[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 166 (Monday, August 27, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51832-51833]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21005]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 52-029-COL, 52-030-COL; ASLBP No. 09-879-04-COL-BD01]


Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; In the Matter of Progress 
Energy Florida, Inc. (Levy County Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2)

August 21, 2012.
Before Administrative Judges: Alex S. Karlin, Chairman, Dr. Anthony 
J. Baratta and Dr. Randall J. Charbeneau

Notice of Hearing

    This Atomic Safety and Licensing Board gives notice that it will 
convene an evidentiary hearing with regard to a challenge by the 
Nuclear Information and Resource Service and the Ecology Party of 
Florida (Intervenors) \1\ to an application by Progress Energy Florida, 
Inc. (PEF) to construct and operate two new nuclear power reactors in 
Levy County, Florida.\2\ The evidentiary hearing will be held in 
Bronson, Florida and will commence on October 31, 2012. The hearing 
will concern the one admitted contention in this proceeding, Contention 
4A, which is described more fully below.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The Green Party of Florida was one of the original 
intervenors herein, but it subsequently withdrew. See Notice of 
Withdrawal (May 17, 2012).
    \2\ See Progress Energy Florida, Inc.; Application for the Levy 
County Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 and 2; Notice of Order, Hearing, 
and Opportunity To Petition for Leave To Intervene, 73 FR 74,532, 
74,532 (Dec. 8, 2008).
    \3\ A motion to admit another contention was filed on July 9, 
2012 and is currently pending. Pursuant to an order of the 
Commission, CLI-12-16, the Board has placed this proposed new 
contention in abeyance. Order (Holding Proposed New Contention in 
Abeyance) (Aug. 16, 2012) (unpublished).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The evidentiary hearing will be held under the authority of the 
Atomic Energy Act, 42 U.S.C. 2231, 2239, and 2241. It will be conducted 
pursuant to the NRC hearing procedures set forth in 10 CFR Part 2, 
Subpart L, 10 CFR 2.1200-2.1213. During the course of this adjudicatory 
proceeding the Board may also hear oral arguments as provided in 10 CFR 
2.331 and may hold various prehearing conferences pursuant to 10 CFR 
2.329. These may be held via teleconference, video-conference, and/or 
in person. Except where certain legally privileged documents or 
testimony are being heard, all of the proceedings will be open to the 
public. See 10 CFR 2.328.

A. Matters To Be Considered

    Contention 4A, as it will be litigated during the October 31, 2012 
evidentiary hearing,\4\ reads as follows:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ This contention has evolved during the course of this 
proceeding. First, the contention challenged the adequacy of the 
Environmental Report, a document submitted by PEF. See LBP-09-10, 70 
NRC 51, 106 (2009). Next, the Intervenors interposed substantially 
the same contention challenging the adequacy of the Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement issued by the NRC Staff. See 
Memorandum and Order (Admitting Contention 4A) (Feb. 2, 2011) 
(unpublished). Finally, when the NRC Staff issued the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement, this same contention migrated and 
continued to be admitted as a challenge to the FEIS. Tr. at 856.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) fails to comply 
with 10 CFR Part 51 and the National Environmental Policy Act because 
it fails to specifically and adequately address, and inappropriately 
characterizes as SMALL, certain direct, indirect, and cumulative 
impacts, onsite and offsite, of constructing and operating the proposed 
LNP facility:
    A. Impacts to wetlands, floodplains, special aquatic sites, and 
other waters, associated with dewatering, specifically:
    1. Impacts resulting from active and passive dewatering;
    2. Impacts resulting from the connection of the site to the 
underlying Floridan aquifer system;
    3. Impacts on Outstanding Florida Waters such as the Withlacoochee 
and Waccasassa Rivers;
    4. Impacts on water quality and the aquatic environment due to 
alterations and increases in nutrient concentrations caused by the 
removal of water; and
    5. Impacts on water quality and the aquatic environment due to 
increased nutrients resulting from destructive wildfires resulting from 
dewatering.
    B. Impacts to wetlands, floodplains, special aquatic sites, and 
other waters, associated with salt drift and salt deposition resulting 
from cooling towers (that use salt water) being situated in an inland, 
freshwater wetland area of the LNP site.
    C. As a result of the omissions and inadequacies described above, 
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement also failed to adequately 
identify, and inappropriately characterizes as SMALL, the proposed 
project's zone of:
    1. Environmental impacts;
    2. Impact on Federally listed species;
    3. Irreversible and irretrievable environmental impacts; and
    4. Appropriate mitigation measures.

