Proposed Dewey-Burdock Project in Fall River and Custer Counties, South Dakota, for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities, 5468-5469 [2014-02043]

Download as PDF 5468 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 21 / Friday, January 31, 2014 / Notices The public may examine and have copied for a fee publicly available documents, including the final supporting statement, at the NRC’s Public Document Room, Room O–1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. The OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC’s Web site: https://www.nrc.gov/ public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC’s home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by March 3, 2014. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date. Danielle Y. Jones, Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150–XXXX), NEOB–10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be emailed to Danielle_Y_Jones@omb.eop.gov or submitted by telephone at 202–395– 1741. The Acting NRC Clearance Officer is Kristen Benney, telephone: 301–415– 6355. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of January, 2014. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Fajr Majeed, Acting NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information Services. [FR Doc. 2014–01955 Filed 1–30–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC–2012–0277] Proposed Dewey-Burdock Project in Fall River and Custer Counties, South Dakota, for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Final supplemental environmental impact statement; issuance. AGENCY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) (NUREG–1910, Supplement 4) for the Dewey-Burdock In-Situ Uranium Recovery (ISR) Project. By letter dated August 10, 2009, Powertech USA, Inc. (Powertech) submitted an application to the NRC for tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES SUMMARY: VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:23 Jan 30, 2014 Jkt 232001 a new source materials license for the Dewey-Burdock ISR Project, which Powertech proposes to be located in Fall River and Custer Counties, South Dakota. Powertech is proposing to recover uranium from the DeweyBurdock Project site using the in-situ recovery process. ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2012–0277 when contacting the NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You may access publicly-available information related to this action by the following methods: • Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC–2012–0277. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301–287–3422; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document. • NRC’s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC Library at https://www.nrc.gov/readingrm/adams.html. To begin the search, select ‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is referenced. The ‘‘Final SEIS (NUREG–1910, Supplement 4) is available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML14024A477 and ML14024A478. • NRC’s PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public documents at the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Haimanot Yilma, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC, 20555–0001; telephone: 301–415– 8029, email: Haimanot.Yilma@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the NRC’s environmental protection regulations in part 51 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or supplement to an EIS (SEIS) is required for issuance of a license to PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 possess and use source material for uranium milling (see 10 CFR 51.20(b)(8)). In May 2009, the NRC staff issued NUREG–1910, ‘‘Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities’’ (herein referred to as the GEIS). In the GEIS, NRC assessed the potential environmental impacts from construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of an ISR facility located in four specific geographic regions of the western United States. The proposed DeweyBurdock ISR Project is located within the Nebraska-South Dakota-Wyoming Uranium Milling Region identified in the GEIS. This final SEIS supplements the GEIS and incorporates by reference relevant portions from the GEIS, and uses site-specific information from the applicant’s license application and other independent sources to fulfill the requirements in 10 CFR 51.20(b)(8). The final SEIS was prepared in response to an application submitted by Powertech by letter dated August 10, 2009. The applicant proposes the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of an in-situ recovery facility to recover uranium. The final SEIS was prepared by the NRC and its contractor, the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA), in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in compliance with NEPA, and the NRC’s regulations for implementing NEPA (10 CFR part 51). The proposed Dewey-Burdock project will be located approximately 21 km [13 mi] north-northwest of Edgemont, South Dakota, in northern Fall River and southern Custer Counties. The proposed facility would encompass approximately 4,282 hectares (ha) (10,580 acres [ac]), which consists of two contiguous mining units: the Burdock Unit and the Dewey Unit. The final SEIS is being issued as part of the NRC’s process to decide whether to issue a license to Powertech pursuant to 10 CFR part 40. In this final SEIS, the NRC staff has assessed the potential environmental impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of the proposed