[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 28 (Monday, February 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10502-10504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02885]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2017-0041]


Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Stations

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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ACTION: Draft regulatory guide; request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-4026, ``Preparation of 
Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Stations.'' This proposed 
guide, revision 3, provides general guidance to applicants for the 
format and content of environmental reports (ERs) that are submitted as 
part of an application for a permit, license, or other authorization to 
site, construct, and/or operate a nuclear power plant.

DATES: Submit comments by April 14, 2017. Comments received after this 
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is 
able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before 
this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in 
connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed 
or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods 
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting 
comments on a specified subject):
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0041. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3462; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact 
the individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section 
of this document.
     Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration, 
Mail Stop: OWFN 12H08, 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: Jennifer Davis, Office of New 
Reactors, telephone: 301-415-3835, email: [email protected], and 
Edward O'Donnell, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, telephone: 
301-415-3317, email: [email protected]. Both are staff members of 
the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0041 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this document, by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0041.
     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. The DG-4026 is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML16116A068.
     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-2017-0041 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 posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as entering 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. Additional Information

    The NRC is issuing for public comment a DG in the NRC's 
``Regulatory Guide'' series. This series was developed to describe and 
make available to the public information regarding methods that are 
acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the 
NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating 
specific problems or postulated events, and data that the staff needs 
in its review of applications for permits and licenses. The DG, 
entitled, ``Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power 
Stations,'' is a proposed revision, temporarily identified by its task 
number, DG-4026. Regulatory Guide 4.2, Revision 2 dates to 1976, and an 
update is needed to align it with NRC's regulations, interim NRC's 
guidance, changes in environmental statutes and regulations, and 
Executive Orders. Consequently, Revision 3 has been prepared to provide 
general guidelines for the preparation of ERs supporting an application 
for a permit, license, or other authorization to site, construct, and/
or operate a nuclear power plant. The information requested from 
applicants in this RG is based on the requirements contained in part 51 
of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 
``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions,'' and staff guidance such as NUREG-1555, 
``Environmental Standard Review Plan: Standard Review Plans for 
Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants'' (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML003702134 and ML003701937, respectively).

III. Specific Request for Comments

    The NRC seeks comments on DG-4026, the associated regulatory 
analysis, and requests feedback from commenters about (1) addressing 
the impacts of preconstruction and construction as defined in 
Sec. Sec.  51.4 and 51.45, (2) reducing the size of environmental 
documents, and (3) other topics to consider in environmental reviews.
    1. Under the revised rule defining construction (72 FR 57415, 
October 9, 2007), the applicant should separate the impacts of 
preconstruction and construction activities to address the latter, as 
they are the activities being authorized by the NRC. The applicant 
should also describe the impacts of the preconstruction activities, so 
they can be evaluated as part of the cumulative impacts related to the 
construction

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activities. The revised RG follows the approach to implementing the 
rule that is discussed in interim staff guidance COL/ESP-ISG-4 (ADAMS 
Accession No. ML082970729). The NRC is seeking input regarding the best 
method to address these impacts in environmental reports.
    2. Are there changes that should be made to the RG to reduce the 
amount of information evaluated in ERs and the environmental impact 
statements, while still meeting applicable environmental laws and 
regulations?
    3. Are there topics that are not addressed in the RG that should be 
addressed? Conversely, are there topics addressed in the RG that need 
not be addressed?

IV. Backfitting and Issue Finality

    Issuance of this DG does not constitute backfitting as defined in 
10 CFR 50.109 (the Backfit Rule), nor would it be regarded as 
backfitting under the Commission and the Executive Director for 
Operations guidance, and is not otherwise inconsistent with the issue 
finality provisions in 10 CFR part 52.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of February, 2017.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Thomas H. Boyce,
Chief, Regulatory Guidance and Generic Issues Branch, Division of 
Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 2017-02885 Filed 2-10-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P