[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 81 (Monday, April 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23382-23383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08826]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 72-1051; NRC-2018-0052]


Holtec International HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage 
Facility Project

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft environmental impact statement; extension of comment 
period.

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SUMMARY: On March 20, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) issued for public comment a draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for Holtec International's (Holtec's) application to construct 
and operate a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent 
nuclear fuel (SNF) and Greater-Than Class C (GTCC) waste, along with a 
small quantity of mixed oxide fuel. The public comment period was 
originally scheduled to close on May 22, 2020. Given recent events 
associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency, the NRC has 
decided to extend the public comment period to allow more time for 
members of the public to develop and submit their comments.

DATES: The due date of comments requested in the document published on 
March 20, 2020 (85 FR 16150) is extended. Comments should be filed no 
later than July 22, 2020. 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 on or before this date.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0052. Address 
questions about NRC Docket IDs 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.
     Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop: 
TWFN-7-A60M, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
     Email comments to: [email protected].
    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: 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. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may 
obtain publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2018-0052.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 EIS for the Holtec 
nternational HI-STORE CISF project is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML20069G420.
     Project web page: Information related to the Holtec HI-
STORE CISF project can be accessed on the NRC's Holtec HI-STORE CISF 
web page at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html.
     Public Libraries: A copy of the draft EIS can be accessed 
at the following public libraries (library access and hours are 
determined by local policy):
     Carlsbad Public Library, 101 S. Halagueno Street, 
Carlsbad, NM 88220
     Hobbs Public Library, 509 N Shipp St., Hobbs, NM 88240
     Roswell Public Library, 301 N. Pennsylvania, Roswell, NM 
88201

B. Submitting Comments

    Please include Docket ID NRC-2018-0052 in your comment submission. 
Written comments may be submitted during the draft EIS comment period 
as described in the ADDRESSES SECTION of the document.
    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 https://www.regulations.gov and enters all 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 because the NRC does not 
routinely edit comment submissions before making the comment 
submissions available to the public or entering the comment submissions 
into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    On March 20, 2020, the NRC issued for public comment a draft EIS 
for Holtec's application to construct and operate a CISF for SNF and 
GTCC waste. The draft EIS for Holtec's license application includes the 
preliminary analysis that evaluates the environmental impacts of the 
proposed action and alternatives to the proposed action. After 
comparing the impacts of the proposed action (Phase 1) to the No-Action 
alternative, the NRC staff, in accordance with the requirements in part 
51 of title 10 of the Codes of Federal Regulations, recommends the 
proposed action (Phase 1), which is the issuance of an NRC license for 
40 years to Holtec to construct and operate a CISF for SNF at the 
proposed location. In addition, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) 
staff recommends the issuance of a permit to construct and operate the 
rail spur. This recommendation is based on (i) the license application, 
which includes an environmental report and supplemental documents, and 
Holtec's responses to the NRC staff's requests for additional

[[Page 23383]]

information; (ii) consultation with Federal, State, Tribal, local 
agencies, and input from other stakeholders; (iii) independent NRC and 
BLM staff review; and (iv) the assessments provided in the EIS.
    The public comment period was originally scheduled to close on May 
22, 2020. The NRC has decided to extend the public comment until July 
22, 2020 to allow more time for members of the public to submit their 
comments. Comments of Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian Tribes 
or other interested persons will be made available for public 
inspection when received. Public meetings for the draft EIS will be 
announced at a later time.

    Dated: April 21, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cinthya I. Roman-Cuevas,
Chief, Environmental Review Materials Branch, Division of Rulemaking, 
Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2020-08826 Filed 4-24-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P