[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 76 (Monday, April 21, 2014)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 22055-22056]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-09026]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

10 CFR Part 51

[Docket No. PRM-51-30; NRC-2014-0014]


Revise and Integrate All Safety and Environmental Regulations 
Related to Spent Fuel Storage and Disposal

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Petition for rulemaking; acceptance and docketing.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has received a 
petition for rulemaking (PRM) from Diane Curran on behalf of 34 
environmental organizations (the petitioner), dated December 20, 2013, 
as corrected on January 7, 2014. The petitioner requests that the NRC 
revise and integrate all regulations that relate to the environmental 
impacts of spent fuel storage and disposal. The NRC is not instituting 
a public comment period for this PRM at this time.

DATES: The PRM is available on April 21, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0014 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information for this petition. You may 
access publicly-available information related to this petition using 
any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0014. 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.
     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.
     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: Keith McDaniel, Office of Federal and 
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
5252, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. The Petitioner

    Diane Curran, Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, L.L.P., on 
behalf of 34 Environmental Organizations submitted a PRM dated December 
20, 2013, as corrected on January 7, 2014 (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML14029A124, ML14029A169, and ML14029A154). The PRM is part of a larger 
document entitled ``Comments by Environmental Organizations on Draft 
Waste Confidence Generic Environmental Impact Statement and Proposed 
Waste Confidence Rule and Petition to Revise and Integrate All Safety 
and Environmental Regulations Related to Spent Fuel Storage and 
Disposal'' (Petitioners' Document). Primarily, the Petitioners' 
Document constitutes the collective comments of these 34 environmental 
organizations on the NRC's draft ``Waste Confidence Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement,'' NUREG-2157 (78 FR 56621; September 
13, 2013), and associated proposed waste confidence rulemaking (78 FR 
56776; September 13, 2013). Section II of the Petitioners' Document, 
``Description of Organizations,'' states that ``[a]ll of the 
organizations are neighbors of existing or proposed nuclear power 
plants, and most have either intervened or plan to intervene in NRC 
proceedings for the licensing or re-licensing of nuclear power 
plants.'' \1\
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    \1\ Petitioners' Document at 5.
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II. The Petition

    The petitioner requests that the NRC revise and integrate all 
regulations that relate to the environmental impacts of spent fuel 
storage and disposal. The petitioner asserts that

[i]ssues related to spent fuel storage and disposal impacts are now 
balkanized into separate rulemakings for spent fuel disposal impacts 
(Table S-3), safety and impacts of spent fuel storage and disposal 
from fuel generated during the license renewal period (Table B-1), 
safety and impacts of spent fuel storage after license termination 
(proposed 10 C.F.R. [Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations] 
Sec.  51.23), and safety and feasibility of siting a spent fuel 
repository (proposed 10 C.F.R. Sec.  51.23).\2\
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    \2\ Id.
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The petitioner further asserts that the ``NRC has divided consideration 
of environmental impacts into piecemeal decision-making'' and, ``[b]y 
considering them separately, the NRC ignores the interaction of 
impacts, cumulative impacts, and inconsistencies in safety and 
environmental analyses conducted in the separate decision-making 
processes.'' \3\ The petitioner requests that the NRC conduct a 
comprehensive review of these regulations and environmental studies, 
revise them to be consistent with the current state of knowledge, and 
integrate them into one cohesive regulatory framework in order to 
comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
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    \3\ Id.
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    Section IX of the Petitioners' Document, ``Petition for 
Rulemaking,'' lists five NRC regulations that must be ``revised and 
integrated,'' namely, 10 CFR 51.23, ``Temporary storage of spent fuel 
after cessation of reactor operation--generic determination of no 
significant environmental impact;'' \4\ 10 CFR 51.51, ``Uranium fuel 
cycle environmental data--Table S-3;'' \5\ 10 CFR 51.53(c), 
``Postconstruction environmental reports;'' \6\ 10 CFR 51.71(d), 
``Draft environmental impact statement--contents;'' \7\ and Table B-1 
of Appendix B to Subpart A of 10 CFR Part 51, ``Environmental Effect of 
Renewing the Operating License of a Nuclear Power Plant.'' \8\
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    \4\ Section 51.23 is the primary NRC regulation being considered 
for amendment in the proposed waste confidence rulemaking (78 FR 
56776, 56804; September 13, 2013).
    \5\ Table S-3 is entitled ``Table of Uranium fuel Cycle 
Environmental Data.'' Although Section IX of the Petitioners' 
Document refers only to ``Table S-3,'' Table S-3 is part of 10 CFR 
51.51.
    \6\ Paragraph 51.53(c) concerns environmental reports filed by 
nuclear power plant licensees seeking renewal of a plant's operating 
license.
    \7\ Paragraph 51.71(d) concerns the analysis the NRC must engage 
in when preparing a draft environmental impact statement.
    \8\ Table B-1 is entitled, ``Summary of Findings on NEPA Issues 
for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants.'' Table B-1 codifies 
the findings of the NRC's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement 
for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants,'' NUREG-1437, Revision 
1 (June 2013).
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    The complete text of the Petitioners' Document, as corrected (ADAMS 
Accession Nos. ML14029A124, ML14029A169, and ML14029A154), is available 
for review as described in the ADDRESSES section of this document.
    Because the petitioner has satisfied the acceptance criteria in in 
10 CFR 2.802, ``Petition for rulemaking,'' the NRC has accepted, and 
will review the PRM to determine whether it should be considered in the 
rulemaking process. The NRC staff is currently reviewing the public 
comments on the draft Waste Confidence Generic Environmental

[[Page 22056]]

Impact Statement and the proposed waste confidence rulemaking. The NRC 
staff will consider any insights gained from this review when analyzing 
the issues raised in PRM-51-30.
    The NRC is not requesting public comment on the PRM at this time.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of April, 2014.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook,
Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 2014-09026 Filed 4-18-14; 8:45 am]
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