Dewey-Burdock project. The NRC staff accessed the impacts of the proposed action and its alternatives on land use; historical and cultural resources; visual and scenic resources; climatology, meteorology and air quality; geology, minerals and soils; water resources; ecological resources; socioeconomics; environmental justice; noise; traffic and transportation; public E:\FR\FM\31JAN1.SGM 31JAN1 tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 21 / Friday, January 31, 2014 / Notices and occupational health and safety; and waste management. Additionally, the final SEIS analyzes and compares the benefits and costs of the proposed action. In preparing this final SEIS, the NRC staff also considered, evaluated, and addressed the public comments received on the draft SEIS published on November 26, 2012 (77 FR 70486). Appendix E of final SEIS captures the public’s comments and the NRC’s responses. In doing so, the NRC staff evaluated site-specific data and information from the Dewey-Burdock ISR Project to determine if Powertech’s proposed activities and the site characteristics were consistent with those evaluated in the GEIS. The NRC then determined which relevant sections of, and impact conclusions in, the GEIS could be incorporated by reference. The NRC staff also determined if additional data or analysis was needed to assess the potential environmental impacts for a specific environmental resource area. The NRC documented its assessments and conclusions in the final SEIS. In addition to the action proposed by Powertech, the NRC staff addressed the no-action alternative, as well as alternative wastewater disposal options under the proposed action. All the alternatives were analyzed in detail. The no-action alternative serves as a baseline for comparison of the potential environmental impacts of the proposed action. After weighing the impacts of the proposed action and comparing the alternatives, the NRC staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.911(d), sets forth its recommendation regarding the proposed action. Unless safety issues mandate otherwise, the NRC staff recommends that the proposed action be approved (i.e., the NRC should issue a source material license for the proposed Dewey-Burdock ISR Project). The final SEIS for the proposed Dewey-Burdock project may also be accessed on the internet at https:// www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/nuregs/staff/ by selecting ‘‘NUREG–1910’’ or on the NRC’s DeweyBurdock ISR Project Web page at https:// www.nrc.gov/materials/uraniumrecovery/license-apps/dewey-burdock/ dewey-burdock-app-docs.html. Additionally, a copy of the final SEIS will be available at the following public libraries: Edgemont Public Library, 412 2nd Avenue, Edgemont, SD 57735. Rapid City Public Library, 610 Quincy Street, Rapid City, SD 57701–3630. Custer County Library, 447 Crook Street, Custer, SD 57730. VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:23 Jan 30, 2014 Jkt 232001 Weston County Library, 23 West Main Street, Newcastle, WY 82701. Hot Springs Public Library, 145 N. Chicago Street, Hot Springs, SD 57747. Oglala Lakota College Library, P.O. Box 310, Kyle, SD 57752. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of January 2014. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Christepher McKenney, Acting Deputy Director, Environmental Protection and Performance Assessment Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs. [FR Doc. 2014–02043 Filed 1–30–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Notice of Meeting In accordance with the purposes of Sections 29 and 182b of the Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 2039, 2232b), the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) will hold a meeting on February 5–7, 2014, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2014, CONFERENCE ROOM T2–B1, 11545 ROCKVILLE PIKE, ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND 8:30 a.m.–8:35 a.m.: Opening Remarks by the ACRS Chairman (Open)—The ACRS Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the conduct of the meeting. 8:35 a.m.–10:30 a.m.: Monticello Maximum Extended Load Line Limit Analysis Plus (MELLLA+) License Amendment Request (Open/Closed)— The Committee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff and Northern States Power Company of Minnesota (NSPM) regarding the Monticello Maximum Extended Load Line Limit Analysis Plus license amendment request and the associated staff safety evaluation report. [Note: A portion of this meeting may be closed in order to discuss and protect information designated as proprietary, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4).] 10:45 a.m.–12:45 p.m.: Proposed Revisions to 10 CFR Part 61 (Open)— The Radiation Protection and Nuclear Materials Subcommittee will discuss with the Full Committee the results of meetings regarding proposed revisions to 10 CFR Part 61. 1:45 p.m.–3:45 p.m.: Draft Report on the Biennial ACRS Review of the NRC PO 00000 Frm 00102 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 5469 Safety Research Program (Open)—The Committee will discuss the draft report on the biennial ACRS review of the NRC Safety Research Program. 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.: Preparation of ACRS Reports (Open/Closed)—The Committee will discuss proposed ACRS reports on matters discussed during this meeting. The Committee will also discuss a proposed response to the August 1, 2013, EDO letter to the ACRS regarding a proposed rulemaking on station blackout mitigation strategies. [NOTE: A portion of this session may be closed in order to discuss and protect information designated as proprietary, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4).] THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014, CONFERENCE ROOM T–2B1, 11545 ROCKVILLE PIKE, ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND 8:30 a.m.