NRC proposing to amend environmental protection regulations

 Notice of Availability of the Draft Revision to Generic 

Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, 

Revision 1, NUREG-1437 and Public Meetings (see complete info from the Federal Register at bottom.) 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend 

·        its environmental protection regulations by updating the Commission's 

·        1996 findings on the environmental impacts related to the renewal of a 

·        nuclear power plant's operating license. The Commission stated that it 

·        intends to review the assessment of impacts and update it on a 10-year 

·        cycle, if necessary. The proposed rule redefines the number and scope 

·        of the environmental impact issues which must be addressed by the 

·        Commission in conjunction with the review of applications for license 

·        renewal.

As part of this 10-year update, the NRC revised the 1996 

·        Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License Renewal of 

·        Nuclear Plants. Concurrent with the amendments described in this 

·        proposed rule, the NRC is publishing for comment the revised GEIS, a 

·        revised Regulatory Guide 4.2, Supplement 1, Preparation of 

·        Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal 

·        Applications, and a revised Environmental Standard Review Plan, 

·        Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power 

·        Plants, Supplement 1: Operating License Renewal.

·         

·        DATES: Comments on this proposed rule, its information collection 

·        aspects and its draft regulatory analysis should be submitted by 

·        October 14, 2009. Comments on the revised GEIS (NUREG-1437, Revision 

·        1); Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.2, Supplement 1, Revision 1; and 

·        Environmental Standard Review Plan (ESRP), Supplement 1, Revision 1 

·        (NUREG-1555), should be submitted by October 14, 2009.

·         

·        ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted by letter or electronic mail and 

·        will be made available for public inspection. Because comments will not 

·        be edited to remove any identification or contact information, such as 

·        name, addresses, telephone number, e-mail address, etc., the NRC 

·        cautions against including any personal information in your submissions 

·        that you do not want to be publicly disclosed. The NRC requests that 

·        any party soliciting or aggregating comments received from other 

·        persons for submission to the NRC inform these persons that the NRC 

·        will not edit their comments to remove any identifying or comment 

·        information, and therefore, they should not include any information in 

·        their comments that they do not want publicly disclosed.

·            Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and 

·        search for documents filed under Docket ID [NRC-2008-0608]. Address 

·        questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher, (301) 492-3668; e-mail 

·        Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.

·            Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

·        Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.

·            E-mail comments to: Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov. If you do not 

·        receive a reply e-mail confirming that we have received your comments, 

·        contact us directly at (301) 415-1677.

·            Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at 

·        (301) 415-1101.

·            Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be 

·        accessed using the following methods:

·            NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): Publicly available documents may 

·        be examined at the NRC's PDR, Public File Area O1-F21, One White Flint 

·        North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR reproduction 

·        contractor will copy documents for a fee.

·            NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS): 

·        Publicly available documents created or received at the NRC are 

·        available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http:/

·        /www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this link, the public can gain 

·        entry into ADAMS, which provides text and image files of NRC's public 

·        documents. If problems are encountered accessing documents in ADAMS, 

·        contact the NRC's PDR reference staff at (800) 397-4209, or (301) 415-

·        4737, or by e-mail to PDR.resource@nrc.gov.

·         

·        FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Jason Lising, Office of Nuclear 

·        Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 

·        20555-0001; telephone (301) 415-3220; e-mail: Jason.Lising@nrc.gov; or 

·        Ms. Jennifer Davis, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear 

·        Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone (301) 415-

·        3835; e-mail: Jennifer.Davis@nrc.gov.

·         

·        SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

·         

·        I. Introduction

·        II. Background

·        III. Public Comments

·        IV. Discussion

·        V. Proposed Actions and Basis for Changes to Table B-1

·        VI. Section-by-Section Analysis

·        VII. Specific Request for Comments

·        VIII. Guidance Documents

·        IX. Agreement State Compatibility

·        X. Availability of Documents

·        XI. Plain Language

·        XII. Voluntary Consensus Standards

·        XIII. Finding of No Significant Environmental Impact

·        XIV. Paperwork Reduction Act Statement

·        XV. Regulatory Analysis

·        XVI. Regulatory Flexibility Act Certification

·        XVII. Backfit Analysis

·         

FEDERAL REGISTER: 

[Federal Register: July 31, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 146)]

[Notices]               

[Page 38239-38240]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr31jy09-107]                         

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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2008-0608]

Notice of Availability of the Draft Revision to Generic 

Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, 

Revision 1, NUREG-1437 and Public Meetings

    Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

(the Commission or NRC) has published and is issuing for public comment 

a draft revision to Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License 

Renewal of Nuclear Plants (GEIS), Revision 1, NUREG-1437. The draft 

GEIS, Revision 1 provides the technical basis for the 10-year update of 

Appendix B to Subpart A of Part 51--Environmental Effect of Renewing 

the Operating License of a Nuclear Power Plant in accordance with 10 

CFR part 51.

