[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 86 (Thursday, May 3, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19576-19577]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-09382]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-8943; NRC-2012-0281]


Crow Butte Resources, Inc.; Marsland Expansion Area

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 considering 
issuance of an amendment to source materials license SUA-1534 that 
would authorize Crow Butte Resources, Inc., to construct and operate an 
in situ uranium recovery (ISR) expansion facility at the Marsland 
Expansion Area (MEA) site in Dawes County, Nebraska. The NRC staff has 
prepared an environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant 
impact (FONSI) for this licensing action.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
May 3, 2018.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0281 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 website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0281. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer Borges; telephone: 301-287-
9127; 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 via 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: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0867, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The NRC staff is considering a request for an amendment to source 
materials license SUA-1534, issued to Crow Butte Resources, Inc. (CBR 
or the licensee), to authorize construction and operation of the MEA, 
an ISR expansion facility that would be located in Dawes County, 
Nebraska. In accordance with NRC's regulations in part 51 of title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Environmental Protection 
Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,'' 
that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 
amended (NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the NRC staff has prepared an 
EA documenting its environmental review of the license amendment 
application that included an environmental report (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML17325B322) and technical report, as amended (ADAMS Accession Nos. 
ML15328A422, ML16155A267, ML16155A268, and ML17193A314).
    On December 15, 2017 (82 FR 59665), the NRC issued the draft FONSI 
and draft EA for the proposed MEA license amendment for public review 
and comment. The NRC received 20 comments. Appendix A of the EA 
contains the NRC's responses to those comments. Based on the 
environmental review and consideration of comments received on the 
draft EA, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed action will 
not significantly affect the quality of the human environment and 
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required, and 
therefore a FONSI is appropriate.

II. Summary of Environmental Assessment

    The EA is publicly available in ADAMS using ADAMS Accession No. 
ML18103A145. A summary description of the proposed action and expected 
environmental impacts is provided in this notice.

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed Federal action is approval of CBR's license amendment 
application, which would authorize the expansion of CBR's commercial-
scale uranium recovery operations to the MEA. Under the proposed 
action, the licensee would perform construction, uranium recovery 
operations, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning activities at the 
proposed MEA, which would encompass approximately 4,622 acres (1,870 
hectares). The CBR has proposed eleven production units in the MEA, 
which is located 11.1 miles (17.9 kilometers) south-southeast of the 
central processing facility (CPF) at the existing CBR license area. 
Uranium recovery operations at the MEA would include injection of 
lixiviant into and pumping of water from the uranium-bearing aquifer, 
removal of uranium from the pumped water using ion exchange, and 
transport of loaded ion exchange resin to the CPF at the existing CBR 
license area for further processing into yellowcake. Approval of the 
proposed action would authorize CBR to conduct uranium recovery 
operations at the MEA in accordance with its license amendment 
application, source materials license SUA-1534, and the requirements in 
10 CFR part 40, ``Domestic Licensing of Source Material.''

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    In the EA, the NRC staff assessed the potential environmental 
impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and 
decommissioning of the proposed MEA on the following resource areas: 
Land use; geology and soils; water resources; ecological resources; 
climatology, meteorology, and air quality; historic and cultural 
resources; demographics and socioeconomics; environmental justice; 
transportation; noise; scenic and visual resources; public and 
occupational health; and hazardous materials and waste management. The 
NRC staff also considered the cumulative impacts from past, present, 
and reasonably foreseeable future actions when combined with the 
proposed action.
    All long-term impacts were determined to be SMALL. The NRC staff 
concluded that approval of the proposed action would not result in a 
significant increase in short-term or long-term radiological risk to 
public health or the environment. The NRC staff identified a potential 
for MODERATE short-term impacts to a few resource areas, including 
noise (temporary impacts to the nearest resident to the MEA during 
construction), ecological resources (localized and temporary impacts 
resulting from the loss and slow recovery of forest habitat), and 
groundwater resources (short-term lowering of the potentiometric 
surface of the Basal Chadron Sandstone aquifer). While potential 
MODERATE impacts would be expected for specific aspects of these 
resource areas, the

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impacts are short-term and temporary. Therefore, the NRC staff 
concluded that the overall impacts related to these resource areas 
would be SMALL. Furthermore, the NRC staff found that there would be no 
significant negative cumulative impact to any resource area from the 
MEA when added to other past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 
future actions, and that a potential positive cumulative socioeconomic 
impact could result from additional tax revenue, employment, and local 
purchases.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered 
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' alternative). 
Under the no-action alternative, the NRC would not authorize CBR to 
construct and operate the MEA. In situ uranium recovery activities 
would not occur within the MEA and the associated environmental impacts 
also would not occur.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    In accordance with the NEPA and 10 CFR part 51, the NRC staff has 
conducted an environmental review of CBR's request for a license 
amendment to NRC source materials license SUA-1534 that would authorize 
construction and operation of the MEA. Based on its environmental 
review of the proposed action, as documented in the EA, the NRC staff 
has determined that granting the requested license amendment would not 
significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, 
the NRC staff has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that 
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required for 
the proposed action and a FONSI is appropriate.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of April, 2018.

    For the 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. 2018-09382 Filed 5-2-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P