[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 204 (Friday, October 23, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54859-54860]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25535]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-272, 50-311, and 50-354; NRC-2009-0390 and NRC-2009-
0391]


PSEG Nuclear, LLC; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental 
Impact Statement and Conduct the Scoping Process for Salem Nuclear 
Generating Station, Units 1 and 2, and Hope Creek Generating Station

    PSEG Nuclear, LLC (PSEG Nuclear) has submitted applications for 
renewal of Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-70, DPR-75, and NPF-57 
for an additional 20 years of operation at the Salem Nuclear Generating 
Station, Units 1 and 2 (SALEM) and Hope Creek Generating Station 
(HCGS). SALEM and HCGS are located in Salem County, New Jersey, 
approximately 8 miles southwest of Salem city limits.
    The current operating licenses for SALEM, Units 1 and 2, and HCGS 
expire on August 13, 2016, April 18, 2020, and April 11, 2026, 
respectively. The applications for renewal, dated August 18, 2009, were 
submitted pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR) Part 54. A separate notice of receipt and availability of the 
applications, which included the environmental reports (ERs), was 
published in the Federal Register on September 8, 2009 (74 FR 46238). A 
notice of acceptance for docketing of the applications and opportunity 
for hearing regarding renewal of the facility operating licenses is 
also being published in the Federal Register. 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 applications 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,'' 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, PSEG Nuclear 
submitted the ERs as part of the applications. The ERs were prepared 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 51 and are 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 ADAMS accession number for the SALEM and HCGS ERs are 
ML092430232 and ML092430376, respectively. 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 SALEM and HCGS ERs may also be viewed on the 
Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/salem.html and http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/hope-creek.html.
    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 applications for renewal of the SALEM and HCGS 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, PSEG Nuclear.
    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 SALEM and HCGS license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping 
meetings will be held on November 5, 2009, and there will be two 
sessions to accommodate interested parties. The first session will 
convene at 1 p.m. and will continue until 4 p.m. 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 sessions 
will be held at the Salem County Emergency Services Building, 135 
Cemetery Road, Woodstown, New Jersey 08098. 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

[[Page 54860]]

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, Charles Eccleston, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 
8537 or by e-mail at [email protected] no later than October 
29, 2009. 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. Eccleston will need to be contacted no later than October 29, 
2009, 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 SALEM and HCGS license renewal review to: 
Chief, Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative 
Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB 5B-01M, 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 should be 
postmarked by December 21, 2009. Electronic comments may be sent by e-
mail to the NRC at [email protected] or [email protected], and should 
be sent no later than December 21, 2009, 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. Matters related to 
participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be 
discussed at this public meeting.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of October, 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Bo M. Pham,
Chief, Projects Branch 1, Division of License Renewal, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-25535 Filed 10-22-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P