[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 61 (Friday, March 29, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19330-19332]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-07332]


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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2011-0148]


Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Ross In-Situ 
Uranium Recovery Project in Crook County, Wyoming

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft supplemental environmental impact statement; request for 
comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: By letter dated January 4, 2011, Strata Energy, Inc., (Strata) 
submitted an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) for a new source materials license for the proposed Ross In-Situ 
Uranium Recovery (ISR) Project (Ross Project) proposed to be located in 
Crook County, Wyoming. The NRC is issuing for public comment a Draft 
Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (Draft SEIS) for the Ross 
Project. The Draft SEIS is Supplement 5 to NUREG-1910, ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling 
Facilities.''

DATES: Submit comments by May 13, 2013. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related 
to this document, which the NRC possesses and is publically available, 
by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2011-
0148. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0148. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected].
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, 
Announcements, and

[[Page 19331]]

Directives Branch, Office of 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Johari Moore, Project Manager, Office 
of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC, 20555-0001; 
telephone: 301-415-7694; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0148 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
access information related to this document, which the NRC possesses 
and is publicly available by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0148.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents associated with 
the Ross Project through 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 Draft SEIS (NUREG-1910, Supplement 5) is 
available in ADAMS under Accession Number ML13078A036. NUREG-1910 is 
available in ADAMS under Accession Numbers ML091480244 (Volume 1) and 
ML091480188 (Volume 2).
     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-2011-0148 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 that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into 
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely 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 that they do not want to be 
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should 
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Further Information

    Under the NRC's environmental protection regulations in part 51 of 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), which implement 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), preparation of an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or supplement to an EIS (SEIS) is 
required for issuance of a license to possess and use source material 
for uranium milling (see 10 CFR 51.20(b)(8)).
    In May 2009, the NRC staff issued NUREG-1910, ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling 
Facilities'' (herein referred to as the GEIS). In the GEIS, the NRC 
assessed the potential environmental impacts from construction, 
operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of an in situ leach 
uranium milling facility (also known as an ISR facility) located in 
four specific geographic regions of the western United States. The 
proposed Ross Project is located within the Nebraska-South Dakota-
Wyoming Uranium Milling Region identified in the GEIS. The Draft SEIS 
supplements the GEIS and incorporates by reference relevant portions 
from the GEIS, and uses site-specific information from Strata's license 
application and independent sources to fulfill the requirements in 10 
CFR 51.20(b)(8).
    The Draft SEIS for the proposed Ross Project may also be accessed 
on the internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/ by selecting ``NUREG-1910'' and then ``Supplement 5,'' or 
on the NRC's Ross Project Web page at http://www.nrc.gov/materials/uranium-recovery/license-apps/ross.html. Additionally, a copy of the 
Draft SEIS will be available at the following public libraries:

Crook County Library, Hulett Branch, 401 Sager Street, Hulett, WY 
82720.
Crook County Library, Moorcroft Branch, 105 E Converse, Moorcroft, WY 
82721.

    The Draft SEIS was prepared in response to an application submitted 
by Strata by letter dated January 4, 2011. The applicant proposes the 
construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of an 
ISR facility.
    The Draft SEIS was prepared by the NRC and its contractor, 
Attenuation Environmental Company, in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau 
of Land Management (BLM). The NRC has prepared this Draft SEIS in 
compliance with NEPA and the NRC's regulations for implementing NEPA 
(10 CFR part 51).
    The proposed Ross Project will be located approximately 34.6 
kilometers (km) (21.5 miles [mi]) north of the town of Moorcroft, 
Wyoming and would encompass approximately 697 hectares (ha) (1,721 
acres [ac]).
    The Draft SEIS is being issued as part of the NRC's process to 
decide whether to issue a license to Strata pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40. 
In the Draft SEIS, the NRC staff has assessed the potential 
environmental impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer 
restoration, and decommissioning of the proposed Ross Project. The NRC 
staff assessed the impacts of the proposed action and its alternatives 
on land use; historical and cultural resources; visual and scenic 
resources; climatology, meteorology and air quality; geology, minerals 
and soils; water resources; ecological resources; socioeconomics; 
environmental justice; noise; traffic and transportation; public and 
occupational health and safety; and waste management. Additionally, the 
Draft SEIS analyzes and compares the benefits and costs of the proposed 
action.
    The NRC staff evaluated site-specific data and information on the 
Ross Project to determine if Strata's proposed activities and the site 
characteristics were consistent with those evaluated in the GEIS. NRC 
then determined which relevant sections of, and impact conclusions in, 
the GEIS could be incorporated by reference. The NRC staff also 
determined if additional data or analysis was needed to assess the 
potential environmental impacts for a

[[Page 19332]]

specific environmental resource area. The NRC documented its 
assessments and conclusions in the Draft SEIS.
    In addition to the action proposed by Strata, the NRC staff 
addressed the no-action alternative, as well as alternative location 
for proposed facility. All the alternatives were analyzed in detail. 
The no-action alternative serves as a baseline for comparing the 
potential environmental impacts of the proposed action.
    After weighing the impacts of the proposed action and comparing the 
alternatives, the NRC staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.71(f), sets 
forth its preliminary recommendation regarding the proposed action. 
Unless safety issues mandate otherwise, the NRC staff preliminarily 
recommends that the proposed action be approved (i.e., the NRC should 
issue a source material license for the proposed Ross Project).
    The Draft SEIS is being issued for public comment. The public 
comment period on the Draft SEIS begins with publication of this notice 
and continues until May 13, 2013. Written comments should be submitted 
as described in the ADDRESSES section of this document. The NRC will 
consider comments received or postmarked after that date to the extent 
practical.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of March 2013.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Aby Mohseni,
Deputy Director, Environmental Protection and Performance Assessment 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, 
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management 
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2013-07332 Filed 3-28-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P