[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 47 (Friday, March 10, 2023)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14958-14960]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04982]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 51
[NRC-2018-0296]
RIN 3150-AK32
Renewing Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses--Environmental
Review
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule; public meetings and request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) plans to hold
comment-gathering public meetings on a proposed rule to amend its
environmental protection regulations by updating the Commission's 2013
findings on the environmental effect of renewing the operating license
of a nuclear power plant. The purpose of the meetings is to provide
information and receive public comments on the proposed changes to NRC
regulations, draft Revision 2 to NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (LR GEIS), and
associated guidance.
DATES: The NRC plans to hold public meetings in March and April 2023
during the 60-day public comment period. See Section III, ``Request for
Comments and Public Meetings,'' of this document for more information
on the meetings.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0296 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this public
meeting. 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-2018-0296. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Dawn Forder; telephone: 301-415-3407;
email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact the
individuals listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact
us at 301-415-1677.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications 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: Yanely Malave-Velez, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-1519, email:
[email protected]; Jennifer Davis, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-3835, email:
[email protected]; or Kevin Folk, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, telephone: 301-415-6944, email:
[email protected]. All are staff of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2018-0296 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-2018-0296.
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].
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,
[[Page 14959]]
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 a.m. and 4 p.m. eastern time, 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-2018-0296 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. Background
On March 3, 2023, the NRC published a proposed rule in the Federal
Register for a 60-day public comment period (88 FR 13329). The NRC
proposes to amend its environmental protection regulations by updating
the Commission's 2013 findings on the environmental effect of renewing
the operating license of a nuclear power plant in part 51 of title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Environmental Protection
Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,''
subpart A, ``National Environmental Policy Act--Regulations
Implementing Section 102(2).'' Additionally, the NRC proposes to revise
NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License
Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (LR GEIS), which is intended to streamline
the NRC's license renewal environmental review by documenting a
systematic approach that the NRC uses to evaluate the environmental
impacts of renewing the operating licenses of commercial nuclear power
plants. The LR GEIS also provides the technical basis for Table B-1, in
appendix B to subpart A of 10 CFR part 51, ``Environmental Effect of
Renewing the Operating License of a Nuclear Power Plant.'' Among other
things, these proposals will update 10 CFR part 51 and the LR GEIS to
fully account for subsequent license renewal as well as initial license
renewal. The NRC will solicit comments at each meeting for
consideration in the development of the final rule, LR GEIS, and
associated guidance.
III. Request for Comments and Public Meetings
The NRC staff plans to hold the following comment-gathering public
meetings during the 60-day public comment period to present an overview
of the proposed changes to the environmental protection regulations and
the LR GEIS.
[cir] March 16, 2023, at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel &
Conference Center; First Meeting: Open House from 1:30 p.m.-2 p.m. and
Public Meeting from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. (local time).
[cir] Second Meeting: Open House from 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m. and Public
Meeting from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. (local time).
March 28, 2023, at the Marriott Chicago Naperville; 1801 N
Naperville Boulevard, Naperville, IL 60563. Open House from 5:30 p.m.-6
p.m. and Public Meeting from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. (local time).
March 30, 2023, at the Marriott Dallas/Ft. Worth Westlake;
1301 Solana Boulevard, Building 3, Westlake, Texas 76262. Open House
from 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m. and Public Meeting from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. (local
time).
April 4, 2023, at the Alloy King of Prussia; 301 West
DeKalb Pike, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406. Open House from 5:30
p.m.-6 p.m. and Public Meeting from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. (local time).
April 6, 2023, at the Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta
Decatur Downtown/Emory; 130 Clairemont Avenue, Decatur, GA 30303. Open
House from 5:30 p.m.-6 p.m. and Public Meeting from 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
(local time).
Interested stakeholders also may attend by telephone or online
webinar. The public meetings will be transcribed and will include a
presentation of the contents of the draft LR GEIS and proposed rule;
and an opportunity for government agencies, organizations, and
individuals to provide comments. No oral comments on the draft LR GEIS
or proposed rule will be accepted during the open house sessions. To be
considered, oral comments must be presented during the transcribed
portion of the public meeting. The NRC staff also will accept written
comments at any time during the public meetings. Persons interested in
presenting oral comments at any of the six public meetings are
encouraged to pre-register. Information for the teleconference and
online webinar will be available in the meeting notices, which can be
accessed through the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule at https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg.
Members of the public also may register to provide oral comments
in-person at each meeting. Individual oral comments may be limited by
the time available, depending on the number of persons who register.
If special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or
present information at a public meeting, please contact Yanely Malave-
Velez, telephone: 301-415-1519, email: [email protected], no
later than 10 days before the designated scheduled meeting to provide
the NRC staff adequate notice to determine whether the request can be
accommodated.
The NRC requests that comments that are not provided during the
meeting be submitted as noted in Section I, ``Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments,'' of this document in writing by May 2, 2023.
IV. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
[[Page 14960]]
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ADAMS accession No. 1
Document Federal Register citation
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Proposed Rule: Renewing Nuclear Power Plant 88 FR 13329
Operating Licenses--Environmental Review,
March 3, 2023.
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Draft Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of
Nuclear Power Plants
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Draft NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental ML23010A078
Impact Statement for License Renewal of
Nuclear Power Plants,'' Volume 1, Revision
2.
Draft NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental ML23010A086
Impact Statement for License Renewal of
Nuclear Power Plants,'' Volume 2, Revision
2.
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Draft Guidance Documents
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Draft NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, Revision 2, ML22165A070
``Standard Review Plans for Environmental
Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants,
Supplement 1: Operating License Renewal''.
Draft Regulatory Guide DG-4027, ML22165A072
``Preparation of Environmental Reports for
Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal
Applications'' (also referenced as
Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.2, Supplement 1).
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The NRC may post materials related to this document, including
public comments, on the Federal rulemaking website at https://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-2018-0296. The Federal
rulemaking website allows members of the public to receive alerts when
changes or additions occur in a docket folder. The following actions
are needed to subscribe: (1) navigate to the docket folder NRC-2018-
0296, (2) click the ``Subscribe'' link, and (3) enter an email address
and click on the ``Subscribe'' link.
Dated: March 7, 2023.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patricia K. Holahan,
Director, Subsequent License Environmental Directorate, Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2023-04982 Filed 3-9-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P