–10:00 a.m.: Future ACRS Activities/Report of the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee (Open/ Closed)—The Committee will discuss the recommendations of the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee regarding items proposed for consideration by the Full Committee during future ACRS Meetings, and matters related to the conduct of ACRS business, including anticipated workload and member assignments. [Note: A portion of this meeting may be closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b (c) (2) and (6) to discuss organizational and personnel matters that relate solely to internal personnel rules and practices of ACRS, and information the release of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.] 10:00 a.m.–10:15 a.m.: Reconciliation of ACRS Comments and Recommendations (Open)—The Committee will discuss the responses from the NRC Executive Director for Operations to comments and recommendations included in recent ACRS reports and letters. 10:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.: Preparation for ACRS Meeting with the Commission (Open)—The Committee will discuss a list of topics in preparation for the meeting with the Commission. 1:30 p.m.–6:00 p.m.: Preparation of ACRS Reports (Open/Closed)—The Committee will continue its discussion of proposed ACRS reports on matters discussed during this meeting. The Committee will also discuss a proposed response to the August 1, 2013, EDO letter to the ACRS regarding a proposed rulemaking on station blackout mitigation strategies. [Note: A portion of this session may be closed in order to discuss and protect information designated as proprietary, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4).] E:\FR\FM\31JAN1.SGM 31JAN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5468-5469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-02043]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2012-0277]


Proposed Dewey-Burdock Project in Fall River and Custer Counties, 
South Dakota, for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Final supplemental environmental impact statement; issuance.

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

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) published the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (SEIS) (NUREG-1910, Supplement 4) for the Dewey-Burdock In-
Situ Uranium Recovery (ISR) Project. By letter dated August 10, 2009, 
Powertech USA, Inc. (Powertech) submitted an application to the NRC for 
a new source materials license for the Dewey-Burdock ISR Project, which 
Powertech proposes to be located in Fall River and Custer Counties, 
South Dakota. Powertech is proposing to recover uranium from the Dewey-
Burdock Project site using the in-situ recovery process.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2012-0277 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may access publicly-available information related to this action by the 
following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2012-0277. Address 
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-287-
3422; email: Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. For technical questions, contact 
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of 
this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC 
Library at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the 
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's 
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The ADAMS accession number 
for each document referenced in this notice (if that document is 
available in ADAMS) is provided the first time that a document is 
referenced. The ``Final SEIS (NUREG-1910, Supplement 4) is available in 
ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML14024A477 and ML14024A478.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Haimanot Yilma, Office of Federal 
and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, Washington DC, 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-
8029, email: Haimanot.Yilma@nrc.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the NRC's environmental protection 
regulations in part 51 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR), that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or 
supplement to an EIS (SEIS) is required for issuance of a license to 
possess and use source material for uranium milling (see 10 CFR 
51.20(b)(8)).
    In May 2009, the NRC staff issued NUREG-1910, ``Generic 
Environmental Impact Statement for In-Situ Leach Uranium Milling 
Facilities'' (herein referred to as the GEIS). In the GEIS, NRC 
assessed the potential environmental impacts from construction, 
operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning of an ISR facility 
located in four specific geographic regions of the western United 
States. The proposed Dewey-Burdock ISR Project is located within the 
Nebraska-South Dakota-Wyoming Uranium Milling Region identified in the 
GEIS. This final SEIS supplements the GEIS and incorporates by 
reference relevant portions from the GEIS, and uses site-specific 
information from the applicant's license application and other 
independent sources to fulfill the requirements in 10 CFR 51.20(b)(8).
