[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 126 (Wednesday, July 1, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37664-37666]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-15921]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-275 and 50-323; NRC-2009-0552]


Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Units 1 and 2

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
and conduct the scoping process; reopening of scoping process, public 
meetings, and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: On January 27, 2010, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) notified the public of its opportunity to participate in the 
scoping process associated with the preparation of an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) related to the review of the license renewal 
application submitted by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for 
the renewal of Facility Operating Licenses DPR-80 and DPR-82 for an 
additional 20 years of operation at Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP), 
Units 1 and 2. The current operating licenses for DCPP, Units 1 and 2 
expire on November 2, 2024, and August 26, 2025, respectively. The 
scoping period closed on April 12, 2010. The NRC has decided to reopen 
the scoping process and allow members of the public an additional 
opportunity to participate.

DATES: The comment period for the environmental scoping process 
published on January 27, 2010 (75 FR 4427) has been reopened. Comments 
should be filed no later than August 31, 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 
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-2009-0552. 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, 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: Michael Wentzel, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6459, email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2009-0552 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this document by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2009-0552.
     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]. The 
ADAMS accession number for each document referenced (if it available in 
ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. The 
application for renewal of the DCPP licenses can be found in ADAMS 
under Package Accession No. ML093340125.

[[Page 37665]]

     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-2009-0552 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

    On January 27, 2010 (75 FR 4427), the NRC notified the public of 
its opportunity to participate in the scoping process associated with 
the preparation of an EIS related to the review of the license renewal 
application submitted by PG&E for the renewal of the operating licenses 
for an additional 20 years of operation at DCPP. The application for 
license renewal, which included an environmental report (ER), dated 
November 23, 2009 (ADAMS Package No. ML093340125), was submitted 
pursuant to part 54 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR). A separate notice of receipt and availability of the application 
was published in the Federal Register on December 11, 2009 (74 FR 
65811). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application and 
opportunity for hearing regarding renewal of the facility operating 
license was published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2010 (75 
FR 3493). The scoping period closed on April 12, 2010. By letter dated 
April 10, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. ML111010592), PG&E requested the 
NRC to delay final processing of the license renewal application to 
allow time for the completion of certain seismic studies to address 
concerns raised during the State of California's Coastal Zone 
Management Act consistency review. On May 31, 2011 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML11138A315), the NRC delayed all further milestones associated with 
the safety and environmental reviews of the DCPP license renewal 
application.
    On December 22, 2014 (ADAMS Package No. ML14364A259), and February 
25, 2015 (ADAMS Package No. ML15057A102), PG&E amended its ER to 
provide additional information identified by NRC staff as necessary to 
complete the review of the DCPP license renewal application. By letter 
dated April 28, 2015 (ADAMS Accession No. ML15104A509), the NRC staff 
issued a schedule for the remainder of the DCPP license renewal review. 
The purpose of this notice is to (1) inform the public that the NRC has 
decided to reopen the scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR 51.29, 
``Scoping-environmental impact statement and supplement to 
environmental impact statement,'' and (2) allow members of the public 
an additional opportunity to participate. The comments already received 
by the NRC will be considered; reopening of the scoping process 
provides additional opportunity for the public to comment on issues 
that may have emerged since completion of the last scoping period.
    As outlined in Sec.  800.8 of Title 36 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (36 CFR), ``Coordination With the National Environmental 
Policy Act,'' the NRC plans to coordinate compliance with Section 106 
of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in meeting the 
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). 
Under Sec.  800.8(c) the NRC intends to use its process and 
documentation for the preparation of the EIS on the proposed action to 
comply with Section 106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures set forth 
in Sec.  800.3 through 800.6.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, PG&E submitted 
the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 
CFR part 51 and is publicly available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML093340123 (original) and Package Nos. ML14364A259 (amendment 1) and 
ML15057A102 (amendment 2). The ER may also be viewed on the NRC Web 
site at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/diablo-canyon.html. In addition, paper copies of the ER 
are available for public review near the site at the San Luis Obispo 
County Library, 995 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California 93403 and 
at the Paso Robles City Library, 1000 Spring Street, Paso Robles, 
California 93446.
    This document advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the 
information necessary to prepare a plant specific supplement to the 
NRC's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License 
Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (NUREG-1437, Revision 1), related to the 
review of the application for renewal of the DCPP operating licenses 
for an additional 20 years.
    Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) 
include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. The NRC is 
required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a supplement to the GEIS in 
connection with the renewal of an operating license. This notice is 
being published in accordance with NEPA and the NRC's regulations found 
at 10 CFR part 51.
    The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the supplement to 
the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft 
supplement to the GEIS for public comment. Participation in the scoping 
process by members of the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal 
government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the 
supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:
    a. Define the proposed action, which is to be the subject of the 
supplement to the GEIS;
    b. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify 
the significant issues to be analyzed in depth;
    c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are 
peripheral or that are not significant;
    d. Identify any environmental assessments and other ElSs that are 
being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of, the 
scope of the supplement to the GEIS being considered;
    e. Identify other environmental review and consultation 
requirements related to the proposed action;
    f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation 
of the environmental analyses and the Commission's tentative planning 
and decision-making schedule;
    g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate 
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement 
to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies; and
    h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared and 
include any contractor assistance to be used.