    The draft revised GEIS is publicly available at the NRC Public 

Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System (ADAMS). The ADAMS Public Electronic 

Reading Room is accessible at http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/

dologin.htm. The Accession Number for the draft revised GEIS is 

ML090220654. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter 

problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact 

the NRC's PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-

415-4737, or by e-mail at pdr.resource@nrc.gov.

    Comments on the draft revised GEIS should be submitted no later 

than October 14, 2009.

    Written comments may be submitted by one of the following methods:

    E-mail comments to: The Federal e-Rulemaking Portal at http://

www.regulations.gov; search Docket ID NRC-2008-0608. Address questions 

about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher 301-492-3668; e-mail 

Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov.

    Mail comments to: Michael Lesar, Chief, Rulemaking and Directives 

Branch, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M, Division of Administrative Services, 

Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555-0001.

    All comments received by the Commission will be made available 

electronically at the Commission's PDR in Rockville, Maryland, and 

through ADAMS. Comments submitted in writing or in electronic form will 

be made available to the public in their

[[Page 38240]]

entirety on the Federal Government's rulemaking Web site http://

www.regulations.gov. Please note that personal information, such as 

name, address, telephone, e-mail address, etc., will not be removed 

from your submission.

    The NRC requests that any party soliciting or aggregating comments 

received from other persons for submission to the NRC inform those 

persons that the NRC will not edit their comments to remove any 

identifying or contact information, and therefore, they should not 

include any information in their comments that they do not want 

publicly disclosed.

    The NRC will hold four public meetings to receive comments on the 

draft GEIS one in each of the NRC regions. The meetings will be held on 

the following dates and locations: September 15, 2009, DoubleTree 

Atlanta Perimeter, 6120 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, Georgia 

30328; September 17, 2009, Boston Marriott Newton, 2345 Commonwealth 

Avenue, Newton, Massachusetts 02466; September 22, 2009, Hyatt Westlake 

Plaza, 880 South Westlake Boulevard, Westlake Village, California 

91361; and September 24, 2009, DoubleTree Oak Brook, 1909 Spring Road, 

Oak Brook, Illinois 60523. The regional public meetings will start at 7 

p.m. and will continue until 10 p.m., or until all members of the 

public have had an opportunity to present comments.

    In addition, one rulemaking meeting will be held on October 1, 

2009, at NRC Headquarters, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Maryland 20852. The October 1st meeting will be webstreamed 

to maximize the potential to include interested stakeholders via the 

NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/

webcast-live.html. The NRC Headquarters meeting will begin at 1 p.m.

    The primary purpose for the meetings is to provide the public with 

an opportunity to comment on the draft revised GEIS. Each public 

meeting will be transcribed to record all comments. Written comments 

may also be submitted for the record at each of the meetings. The 

public meetings will begin with a brief overview of the draft revision 

and summary of the major environmental impact issues that were 

addressed in the draft GEIS revision. Members of the public are also 

invited to attend an informational open house two hours before the 

start of each regional public meeting. The NRC staff will be on hand to 

answer questions about the GEIS revision, and provide general 

information about the NRC and the license renewal program.

    Members of the public interested in presenting oral comments at the 

public meetings may pre-register by contacting Jennifer Davis, the NRC 

Project Manager at 1-800-368-5642, extension 3835, or by e-mail at 

LRGEISUpdate@nrc.gov, by September 9, 2009. The public may also 

register to provide oral comments up to 15 minutes before the start of 

each public meeting. The amount of time allowed for individual oral 

comments may be limited to afford time for everyone to speak, and will 

also depend on the number of persons who pre-register. If special 

accommodations or equipment are needed at the public meeting, the need 

should be brought to Ms. Davis's attention no later than September 1, 

2009, to provide sufficient time for the NRC staff to accommodate the 

request.

    Concurrent with the GEIS revision, the NRC is also publishing the 

revised Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.2, Supplement 1, Revision 1, 

Preparation of Environmental Reports for Nuclear Power Plant License 

Renewal Applications; and revised NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, Revision 1, 

Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power 

Plants (ESRP). Comments submitted on RG 4.2, Supplement 1, Revision 1, 

and ESRP, Supplement 1, Revision 1, will also be considered.

For Further Information Contact: Ms. Jennifer Davis, Project Manager, 

Environmental Review Branch, Division of License Renewal, Office of 

Nuclear Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mail 

Stop O-11F1, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Ms. Davis may be contacted at 

the aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd day of July 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Brian E. Holian,

Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation.

[FR Doc. E9-18010 Filed 7-30-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590-01-P