    The final SEIS was prepared in response to an application submitted 
by Powertech by letter dated August 10, 2009. The applicant proposes 
the construction, operation, aquifer restoration, and decommissioning 
of an in-situ recovery facility to recover uranium.
    The final SEIS was prepared by the NRC and its contractor, the 
Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA), in cooperation 
with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), in compliance with NEPA, 
and the NRC's regulations for implementing NEPA (10 CFR part 51).
    The proposed Dewey-Burdock project will be located approximately 21 
km [13 mi] north-northwest of Edgemont, South Dakota, in northern Fall 
River and southern Custer Counties. The proposed facility would 
encompass approximately 4,282 hectares (ha) (10,580 acres [ac]), which 
consists of two contiguous mining units: the Burdock Unit and the Dewey 
Unit.
    The final SEIS is being issued as part of the NRC's process to 
decide whether to issue a license to Powertech pursuant to 10 CFR part 
40. In this final SEIS, the NRC staff has assessed the potential 
environmental impacts from the construction, operation, aquifer 
restoration, and decommissioning of the proposed Dewey-Burdock project. 
The NRC staff accessed the impacts of the proposed action and its 
alternatives on land use; historical and cultural resources; visual and 
scenic resources; climatology, meteorology and air quality; geology, 
minerals and soils; water resources; ecological resources; 
socioeconomics; environmental justice; noise; traffic and 
transportation; public

[[Page 5469]]

and occupational health and safety; and waste management. Additionally, 
the final SEIS analyzes and compares the benefits and costs of the 
proposed action. In preparing this final SEIS, the NRC staff also 
considered, evaluated, and addressed the public comments received on 
the draft SEIS published on November 26, 2012 (77 FR 70486). Appendix E 
of final SEIS captures the public's comments and the NRC's responses.
    In doing so, the NRC staff evaluated site-specific data and 
information from the Dewey-Burdock ISR Project to determine if 
Powertech's proposed activities and the site characteristics were 
consistent with those evaluated in the GEIS. The NRC then determined 
which relevant sections of, and impact conclusions in, the GEIS could 
be incorporated by reference. The NRC staff also determined if 
additional data or analysis was needed to assess the potential 
environmental impacts for a specific environmental resource area. The 
NRC documented its assessments and conclusions in the final SEIS.
    In addition to the action proposed by Powertech, the NRC staff 
addressed the no-action alternative, as well as alternative wastewater 
disposal options under the proposed action. All the alternatives were 
analyzed in detail. The no-action alternative serves as a baseline for 
comparison of the potential environmental impacts of the proposed 
action.
    After weighing the impacts of the proposed action and comparing the 
alternatives, the NRC staff, in accordance with 10 CFR 51.911(d), sets 
forth its recommendation regarding the proposed action. Unless safety 
issues mandate otherwise, the NRC staff recommends that the proposed 
action be approved (i.e., the NRC should issue a source material 
license for the proposed Dewey-Burdock ISR Project).
    The final SEIS for the proposed Dewey-Burdock project may also be 
accessed on the internet at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/ by selecting ``NUREG-1910'' or on the NRC's 
Dewey-Burdock ISR Project Web page at https://www.nrc.gov/materials/uranium-recovery/license-apps/dewey-burdock/dewey-burdock-app-docs.html. Additionally, a copy of the final SEIS will be available at 
the following public libraries:
Edgemont Public Library, 412 2nd Avenue, Edgemont, SD 57735.
Rapid City Public Library, 610 Quincy Street, Rapid City, SD 57701-
3630.
Custer County Library, 447 Crook Street, Custer, SD 57730.
Weston County Library, 23 West Main Street, Newcastle, WY 82701.
Hot Springs Public Library, 145 N. Chicago Street, Hot Springs, SD 
57747.
Oglala Lakota College Library, P.O. Box 310, Kyle, SD 57752.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of January 2014.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Christepher McKenney,
Acting Deputy Director, Environmental Protection and Performance 
Assessment Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental 
Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental 
Management Programs.
[FR Doc. 2014-02043 Filed 1-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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