[[Page 37666]]

    The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
    a. The applicant, PG&E
    b. Any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by law or special 
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved or which is 
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
    c. Affected State and local agencies, including those authorized to 
develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
    d. Any affected Indian tribe;
    e. Any person who has requested an opportunity to participate in 
the scoping process; and
    f. Any person who has petitioned for leave to intervene in the 
proceeding or who has been admitted as a party to the proceeding.

III. Public Scoping Meeting

    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS may 
include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant issues 
related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope of issues to 
be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold public meetings for 
the DCPP license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings 
will be held on August 5, 2015, and there will be two sessions to 
accommodate interested persons. The first session will convene at 1:30 
p.m. and will continue until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second 
session will convene at 7:00 p.m. with a repeat of the overview 
portions of the meeting and will continue until 10:00 p.m., as 
necessary. Both sessions will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott San 
Luis Obispo, 1605 Calle Joaquin Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405. Both 
meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) An overview by the 
NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, the proposed scope 
of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule; and 
(2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, 
and individuals to submit comments or suggestions on the environmental 
issues or the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS. 
Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour 
prior to the start of each session at the same location. Written 
comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS will be 
accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments 
must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in 
writing, as discussed above.
    Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the 
meetings on the scope of the NEPA review by contacting the NRC Project 
Manager, Michael Wentzel, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 
6459, or by email at [email protected], no later than July 31, 
2015. Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting 
within 15 minutes of the start of each session. Individual oral 
comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number 
of persons who register. Members of the public who have not registered 
may also have an opportunity to speak if time permits. Public comments 
will be considered in the scoping process for the supplement to the 
GEIS. Michael Wentzel will need to be contacted no later than July 22, 
2015, if special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or 
present information at the public meeting so that the NRC staff can 
determine whether the request can be accommodated.
    Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS 
does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to 
which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Matters related to 
participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be 
discussed at this public meeting.
    At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a 
concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached; including 
the significant issues identified, and will send a copy of the summary 
to each participant in the scoping process. The summary will also be 
available for inspection in ADAMS and the Federal Rulemaking Web site. 
The NRC staff will then prepare and issue for comment the draft 
supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of a separate notice 
and separate public meetings. Copies will be available for public 
inspection at the addresses listed in the ADDRESSES section of this 
Federal Register notice. After receipt and consideration of the 
comments, the NRC will prepare a final supplement to the GEIS, which 
will also be available for public inspection.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of June, 2015.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brian Wittick,
Chief, Projects Branch 2, Division of License Renewal, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-15921 Filed 6-30-15; 8:45 am]
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