[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 130 (Thursday, July 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44333-44334]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-16104]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-9092; NRC-2013-0164]


Reno Creek In Situ Uranium Recovery Project in Campbell County, 
Wyoming

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft supplemental environmental impact statement; request for 
comment.

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SUMMARY: By letter dated October 3, 2012, AUC LLC (AUC) submitted an 
application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a new 
source and byproduct materials license for the proposed Reno Creek In 
Situ Uranium Recovery (ISR) Project (Reno Creek ISR Project) proposed 
to be located in Campbell County, Wyoming. The NRC is issuing for 
public comment a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement 
(Draft SEIS) for the Reno Creek ISR Project. The Draft SEIS is 
Supplement 6 to NUREG-1910, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement 
for In Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities.''

DATES: Submit comments by August 22, 2016. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2013-0164. 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-H8, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, 
DC 20555-0001.
    For additional direction on accessing information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jill Caverly, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7674; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Accessing Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2013-0164 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding 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-2013-0164.
     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

[[Page 44334]]

``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 Draft SEIS (NUREG-1910, 
Supplement 6) is available in ADAMS under Accession Number ML16181A082. 
NUREG-1910 is available in ADAMS under Accession Numbers ML091480244 
(Volume 1) and ML091480188 (Volume 2).
     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-2013-0164 in 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 submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Further Information

    Under the NRC's environmental protection regulations in part 51 of 
title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), which implement 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), preparation of an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or supplement to an EIS (SEIS) is 
required for issuance of a license to possess and use source material 
for uranium milling (see 10 CFR 51.20(b)(8)).
    In May 2009, the NRC staff issued NUREG-1910, ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement for In Situ Leach Uranium Milling 
Facilities'' (herein referred to as the GEIS). In the GEIS, the NRC 
assessed the potential environmental impacts from construction, 
operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of an in situ leach 
uranium milling facility (also known as an ISR facility) located in 
four specific geographic regions of the western United States. The 
proposed Reno Creek ISR Project is located within the Wyoming East 
Uranium Milling Region identified in the GEIS. The Draft SEIS 
supplements the GEIS and incorporates by reference relevant portions 
from the GEIS, and uses site-specific information from AUC's license 
application and independent sources to fulfill the requirements in 10 
CFR 51.20(b)(8).
    The Draft SEIS for the proposed Reno Creek ISR Project may also be 
accessed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/ by selecting ``NUREG-1910'' and then 
``Supplement 6,'' or on the NRC's Reno Creek ISR Project Web page at 
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/uranium-recovery/license-apps/reno-creek.html. Additionally, a copy of the Draft SEIS will be available at 
the following public libraries: Campbell County Library, 2101 S 4-J 
Rd., Gillette, WY 82718; Campbell County Library, Wright Branch, 105 
Wright Blvd., Wright, WY 82732.
    The Draft SEIS was prepared in response to an application submitted 
by AUC by letter dated October 3, 2012. The applicant proposes the 
construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of an 
ISR facility.
    The Draft SEIS was prepared by the NRC and its contractor, 
Southwest Research Institute. The NRC has prepared this Draft SEIS in 
compliance with NEPA and the NRC's regulations for implementing NEPA 
(10 CFR part 51).
    The proposed Reno Creek ISR Project will be located in Campbell 
County between the communities of Wright, Edgerton and Gillette and 
would encompass approximately 2,451 hectares (6,057 acres).
    The Draft SEIS is being issued as part of the NRC's process to 
decide whether to issue a license to AUC pursuant to 10 CFR part 40. In 
the Draft SEIS, the NRC staff has assessed the potential environmental 
impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and 
decommissioning of the proposed Reno Creek ISR Project. The NRC staff 
assessed the impacts of the proposed action and an alternative on land 
use; historical and cultural resources; visual and scenic resources; 
climatology, meteorology and air quality; geology, minerals and soils; 
water resources; ecological resources; socioeconomics; environmental 
justice; noise; traffic and transportation; public and occupational 
health and safety; and waste management. Additionally, the Draft SEIS 
analyzes and compares the benefits and costs of the proposed action.
    The NRC staff evaluated site-specific data and information on the 
Reno Creek ISR Project to determine if AUC's proposed activities and 
the site characteristics were consistent with those evaluated in the 
GEIS. NRC then determined which relevant sections of, and impact 
conclusions in, the GEIS could be incorporated by reference. The NRC 
staff also determined if additional data or analysis was needed to 
assess the potential environmental impacts for a specific environmental 
resource area. The NRC documented its assessments and conclusions in 
the Draft SEIS.
    In addition to the action proposed by AUC, the NRC staff addressed 
the no-action alternative. The no-action alternative serves as a 
baseline for comparing the potential environmental impacts of the 
proposed action.
    After weighing the impacts of the proposed action and comparing the 
alternative, the NRC staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.71(f), sets 
forth its preliminary recommendation regarding the proposed action. 
Unless safety issues mandate otherwise, the NRC staff preliminarily 
recommends that the proposed action be approved (i.e., the NRC should 
issue a source material license for the proposed Reno Creek ISR 
Project).
    The Draft SEIS is being issued for public comment. The public 
comment period on the Draft SEIS begins with publication of this notice 
and continues until August 22, 2016. Written comments should be 
submitted as described in the ADDRESSES section of this document. 
Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical 
to do so, but the NRC is able to assure consideration only for comments 
received on or before this date.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 29th day of June, 2016.

    For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Craig G. Erlanger,
Director, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental 
Review, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2016-16104 Filed 7-6-16; 8:45 am]
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