[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 3, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5793-5795]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-02080]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-373 and 50-374; NRC-2014-0268]
LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement
and conduct the scoping process; public meetings and request for
comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will prepare an
environmental impact statement (EIS) related to the review of the
license renewal application submitted by Exelon Generation Company, LLC
(Exelon) for the renewal of Facility Operating Licenses NPF-11 and NPF-
18 for an additional 20 years of operation at LaSalle County Station
(LSCS). The current operating licenses for LSCS, Units 1 and 2, expire
on April 17, 2022, and December 16, 2023, respectively. LSCS is located
in LaSalle County, Illinois. The NRC will also provide the public an
opportunity to participate in the environmental scoping process.
DATES: Submit comments by April 6, 2015. 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
(unless this document describes a different method for submitting
comments on a specific subject):
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0268. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: [email protected]. For technical questions, contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
Mail comments to: Cindy Bladey, Office of Administration,
Mail Stop: 3WFN-06-A44M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
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: David Drucker, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6223; email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2014-0268 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information regarding this document. You may
obtain publicly-available information related to this document by any
of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2014-0268.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then 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 in this document (if that document is
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is
referenced. Exelon's application for renewal can be found in ADAMS
under Accession No. ML14343A849.
NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2014-0268 in the subject line of your
comment submission in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your
comment submission available to the public in this docket.
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 http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit
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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 submissions into ADAMS.
II. Discussion
The application for license renewal, dated December 9, 2014, was
submitted pursuant to part 54 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), which included an environmental report (ER). A
separate notice of receipt and availability of the application was
published in the Federal Register on December 18, 2014 (79 FR 75598). A
notice of acceptance for docketing of the application and opportunity
for hearing regarding renewal of the facility operating licenses is
also being published in the Federal Register. The purpose of this
notice is to inform the public that the NRC will be preparing an EIS
related to the review of the license renewal application and to provide
the public an opportunity to participate in the environmental scoping
process, as defined in 10 CFR 51.29.
As outlined in 36 CFR 800.8, ``Coordination with the National
Environmental Policy Act,'' the NRC plans to coordinate compliance with
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in meeting
the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA). Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), the NRC intends to use its process
and documentation for the preparation of the EIS on the proposed action
to comply with Section 106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures set
forth at 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, Exelon
submitted the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared
pursuant to 10 CFR part 51 and is publicly available in ADAMS under
Accession Nos. ML14343A883 and ML14343A897. The ER may also be viewed
on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/lasalle.html. In addition, paper copies of the ER
are available for public review near the site at the Reddick Public
Library District, 1010 Canal St., Ottawa, IL 61350, the Marseilles
Public Library, 155 East Bluff St., Marseilles, IL 61341 and the Seneca
Public Library District, 210 N. Main St., Seneca, IL 61360.
This document advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the
information necessary to prepare a plant specific supplement to the
NRC's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License
Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (NUREG-1437, Revision 1), related to the
review of the application for renewal of the LSCS operating licenses
for an additional 20 years.
Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal)
include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. The NRC is
required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a supplement to the GEIS in
connection with the renewal of an operating license. This notice is
being published in accordance with NEPA and the NRC's regulations found
at 10 CFR part 51.
The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the supplement to
the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft
supplement to the GEIS for public comment. Participation in the scoping
process by members of the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal
government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the
supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:
a. Define the proposed action, which is to be the subject of the
supplement to the GEIS;
b. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify
the significant issues to be analyzed in depth;
c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are
peripheral or that are not significant;
d. Identify any environmental assessments and other ElSs that are
being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of, the
scope of the supplement to the GEIS being considered;
e. Identify other environmental review and consultation
requirements related to the proposed action;
f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation
of the environmental analyses and the Commission's tentative planning
and decision-making schedule;
g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement
to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies; and
h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared and
include any contractor assistance to be used.
The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
a. The applicant, Exelon;
b. Any Federal agency which has jurisdiction by law or special
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved or which is
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards;
d. Any affected Indian tribe;
e. Any person who has requested an opportunity to participate in
the scoping process; and
f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave
to intervene in the proceeding or who has been admitted as a party to
the proceeding.
III. Public Scoping Meetings
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS may
include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant issues
related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope of issues to
be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold public meetings for
the LSCS license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings
will be held on March 10, 2015, and there will be two sessions to
accommodate interested persons. The first session will convene at 2:00
p.m. and will continue until 4:00 p.m., as necessary. The second
session will convene at 7:00 p.m. with a repeat of the overview
portions of the meeting and will continue until 9:00 p.m., as
necessary. Both sessions will be held at the LaSalle County, Emergency
Operations Center, 711 East Etna Road, Ottawa, Illinois 61350.
Both meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) An overview
by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, the proposed
scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule;
and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies,
organizations, and individuals to submit comments or suggestions on the
environmental issues or the proposed scope of the supplement to the
GEIS. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one
hour prior to the start of each session at the same location. No formal
comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS will be
accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments
must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in
writing, as discussed above.
Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the
meetings on the scope of the NEPA review by
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contacting the NRC Project Manager, Mr. David Drucker, by telephone at
1-800-368-5642, extension 6223, or by email at [email protected],
no later than February 27, 2015. Members of the public may also
register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of each
session. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available,
depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the public
who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak if time
permits. Public comments will be considered in the scoping process for
the supplement to the GEIS. Mr. Drucker will need to be contacted no
later than February 27, 2015, if special equipment or accommodations
are needed to attend or present information at the public meeting so
that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be
accommodated.
Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS
does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to
which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Matters related to
participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be
discussed at this public meeting.
At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a
concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached, including
the significant issues identified, and will send a copy of the summary
to each participant in the scoping process. The summary will also be
available for inspection in ADAMS. The NRC staff will then prepare and
issue for comment the draft supplement to the GEIS, which will be the
subject of a separate notice and separate public meetings. Copies will
be available for public inspection at the above-mentioned addresses.
After receipt and consideration of the comments, the NRC will prepare a
final supplement to the GEIS, which will also be available for public
inspection.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of January 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Brian D. Wittick,
Chief, Projects Branch 2, Division of License Renewal, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2015-02080 Filed 2-2-15; 8:45 am]
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