[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 178 (Friday, September 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56750-56752]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-22323]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2013-0212]
Interim Staff Guidance on Environmental Issues Associated With
New Reactors
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Draft interim staff guidance; request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff is issuing
for use of, and to solicit public comment on, draft Interim Staff
Guidance (ISG) ESP/COL-ISG-026, ``Interim Staff Guidance on
Environmental Issues
[[Page 56751]]
Associated with New Reactors.'' The purpose of this ISG is to clarify
the NRC guidance and application of NUREG 1555, ``Standard Review Plans
for Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants,'' (NRC 2000)
regarding the assessment of construction impacts, greenhouse gas and
climate change, socioeconomics, environmental justice, need for power,
alternatives, cumulative impact, and cultural/historical resources as
part of the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements for early
site permit (ESP) and combined license (COL) applications.
DATES: Submit comments by October 15, 2013. Comments received after
this date will be considered, if it is practical to do so, but the
Commission is able to ensure 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-2013-0212. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3442; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section
of this document.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules,
Announcements, and Directives Branch (RADB), Office of Administration,
Mail Stop: 3WFN-06-44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555-0001.
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: Mr. Jonathan DeGange, Office of New
Reactors, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; telephone at 301-415-6992 or email at [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0212 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding 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-2013-0212.
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 document (if that document is
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced. In addition, for the convenience of the reader, the ADAMS
accession numbers are provided in a table in the section of this
document entitled, Availability of Documents.
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.
The agency posts its issued staff guidance in the agency
external Web page (http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/isg).
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2013-0212 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.
Availability of Documents
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ADAMS Accession No. Document title
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ML13045A090.................. Federal Register Notice: Draft Interim
Staff Guidance on Environmental Issues
Associated with New Reactors.
ML12326A742.................. Interim Staff Guidance-026, Environmental
Issues Associated with New Reactors.
ML12326A811.................. ISG-026, Attachment 1--Staff Guidance for
Greenhouse Gas and Climate Change
Impacts.
ML12326A895.................. ISG-026, Attachment 2--Staff Guidance for
Socioeconomics and Environmental
Justice.
ML12326A960.................. ISG-026, Attachment 3--Staff Guidance for
Cultural and Historical Resources.
ML12328A065.................. ISG-026, Attachment 4--Staff Guidance for
Cumulative Impacts.
ML12328A073.................. ISG-026, Attachment 5--Staff Guidance for
Need for Power.
ML12328A075.................. ISG-026, Attachment 6--Staff Guidance for
Alternatives.
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The NRC staff issues ESP/COL-ISGs to facilitate timely
implementation of current staff guidance and to facilitate activities
associated with review of applications for ESPs, design certifications,
and COLs by the Office of New Reactors. The NRC staff intends to
incorporate the final approved ESP/COL-ISG-026 into the next revision
of the Environmental Standard Review Plan and related guidance
documents.
Backfitting and Issue Finality
The guidance in draft ISG-026 would clarify how the NRC would apply
the guidance in the Environmental Standard Review Plan (ESRP) to
environmental reviews for applications for COL and ESP applicants.
Issuance of this draft ISG, if finalized, would not constitute
backfitting as defined in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR) 50.109 (the Backfit Rule), or which should be regarded as
backfitting under Commission and Executive Director for
[[Page 56752]]
Operations guidance, and would not otherwise be inconsistent with the
issue finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52. The staff's position is
based upon the following considerations.
1. The draft ISG positions, if finalized, do not constitute
backfitting, inasmuch as the ESRP is internal guidance to NRC staff.
The ISG provides interim guidance to the staff on how to review an
application for NRC regulatory approval in the form of licensing.
Changes in internal staff guidance are not matters for which either
nuclear power plant applicants or licensees are protected under either
the Backfit Rule or the issue finality provisions of 10 CFR part 52.
2. Backfitting and issue finality do not--with limited exceptions
not applicable here--protect current or future applicants.
Applicants are not, with certain exceptions, protected by either
the Backfit Rule or any issue finality provisions under 10 CFR part 52.
This is because neither the Backfit Rule nor the issue finality
provisions under 10 CFR part 52--with certain exclusions discussed
below--were intended to apply every NRC action which substantially
changes the expectations of current and future applicants.
The exceptions to the general principle are applicable whenever an
applicant references a 10 CFR part 52 license (e.g., an early site
permit) and/or NRC regulatory approval (e.g., a design certification
rule) with specified issue finality provisions. The staff does not, at
this time, intend to impose the positions represented in the draft ISG
section (if finalized) in a manner that is inconsistent with any issue
finality provisions. If, in the future, the staff seeks to impose a
position in the draft ISG section (if finalized) in a manner which does
not provide issue finality as described in the applicable issue
finality provision, then the staff must address the criteria for
avoiding issue finality as described applicable issue finality
provision.
Congressional Review Act
This ISG is a rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act (5
U.S.C 801-808). However, the Office of Management and Budget has not
found it to be a major rule as defined in the Congressional Review Act.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day of September 2013.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Joseph Colaccino,
Chief, Policy Branch, Division of Advanced Reactor and Rulemaking,
Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2013-22323 Filed 9-12-13; 8:45 am]
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