Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct the Scoping Process for Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2, 4427-4428 [2010-1647]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4427-4428]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1647]



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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-275, 50-323; NRC-2009-0552]


Pacific Gas & Electric Company; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 
Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct the Scoping Process for 
Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2

    Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) has submitted an application 
for renewal of facility Operating License Nos. DPR-80 and DPR-82, for 
an additional 20 years of operation at the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power 
Plant (DCPP), Units 1 and 2. DCPP Units 1 and 2 are located in San Luis 
Obispo County, California, approximately 12 miles west-southwest of the 
San Luis Obispo city limits.
    The current operating licenses for DCPP, Units 1 and 2, expire on 
November 2, 2024 and August 26, 2025. The application for renewal, 
dated November 23, 2009, was submitted pursuant to Title 10 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) part 54, which included the 
environmental report (ER). A separate notice of receipt and 
availability of the application was published in the Federal Register 
on December 11, 2009 (74 FR 65811). A notice of acceptance for 
docketing of the applications and opportunity for hearing regarding 
renewal of the facility operating licenses is also being published in 
the Federal Register. 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 applications 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 (NEPA),'' 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, PG&E 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 ADAMS Accession Number for the DCPP, Units 1 and 2, ER 
is ML093340123. 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.resource@nrc.gov. The DCPP, Units 
1 and 2, ER may also be viewed on the Internet at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/diablo-canyon.html. 
In addition, the ER is available to the public near the site, at the 
San Luis Obispo Public Library, 995 Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, 
California 93401, and at the Paso Robles Public Library, 1000 Spring 
Street, Paso Robles, California 93446.
    This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the 
information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the 
NRC's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License 
Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' (NUREG-1437) related to the review of the 
applications for renewal of the DCPP, Unit 1 and 2, operating licenses 
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; and
    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, PG&E;
    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; and
    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 DCPP, Units 1 and 2, license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The 
scoping meetings will be held on March 3, 2010, and 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 p.m., as necessary. 
Both sessions will be held at the Embassy Suites San Luis Obispo, 333 
Madonna Road, San Luis Obispo, California 93405. 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

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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 Manager, Mr. 
Andrew L. Stuyvenberg, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 4006 
or by e-mail at Andrew.Stuyvenberg@nrc.gov no later than February 26, 
2010. 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. Stuyvenberg will need to be contacted no later than February 
26, 2010, 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 DCPP, Units 1 and 2, license renewal review 
to: Chief, Rulemaking and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative 
Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB 5B-01M, 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 April 10, 2010. Electronic comments may be sent by e-mail 
to the NRC at Diablo CanyonEIS@nrc.gov, and should be sent no later 
than April 10, 2010, 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. Matters related to 
participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be 
discussed at this public meeting.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of January, 2010.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David J. Wrona,
Chief, Projects Branch 2, Division of License Renewal, Office of 
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2010-1647 Filed 1-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P