Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3; Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Consideration of Approval of Transfer of Licenses, 7310-7313 [2021-01742]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 16 / Wednesday, January 27, 2021 / Notices
are Eastern time and ending times are
approximate:
National Endowment for the
Arts, Constitution Center, 400 7th St.
SW, Washington, DC 20506.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Further information with reference to
these meetings can be obtained from Ms.
Sherry Hale, Office of Guidelines &
Panel Operations, National Endowment
for the Arts, Washington, DC 20506;
hales@arts.gov, or call 202/682–5696.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
closed portions of meetings are for the
purpose of Panel review, discussion,
evaluation, and recommendations on
financial assistance under the National
Foundation on the Arts and the
Humanities Act of 1965, as amended,
including information given in
confidence to the agency. In accordance
with the determination of the Chairman
of September 10, 2019, these sessions
will be closed to the public pursuant to
subsection (c)(6) of section 552b of title
5, United States Code.
ADDRESSES:
The Upcoming Meetings Are
Literature Fellowships (review of
applications): This meeting will be
closed.
Date and time: February 17, 2021;
2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
South Arts Leadership (review of
applications): This meeting will be
closed.
Date and time: February 17, 2021;
3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Dated: January 22, 2021.
Sherry P. Hale,
Staff Assistant, National Endowment for the
Arts.
[FR Doc. 2021–01787 Filed 1–26–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7537–01–P
NATIONAL FOUNDATION ON THE
ARTS AND THE HUMANITIES
National Endowment for the
Humanities
Agency Information Collection
Request; 60-Day Public Comment
Request
National Endowment for the
Humanities; National Foundation on the
Arts and the Humanities.
ACTION: Notice; request for comments.
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AGENCY:
In accordance with the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, the
National Endowment for the Humanities
(NEH) is seeking comment concerning a
proposed revision to an existing
information collection that it uses to
solicit grant applications, recruit peer
SUMMARY:
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reviewers, and monitor the performance
of recipients.
DATES: Please submit comments by
March 29, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments to Mr.
Timothy Carrigan, Chief Funding
Opportunity Officer, Office of Grant
Management, National Endowment for
the Humanities: 400 Seventh Street SW,
Washington, DC 20506, or tcarrigan@
neh.gov.
Mr.
Timothy Carrigan, Chief Funding
Opportunity Officer, Office of Grant
Management, National Endowment for
the Humanities: 400 Seventh Street SW,
Washington, DC 20506, or tcarrigan@
neh.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Overview of This Information
Collection
Type of Review: Revision of an
existing information collection.
Title of Information Collection:
Generic Clearance Authority for the
National Endowment for the
Humanities.
Abstract: The National Endowment
for the Humanities is seeking to renew
its generic clearance authority. The
generic clearance authority includes all
NEH information collections, except
one-time evaluations, questionnaires,
and surveys.
The proposed revision adjusts the
overall burden estimate from 88,815 to
296,433 hours. This estimate reflects the
anticipated change in the number of
respondents from 7,815 to 6,767 and the
updated estimated time per response
that more accurately reflects the hours
required to complete a grant
application. Previously, NEH estimated
fifteen hours were needed to complete
a grant application. Further study has
increased the estimate to sixty hours per
proposal. The burden estimate for
associated forms and reporting
requirements has not changed.
OMB Number: 3136–0134.
Affected Public: Applicants to NEH
grant programs, reviewers of NEH grant
applications, and NEH award recipients.
Frequency of Collection: On occasion.
Total Respondents: 6,767.
Total Responses: 6,767.
Estimated Time per Response: Varies
according to type of information
collection.
Estimated Total Burden Hours:
296,433.
Request for Comments
NEH will make comments submitted
in response to this notice, including
names and addresses where provided, a
matter of public record. NEH will
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summarize the contents and include
them in the request for OMB approval.
We are requesting comments on all
aspects of this clearance request,
including (a) whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information will have
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (d) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including through the
use of appropriate automated,
electronic, mechanical, or other
technological collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Dated: January 15, 2021.
