[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 231 (Monday, December 6, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69103-69104]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-26408]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-8907; NRC-2019-0026]
Draft Programmatic Agreement Between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Navajo Nation Tribal
Historic Preservation Office, New Mexico State Historic Preservation
Office, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and United Nuclear Corporation
Regarding the United Nuclear Corporation Mill Site and Northeast Church
Rock Mine Site Located in McKinley County, New Mexico
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting
comment on a draft Programmatic Agreement (PA) between the NRC, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), Navajo Nation Tribal Historic
Preservation Office (NNTHPO), New Mexico State Historic Preservation
Office (NMSHPO), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and United Nuclear
Corporation (UNC). The purpose of this draft PA is to resolve any
adverse effects to historic properties identified during consultation
for a proposed license amendment application for the UNC Mill Site.
DATES: Submit comments by January 20, 2022. 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
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 in Regulations.gov 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.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
Email comments to: [email protected].
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ashley Waldron, Office of Nuclear
Materials 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 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://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]. The ADAMS accession number for each
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first
time that it is mentioned in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's PDR, Room P1 B35, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. To make
an appointment to visit the PDR, please send an email to
[email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, between
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), 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-2019-0026 in your comment submission.
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
On September 24, 2018, UNC submitted a license amendment
application (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML18267A235) to amend its
Source Material License No. SUA-1475 for the former UNC Church Rock
Mill Site in accordance with part 40 of title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), ``Domestic Licensing of Source Material.'' UNC is
requesting that the NRC grant a license amendment that would allow
disposal of Northeast Church Rock (NECR) mine waste on top of the
tailings impoundment at the UNC Church Rock Mill Site (UNC Mill Site)
in McKinley County, New Mexico. The NECR Mine Site is located on Navajo
Nation trust land and the adjacent UNC Mill Site is located on private
land owned by UNC.
Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8, the NRC is using its National
Environmental Policy Act process for developing the Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) to facilitate consultation pursuant to Section
106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).
On November 13, 2020, the NRC requested comment (85 FR 72706) on
its draft EIS that includes the preliminary analysis that evaluates the
environmental impacts from the proposed action and alternatives to the
proposed action. After comparing the impacts of the proposed action to
the
[[Page 69104]]
no-action alternative, the NRC staff, in accordance with the
requirements in 10 CFR part 51, preliminarily recommended the proposed
action which would authorize UNC to transfer and dispose the waste from
the NECR Mine on top of the UNC tailings impoundment. The comment
period on the draft EIS closed on October 31, 2021 (86 FR 32285).
Four archaeological sites fall within the area of potential effect
(APE) for direct effects: Sites LA 11617, NM-Q-20-69, NM-Q-20-70, and
NM-Q-20-71. Each of the four sites within the direct APE includes
Anasazi-period artifact scatters and/or habitation sites. A fifth site,
NM-Q-20-72, includes historic and Anasazi-period pictographs and is
located fully outside the proposed action's direct APE but within 10 m
[33 ft] of the direct APE (i.e., the indirect APE), warranting
consideration of the proposed action's indirect effects on the setting
of this cultural site. The NRC conducted a site visit with the NNTHPO
on December 12, 2019 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21328A180). As part of its
consultation pursuant to NHPA Section 106, NRC staff discussed the
recommended eligibility, potential impacts, and recommendations for
avoidance and mitigation measures for each of the five sites. The
NMSHPO (ADAMS Accession No. ML20107F771 and ML21312A473); and NNTHPO
have concurred with the NRC staff's eligibility recommendations (ADAMS
Accession No. ML20167A115). Due to the presence of historic properties
located within the direct and indirect APE, the NRC staff concluded
that historic properties would be adversely affected by the proposed
project.
The NRC met with US EPA, BIA, NNTHPO, the NMSHPO, and UNC to
discuss how to address the adverse effects. The NRC proceeded with
development of a PA to resolve adverse effects. Pursuant to this
agreement, once this agreement is executed, the US EPA will become the
lead agency for implementation of the PA.
The draft PA addresses the potential direct and indirect adverse
effects from the movement of waste from the NECR Mine to the UNC Mill
Site and ensures that appropriate mitigation measures are implemented.
The final EIS will reflect the PA once finalized and therefore conclude
NHPA Section 106 consultation.
III. Request for Public Comment
The NRC is requesting public comment on the draft PA. The NRC will
consider these comments before finalizing the PA, which will be
published as an appendix in the final EIS. The draft PA is available in
ADAMS under Accession No. ML21302A221.
Dated: December 1, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christine L. Pineda,
Acting Chief, Environmental Review Materials Branch, Division of
Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2021-26408 Filed 12-3-21; 8:45 am]
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