[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 99 (Monday, May 24, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28822-28823]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12372]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos.: 52-018 and 52-019; NRC-2008-0170]


Duke Energy Carolina, LLC; William States Lee III Combined 
License Application; Notice of Intent To Conduct a Supplemental Scoping 
Process for the Supplement to the Environmental Report

    Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC (Duke) submitted an application for 
combined licenses (COL) for its William States Lee III Nuclear Station 
(Lee) site to build Units 1 and 2, located in the eastern portion of 
Cherokee County, South Carolina, approximately 7.5 miles southeast of 
Gaffney, South Carolina. The application for the COL, including an 
environmental report (ER), was submitted by letter dated December 12, 
2007, pursuant to the requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) part 52. A notice of intent to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) in support of the review of the 
COL application and to conduct scoping was published in the Federal 
Register on March 20, 2008 (73 FR 15009). Duke submitted a supplement 
to its ER by letter dated September 24, 2009, which describes Duke's 
plans to construct an additional source of supplemental water to be 
designated as Make-Up Pond C.
    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is the lead agency in 
preparing the EIS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is a 
cooperating agency, as described in the Memorandum of Understanding 
established with the NRC and USACE (ML082540354) and in NRC's response 
to the USACE's request to become a cooperating agency (ML090700384).
    The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the NRC and 
the USACE are providing the public an additional opportunity to 
participate in the environmental scoping process, as described in 10 
CFR 51.29, pertaining to the addition of Make-Up Pond C. The 
supplemental scoping opportunity affords the public an occasion to 
provide comments concerning the supplemental information that was not 
available during the initial scoping process in 2008 (73 FR 15009).
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.45 and 51.50, Duke submitted a 
supplement to its ER as part of its COL application. The supplement to 
the ER 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, or from the Publicly Available 
Records component of the NRC's Agencywide 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 ADAMS accession number for the 
supplement to the ER, submitted by letter dated September 24, 2009, is 
ML092810257. 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 
sending an e-mail to [email protected]. The supplement to the ER may 
also be viewed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/col/lee.html. In addition, the Cherokee County Public 
Library, 300 E. Rutledge Avenue, Gaffney, South Carolina 29340, has 
agreed to make the supplement to the ER available for public 
inspection.
    This notice advises the public that the NRC and USACE intend to 
gather information pertaining to the supplement to the ER and to 
include this information in the EIS to be prepared in support of the 
review of the Duke COL application. Possible alternatives to the 
proposed action (issuance of the COL at the Lee site) include no action 
and consideration of alternative sites. As set forth in 10 CFR 
51.20(b)(2), the issuance of a COL under Part 52 is an action that 
requires an EIS. This notice is being published in accordance with the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended, (NEPA) and NRC 
regulations found in 10 CFR Part 51.
    The NRC and USACE will first conduct a scoping process on the 
supplement to the ER, and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will 
prepare a draft EIS in support of the review of the Duke COL 
application for public comment. Participation in the supplemental 
scoping process by members of the public and local State, Tribal, and 
Federal government agencies is encouraged. The supplemental scoping 
opportunity will be used to accomplish the following:
    a. Determine how the supplemental information on Make-Up Pond C 
impacts the scope of the EIS and identify the significant issues 
regarding Make-Up Pond C to be analyzed in depth;
    b. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are 
peripheral or that are not significant as they pertain to Make-Up Pond 
C;
    c. Identify any environmental assessments and other EISs that are 
being or will be prepared that are related to the supplemental 
information on Make-Up Pond C, but are not part of the scope of the EIS 
being considered;
    d. Identify other environmental review and consultation 
requirements related to the supplemental information on Make-Up Pond C 
and the USACE;
    e. Identify parties consulting with the NRC and the USACE under the 
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), as set forth in 36 
CFR 800.8(c)(1)(i);
    f. Identify any additional cooperating agencies and, as 
appropriate, allocate assignments for preparation and schedules for 
completing the EIS to the NRC, USACE, and any additional cooperating 
agencies; and
    g. Describe how the EIS preparation will include the supplemental 
information on Make-Up Pond C and any contractor assistance to be used.
The NRC and the USACE invite the following entities to participate in 
the supplemental scoping process:
    a. The applicant, Duke Energy;
    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; and
    e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to 
participate in the supplemental scoping process.
    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 and the USACE will hold an additional 
public scoping meeting for the EIS to gather comments on the supplement 
to the ER submitted for the Duke COL application. The scoping meeting 
is scheduled for Thursday, June 17, 2010, at Restoration Church 
International, 1905 N. Limestone Street, Gaffney, South Carolina 29340. 
The meeting will convene at 7:00 p.m. and will continue until 
approximately 10 p.m. The meeting will be transcribed and will include: 
(1) An overview by the NRC and USACE staff of the NEPA environmental 
review process, 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 
EIS as it pertains to the additional source of make-up water described 
in the supplement to the ER. Additionally, the

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NRC and USACE staff will host informal discussions from 6 p.m. to 7 
p.m. before the start of the meeting at Restoration Church 
International. No formal comments 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 Ms. Sarah Lopas 
at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1147, or via e-mail to the NRC at 
[email protected], no later than June 14, 2010.
    Members of the public may also register to speak at the open house 
prior to the start of the meeting. 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 on the 
supplement to the ER will be considered in the supplemental scoping 
process for the EIS. Ms. Sarah Lopas will need to be contacted no later 
than June 4, 2010, 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 supplement 
to the ER to the Chief, Rules, Announcements, and Directives 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 ensure that comments are considered in the 
supplemental scoping process, written comments must be post-marked or 
delivered by the end of the supplemental scoping comment period, which 
is July 2, 2010. Electronic comments may be sent via the Internet to 
the NRC at [email protected]. Electronic submissions must be sent no 
later than July 2, 2010, to ensure that they will be considered in the 
supplemental scoping process. Comments will be available electronically 
and accessible through the NRC's ERR link at http://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. The NRC staff may consider comments submitted 
after the end of the comment period, as time and resources permit. 
Participation in the supplemental scoping process does not entitle 
participants to become parties to the proceeding to which the EIS 
relates. Because your comments will not be edited to remove any 
identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against 
including any information in your submission that you do not want to be 
publicly disclosed.
    The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments 
received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those 
persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 
identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 
include any information in their comments that they do not want 
publicly disclosed.
    At the conclusion of the supplemental scoping process, the NRC 
staff will prepare a concise summary of the determination and 
conclusions reached on the scope of the environmental review for the 
supplemental information on Make-Up Pond C, including the significant 
issues identified, and will send a copy of the summary to each 
participant in the supplemental scoping process for whom the staff has 
an address. The summary will also be available for inspection through 
the NRC's ERR link. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment 
the draft EIS, which will be the subject of separate Federal Register 
notices and a separate public meeting. Copies of the draft EIS will be 
available for public inspection at the above-mentioned address, and one 
copy per request will be provided free of charge. After receipt and 
consideration of the comments on the draft EIS, the NRC staff will 
prepare a final EIS, which will also be available for public 
inspection.
    Information about the proposed EIS and the scoping process may be 
obtained from Ms. Sarah Lopas at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1147.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of May 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Barry Zalcman,
Acting Director, Division of Site and Environmental Reviews, Office of 
New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2010-12372 Filed 5-21-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P