[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 116 (Friday, June 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36012-36014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14759]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 52-039; NRC-2008-0603]
PPL Bell Bend, LLC; Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant Combined
License Application; Notice of Intent To Conduct a Supplemental Scoping
Process on the Revised Site Layout
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Solicitation of public comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission)
is seeking public comment for the supplemental scoping process for the
Bell Bend combined license (COL) application review.
DATES: Please submit any comments by July 16, 2012.
ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related
to this document, which the NRC possesses and are publically available,
by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2008-
0603. You may submit comments by the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0603. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules,
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of
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Administration, Mail Stop: TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax comments to: RADB at 301-492-3446.
For additional direction on accessing information and submitting
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
Email Comments to: [email protected].
To ensure that comments will be considered in the supplemental
scoping process, written comments must be postmarked by July 16, 2012.
Electronic comments must be submitted no later than July 16, 2012 to
ensure that they will be considered in the supplemental scoping
process. The NRC staff may, at its discretion, consider comments
received after the end of the comment period. Participation in the
supplemental scoping process for the EIS does not entitle participants
to become parties to the proceeding to which this EIS relates.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs. Laura Quinn-Willingham,
Environmental Projects Branch 2, Division of New Reactor Licensing,
Office of New Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-2220; email: [email protected]. In her absence, please contact Mr. John Fringer at
301-415-6208 or via email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0603 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
access information related to this document by the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web Site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0603.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly-available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced. The revised ER is available in ADAMS under Accession Number
ML12145A242. The revised ER may also be viewed on the Internet at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/bell-bend/documents.html#application. In addition, the Mill Memorial Public
Library, 495 E Main Street, Nanticoke, PA 18634, and the McBride
Memorial Library, 500 N Market Street, Berwick, PA 18603, have agreed
to make the revised ER available for public inspection.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2008-0603 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information in comment submissions that you do not want to be publicly
disclosed. The NRC posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering the comment submissions into
ADAMS, and the NRC does not edit comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information in their comment submissions
that they do not want to be publicly disclosed. Your request should
state that the NRC will not edit comment submissions to remove such
information before making the comment submissions available to the
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. Background
PPL Bell Bend, LLC (PPL) has submitted an application for a COL to
build and operate a new unit at its Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant
(BBNPP) site, located west of the existing Susquehanna Steam Electric
Station site on approximately 975 acres in Luzerne County, on the
Susquehanna River, approximately 5 miles northeast of Berwick,
Pennsylvania. PPL submitted the application for the COL to the NRC by
letter dated October 10, 2008, pursuant to Title 10 of the Code of
Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52. A notice of intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS) and conduct scoping was published
in the Federal Register on January 6, 2009 (74 FR 470). On March 30,
2012, PPL submitted a revised Environmental Report (ER) (Part 3 of the
COL application), in accordance with 10 CFR 51.45 and 51.50, to provide
detailed information regarding the revised site layout that was
developed in order to avoid wetland impacts by relocating the power
block footprint and other plant components.
For purposes of developing the EIS the NRC is the lead agency and
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, is a
cooperating agency, as described in the Memorandum of Understanding
established by the NRC and the USACE (73 FR 55546; September 12, 2008).
III. Discussion
The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the NRC and
the USACE are providing the public a supplemental opportunity to
participate in the environmental scoping process, as described in 10
CFR 51.29. The supplemental scoping opportunity affords the public an
occasion to provide comments concerning the new information related to
the revised site layout, which were not available during the initial
scoping review. The supplemental scoping process will have a 30-day
comment period that begins with the publication of this Federal
Register notice.
This notice advises the public that the NRC and USACE intend to
gather information, pertaining to the revised site layout, to prepare
an EIS as part of the review of the Bell Bend COL application. Possible
alternatives to the proposed action (issuance of the COL for the BBNPP)
include no action, reasonable alternative energy sources, and alternate
sites. As set forth 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 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
and the NRC's regulations in 10 CFR part 51.
The NRC and USACE will first conduct a supplemental scoping process
on the revised ER, and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare
a draft EIS for public comment. Participation in this 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:
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a. Determine how the new information on the revised site layout
impacts the scope of the EIS and identify the significant issues
regarding the revised site layout 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 the revised
site layout;
c. Identify any environmental assessments and other EISs that are
being or will be prepared that are related to the new information on
the revised site layout;
d. Identify other environmental review and consultation
requirements related to the revised site layout;
e. Identify parties consulting with the NRC under the National
Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, 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 other cooperating
agencies; and
g. Identify how the EIS preparation will include the revised site
layout, including any other contractor assistance to be used.
The NRC invites the following entities to participate in the
supplemental scoping process:
a. The applicant, PPL;
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 late leave to intervene
in the proceeding, or who has submitted such a petition, or who is
admitted as a party.
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
revised site layout and will send this summary to each participant in
the scoping process for whom the staff has an address. The summary will
also be available for inspection through ADAMS at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html and the NRC's public Web site for the COL review
at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-reactors/col/bell-bend.html. The NRC
and USACE will then prepare and issue for comment the draft EIS, which
will be the subject of a separate Federal Register notice and a public
meeting. After receipt and consideration of comments on the draft EIS,
the NRC and USACE will prepare a final EIS, which will also be the
subject of a separate Federal Register notice and will be available to
the public.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day of June 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David B. Matthews,
Director, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2012-14759 Filed 6-14-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P