[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]
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