[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 205 (Tuesday, October 25, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64524-64525]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23113]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 40-8943; NRC-2022-0153]
Crow Butte Resources, Inc.; In Situ Uranium Recovery Facility
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Final finding of no significant impact and environmental
assessment supplement; issuance.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a
final finding of no significant impact (FONSI) and accompanying
supplement to the NRC staff's environmental assessment (EA) for the
license renewal of the Crow Butte Resources, Inc. (CBR) in situ uranium
recovery (ISR) facility located Dawes County, Nebraska. Based on the
analysis in the EA supplement, the NRC staff has concluded that there
will be no significant impacts to cultural resources from the renewal
of CBR's license and, therefore, a FONSI remains appropriate.
DATES: The EA supplement referenced in this document is available on
October 25, 2022.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2022-0153 when contacting the
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You
may obtain publicly available information related to this document
using any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2022-0153. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
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]. The EA supplement can be found in
ADAMS under Accession No. ML22278A108.
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, 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 (ET), Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
Project Website: Information related to the CBR project
can be accessed on
[[Page 64525]]
the NRC's CBR website at https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/uranium/licensed-facilities/crow-butte.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jean Trefethen, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-0867; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Discussion
The NRC is issuing the final FONSI and accompanying supplement to
the NRC staff's EA for the license renewal of CBR's ISR facility. The
EA supplement describes the NRC staff's efforts to address the
deficiencies identified in the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's
partial initial decision (LBP-16-7), which found that the NRC staff did
not meet its identification obligations under the National Historic
Preservation Act (NHPA) and was deficient under the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) ``for failing to take a hard look at
potential TCPs [traditional cultural properties] within the Crow Butte
license area[.]'' Specifically, the EA supplement describes the
methodology, implementation, and results of the 2021 tribal cultural
survey to identify sites of significance to the Oglala Sioux Tribe. It
also documents the NRC staff's evaluation of the identified sites
according to the criteria for listing in the National Register of
Historic Places (NRHP) and the NRC staff's assessment of potential
impacts of the license renewal on the identified sites under the NHPA
(for sites eligible for the NRHP) or NEPA (for other sites of
significance to the Tribe). Based on these evaluations in the EA
supplement, the NRC staff concludes that there will be no significant
impacts to cultural resources identified during the 2021 tribal
cultural survey. Accordingly, based on the 2014 EA (ADAMS Accession No.
ML14288A517) and the EA supplement, the NRC staff has concluded that an
environmental impact statement is not necessary and a FONSI remains
appropriate.
II. Finding of No Significant Impact
Based on its review of the proposed action, in accordance with the
requirements in part 51 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), ``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing
and Related Regulatory Functions,'' the NRC staff has concluded that
the proposed action, renewal of NRC Source Materials License No. SUA-
1534 for CBR's ISR facility located in Crawford, Nebraska, will not
have a significant impact on the cultural resources discussed in the EA
supplement and will not significantly affect the quality of the human
environment. Therefore, the NRC staff has determined, pursuant to 10
CFR 51.31, that preparation of an environmental impact statement is not
required for the proposed action and a FONSI is appropriate.
III. Additional Information
The NRC published a notice of the availability of the draft EA
supplement and draft FONSI in the Federal Register on August 26, 2022
(87 FR 52597) for a 30-day public comment period. The public comment
period closed on September 26, 2022. The ADAMS accession numbers for
the public comments on the draft EA supplement and draft FONSI, and the
NRC staff's responses to the public comments, are provided in an
appendix to the final EA supplement.
Dated: October 19, 2022.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
John M. Moses,
Deputy Director, Division of Rulemaking, Environmental and Financial
Support, Office of Nuclear Material Safety, and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2022-23113 Filed 10-24-22; 8:45 am]
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