[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 183 (Thursday, September 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48489-48491]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-23446]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Docket Nos. 50-413 AND 50-414
Duke Energy Corporation; Catawba Nuclear Station, Units 1 and 2;
Notice of Intent To Prepare An Environmental Impact Statement and
Conduct Scoping Process
Duke Energy Corporation (Duke) has submitted an application for
renewal of operating licenses NPF-35 and NPF-52 for up to an additional
20 years of operation at Catawba Nuclear Station (Catawba), Units 1 and
2. Catawba is located in York County, South Carolina. The application
for renewal was submitted by letter dated June 13, 2001, pursuant to 10
CFR Part 54. A notice of receipt of application, including the
environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on
July 16, 2001 (66 FR 37072). A notice of acceptance for docketing of
the application for renewal of the facility operating license was
published in the Federal Register on August 15, 2001 (66 FR 42893). The
purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be preparing an environmental impact
statement in support of 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.
In accordance with 10 CFR 54.23 and 10 CFR 51.53(c), Duke submitted
the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10
CFR Part 51 and is available for public inspection at the NRC Public
Document Room located at 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), or from
the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document
system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/
[[Page 48490]]
index.html, (NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room). In addition, the
York County Library, located at 138 Black Street, Rock Hill, South
Carolina, has agreed to make the ER available for public inspection.
This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the
information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the
Commission's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' (NUREG-1437) in support of the
review of the application for renewal of the Catawba operating licenses
for up to an additional 20 years. Possible alternatives to the proposed
action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative
energy sources. 10 CFR 51.95 requires that the NRC prepare a supplement
to the GEIS in connection with the renewal of an operating license.
This notice is being published in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the NRC's regulations found in 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 this
scoping process by members of the public and local, State, 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 environmental
impact statements (EISs) 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 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.
h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared,
including any contractor assistance to be used.
The NRC invites the following entities to participate in the
scoping process:
a. The applicant, Duke Energy Corporation.
b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special
expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved, or that 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 requests or has requested an opportunity to
participate in the scoping process.
f. Any person who intends to petition for leave to intervene.
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. Notice of opportunity for a
hearing regarding the renewal application was the subject of the
aforementioned Federal Register notice of acceptance for docketing.
Matters related to participation in any hearing are outside the scope
of matters to be discussed at this public meeting.
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 Catawba license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping
meetings will be held in the Council Chamber at the City Hall, located
at 155 Johnston Street, Rock Hill, South Carolina, on Tuesday, October
23, 2001. There will be two sessions to accommodate interested parties.
The first session will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until
4:30 p.m. The second session will convene at 7:00 p.m. with a repeat of
the overview portions of the meeting and will continue until 10:00 p.m.
Both meetings will be transcribed and will include (1) an overview by
the NRC staff of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
environmental review process, the proposed scope of the supplement to
the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule; (2) an overview by Duke of
the proposed action, Catawba license renewal, and the environmental
impacts as outlined in the ER; and (3) 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 Rock
Hill City Hall. No scoping comments 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
below. Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the
meeting on the NEPA scoping process by contacting Mr. James H. Wilson
by telephone at 1 (800) 368-5642, extension 1108, or by Internet to the
NRC at [email protected] no later than October 18, 2001. 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. If
special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present
information at the public meeting, the need should be brought to Mr.
Wilson's attention no later than October 18, 2001, so that the NRC
staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated.
Members of the public may send written comments on the
environmental scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS to: Chief,
Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services,
Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6 D 59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Comments may be hand-delivered to the NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland, between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal
workdays. To be considered in the scoping process, written comments
should be postmarked by November 22, 2001. Electronic comments may be
sent by the Internet to the NRC at [email protected]. Electronic
submissions should be sent no later than November 22, 2001, to be
considered in the scoping process. Comments will be available
electronically and accessible through the NRC's Public Electronic
Reading Room (PERR) link http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html at the
NRC Homepage.
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
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send a copy of the summary to each participant in the scoping process.
The summary will also be available for inspection through the PERR
link. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the draft
supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of separate notices
and a separate public meeting. Copies will be available for public
inspection at the above-mentioned addresses, and one copy per request
will be provided free of charge. 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.
Information about the proposed action, the supplement to the GEIS,
and the scoping process may be obtained from Mr. Wilson at the
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 13th day of September 2001.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Cynthia A. Carpenter,
Chief, Risk Informed Initiatives, Environmental, Decommissioning, and
Rulemaking Branch, Division of Regulatory Improvements Program, Office
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 01-23446 Filed 9-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P