[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 19 (Monday, February 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7747-7749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02001]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-266 and 50-301; NRC-2020-0277]
Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare
Environmental Impact Statement; NextEra Energy Point Beach, LLC, Point
Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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ACTION: Intent to conduct scoping process and prepare environmental
impact statement; public scoping meeting and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a
scoping process to gather information necessary to prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the environmental
impacts for the subsequent license renewal of the operating licenses
for Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (Point Beach). The NRC is
seeking public comment on this action and has scheduled a public
scoping meeting that will take place as an online webinar.
DATES: The NRC will hold a public scoping meeting as an online webinar
on February 17, 2021, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time
(EST). Submit comments on the scope of the EIS by March 3, 2021.
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.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods;
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking Website:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://regulations.gov
and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0277. Address questions about Docket
IDs in Regulations.gov 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, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
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: Phyllis Clark, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6447, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0277 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://regulations.gov
and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0277.
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 ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced in this document (if it is available in ADAMS) is
provided the first time that it is referenced.
Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2020-0277 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 will post all comment submissions at
https://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 into ADAMS.
II. Discussion
By letter dated November 16, 2020 (ADAMS Package Accession No.
ML20329A292), NextEra Energy Point Beach, LLC (NextEra) submitted to
the NRC an application for subsequent license renewal (SLR) of Renewed
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-24 and DPR-27 for Point Beach,
Units 1 and 2, respectively, for an additional 20 years of operation.
This submission initiated the NRC's proposed action of determining
whether to grant the SLR application. The Point Beach units are
pressurized water reactors designed by Westinghouse Electric
Corporation and are located on the shore of Lake Michigan, in the Town
of Two Creeks, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, approximately 15 miles
north-northeast of Manitowoc. The current renewed facility operating
license for Unit 1 expires at midnight on October 5, 2030, and the
current renewed facility operating license for Unit 2 expires at
midnight on March 8, 2033. The SLR application was submitted pursuant
to part 54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) and
seeks to extend the renewed facility operating license for Unit 1 to
midnight on October 5, 2050, and the renewed facility operating license
for Unit 2 to midnight on March 8, 2053. A notice of receipt and
availability of the application was published in the Federal Register
on December 29, 2020 (85 FR 85685). A notice of acceptance for
docketing of the application and of opportunity to request a hearing
was published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2021 (86 FR 6684)
and is available on the Federal Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov) by searching for Docket ID NRC-2020-0277.
III. Request for Comment
This notice informs the public of the NRC's intention to conduct
environmental scoping and prepare an EIS related to the SLR application
for Point Beach, and to provide the public an opportunity to
participate in the environmental scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR
51.29.
The regulations in 36 CFR 800.8, ``Coordination With the National
Environmental Policy Act,'' allow agencies to use their National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.) (NEPA)
process to
[[Page 7749]]
fulfill the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act of 1966 (54 U.S.C. 300101, et seq.) (NHPA). Therefore,
pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), the NRC intends to use its process and
documentation required for the preparation of the EIS on the proposed
action to comply with Section 106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures
set forth at 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, NextEra
submitted an environmental report (ER) as part of the SLR application.
The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 CFR part 51 and is publicly
available at ADAMS Accession No. ML20329A248. The ER will also be
available for viewing at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/subsequent-license-renewal.html. In addition, the SLR
application, including the ER, is available for public review on the
website of the Lester Public Library at http://www.lesterlibrary.org/.
The NRC intends to gather the information necessary to prepare a
plant-specific supplement to NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact
Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (ADAMS Package
Accession No. ML13107A023) (GEIS), related to the SLR application for
Point Beach. The NRC is required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a plant-
specific supplement to the GEIS in connection with the renewal of an
operating license. This notice is being published in accordance with
NEPA and the NRC's regulations at 10 CFR part 51.
The supplement to the GEIS will evaluate the environmental impacts
of subsequent license renewal for Point Beach, and reasonable
alternatives thereto. Possible alternatives to the proposed action
include the no action alternative and reasonable alternative energy
sources.
As part of its environmental review, the NRC will first conduct a
scoping process for the plant-specific supplement to the GEIS and, as
soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft supplement to the
GEIS for public comment. Participation in this scoping process by
members of the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal government
agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the supplement to the
GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:
a. Define the proposed action that is to be the subject of the
supplement to the GEIS;
b. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify
the significant issues to be analyzed in depth;
c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are
peripheral or are not significant or that have been covered by prior
environmental review;
d. Identify any environmental assessments and other ElSs that are
being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of, the
scope of the supplement to the GEIS under consideration;
e. Identify other environmental review and consultation
requirements related to the proposed action;
f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation
of the environmental analyses and the NRC's tentative planning and
decision-making schedule;
g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement
to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies; and
h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared,
including any contractor assistance to be used.
The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
a. The applicant, NextEra;
b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved or that is
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
d. Any affected Indian Tribe;
e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to
participate in the scoping process; and
f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave
to intervene under 10 CFR 2.309.
IV. Public Scoping Meeting
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26(b), the scoping process for an EIS
may include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant
issues related to the proposed action and to determine the scope of
issues to be addressed in the EIS.
The NRC is announcing that it will hold a public scoping meeting as
an online webinar for the Point Beach subsequent license renewal
supplement to the GEIS. The webinar will include a telephone line for
members of the public to provide comments. A court reporter will
transcribe all comments received during the webinar. To be considered,
comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meeting or
in writing, as discussed in the ADDRESSES section of this document. The
public scoping webinar will be held on February 17, 2021, from 2:00
p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST. Persons interested in attending this online
webinar should monitor the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule website at
https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg for additional information, agendas for
the meeting, and access information for the webinar. Please contact Ms.
Phyllis Clark no later than February 10, 2021, if accommodations or
special equipment is needed to attend or to provide comments, so that
the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated.
The public scoping meeting will include: (1) An overview by the NRC
staff of the environmental and safety review processes, the proposed
scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule;
and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies,
organizations, and individuals to submit comments or suggestions on
environmental issues or the proposed scope of the Point Beach
subsequent license renewal supplement to the GEIS.
Participation in the scoping process for the Point Beach subsequent
license renewal supplement to the GEIS does not entitle participants to
become parties to the proceeding to which the supplement to the GEIS
relates. Matters related to participation in any hearing are outside
the scope of matters to be discussed at this public meeting.
Dated: January 26, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert B. Elliott,
Chief, Environmental Review License Renewal Branch, Division of
Rulemaking, Environment, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2021-02001 Filed 1-29-21; 8:45 am]
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