B. Date, Time, and Location of Evidentiary Hearing

    The Board will convene the evidentiary hearing on Wednesday, 
October 31, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. e.d.t., in the Levy County Courthouse. 
The courthouse is located at 355 South Court Street, Bronson, Florida. 
If the evidentiary hearing lasts longer than one day, we will adjourn 
at approximately 5:00 p.m. on October 31 and will reconvene and 
continue at 9:00 a.m. e.d.t. on Thursday, November 1, 2012. We 
anticipate that the evidentiary hearing will not take more than two 
days.
    Members of the public and media are welcome to attend and observe 
the evidentiary hearing. Actual participation in the hearing will be 
limited to the parties and their lawyers and witnesses.\5\ Please be 
aware that security measures may be employed at the entrance to the 
facility, including searches of hand-carried items such as briefcases 
or backpacks. No signs will be permitted in the courtroom.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ The parties consist of the Nuclear Information and Resource 
Service, the Ecology Party of Florida, Progress Energy Florida, 
Inc., and the Staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Limited Appearance Statements

    The purpose of limited appearance statements is to allow members of 
the public who are not parties to the adjudication to provide the Board 
with statements setting forth their positions or concerns on matters 
relating to the admitted contentions. This Board already conducted two 
oral limited appearance statement sessions regarding Contention 4A in 
Crystal River, Florida, on Thursday, January 12, 2012. See Tr. at 698-
827, 876-927. Thus, we will not hear further oral limited appearance

[[Page 51833]]

statements. However, the Board will continue to accept written limited 
appearance statements until October 24, 2012. Such written statements 
should be submitted in one of the following methods:
    Mail: Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Fax: (301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1966).
    Email: [email protected],
    In addition, using the same method of service, a copy of the 
written limited appearance statement should be sent to the Chairman of 
this Licensing Board as follows:
    Mail: Alex S. Karlin, Chairman, c/o: Matthew E. Flyntz, Law Clerk, 
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop T-3 E2C, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Fax: (301) 415-5599 (verification (301) 415-7405).
    Email: [email protected].

D. Availability of Documentary Information Regarding the Proceeding

    Documents relating to this Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 
adjudicatory proceeding such as the parties' statements of position, 
pre-filed testimony, pre-filed evidentiary exhibits, transcripts of 
prior conferences and oral arguments, and copies or prior orders and 
rulings issued by this Board in this case, are available for public 
inspection at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's ``Electronic Hearing 
Docket'' (EHD). The EHD is located at http://adams.nrc.gov/ehd/. 
Interested persons should access that Web page and click on the tab 
identified as ``Levy--County--52-029 & 52-030-COL.'' The documents in 
that portion of the EHD will be the primary focus of the evidentiary 
hearing. The public should be aware that new documents are regularly 
added to the EHD as the parties file pleadings and the Board issues 
orders or notices. Therefore this Web site should be monitored 
regularly by interested members of the public.
    In addition, the broader category of all of NRC's public documents 
related to PEF's application and the responses, questions, and other 
documents generated by the NRC Staff (such as PEF's Combined License 
Application and the NRC's Environmental Impact Statements) may be 
accessed via the publicly available records component of NRC's document 
system (ADAMS). ADAMS can be accessed via the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/ and then clicking on the link specified as: ``ADAMS Public 
Documents.'' Once on that page, click on the link identified as ``Begin 
Web-Based ADAMS Search.''
    Persons who have difficulty in conducting useful searches in ADAMS 
or who otherwise encounter problems in accessing the documents located 
in ADAMS may contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff 
by telephone at (800) 397-4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail at 
[email protected].
    In addition, hard copies of Board orders, notices and/or memoranda 
are also available at the NRC PDR, located at One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland.
    Finally, the public is advised that the Secretary of the Commission 
will give notice of filings and other events in this proceeding to any 
member of the public who requests it.\6\ See 10 CFR 2.315(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ Any such request may be directed to the Secretary of the 
Commission by electronic mail at [email protected] or by 
telephone at (301) 415-1677.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Dated: Rockville, Maryland, August 21, 2012.

    For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
Alex S. Karlin,
Chairman, Administrative Judge.
[FR Doc. 2012-21005 Filed 8-24-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P