[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77561-77563]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31903]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 52-029-COL, 52-030-COL; ASLBP No. 09-879-04-COL-BD01]
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board; In the Matter of Progress
Energy Florida, Inc.; (Levy County Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2)
December 7, 2011.
Before Administrative Judges: Alex S. Karlin, Chairman, Dr. Anthony
J. Baratta, Dr. William M. Murphy.
Notice
(Opportunity To Make Oral or Written Limited Appearance Statements)
This Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hereby gives notice that it
will accept oral or written limited appearance statements from members
of the public regarding the application of Progress Energy Florida,
Inc. (PEF) to the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for
a license to construct and operate two nuclear power plants in Levy
County, Florida. Two sessions to hear oral limited appearance
statements will be held on January 12, 2012, in Crystal River, Florida.
I. Background and Scope of Proceeding
On December 8, 2008, the NRC published a notice in the Federal
Register that any interested person could file a challenge to PEF's
application to construct and operate two proposed nuclear power plants
in Levy County, Florida and could request an adjudicatory hearing
thereon. 73 FR 74,532 (Dec. 8, 2008) (ADAMS Accession No. ML083430114).
On February 6, 2009, the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, the
Ecology Party of Florida, and the Green Party of Florida (Intervenors)
filed such a challenge and request.\1\ On February 23, 2009, this Board
was established to handle the matter and to preside over any contested
adjudicatory proceeding relating to the PEF application.\2\ On July 8,
2009, this Board granted the Intervenors' request, ruling that they had
shown standing and had raised at least one admissible contention. See
LBP-09-10, 70 NRC 51, 147 (2009) (ADAMS Accession No. ML091890822).
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\1\ Petition to Intervene and Request for Hearing by the Green
Party of Florida, the Ecology Party of Florida and Nuclear
Information and Resource Service (Feb. 6, 2009) (ADAMS Accession No.
ML090371107).
\2\ Progress Energy Florida, Inc.; Establishment of Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board, 74 FR 9113 (Mar. 2, 2009) (ADAMS
Accession No. ML090540936).
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The scope of this contested adjudicatory proceeding, and thus the
appropriate scope of any limited appearance statements, is defined by
the contentions that have been raised by the Intervenors and that have
been admitted, i.e., have been ruled to satisfy the requirements set
forth in the relevant NRC regulation, 10 CFR 2.309(f)(1).\3\ The
Intervenors have proffered several contentions, but at this point only
one such admitted contention remains in litigation--Contention 4A.\4\
Contention 4A, therefore, defines the appropriate scope of any limited
appearance statements.\5\ Contention 4A reads as follows:
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\3\ In addition to the contested adjudicatory proceeding being
conducted by this Board, there will be an uncontested adjudicatory
proceeding concerning PEF's application to construct and operate the
two proposed nuclear power plants in Levy County. See 42 U.S.C.
2239(a)(i)(A). The content of the uncontested proceeding is not
within the scope of this adjudication. See ``Conduct of Mandatory
Hearings on Applications for Combined Licenses,'' Internal
Commission Procedures at IV-12--IV-21 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML11269A125).
\4\ Licensing Board Memorandum and Order (Admitting Contention
4A) (February 2, 2011) at 20 (unpublished) (ADAMS Accession No.
ML110330394).
\5\ If additional contentions are subsequently admitted, or if
Contention 4A is subsequently settled, dismissed, or revised, then
the scope of this proceeding will change accordingly.
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Contention 4A: The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
fails to comply with 10 CFR part 51 and the National Environmental
Policy Act because it fails to specifically and adequately address, and
inappropriately characterizes as SMALL, certain direct, indirect, and
cumulative impacts, onsite and offsite, of constructing and operating
the proposed LNP facility:
A. Impacts to wetlands, floodplains, special aquatic sites, and
other waters, associated with dewatering, specifically:
1. Impacts resulting from active and passive dewatering;
2. Impacts resulting from the connection of the site to the
underlying Floridan aquifer system;
3. Impacts on Outstanding Florida Waters such as the Withlacoochee
and Waccasassa Rivers;
4. Impacts on water quality and the aquatic environment due to
alterations and increases in nutrient concentrations caused by the
removal of water; and
5. Impacts on water quality and the aquatic environment due to
increased nutrients resulting from destructive wildfires resulting from
dewatering.
B. Impacts to wetlands, floodplains, special aquatic sites, and
other waters, associated with salt drift and salt deposition resulting
from cooling towers (that use salt water) being situated in an inland,
freshwater wetland area of the LNP site.
[[Page 77562]]
C. As a result of the omissions and inadequacies described above,
the Draft Environmental Impact Statement also failed to adequately
identify, and inappropriately characterizes as SMALL, the proposed
project's zone of:
1. Environmental impacts;
2. Impact on Federally listed species;
3. Irreversible and irretrievable environmental impacts; and
4. Appropriate mitigation measures.
As specified below, members of the public are invited to submit
oral or written statements, referred to as ``limited appearance
statements'' related to Contention 4A.
