[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 165 (Friday, August 26, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52597-52598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-18435]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-8943; NRC-2022-0153]


Crow Butte Resources, Inc.; In Situ Uranium Recovery Facility

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Draft environmental assessment supplement and finding of no 
significant impact; request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing for 
public comment a draft finding of no significant impact (FONSI) and 
accompanying draft supplement to the NRC staff's environmental 
assessment (EA) for the license renewal of the Crow Butte Resources, 
Inc. (CBR) in situ uranium recovery (ISR) facility located in Dawes 
County, Nebraska. Based on the analysis in the draft EA Supplement, the 
NRC staff has preliminarily concluded that there will be no significant 
impacts to cultural resources from the renewal of CBR's license and, 
therefore, a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) remains 
appropriate.

DATES: Submit comments by September 26, 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 
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-2022-0153. 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.
     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: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0867; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 52598]]

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0153 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-2022-0153.
     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 Supplemental EA can be 
found in ADAMS under Accession No. ML22223A161.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents, by appointment, at the NRC's Public Document Room (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. Eastern Time (ET), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.
     Project Website: Information related to the CBR project 
can be accessed on the NRC's CBR website at https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/uranium/licensed-facilities/crow-butte.html. Under the 
section titled ``Operating,'' scroll down to ``Key Documents'' and 
click on Draft EA, Draft Report for Comment.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2022-0153 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

    The NRC is issuing for public comment the draft FONSI and 
accompanying draft Supplement to the NRC staff's EA for the license 
renewal of CBR's ISR facility. The draft Supplement describes the NRC 
staff's efforts to address the deficiencies identified in the Atomic 
Safety and Licensing Board's partial initial decision (LBP-16-7), which 
found that the NRC staff did not meet its identification obligations 
under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and was deficient 
under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ``for failing to 
take a hard look at potential TCPs [traditional cultural properties] 
within the Crow Butte license area[.]'' Specifically, the Supplement 
describes the methodology, implementation, and results of the 2021 
tribal cultural survey to identify sites of significance to the Oglala 
Sioux Tribe. It also documents the NRC staff's evaluation of the 
identified sites according to the criteria for listing in the National 
Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and the NRC staff's assessment of 
potential impacts of the license renewal on the identified sites under 
the NHPA (for sites eligible for the NRHP) or NEPA (for other sites of 
significance to the Tribe). Based on these evaluations in the EA 
Supplement, the NRC staff preliminarily concludes that there will be no 
significant impacts to cultural resources identified during the 2021 
tribal cultural survey. Accordingly, based on the 2014 EA and the draft 
EA Supplement, the staff has preliminarily concluded that an 
environmental impact statement is not necessary and a FONSI remains 
appropriate.

III. Draft Finding of No Significant Impact

    Based on its review of the proposed action, in accordance with the 
requirements in part 51 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR), ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing 
and Related Regulatory Functions,'' the NRC staff has preliminarily 
concluded that the proposed action, renewal of NRC Source Materials 
License No. SUA-1534 for CBR's ISR facility located in Crawford, 
Nebraska, will not have a significant impact on the cultural resources 
discussed in the EA Supplement and will not significantly affect the 
quality of the human environment. Therefore, the NRC staff has 
preliminarily determined, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, that preparation of 
an environmental impact statement is not required for the proposed 
action and a FONSI is appropriate.

    Dated: August 23, 2022.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John M. Moses,
Deputy Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental and Financial 
Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-18435 Filed 8-25-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P