Nebraska Public Power District: Cooper Nuclear Station; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process, 4476-4477 [E9-1563]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 15 (Monday, January 26, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4476-4477]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1563]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50-298; NRC-2008-0617]


Nebraska Public Power District: Cooper Nuclear Station; Notice of 
Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping 
Process

    Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) has submitted an application 
for renewal of Facility Operating License No. DPR-46 for an additional 
20 years of operation at the Cooper Nuclear Station (CNS). CNS is 
located near Brownville, NE.
    The operating license for CNS expires on January 18, 2014. The 
application for renewal, dated September 24, 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 November 17, 2008 (73 FR 67896). A notice of acceptance for 
docketing of the application for renewal of the facility operating 
license was also published in the Federal Register on December 30, 2008 
(73 FR 79921). 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, NPPD 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 Number for the ER is ML083030246. 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 https://
www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/
cooper.html. In addition, the ER is available for public inspection 
near CNS at the Auburn Memorial Library, 1810 Courthouse Ave., Auburn, 
NE 68305, telephone (402) 274-4023.
    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 CNS operating license for an 
additional 20 years. Possible 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 ElSs 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, Nebraska Public Power District.
    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.

[[Page 4477]]

    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 CNS license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meetings 
will be held on February 25, 2009. There will be two sessions, an 
afternoon and evening session, to accommodate interested parties. The 
first session will be held at the Brownville Concert Hall at 126 
Atlantic St., Brownville, NE 68321, telephone (402) 825-3331, 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 the Auburn Senior Center at 1101 J 
St., Auburn, NE 68305, telephone, (402) 274-3420, and will convene at 7 
p.m., with a repeat of the overview portions of the 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 Project Managers, Mr. 
Tam Tran, telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 3617, or by e-mail to 
the NRC at tam.tran@nrc.gov or Mr. Emmanuel Sayoc, by telephone at 1-
800-368-5642, extension 1924, or by e-mail to the NRC at 
emmanuel.sayoc@nrc.gov, no later than February 18, 2009. 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. Mr. 
Tam Tran or Mr. Sayoc will need to be contacted no later than February 
18, 2009, 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 KPS license renewal review to: Chief, 
Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, Division of Administrative 
Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the 
publication date and page number of this Federal Register notice. To be 
considered in the scoping process, written comments should be 
postmarked by March 23, 2009. Electronic comments may be sent by e-mail 
to the NRC at CooperEIS@nrc.gov, and should be sent no later than March 
23, 2009, 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 previously included in 
the Federal Register dated December 30, 2008 (73 FR 79921). 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 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 the Project Managers Mr. 
Sayoc and Mr. Tran at the aforementioned telephone number or e-mail 
addresses.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of January 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David L. Pelton,
Chief, Projects Branch 1, Division of License Renewal, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E9-1563 Filed 1-23-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P