[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 172 (Friday, September 4, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53579-53580]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-21932]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 52-043; NRC-2010-0215]
Draft Memorandum of Agreement Between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation, National Park Service, PSEG Power, LLC, and
PSEG Nuclear, LLC
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Request for comment.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting
comment on a draft Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the NRC, New
Jersey Historic Preservation Office (NJ HPO), Advisory Council on
Historic Preservation (ACHP), National Park Service (NPS), and PSEG
Power, LLC, and PSEG Nuclear, LLC (PSEG). The purpose of the draft MOA
is to resolve adverse effects to historic properties identified during
consultation for a proposed early site permit (ESP).
DATES: Submit comments by October 5, 2015. Comments received after this
date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is
able to assure 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-2010-0215. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; 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: OWFN-12-H08, 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: Allen Fetter, Office of New Reactors,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001,
telephone: 301-415-8556, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2010-0215 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 Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2010-0215.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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
draft MOA is available in ADAMS under Accession ML15239B244.
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-2010-0215 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 http://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
On May 25, 2010, PSEG submitted the ESP application via letter
pursuant to Part 52 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR) (ADAMS Accession No. ML101480484). The location of the proposed
ESP site is adjacent to the existing Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear
Generating Stations on the east bank of the Delaware River in Lower
Alloways Creek Township, Salem County, New Jersey.
An ESP is a licensing option provided under the NRC's regulations
in 10 CFR part 52 that allows an applicant to obtain approval for a
reactor site. The approval of the ESP indicates that there are no
safety or environmental issues at the proposed site that would preclude
the construction of a nuclear power plant with the characteristics
identified in the plant parameter envelope. Because an ESP is only a
site approval and does not authorize the construction or operation of a
nuclear power plant, an applicant may obtain an ESP without specifying
the design of the reactor(s) that it may separately apply to build and
operate at the site. The ESP application and review process makes it
possible to evaluate and resolve safety and environmental issues
related to siting before the applicant makes a large commitment of
resources. Granting an ESP would result in no effects to historic
properties; the ESP review includes an analysis of potential adverse
effects from construction and operation of a postulated plant to
support a site suitability determination.
Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8, the NRC is using its National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for developing the ESP
environmental impact statement (EIS) to facilitate consultation
pursuant to Section 106 of the NHPA (54 U.S.C. 306108). The U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers (USACE) participated in the development of the ESP
EIS as a cooperating agency, pursuant to NEPA, but is consulting
separately under Section 106 of the NHPA for the activities that it
regulates.
On August 22, 2014, the NRC requested comment (79 FR 49820) on its
draft EIS analyzing: (1) The impacts of constructing and operating a
postulated nuclear plant at the proposed ESP site that is the subject
of NRC review, and (2) impacts associated with a USACE permit action on
a Department of the
[[Page 53580]]
Army permit application to perform certain building activities on and
near the ESP site.
The draft ESP EIS contained a finding of no adverse effect to
historic properties for the NRC's Section 106 NHPA review. The NJ HPO
concurred with this finding. By letter dated December 4, 2014, the NRC
received a revised opinion letter from the NJ HPO finding that the
proposed project would result in an adverse effect to historic
properties (ADAMS Accession No. ML15005A040). The NJ HPO stated that
the visual intrusion of two new natural draft cooling towers, which are
included in the plant parameter envelope for the ESP application,
would, if selected in a subsequent application to construct and operate
a nuclear plant at the ESP site, result in an adverse effect to
historic properties. The NRC met with the NJ HPO, PSEG representatives,
and interested members of the public on January 9, 2015, in Salem
County, New Jersey to discuss the NJ HPO's concerns. Between January
and August 2015, the NRC met with the NJ HPO, ACHP, NPS, interested
members of the public, and PSEG several times to discuss the effects
from the proposed project on historic properties and to develop
possible mitigation strategies for any potential effects. Between
January and August 2015, the NRC conducted seven publicly noticed
consultation meetings and teleconferences, pursuant to Section 106 of
the NHPA.
Based on the information from these meetings and additional
research, the NRC issued letters on June 24, 2015, to NJ HPO, ACHP, and
NPS stating its determination that natural draft cooling towers, if
selected, would result in an indirect visual adverse effect on the Abel
and Mary Nicholson House National Historic Landmark (127 Fort Elfsborg-
Hancock Bridge Road), the property at 349 Fort Elfsborg-Hancock Bridge
Road, and the property at 116 Mason Point Road. These properties are
within an area the NJ HPO has determined is an NRHP-eligible historic
district. In its letter, the NRC stated its intention to develop a MOA
to resolve the adverse effect to these three properties.
The draft MOA addresses the potential indirect adverse visual
effect from construction and operation of natural draft cooling towers
as analyzed in the ESP EIS and would conclude NHPA Section 106
consultation for the ESP. The draft MOA provides a framework for
consultation at the combined license or construction permit/operating
license stage.
I. Request for Public Comment
The NRC is requesting public comment on the draft MOA. The NRC does
not plan to provide individual responses to comments. However, the NRC
will consider any comments received when finalizing the MOA and will
publish the final MOA in the Federal Register. The draft MOA is
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML15239B244.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 28th day of August, 2015.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Francis M. Akstulewicz,
Director, Division of New Reactor Licensing, Office of New Reactors.
[FR Doc. 2015-21932 Filed 9-3-15; 8:45 am]
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