Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process, 16729-16731 [E8-6388]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 61 (Friday, March 28, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16729-16731]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-6388]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-289]


Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process

    AmerGen Energy Company, LLC (AmerGen) has submitted an application 
for renewal of Facility Operating License No. DPR-50 for an additional 
20 years of operation at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1 
(TMI-1). TMI-1 is located in Londonderry Township in Dauphin County, 
Pennsylvania, on the northern end of Three Mile Island near the eastern 
shore of the Susquehanna River.
    The operating license for TMI-1 expires on April 19, 2014. The 
application for renewal, dated January 8, 2008, was submitted pursuant 
to Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 54. A 
notice of receipt and availability of the application, which included 
the environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on 
January 31, 2008 (73 FR 5877). A notice of acceptance for docketing of 
the application for renewal of the facility operating license was 
published in the Federal Register on March 14, 2008 (73 FR 13923). 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) related to 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 
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 of 1969 (NEPA).
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, AmerGen 
submitted the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared 
pursuant to 10 CFR part 51 and is publicly available at the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the NRC's Agencywide Documents 
Access and Management System (ADAMS). The ADAMS Public Electronic 
Reading Room is accessible at https://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The Accession Numbers for the ER are ML080220255, 
ML080220257, ML080220261, and ML080220282. 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 by 
telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737, or by e-mail at 
pdr@nrc.gov. The ER may also be viewed on the Internet at www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/three-mile-island.html. In addition, the ER is available for public inspection 
near TMI-1 at the following three locations: Londonderry Township 
Municipal Building, 783 South Geyers Church Road, Middletown, PA 17057; 
Middletown Public Library, 20 North Catherine Street, Middletown, PA 
17057; and Penn State Harrisburg Library, 351 Olmsted Drive, 
Middletown, PA 17057.
    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) related to the review 
of the application for renewal of the TMI-1 operating license for an 
additional 20 years. Possible

[[Page 16730]]

alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action 
and reasonable alternative energy sources. The NRC is required by 10 
CFR 51.95 to prepare a supplement to the GEIS in connection with the 
renewal of an operating license. 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 supplement to 
the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft 
supplement to the GEIS 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 
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 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 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 supplement 
to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies.
    h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, and 
include any contractor assistance to be used.
    The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
    a. The applicant, AmerGen Energy Company, 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 has petitioned or 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 has decided to hold public meetings for 
the TMI-1 license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings 
will be held on Thursday, May 1, 2008; there will be two sessions at 
two different locations to accommodate interested parties. The first 
session will be held at The Elks Theatre, 4 West Emaus Street, 
Middletown, PA 17057, and will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue 
until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session will be held at 
Londonderry Elementary School, 260 Schoolhouse Road, Middletown, PA 
17057, and will convene at 7 p.m. with a repeat of the overview 
portions of the afternoon meeting and will continue until 10 p.m., as 
necessary. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) An 
overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, the 
proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS, 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 supplement to the 
GEIS. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one 
hour prior to the start of each session at the same location. No formal 
comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS 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 meetings on the scope of the NEPA review by 
contacting the NRC License Renewal Project Manager, Ms. Sarah Lopas, by 
telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1147, or by e-mail to the NRC at 
SLL2@nrc.gov no later than April 24, 2008. 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. Ms. Lopas will need to 
be contacted no later than April 24, 2008, 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 TMI-1 license renewal review to: Chief, 
Rulemaking, Directives and Editing 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 the NRC, Room T-6D59, Two White Flint 
North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, 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 May 30, 2008. 
Electronic comments may be sent by e-mail to the NRC at 
ThreeMileIslandEIS@nrc.gov, and should be sent no later than May 30, 
2008, to be considered in the scoping process. Comments will be 
available electronically and accessible through ADAMS at https://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm.
    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 (73 FR 13923). Matters related 
to participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be 
discussed at this public meeting.
    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 in ADAMS at https://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the 
draft supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of separate 
notices and separate public meetings. 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

[[Page 16731]]

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 Ms. Lopas at the 
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of March 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo,
Director, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
 [FR Doc. E8-6388 Filed 3-27-08; 8:45 am]
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