II. Notice of Oral Limited Appearance Statement Sessions
A. Date, Time, and Location of Oral Limited Appearance Statement
Sessions
The oral limited appearance statement sessions will be held on the
following dates, at the specified location and times:
Date: Thursday, January 12, 2012.
Time: 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Location: Plantation Inn Resort, 9301 West Fort Island Trail,
Crystal River, Florida.
B. Participation Guidelines for Oral Limited Appearance Statements
The purpose of the limited appearance statements is to allow
members of the public who are not parties to the adjudication to
provide the Board with statements setting forth their positions or
concerns on matters relating to the admitted contentions.\6\ Such
statements may be presented orally during the limited appearance
sessions specified above or may be submitted in writing. Speakers
should be aware, however, that the jurisdiction of this Board and the
scope of this proceeding are limited to the PEF application, and, more
particularly, to Contention 4A. Limited appearance statements enable
members of the public to alert the Board to areas relating to the PEF
application and the admitted contention where evidence may need to be
adduced, and to assist the Board in its consideration of these issues.
Oral limited appearance statements will be transcribed but are not
under oath or affirmation and do not constitute formal testimony or
evidence.
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\6\ The parties to the adjudication (acting via their officers,
directors, lawyers, pro-se representatives, experts, and other
witnesses) have the opportunity to file formal motions and other
pleadings, and to submit testimony and other evidence in the
adjudication. Thus, the parties are not entitled to make limited
appearance statements. 10 CFR 2.315(a). In contrast, limited
appearance statements are the opportunity for the public to provide
input.
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Oral limited appearance statements will be entertained during the
hours specified above, or such lesser time as may be sufficient to
accommodate the speakers who are present. If all scheduled and
unscheduled speakers present at a session have made a presentation, the
Board reserves the right to terminate the session before the ending
times listed above.
In order to allow all interested persons an opportunity to address
the Board, the time allotted for each oral limited appearance statement
will be no more than five minutes, and may be further limited depending
on the number of written requests to make an oral statement that are
submitted in accordance with section C below and/or the number of
persons present at the designated times. At the outset of each
statement, the speaker should identify himself or herself.
Members of the public who plan to attend the limited appearance
sessions are advised that security measures may be employed at the
entrance to the facility, including searches of hand-carried items such
as briefcases or backpacks. Signs no larger than 18'' by 18'' will be
permitted during the limited appearance sessions, but may not be
attached to sticks, held up, or moved about in the room. Cf. Policy
Statement on Enhancing Public Participation in NRC Meetings, 67 FR
36,920, 36,923 (May 28, 2002).
C. Submitting a Request To Make an Oral Limited Appearance Statement
Persons wishing to make an oral statement who have submitted a
timely written request to do so will be given priority over those who
have not filed such a request. To be considered timely, a written
request to make an oral statement must be mailed, faxed, or sent by
email so as to be received by the Board by 5 p.m. EST on Thursday,
January 5, 2011. The request should specify the session (afternoon or
evening) during which the requester wishes to make an oral statement.
Based on its review of the requests received by the deadline, the Board
reserves the right to cancel or shorten either of the sessions due to a
lack of public interest.
Written requests to make an oral statement should be submitted to:
Mail: Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax: (301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1966).
Email: [email protected].
In addition, using the same method of service, a copy of the
written request to make an oral statement should be sent to the
Chairman of this Licensing Board as follows:
Mail: Alex S. Karlin, Chairman, c/o: Matthew E. Flyntz, Law Clerk,
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop T-3 E2C, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax: (301) 415-5599 (verification (301) 415-7405).
Email: [email protected] and [email protected].
D. Written Limited Appearance Statements
A written limited appearance statement may be submitted to the
Board in addition to, or in lieu of, an oral limited appearance
statement. The Board encourages early submissions, however, so that
Board members will be able to consider them while addressing the issues
in this proceeding. Such statements should be sent to the Office of the
Secretary using the methods prescribed above, with a copy to the Board
Chairman. A person who has already filed a written limited appearance
statement in this matter is not required to resubmit it, but should
notify the Board, as specified above, if he or she wishes to make an
oral statement during the January sessions.
III. Availability of Documentary Information Regarding the Proceeding
Documents relating to this proceeding are available for public
inspection at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR) or
electronically from the publicly available records component of NRC's
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is
accessible by clicking ``Begin Web-based ADAMS Search'' on the NRC Web
site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not
have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR reference staff
by telephone at (800) 397-4209, (301) 415-4737, or by email to
[email protected].
IV. Scheduling Information Updates
Any updated/revised scheduling information regarding the limited
appearance sessions can be found on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm or by calling
(800) 368-5642, extension 5036, or (301) 415-5036.
December 7, 2011.
It is so ordered.
[[Page 77563]]
For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
Alex S. Karlin,
Chairman, Administrative Judge, Rockville, Maryland.
[FR Doc. 2011-31903 Filed 12-12-11; 8:45 am]
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