[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 85 (Tuesday, May 3, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26589-26590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-10321]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No.: 50-133; NRC-2016-0091]
Humboldt Bay Power Plant Unit 3 License Termination Plan, Pacific
Gas & Electric Company
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact;
issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an
environmental assessment (EA) and a finding of no significant impact
(FONSI) for a license amendment request submitted by Pacific Gas and
Electric Company (PG&E or licensee) related to its shutdown Humboldt
Bay Power Plant (HBPP) Unit 3 License Termination Plan (LTP).
DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on
May 3, 2016.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2016-0091 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2016-0091. 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.
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 is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in this
document.
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: Alan Bjornsen, Office of Nuclear
Materials Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6925; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Introduction
In accordance with section 50.90 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), and 10 CFR 50.82(a)(9), PG&E submitted a request
to the NRC dated May 3, 2013 (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML13130A008 and
ML13130A009, respectively) to amend its nuclear power plant operating
license (DPR-7) for HBPP Unit 3 which is located near Eureka,
California. The license amendment request proposed to add license
conditions that incorporate the LTP and establish the criteria for
determining when changes to the LTP require NRC approval. The NRC
performed a safety and environmental review for this license amendment
request. This EA documents the staff's environmental review and its
compliance with Section 102(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act
of 1969, as amended (NEPA).
II. Environmental Assessment Summary
Under the requirements of Sec. Sec. 51.21 and 51.30(a), the NRC
staff developed an EA (ADAMS Accession No. ML16106A054) to evaluate the
proposed action to amend PG&E's operating license for HBPP Unit 3 to
include the LTP. The LTP provides the basis for the NRC to ensure that
the licensee has adequate funds available to complete decommissioning.
In addition, the LTP enables the NRC to ensure that the licensee is
using the proper radiation release criteria and to determine the
adequacy of the licensee's final site survey. Upon PG&E demonstrating
that it has reduced the residual radioactivity at HBPP Unit 3 to levels
permitting its release for unrestricted use (in accordance with the
NRC's regulation, 10 CFR 20.1402), as demonstrated by the final site
survey, the NRC will terminate PG&E's license. The NRC, in the EA,
considered a no-action alternative in which the NRC would not approve
the LTP, therefore preventing the termination of the HBPP Unit 3
operating license. The no-action alternative would keep the PG&E
operating license in effect, and the site would not be available for
another use. As a result, the no-action alternative was not evaluated
further in the EA. The NRC evaluated the potential impacts to
threatened and endangered species, environmental justice, and offsite
land use for waste disposal. The NRC determined that approval of the
LTP for HBPP Unit 3 would not result in a significant impact to the
human environment.
The NRC staff consulted with a number of Federal, State and local
agencies, and other parties regarding the potential environmental
impacts of the proposed action. These consultations were intended to
afford these agencies and parties the opportunity to comment on the
proposed action, and to ensure that the requirements of Section 102(2)
of NEPA, Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, Section
7 of the Endangered Species Act, and Section 305 of the Magnuson-
Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act were met. Regarding
these laws, the NRC staff requested input from the Army Corps of
Engineers and consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the
National Marine Fisheries Service, the California Office of Historic
Preservation, the California Native American Heritage Commission, the
California Office of Native American Affairs, three Federally-
recognized Native American Tribes (the Wiyot Tribe, the Bear River Band
of Rohnerville Rancheria, and the Blue
[[Page 26590]]
Lake Rancheria), and the City of Eureka. The NRC staff used the
information provided during the consultations to inform the EA.
The NRC provided a draft copy of the EA to the California State
Department of Health for review on March 9, 2016 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14169A392) and did not receive any comments.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact
The NRC staff prepared an EA in support of the proposed action. The
EA is available at ADAMS Accession No. ML16106A054. The NRC staff
concluded that the proposed action to amend PG&E's license for HBPP
Unit 3 to include the LTP will not significantly impact the quality of
the human environment, and that the proposed action is the preferred
alternative. Therefore, the NRC finds that there are no significant
environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that preparation of
an environmental impact statement is not warranted. Accordingly, the
NRC has determined that a FONSI is appropriate. The FONSI incorporates
the EA by reference.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 26th day of April 2016.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Acting Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and
Environmental Review Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-10321 Filed 5-2-16; 8:45 am]
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