[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 115 (Thursday, June 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32285-32287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-12881]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-8907; NRC-2019-0026]


United Nuclear Corporation Church Rock Project

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

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SUMMARY: On November 13, 2020, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) issued for public comment a draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS) for United Nuclear Corporation's (UNC) license amendment request. 
The public comment period closed on May 27, 2021. The NRC has decided 
to re-open the public comment period to allow more time for members of 
the public to develop and submit their comments. UNC is requesting 
authorization to amend its license (SUA-1475) to excavate approximately 
1 million cubic yards (CY) of mine waste from the Northeast Church Rock 
Mine Site and dispose of it at the existing mill site in McKinley 
County, New Mexico. The NRC plans to hold a public meeting in the 
future to promote full understanding of the contemplated action and 
facilitate public comment.

DATES: The comment period for the document published on November 13,

[[Page 32286]]

2020 (85 FR 72706) has been reopened. Comments should be filed no later 
than October 31, 2021. 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; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking website:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov/ and search for Docket ID NRC-2019-0026. Address 
questions about Docket IDs to Stacy Schumann; telephone: 301-415-0624; 
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.
     Email comments to: [email protected].
     Leave a voicemail at: 888-672-3425.
    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: Ashley Waldron, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-7317; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2019-0026 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-2019-0026.
     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].
     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.
     Project Web Page: Information related to the UNC Church 
Rock project can be accessed on the NRC's project web page at: https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/decommissioning/uranium/united-nuclear-corporation-unc-.html.
     Public Library: A copy of the draft EIS can be accessed at 
the following public library: Octavia Fellin Public Library, Gallup, NM 
87301.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2019-0026 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. 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

    On November 13, 2020, the NRC issued for public comment the draft 
EIS for the UNC license amendment to excavate approximately 1 million 
CY of mine waste from the Northeast Church Rock Mine Site and dispose 
of it at the existing mill site in McKinley County, New Mexico.
    The draft EIS for UNC's license amendment application includes the 
NRC staff's 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 to reasonable 
alternatives and the no-action alternative, the NRC staff, in 
accordance with the requirements in part 51 of title 10 of the Code of 
Federal Regulations, ``Environmental Protection Regulations for 
Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions'' preliminarily 
recommends the proposed action, which would authorize UNC to transfer 
and dispose Northeast Church Rock mine waste on top of the UNC tailings 
impoundment. This recommendation is based on (i) the license 
application request, which includes UNCs Environmental Report and 
supplemental documents, as well as UNC's responses to the NRC staff's 
requests for additional information; (ii) consultation with Federal, 
State, Tribal, and local agencies and input from other stakeholders; 
and (iii) independent NRC staff review as documented in the assessments 
summarized in this EIS.
    The public comment period was originally scheduled to close on 
December 28, 2020 (85 FR 72706). The NRC published a second notice on 
December 23, 2020 (85 FR 84016), that extended the closing date for the 
public comment period to February 26, 2021. On February 5, 2021, NRC 
published a third notice that extended the public comment until May 27, 
2021 (86 FR 8386). The NRC received a request from the President of the 
Navajo Nation (ADAMS Accession No. ML21152A051) to extend the comment 
period through October 31, 2021. After considering this request, the 
NRC has decided to re-open the comment period to allow more time for 
members of the public to develop and submit their comments on the draft 
EIS. Comments should be submitted by October 31, 2021, to ensure 
consideration. Comments of Federal, State, and local agencies, Indian 
Tribes or other interested persons will be made available for public 
inspection when received.
    The NRC is planning to hold at least one additional meeting during 
the extended comment period. Stakeholders should monitor the NRC's 
public meeting website for information about future public meetings at: 
https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings.html.

    Dated: June 14, 2021.


[[Page 32287]]


    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jessie M. Quintero,
Chief, Environmental Review Materials Branch, Division of Rulemaking, 
Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety 
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2021-12881 Filed 6-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P