[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2013)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 56621-56622]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-21715]


 ========================================================================
 Proposed Rules
                                                 Federal Register
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 This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of 
 the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these 
 notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in 
 the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
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  Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 178 / Friday, September 13, 2013 / 
Proposed Rules  

[[Page 56621]]



NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 51

[NRC-2012-0246]
RIN 3150-AJ20


Draft Waste Confidence Generic Environmental Impact Statement

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft generic environmental impact statement; public meetings 
and request for comment.

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

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment the draft generic environmental impact statement 
(DGEIS), NUREG-2157, ``Waste Confidence Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement,'' that forms the regulatory basis for the proposed 
amendments to the NRC's regulations pertaining to the environmental 
impacts of the continued storage of spent nuclear fuel beyond a 
reactor's licensed life for operation and prior to ultimate disposal 
(proposed Waste Confidence rule). The NRC staff plans to hold 12 public 
meetings during the public comment period to present an overview of the 
DGEIS and proposed Waste Confidence rule and to accept public comments 
on the documents.

DATES: Submit comments on the DGEIS by November 27, 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 submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specific subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0246. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do 
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact 
us at 301-415-1677.
     Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
     Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
     Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal 
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
    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: Sarah Lopas, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-287-0675; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0246 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this document. You may access 
publicly available information related to this document by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0246.
     NRC's Waste Confidence Web site: Go to http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/wcd.html.
     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 
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 document (if that document is available in ADAMS) is 
provided the first time that a document is referenced. The DGEIS is 
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML13224A106.
     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-2012-0246 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. Discussion

    In response to a ruling by the Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit, (New York v. NRC, 681 F.3d 471), that vacated the 
NRC's Waste Confidence rule (10 CFR 51.23), the Commission directed the 
NRC staff to develop an updated Waste Confidence rule supported by a 
generic Environmental Impact Statement. As the first step in developing 
the DGEIS, the NRC conducted a scoping process from October 25, 2012 
through January 2, 2013 (77 FR 65137). Results of that scoping process 
are documented in the ``Waste Confidence Generic

[[Page 56622]]

Environmental Impact Statement Scoping Process Summary Report,'' dated 
March 2013 (ADAMS Accession No. ML13060A128).
    The NRC prepared the DGEIS to satisfy its National Environmental 
Policy Act (NEPA) obligations regarding the impacts of continued 
storage of spent nuclear fuel after the end of a reactor's licensed 
life for operation and to support proposed amendments to the Waste 
Confidence rule. The objective of the Waste Confidence DGEIS is to 
examine the potential environmental impacts that could occur as a 
result of the continued storage of spent nuclear fuel at at-reactor and 
away-from-reactor sites until a repository is available. For the 
resource areas considered, the DGEIS provides generic impact 
determinations that would be applicable to a wide range of existing and 
potential future spent fuel storage sites. While some site-specific 
information is used in developing the generic impact determinations, 
the Waste Confidence DGEIS does not replace the NEPA analysis 
associated with any individual site licensing action.
    The DGEIS is intended to improve the efficiency of the NRC's 
licensing processes by (1) providing a generic evaluation of the 
environmental impacts that may occur as a result of continuing to store 
spent fuel after the end of a reactor's licensed life for operation and 
prior to disposal in a repository, and (2) providing the regulatory 
basis for the NRC's proposed amendments to its regulations in part 51 
of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
    Concurrently with this document, the NRC is publishing a proposed 
rule, ``Waste Confidence--Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel'' 
(RIN 3150-AJ20; NRC-2012-0246), in the Proposed Rules section of this 
issue of the Federal Register. The proposed rule would revise the NRC's 
generic determination on the environmental impacts of the continued 
storage of spent nuclear fuel beyond a reactor's licensed life for 
operation and prior to ultimate disposal.

