[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 73 (Thursday, April 16, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20510-20511]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08797]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2014-0178]


Standard Review Plan for Conventional Uranium Mills and Heap 
Leach Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft NUREG; reopening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: On December 18, 2014, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) published a request for public comment on draft NUREG-2126, 
``Standard Review Plan for Conventional Uranium Mills and Heap Leach 
Facilities.'' The public comment period closed on March 18, 2015. The 
NRC has decided to reopen the public comment period on this document 
until June 18, 2015, to allow more time for members of the public to 
develop and submit their comments.

DATES: The comment period for draft NUREG-2126, ``Standard Review Plan 
for Conventional Uranium Mills and Heap Leach Facilities,'' published 
on December 18, 2014 (79 FR 75597), has been reopened. Comments should 
be filed no later than June 18, 2015. 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-2014-0178. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individual 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: OWFN-12-H08, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas T. Mandeville, Office of 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0724, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0178 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly-available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0178.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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]. 
Draft NUREG-2126, ``Standard Review Plan for Conventional Uranium Mills 
and Heap Leach Facilities,'' is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML14325A634.
     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-2014-0178 in the subject line of your 
comment submission.
    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

[[Page 20511]]

submissions available to the public or entering the comment into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    On December 18, 2014, the NRC published a request for public 
comment on draft NUREG-2126, ``Standard Review Plan for Conventional 
Uranium Mills and Heap Leach Facilities.'' Pursuant to the provisions 
of part 40 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, (10 CFR), 
``Domestic Licensing of Source Material,'' an NRC materials license is 
required to conduct uranium recovery activities by conventional mill or 
heap leach techniques. Applicants for a new license and operators 
seeking an amendment or renewal of an existing license are required to 
provide detailed information on the facilities, equipment, and 
procedures to be used in the proposed activities. This information is 
used by the NRC staff to determine whether the proposed activities will 
be protective of public health and safety and the environment. Each 
section in draft NUREG-2126 provides guidance on what information is to 
be reviewed, the basis for the review, how the NRC staff review is to 
be accomplished, what the staff will find acceptable in a demonstration 
of compliance with applicable regulations, and the evaluation criteria 
for determining compliance with the applicable regulations. Draft 
NUREG-2126 is intended to improve the understanding of the NRC staff's 
review process by interested members of the public and the uranium 
recovery industry. Any interested party may submit comments on draft 
NUREG-2126 for consideration by the NRC staff. The public comment 
period closed on March 18, 2015. The National Mining Association (NMA) 
submitted a letter on February 26, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML15062A629), requesting a 90-day extension of the public comment 
period on this document. Additionally, the State of Utah submitted a 
letter on March 16, 2015 requesting a 60-day extension of the public 
comment period on this document (ADAMS Accession No. ML15082A286). The 
Commission may grant, in its discretion, the additional reasonable 
opportunity for the submission of comments. In the present case, as the 
request for an extension from NMA points out, there are two notable 
current Federal Register notices on this general subject matter that 
have been noticed for public comment, including the present document, 
as well as the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) proposed 40 CFR 
part 192 rulemaking. The State of Utah cites its current workload and 
role in regulating the only operating conventional uranium mill in the 
United States as reasons for extending the comment period. As such, 
these factors justify the Commission granting additional reasonable 
opportunity for the submission of comments. The NRC has decided to 
reopen the public comment period on this document until June 18, 2015, 
to allow more time for members of the public to develop and submit 
their comments.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of April 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew Persinko,
Deputy Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and 
Waste Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2015-08797 Filed 4-15-15; 8:45 am]
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