Caitlin Cater,
Attorney-Advisor, National Endowment for
the Humanities.
[FR Doc. 2021–01743 Filed 1–26–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7536–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50–528, 50–529, 50–530, and
72–44; NRC–2021–0031]
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station,
Units 1, 2, and 3; Independent Spent
Fuel Storage Installation;
Consideration of Approval of Transfer
of Licenses
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Application for indirect transfer
of license; opportunity to comment,
request a hearing, and petition for leave
to intervene.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) received and is
considering approval of an indirect
license transfer application filed by
Arizona Public Service Company (APS)
on December 2, 2020. The application
seeks NRC approval of the indirect
transfer of possession-only nonoperating interests in Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. NPF–41, NPF–
51, and NPF–74 for Palo Verde Nuclear
Generating Station (Palo Verde), Units 1,
2, and 3, respectively, and the general
license for the Palo Verde Independent
Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI)
from Public Service Company of New
Mexico (PNM) to Avangrid, Inc.
(Avangrid), whereby PNM and its parent
holding company would become
indirect wholly owned subsidiaries of
Avangrid. PNM currently owns a 10.2
SUMMARY:
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 16 / Wednesday, January 27, 2021 / Notices
percent tenant-in-common interest and
holds possession-only rights in the NRC
licenses. The proposed indirect license
transfer would result from Avangrid
acquiring PNM and its parent holding
company as its subsidiaries, thereby
owning 100 percent of the shares in
PNM.
Comments must be filed by
February 26, 2021. Requests for a
hearing or petitions for leave to
intervene must be filed by February 16,
2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments
by any of the following methods;
however, the NRC encourages electronic
comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking Website:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2021–0031. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
• Mail comments to: Office of
Administration, Mail Stop: TWFN–7–
A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001, ATTN: Program Management,
Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining
information and submitting comments,
see ‘‘Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments’’ in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of
this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Siva
P. Lingam, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555–
0001; telephone: 301–415–1564, email:
Siva.Lingam@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
DATES:
I. Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments
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A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2021–
0031 when contacting the NRC about
the availability of information for this
action. You may obtain publicly
available information related to this
action by any of the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2021–0031.
• NRC’s Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly
available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. To begin the search, select
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‘‘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 application for indirect
transfer of the licenses dated December
2, 2020, is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML20337A344.
• Attention: The PDR, where you may
examine and order copies of public
documents, is currently closed. You
may submit your request to the PDR via
email at pdr.resource@nrc.gov or call 1–
800–397–4209 or 301–415–4737,
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST),
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic
comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking Website (https://
www.regulations.gov). Please include
Docket ID NRC–2021–0031 in your
comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include
identifying or contact information that
you do not want to be publicly
disclosed in your comment submission.
The NRC will post all comment
submissions at https://
www.regulations.gov as well as enter the
comment submissions into ADAMS.
The NRC does not routinely edit
comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating
comments from other persons for
submission to the NRC, then you should
inform those persons not to include
identifying or contact information that
they do not want to be publicly
disclosed in their comment submission.
Your request should state that the NRC
does not routinely edit comment
submissions to remove such information
before making the comment
submissions available to the public or
entering the comment submissions into
ADAMS.
II. Introduction
The NRC is considering the issuance
of an order under § 50.80 and § 72.50 of
title 10 of the Code of Federal
Regulations (10 CFR), approving the
indirect transfer of Renewed Facility
Operating License Nos. NPF–41, NPF–
51, and NPF–74 for Palo Verde, Units 1,
2, and 3, respectively, and the general
license for the Palo Verde ISFSI. PNM
currently owns a 10.2 percent tenant-incommon interest and holds possessiononly rights in the NRC licenses. The
proposed indirect license transfer would
result from Avangrid acquiring PNM
and its parent holding company as its
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subsidiaries, thereby owning 100
percent of the shares in PNM.
According to the application,
Avangrid is a New York corporation,
and its shares are publicly traded on the
New York Stock Exchange.