III. Public Meetings

    The NRC staff plans to hold the following public meetings during 
the public comment period to present an overview of the DGEIS and 
proposed Waste Confidence rule and to accept public comments on the 
documents.
     October 1, 2013: NRC Headquarters, One White Flint North, 
First Floor Commission Hearing Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Maryland 
20852.
     October 3, 2013: Crowne Plaza Denver International Airport 
Convention Center, 15500 East 40th Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80239.
     October 7, 2013: Courtyard by Marriott, 1605 Calle Joaquin 
Road, San Luis Obispo, California 93405.
     October 9, 2013: Sheraton Carlsbad Resort & Spa, 5480 
Grand Pacific Drive, Carlsbad, California 92008.
     October 15, 2013: Hilton Garden Inn Toledo Perrysburg, 
6165 Levis Commons Boulevard, Perrysburg, Ohio 43551.
     October 17, 2013: Minneapolis Marriott Southwest, 5801 
Opus Parkway, Minnetonka, Minnesota 55343.
     October 28, 2013: Radisson Hotel & Suites Chelmsford-
Lowell, 10 Independence Drive, Chelmsford, Massachusetts 01824.
     October 30, 2013: Westchester Marriott, 670 White Plains 
Road, Tarrytown, New York 10591.
     November 4, 2013: Hilton Charlotte University Place, 8629 
J.M. Keynes Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina 28262.
     November 6, 2013: Hyatt Regency Orlando International 
Airport, 9300 Jeff Fuqua Boulevard, Orlando, Florida 32827.
     November 14, 2013: NRC Headquarters, One White Flint 
North, First Floor Commission Hearing Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Maryland 20852.
     In addition to the meetings listed, the NRC staff intends 
to hold a meeting during the comment period in Illinois. Although the 
exact date and venue have yet to be arranged, the NRC staff will 
provide this information well in advance of the meeting.
    The ten regional public meetings will start at 7:00 p.m. local time 
and will continue until 10:00 p.m. The two NRC headquarters meetings 
will start at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time and will continue until 5:00 p.m. 
Additionally, NRC staff will host informal discussions during an open 
house 1 hour prior to the start of each meeting. Open houses will start 
at 6:00 p.m. local time for regional meetings and 1:00 p.m. Eastern 
Time for the NRC Headquarters meetings.
    The public meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) A 
presentation of the contents of the DGEIS and proposed Waste Confidence 
rule; and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, 
organizations, and individuals to provide comments on the DGEIS and 
proposed rule. No oral comments on the DGEIS or proposed rule will be 
accepted during the open house sessions. To be considered, oral 
comments must be presented during the transcribed portion of the public 
meeting. Written comments can be submitted to NRC staff at any time 
during the public meetings.
    Persons interested in attending or presenting oral comments at any 
of the 12 public meetings are encouraged to pre-register. Persons may 
pre-register to attend or present oral comments by calling 301-287-9392 
or by emailing [email protected] no later than 3 days prior to the 
meeting. Members of the public may also register to provide oral 
comments in-person at each meeting. Individual oral comments may be 
limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who 
register. If special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend 
or present information at a public meeting, the need should be brought 
to the NRC's attention no later than 10 days prior to the meeting to 
provide the NRC staff adequate notice to determine whether the request 
can be accommodated.
    To maximize public participation, the NRC headquarters meetings on 
October 1, 2013, and November 14, 2013, will be Web-streamed via the 
NRC's public Web site. See the NRC's Live Meeting Webcast page to 
participate: http://video.nrc.gov/. The NRC headquarters meetings will 
also feature a moderated teleconference line so remote attendees will 
have the opportunity to present oral comments. To receive the 
teleconference number and passcode, call 301-287-9392 or email 
[email protected]. Meeting agendas and participation details will 
be available on the NRC's Waste Confidence Public Involvement Web site 
at http://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/wcd/pub-involve.html and 
on the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm no later than 10 days prior to 
the meetings.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of August 2013.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Keith I. McConnell,
Director, Waste Confidence Directorate, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2013-21715 Filed 9-12-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P