federal Register. The purpose of this notice is to inform the 
public that the NRC staff will be preparing an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) as part of the review of the application for the COL, 
and to provide the public with an opportunity to participate in the 
environmental scoping process as defined in 10 CFR 51.29. The U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers (Corp), Kansas City District, has requested to 
participate in the preparation of the EIS as a cooperating agency; the 
NRC has accepted their request. The agencies will cooperate according 
to the process set forth in the MOU signed by the NRC and the Corps, 
and was published in the Federal Register on September 25, 2008 (73 FR 
55546).
    In addition, as outlined in 36 CFR 800.8(c), ``Coordination with 
the National Environmental Policy Act,'' the NRC staff plans to 
coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act (NHPA) with steps taken to meet the requirements of 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA). 
Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), the NRC staff intends to use the process 
and documentation for the preparation of the EIS on the proposed action 
to comply with Section 106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures set 
forth in 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.45 and 51.50, AmerenUE 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 (PAR) 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. The accession number in 
ADAMS for the environmental report included in the application is 
ML082520869. 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 1-800-397-4209/301-415-4737 or by e-mail 
to [email protected]. The application may also be viewed on the Internet at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/callaway.html. In 
addition, the Callaway County Public Library, 710 Court Street, Fulton, 
MO 65251; and Ellis Library in University of Missouri, 106-B Ellis 
Library, Columbia, MO 65201-5149 have agreed to make the ER available 
for public inspection. The following key reference documents related to 
the application and the NRC staff's review processes 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, Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals 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. Regulatory 1.206, Combined License Applications for Nuclear 
Power Plants; and
    j. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Policy Statement on the Treatment 
of Environmental Justice Matters in NRC Regulatory and Licensing 
Actions.
    The regulations, NUREG-series documents, regulatory guides, and the 
fact sheet can be found under Document Collections in the ERR on the 
NRC Web page. The environmental justice policy Statement can be found 
in the Federal Register, 69 FR 52040 August 24, 2004.
    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 COL at the Callaway Plant Unit 2 site. Possible 
alternatives to the proposed action (issuance of the COL for the 
Callaway Plant Unit 2 site) include no action, reasonable alternative 
energy sources, and alternate sites. As set forth

[[Page 4258]]

in 10 CFR 51.20(b)(2), issuance of a COL under 10 CFR Part 52 is an 
action that requires an EIS. 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 
immediately 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 that 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. Identify parties consulting with the NRC under the NHPA, as set 
forth in 36 CFR 800.8(c)(1)(i);
    g. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation 
of the environmental analyses and the Commission's tentative planning 
and decisionmaking schedule;
    h. 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
    i. 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, AmerenUE;
    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; and
    f. 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 two identical public scoping 
meetings for the EIS regarding the AmerenUE COL application. The 
scoping meetings will be held at the Champ Auditorium in Westminster 
College, 501 Westminster Ave., Fulton, MO 65251, on Wednesday, February 
18, 2009. The first meeting will convene at 1 p.m. and will continue 
until approximately 4 p.m. The second meeting will convene at 6 p.m. 
and will continue until approximately 9 p.m. The meetings 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. 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 scope of the NEPA review by contacting Mr. Bruce Olson 
or Mr. John Fringer at 1-800-368-5642, extension 3731 or 6208, 
respectively, or by e-mail to the NRC at [email protected] no 
later than February 11, 2009. Members of the public may also register 
to speak at the meeting prior to 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 Mr. 
Bruce Olson's attention no later than February 4, 2009, so that the NRC 
staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated.
    Members of the public may send written comments on the scope of the 
Callaway Plant Unit 2 COL environmental review to the Chief, 
Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, Division of Administrative 
Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the 
publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice. To be 
considered in the scoping process, written comments must be postmarked 
or delivered by March 24, 2009. Electronic comments may be sent by e-
mail to the NRC at [email protected]. Electronic submissions must 
be sent no later than the comment period end date of March 24, 2009, to 
be considered in the scoping process. Comments will be made available 
electronically and will be accessible through the NRC's Electronic 
Reading Room link http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
    Participation in the scoping process for the EIS does not entitle 
participants to become parties to the proceeding to which the EIS 
relates. A Notice of a hearing and opportunity to request leave to 
intervene in the proceeding on the application for COL will be 
published in a future Federal Register notice.
    At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC staff will 
prepare a concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached 
on the scope of the environmental review reached including the 
significant issues identified, and will send this summary to each 
participant in the scoping process for whom the staff has an address. 
The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the draft EIS, which 
will be the subject of a separate Federal Register notice and a 
separate public meeting. Copies of the draft EIS will be available for 
public inspection at the PDR through the above-mentioned address and 
one copy per request will be provided free of charge. After receipt and 
consideration of comments on the draft EIS, the NRC will prepare a 
final EIS, which will also be available to the public.
    Information about the proposed action, the EIS, and the scoping 
process may be obtained from Mr. Bruce Olson at U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Mail Stop T-6-D38M, Washington, DC 20555-0001, or by phone 
at 301-415-3731, or by e-mail at [email protected] and from Mr. John 
Fringer at 301-415-6208 or by e-mail at [email protected].

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of January 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Scott Flanders,
Director, Division of Site and Environmental Reviews, Office of New 
Reactors.
 [FR Doc. E9-1383 Filed 1-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P