Approximately 18.5 percent of the
shares are widely held, with the vast
majority of these shares held by
institutional investors. Approximately
81.5 percent of the shares are owned by
Iberdrola, S.A. (Iberdrola), a Sociedad
Ano´nima organized under the laws of
the Kingdom of Spain. Iberdrola’s shares
are widely held and publicly traded on
the Madrid Stock Exchange. It is one of
the largest energy companies in the
world with a market capitalization of
$85 billion. Iberdrola is based in Spain.
The only known government-controlled
entities with interests in Iberdrola are
the Qatar Investment Authority, which
owns approximately 8.69 percent of
Iberdrola, and Norges Bank (the central
bank of Norway), which owns
approximately 3.43 percent of Iberdrola.
Neither the Qatar Investment Authority
nor Norges Bank has control over
Iberdrola or Avangrid or is represented
on their boards. Iberdrola has ownership
interests in six operating nuclear
reactors in Spain, one of which it
operates.
With respect to Palo Verde, APS owns
a 29.1 percent tenant-in-common
interest and holds both operating and
possession rights in the NRC licenses.
Further, APS operates each of the Palo
Verde units and the ISFSI pursuant to
the operating rights granted to it under
the license of each Palo Verde unit. The
remaining tenant-in-common co-owners
that hold possession-only rights in the
NRC licenses are: Salt River Project
Agricultural Improvement and Power
District (17.49 percent); Southern
California Edison Company (15.8
percent); IIF US Holding 2 LP (15.8
percent); Southern California Public
Power Authority (5.91 percent); and Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power
(5.7 percent). The proposed transaction
would not involve or implicate any
change in PNM’s rights and obligations
under any of the NRC licenses, nor
would it implicate APS’s or any other
possession-only co-owners’ rights and
obligations under any of the NRC
licenses.
According to the application, the
proposed indirect license transfer is
acceptable because: (1) PNM will
continue to have the requisite
managerial, technical, and financial
qualifications to continue its role as a
Palo Verde licensee; (2) PNM will
continue to provide reasonable
assurance of funding for
decommissioning Palo Verde; (3) the
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terms of the Palo Verde licenses will not
be affected; and (4) PNM has committed
to adopting a Negation Action Plan in
order to assure that the proposed
indirect license transfer will not result
in any impermissible foreign ownership,
control, or domination.
No physical changes or operational
changes are being proposed in the
application.
The NRC’s regulations at 10 CFR
50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50 state that no
license for a utilization facility or ISFSI,
or any right thereunder, shall be
transferred, either voluntarily or
involuntarily, directly or indirectly,
through transfer of control of the
license, unless the Commission gives its
consent in writing. The Commission
will approve an application for the
indirect transfer of a license if the
Commission determines that the
proposed transaction will not affect the
qualifications of the licensee to hold the
license, and that the transfer is
otherwise consistent with applicable
provisions of law, regulations, and
orders issued by the Commission.
III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing
and Petition for Leave To Intervene
Within 20 days after the date of
publication of this notice, any persons
(petitioner) whose interest may be
affected by this action may file a request
for a hearing and petition for leave to
intervene (petition) with respect to the
action. Petitions shall be filed in
accordance with the Commission’s
‘‘Agency Rules of Practice and
Procedure’’ in 10 CFR part 2. Interested
persons should consult a current copy
of 10 CFR 2.309. The NRC’s regulations
are accessible electronically from the
NRC Library on the NRC’s website at
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/cfr/. If a petition is filed, the
Commission or a presiding officer will
rule on the petition and, if appropriate,
a notice of a hearing will be issued.
As required by 10 CFR 2.309(d) the
petition should specifically explain the
reasons why intervention should be
permitted with particular reference to
the following general requirements for
standing: (1) The name, address, and
telephone number of the petitioner; (2)
the nature of the petitioner’s right to be
made a party to the proceeding; (3) the
nature and extent of the petitioner’s
property, financial, or other interest in
the proceeding; and (4) the possible
effect of any decision or order which
may be entered in the proceeding on the
petitioner’s interest.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f),
the petition must also set forth the
specific contentions that the petitioner
seeks to have litigated in the
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proceeding. Each contention must
consist of a specific statement of the
issue of law or fact to be raised or
controverted. In addition, the petitioner
must provide a brief explanation of the
bases for the contention and a concise
statement of the alleged facts or expert
opinion that support the contention and
on which the petitioner intends to rely
in proving the contention at the hearing.
