Tennessee Valley Authority; Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, Units 3 and 4; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process, 9604-9606 [E8-3212]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 35 (Thursday, February 21, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9604-9606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3212]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos.: 52-014 and 52-015]


Tennessee Valley Authority; Bellefonte Nuclear Plant, Units 3 and 
4; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and 
Conduct Scoping Process

    The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has submitted an application 
for combined licenses (COLs) to build units 3 and 4 at its Bellefonte 
Nuclear Plant

[[Page 9605]]

(Bellefonte) site, located on approximately 1600 acres on a peninsula 
from Tennessee River mile 390 to river mile 393 in Jackson County, 
Alabama, on the western shore of Guntersville Reservoir, approximately 
seven miles northeast of Scottsboro, Alabama. The application for the 
COLs was submitted by TVA by letter dated October 30, 2007, pursuant to 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 52. A notice 
of receipt of application, including the environmental report (ER), was 
published in the Federal Register on November 27, 2007 (72 FR 66200). A 
notice of acceptance for docketing of the application for the COL for 
TVA was published in the Federal Register on January 28, 2008 (73 FR 
4923). A notice of hearing and opportunity to petition for leave to 
intervene was published in the Federal Register on February 8, 2008 (73 
FR 7611-7613). 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 
application for the COL and to provide the public with 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 (NEPA),'' the NRC plans to 
coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act (NHPA), with steps taken to meet the requirements of 
the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended. 
Pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), ``Coordination with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, the NRC staff 
plans to coordinate compliance with Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in lieu of the procedures set forth in 
36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.45 and 51.50, TVA 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 20852, or from the Publicly 
Available Records component of NRC's Agency-wide Documents Access and 
Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible at https://www.nrc.gov/
reading-rm/adams.html, which provides access through the NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room 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 1-800-397-4209/301-415-
4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. The application may also be viewed on 
the Internet at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/new-licensing/col/
bellefonte.html. In addition, the Scottsboro Public Library, 1002 South 
Broad Street, Scottsboro, AL 35768 has agreed to make the ER available 
for public inspection.
    The following key reference documents related to the application 
and the NRC staff's review processes are available through the NRC's 
Web site at https://www.nrc.gov:
    a. 10 CFR part 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for 
Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions;
    b. 10 CFR part 52, Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals 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 4.2, Preparation of Environmental Reports for 
Nuclear Power Stations;
    g. Regulatory Guide 4.7, General Site Suitability Criteria for 
Nuclear Power Stations; and
    h. Fact Sheet on Nuclear Power Plant Licensing Process.
    i. Regulatory 1.206, Combined License Applications for Nuclear 
Power Plants, and
    j. NRR Office Instruction LIC-203, Procedural Guidance for 
Preparing Environmental Assessments and Considering Environmental 
Issues.
    The regulations, NUREG-series documents, regulatory guides, and 
fact sheet can be found under Document Collections in the Electronic 
Reading Room on the NRC Web page.
    This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the 
information necessary to prepare an EIS in support of the review of the 
application for COLs at the Bellefonte site. Possible alternatives to 
the proposed action (issuance of the COLs for the Bellefonte site) 
include no action, reasonable alternative energy sources, and alternate 
sites. The NRC is required by 10 CFR 52.18 to prepare an EIS in 
connection with the issuance of COLs. This notice is being published in 
accordance with NEPA and the NRC's regulations found in 10 CFR part 51.
    The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the COL and, as 
soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft EIS for public 
comment. Participation in this scoping process by members of the 
public, local, State, Tribal, and Federal government agencies is 
encouraged. The scoping process for the draft EIS will be used to 
accomplish the following:
    a. Define the proposed action that 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;
    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. Identify parties consulting with the NRC under the NHPA, as set 
forth in 36 CFR 800.8 (c) (1) (i);
    g. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation 
of the environmental analyses and the Commission's tentative planning 
and decision-making schedule;
    h. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate 
assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the EIS to the 
NRC and any cooperating agencies; and
    i. Describe how the EIS 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;
    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 
including the State Historic Preservation Officer;
    d. Any affected Indian tribe including the Tribal Historic 
Preservation Officer;
    e. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation;
    f. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to 
participate in the scoping process; and
    g. 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

[[Page 9606]]

meeting for the EIS regarding TVA's COL application. The scoping 
meeting will be held at the Scottsboro Goosepond Civic Center, 1165 Ed 
Hembree Drive, Scottsboro, AL 35768, on Thursday, April 3, 2008. The 
meeting will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until 4:30 p.m., 
and again at 7 p.m. and will continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. The 
meeting will be transcribed and will include the following: (1) An 
overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, the 
proposed scope of the EIS, and the proposed review schedule; (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 for one hour prior to the start of each 
public meeting. 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 NEPA scoping process by 
contacting Ms. Mallecia Hood by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 
0673 or by e-mail to the NRC at Bellefonte.COLEIS@nrc.gov, no later 
than March 27, 2008. Members of the public may also register to speak 
at the meeting prior to the start of the 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. If special 
equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present information 
at the public meeting, the need should be brought to Ms. Hood's 
attention no later than March 18, 2008, 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 EIS 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 be hand-
delivered to the NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on federal workdays. To be considered 
in the scoping process, written comments must be postmarked or 
delivered by April 25, 2008. Electronic comments may be sent by e-mail 
to the NRC at Bellefonte.COLEIS@nrc.gov. Electronic submissions must be 
sent no later than April 25, 2008, to be considered in the scoping 
process. Comments will be available electronically and will be 
accessible through the NRC's Electronic Reading Room link https://
www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html at the NRC Homepage.
    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 COLs was the 
subject of the aforementioned Federal Register notice (73 FR 7611).
    At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a 
concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached regarding 
submitted comments 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 
Electronic Reading Room 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. 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 EIS, which will also be 
available for public inspection.
    Information about the proposed action, the EIS, and the scoping 
process may be obtained from Ms. Mallecia Hood at 301-415-0673 or by e-
mail at mah2@nrc.gov.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of February, 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James E. Lyons,
Director, Division of Site and Environmental Reviews, Office of New 
Reactors.
[FR Doc. E8-3212 Filed 2-20-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P