[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 226 (Monday, November 24, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 65961-65962]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-29249]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 52-008]
Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC, North Anna Early Site Permit;
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and
Conduct Scoping Process
Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC (Dominion) has submitted an
application for an early site permit (ESP) for a location in central
Virginia identified as the North Anna ESP site. The site is located
near the Town of Mineral in Louisa County, Virginia, on the southern
shore of Lake Anna. The application for the ESP was submitted by letter
dated September 25, 2003, pursuant to 10 CFR part 52. The application
also includes a site redress plan in accordance with 10 CFR 52.17(c)
and 52.25. If a site redress plan is incorporated in an approved ESP,
the applicant may carry out certain site preparation work and limited
construction activities. A notice of receipt and availability of the
application, which included the environmental report (ER), was
published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2003 (68 FR 59642). A
notice of acceptance for docketing of the application for the ESP was
published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2003, (68 FR 61705).
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 (EIS) in support of the review of the ESP application
and to provide the public an opportunity to participate in the
environmental scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR 51.29. In addition,
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 in meeting the
requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
In accordance with 10 CFR 52.17(a)(2), 10 CFR 51.45 and 10 CFR
51.50, Dominion submitted the ER as part of the application. The ER was
prepared pursuant to 10 CFR parts 51 and 52 and is available for public
inspection at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland,
or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRC's Agencywide
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html, which provides access through
the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room (PERR) link. Persons who do
not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's PDR Reference
staff at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to [email protected].
The application may also be viewed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/license-reviews/esp/north-anna.html.
In addition, the Louisa County Library, located at 881 Davis Highway,
Mineral, Virginia, has agreed to make the ER available for public
inspection.
The following key reference documents related to the ESP
applications and the NRC staff's review process are available through
the NRC's Web site at http://www.nrc.gov:
a. 10 CFR part 51, Environmental protection regulations for
domestic licensing and related regulatory functions.
b. 10 CFR part 52, Early site permits; standard design
certifications; and combined licenses for nuclear power plants.
c. 10 CFR part 100, Reactor site criteria.
d. NUREG-1555, Standard Review Plans for Environmental Reviews for
Nuclear Power Plants.
e. NUREG/BR-0298, Brochure on Nuclear Power Plant Licensing
Process.
f. Regulatory Guide 4.7, General Site Suitability Criteria for
Nuclear Power Stations.
g. Fact Sheet on Nuclear Power Plant Licensing Process.
h. Draft Review Standard RS-002, Processing Applications for Early
Site Permits.
i. NRR Office Instruction LIC-203, Procedural Guidance for
Preparing Environmental Assessments and Considering Environmental
Issues.
The regulations, NUREG-series documents, regulatory guide, and fact
sheet can be found under Document Collections in the Electronic Reading
Room on the NRC Web page. The draft review standard is at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/license-reviews/esp/esp-public-comments-rs-002.html. Finally, Office Instruction LIC-203 can be found
in ADAMS in two parts under accession numbers ML011710073 (main text)
and ML011780314 (charts and figures).
This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the
information necessary to prepare an environmental impact statement
(EIS) in support of the review of the application for the ESP and the
site redress plan at the North Anna ESP site. Possible alternatives to
the proposed action (issuance of the ESP at the North Anna ESP site)
include no action and consideration of alternative sites. The NRC is
required by 10 CFR 52.18 to prepare an EIS in connection with the
issuance of an ESP. This notice is being published in accordance with
the NEPA and the NRC's regulations found in 10 CFR part 51.
The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the EIS and, as
soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft EIS 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 EIS will be used to accomplish
the following:
a. Define the proposed action which is to be the subject of the
EIS.
b. Determine the scope of the EIS and identify the significant
issues to be analyzed in depth.
[[Page 65962]]
c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are
peripheral or that are not significant.
d. Identify any environmental assessments and other EISs that are
being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of the
scope of the EIS 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 EIS to the
NRC and any cooperating agencies.
h. Describe how the EIS will be prepared, and include any
contractor assistance to be used.
The NRC invites the following entities to participate in the
scoping process:
a. The applicant, Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC.
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.
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 will hold a public scoping meeting for
the EIS regarding the North Anna ESP application and the associated
site redress plan. The scoping meeting will be held in the Forum at the
Louisa County Middle School, 1009 Davis Highway, Mineral, Virginia, on
Monday, December 8, 2003. The meeting will convene at 7 p.m. and will
continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. The meeting will be transcribed
and will include: (1) An overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA
environmental review process, the proposed scope of the EIS, 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
EIS. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one
hour before the start of the meeting outside the Forum in the Louisa
County Middle School. No formal comments on the proposed scope of the
EIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered,
comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meeting or
in writing, as discussed below. Persons may register to attend or
present oral comments at the meeting on the scope of the NEPA review by
contacting Ms. Stacey Imboden, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642,
extension 2462, or by Internet to the NRC [email protected]">at[email protected] no
later than December 3, 2003. Members of the public may also register to
speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of the meeting.
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 EIS. Ms. Imboden will need to be contacted no later than December
3, 2003, 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.
Members of the public may send written comments on the
environmental scope of the North Anna ESP and site redress plan review
to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative
Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the
publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice.
Comments may also be delivered to Room T-6D59, Two White Flint North,
11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m.
during Federal workdays. To be considered in the scoping process,
written comments should be postmarked by January 9, 2004. Electronic
comments may be sent by the Internet to the NRC [email protected]">at[email protected]. Electronic submissions should be sent no later than
January 9, 2004, to be considered in the scoping process. Comments will
be available electronically and accessible through the NRC's PERR link
at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
Participation in the scoping process for the EIS does not entitle
participants to become parties to the proceeding to which the EIS
relates. Notice of a hearing regarding the application for an ESP will
be the subject of a future Federal Register notice.
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 through the NRC's PERR link. The staff will
then prepare and issue for comment the draft EIS, which will be the
subject of separate notices and a separate public meeting. A copy will
be available for public inspection at the above-mentioned address, and
one copy per request will be provided free of charge. After receipt and
consideration of the comments, the NRC will prepare a final EIS, which
will also be available for public inspection.
Pursuant to the Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972, as amended,
the applicant for a Federal license for an activity in Virginia is
required to conduct its activities in a manner consistent with the
federally approved Virginia Coastal Resources Management Program (see
section 307(c)(1) of the Act and 15 CFR part 930, subpart D, Sec. Sec.
930.50 et seq.). In this case, the applicant will submit a consistency
certification to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
(VDEQ) as part of its compliance with the Federal consistency
requirements and request that VDEQ provide its concurrence in the
consistency determination.
Information about the proposed action, the EIS, and the scoping
process may be obtained from Ms. Imboden at the aforementioned
telephone number or e-mail address.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of November, 2003.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
K. Steven West,
Acting Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts
Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 03-29249 Filed 11-21-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P