The petitioner must also provide
references to the specific sources and
documents on which the petitioner
intends to rely to support its position on
the issue. The petition must include
sufficient information to show that a
genuine dispute exists with the
applicant or licensee on a material issue
of law or fact. Contentions must be
limited to matters within the scope of
the proceeding. The contention must be
one which, if proven, would entitle the
petitioner to relief. A petitioner who
fails to satisfy the requirements at 10
CFR 2.309(f) with respect to at least one
contention will not be permitted to
participate as a party.
Those permitted to intervene become
parties to the proceeding, subject to any
limitations in the order granting leave to
intervene. Parties have the opportunity
to participate fully in the conduct of the
hearing with respect to resolution of
that party’s admitted contentions,
including the opportunity to present
evidence, consistent with the NRC’s
regulations, policies, and procedures.
Petitions must be filed no later than
20 days from the date of publication of
this notice. Petitions and motions for
leave to file new or amended
contentions that are filed after the
deadline will not be entertained absent
a determination by the presiding officer
that the filing demonstrates good cause
by satisfying the three factors in 10 CFR
2.309(c)(1)(i) through (iii). The petition
must be filed in accordance with the
filing instructions in the ‘‘Electronic
Submissions (E-Filing)’’ section of this
document.
A State, local governmental body,
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or
agency thereof, may submit a petition to
the Commission to participate as a party
under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(1). The petition
should state the nature and extent of the
petitioner’s interest in the proceeding.
The petition should be submitted to the
Commission no later than 20 days from
the date of publication of this notice.
The petition must be filed in accordance
with the filing instructions in the
‘‘Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)’’
section of this document, and should
meet the requirements for petitions set
forth in this section, except that under
10 CFR 2.309(h)(2) a State, local
governmental body, or Federally
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recognized Indian Tribe, or agency
thereof does not need to address the
standing requirements in 10 CFR
2.309(d) if the facility is located within
its boundaries. Alternatively, a State,
local governmental body, Federally
recognized Indian Tribe, or agency
thereof may participate as a non-party
under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
If a petition is submitted, any person
who is not a party to the proceeding and
is not affiliated with or represented by
a party may, at the discretion of the
presiding officer, be permitted to make
a limited appearance pursuant to the
provisions of 10 CFR 2.315(a). A person
making a limited appearance may make
an oral or written statement of his or her
position on the issues but may not
otherwise participate in the proceeding.
A limited appearance may be made at
any session of the hearing or at any
prehearing conference, subject to the
limits and conditions as may be
imposed by the presiding officer. Details
regarding the opportunity to make a
limited appearance will be provided by
the presiding officer if such sessions are
scheduled.
V. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)
All documents filed in NRC
adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing and petition for
leave to intervene (petition), any motion
or other document filed in the
proceeding prior to the submission of a
request for hearing or petition to
intervene, and documents filed by
interested governmental entities that
request to participate under 10 CFR
2.315(c), must be filed in accordance
with the NRC’s E-Filing rule (72 FR
49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at
77 FR 46562, August 3, 2012). The EFiling process requires participants to
submit and serve all adjudicatory
documents over the internet, or in some
cases to mail copies on electronic
storage media. Detailed guidance on
making electronic submissions may be
found in the Guidance for Electronic
Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC
website at https://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals.html. Participants
may not submit paper copies of their
filings unless they seek an exemption in
accordance with the procedures
described below.
To comply with the procedural
requirements of E-Filing, at least 10
days prior to the filing deadline, the
participant should contact the Office of
the Secretary by email at
hearing.docket@nrc.gov, or by telephone
at 301–415–1677, to (1) request a digital
identification (ID) certificate, which
allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign
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submissions and access the E-Filing
system for any proceeding in which it
is participating; and (2) advise the
Secretary that the participant will be
submitting a petition or other
adjudicatory document (even in
instances in which the participant, or its
counsel or representative, already holds
an NRC-issued digital ID certificate).
