[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 119 (Thursday, June 20, 2013)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 37325-37326]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14314]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 51
[NRC-2008-0608]
RIN 3150-AI42
License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants; Generic Environmental
Impact Statement and Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: NUREG-1437 and NUREG-1555; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is updating and
revising NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (GEIS), which the NRC issued in May
1996. The revised GEIS provides the technical basis for amending
certain NRC environmental protection regulations. The NRC has also
revised NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, ``Standard Review Plans for
Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants, Supplement 1: Operating
License Renewal'' (ESRP). The ESRP serves as a guide to the NRC staff
in preparing a plant-specific supplemental environmental impact
statement to the GEIS. This document is announcing the issuance of
NUREG-1437, Revision 1, and NUREG-1555, Revision 1.
DATES: NUREG-1437 and NUREG-1555 are effective June 20, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0608 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, using any of the following
methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0608. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-492-
3668; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
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 No. for
each document referenced in this document (if that document is
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced. The ADAMS Accession Nos. for the GEIS, NUREG-1437, are as
follows: ML13107A023 for the package, ML13106A241 for Volume 1,
ML13106A242 for Volume 2, and ML13106A244 for Volume 3. The ADAMS
Accession No. for the ESRP, NUREG-1555, is ML13106A246.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Emmanuel Sayoc, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 1-800-368-5642, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
In the Rules and Regulations section of this issue of the Federal
Register, the NRC published a final rule, ``Revisions to Environmental
Review for Renewal of Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses'' (RIN
3150-AI42), that is amending its environmental protection regulations
by updating and revising the Commission's 1996 findings on the
environmental impacts of renewing the operating license of a nuclear
power plant. The final rule redefines the number and scope of the
environmental impact issues that must be addressed by the NRC during
license renewal environmental reviews. Most of the amendments made by
this final rule are based upon Revision 1 to the GEIS, which
incorporates lessons learned and knowledge gained from license renewal
environmental reviews conducted by the NRC since 1996.
Revision 1 to the GEIS is intended for use by license renewal
applicants and the NRC staff. The NRC published the draft Revision 1 to
the GEIS on July 31, 2009 (74 FR 38239), for a 75-day public comment
period, ending on October 14, 2009. The NRC later extended the comment
period to January 12, 2010 (74 FR 51522; October 7, 2009).
The intent of the GEIS is to determine which issues would result in
the same impact at all nuclear power plants and which issues could
result in different levels of impact at different plants and thus
require a plant-specific analysis for impact determinations. Revision 1
to the GEIS identifies 78 environmental impact issues for consideration
in license renewal environmental reviews, 59 of which have been
determined to be generic to all plant sites. The GEIS also evaluates a
full range of alternatives to the proposed action. For most impact
areas, the proposed action (i.e., renewal of the plant's operating
license) would have impacts that would be similar to or less than
impacts of the alternatives, in large part because most alternatives
would require new power plant construction, whereas the proposed action
would not.
The NUREG-1437 consisted of two volumes when first issued by the
NRC in 1996--the first volume consisting of the primary text and the
second volume consisting of the GEIS appendices. Revision 1 of NUREG-
1437 expands the GEIS to three volumes to meet internal NRC publication
requirements for NUREG documents. Volume 1 contains the primary text of
the GEIS; Volume 2 contains Appendix A, which consists of public
comments and the NRC's responses thereto; and Volume 3 contains the
remainder of the GEIS appendices.
The ESRP provides guidance to NRC staff in implementing the
provisions in Part 51 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing
and Related Regulatory Functions,'' when conducting an environmental
review for the renewal of
[[Page 37326]]
a nuclear power plant's operating license.
Concurrent with the final rule, GEIS revision, and ESRP revision,
the NRC is also publishing in the Rules and Regulations section of this
issue of the Federal Register, Revision 1 to Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.2,
Supplement 1, Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power
Plant License Renewal Applications. The Accession No. for Revision 1 to
RG 4.2 is ML13067A354. The RG 4.2 provides guidance to applicants for
the preparation of environmental reports that are submitted as part of
an application for the renewal of a nuclear power plant operating
license in accordance with 10 CFR Part 54, ``Requirements for Renewal
of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants.''
During the public comment period, the NRC received 32 document
submissions from industry stakeholders, representatives of Federal and
State agencies, other interested parties, and members of the public.
Each of these document submissions contained one or more comments. The
NRC also received verbal comments at the six public meetings held
during the public comment period, which contained, in aggregate,
several hundred comments. These comments concerned or pertained to the
proposed rule (74 FR 38117 published July 31, 2009) and to the draft
revisions to the GEIS, ESRP and RG 4.2. A description of all public
comments submitted on the draft revised GEIS and the NRC's response to
those comments, are contained in Appendix A (Volume 2) of Revision 1 to
the GEIS. A summary of all six public meetings is contained in the
following document, ``Summary of Public Meetings to Discuss Proposed
Rule Regarding Part 51 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
and the Draft Revision to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement
for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, NUREG-1437, Revision 1 (November
3, 2009),'' and can be accessed in ADAMS under Accession No.
ML093070141. Comments specific to the draft revised RG 4.2, which came
from Federal and State agencies, and industry can be accessed in ADAMS
under Accession No. ML13067A355. There were no comments specific to the
ESRP.
II. Congressional Review Act
In accordance with the Congressional Review Act, the NRC has
determined that this action is not a major rule and has verified this
determination with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of
the Office of Management and Budget.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of April, 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John W. Lubinski,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2013-14314 Filed 6-19-13; 8:45 am]
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