Based upon this information, the
Secretary will establish an electronic
docket for the hearing in this proceeding
if the Secretary has not already
established an electronic docket.
Information about applying for a
digital ID certificate is available on the
NRC’s public website at https://
www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/
getting-started.html. Once a participant
has obtained a digital ID certificate and
a docket has been created, the
participant can then submit
adjudicatory documents. Submissions
must be in Portable Document Format
(PDF). Additional guidance on PDF
submissions is available on the NRC’s
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/
site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A
filing is considered complete at the time
the documents are submitted through
the NRC’s E-Filing system. To be timely,
an electronic filing must be submitted to
the E-Filing system no later than 11:59
p.m. Eastern Time on the due date.
Upon receipt of a transmission, the EFiling system time-stamps the document
and sends the submitter an email notice
confirming receipt of the document. The
E-Filing system also distributes an email
notice that provides access to the
document to the NRC’s Office of the
General Counsel and any others who
have advised the Office of the Secretary
that they wish to participate in the
proceeding, so that the filer need not
serve the document on those
participants separately. Therefore,
applicants and other participants (or
their counsel or representative) must
apply for and receive a digital ID
certificate before adjudicatory
documents are filed so that they can
obtain access to the documents via the
E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using
the NRC’s adjudicatory E-Filing system
may seek assistance by contacting the
NRC’s Electronic Filing Help Desk
through the ‘‘Contact Us’’ link located
on the NRC’s public website at https://
www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html, by email to
MSHD.Resource@nrc.gov, or by a tollfree call at 1–866–672–7640. The NRC
Electronic Filing Help Desk is available
between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., Eastern
Time, Monday through Friday,
excluding government holidays.
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Participants who believe that they
have a good cause for not submitting
documents electronically must file an
exemption request, in accordance with
10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper
filing stating why there is good cause for
not filing electronically and requesting
authorization to continue to submit
documents in paper format. Such filings
must be submitted by: (1) First class
mail addressed to the Office of the
Secretary of the Commission, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or
(2) courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service to the Office of the
Secretary, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.
Participants filing adjudicatory
documents in this manner are
responsible for serving the document on
all other participants. Filing is
considered complete by first-class mail
as of the time of deposit in the mail, or
by courier, express mail, or expedited
delivery service upon depositing the
document with the provider of the
service. A presiding officer, having
granted an exemption request from
using E-Filing, may require a participant
or party to use E-Filing if the presiding
officer subsequently determines that the
reason for granting the exemption from
use of E-Filing no longer exists.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory
proceedings will appear in the NRC’s
electronic hearing docket which is
available to the public at https://
adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded
pursuant to an order of the Commission
or the presiding officer. If you do not
have an NRC-issued digital ID certificate
as described above, click ‘‘cancel’’ when
the link requests certificates and you
will be automatically directed to the
NRC’s electronic hearing docket where
you will be able to access any publicly
available documents in a particular
hearing docket. Participants are
requested not to include personal
privacy information, such as social
security numbers, home addresses, or
personal phone numbers in their filings,
unless an NRC regulation or other law
requires submission of such
information. For example, in some
instances, individuals provide home
addresses in order to demonstrate
proximity to a facility or site. With
respect to copyrighted works, except for
limited excerpts that serve the purpose
of the adjudicatory filings and would
constitute a Fair Use application,
participants are requested not to include
copyrighted materials in their
submission.
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The Commission will issue a notice or
order granting or denying a hearing
request or intervention petition,
designating the issues for any hearing
that will be held, and designating the
Presiding Officer. A notice granting a
hearing will be published in the Federal
Register and served on the parties to the
hearing.
For further details with respect to this
application, see the application dated
December 2, 2020 (ADAMS Accession
No. ML20337A344).
Dated: January 21, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dennis J. Galvin,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV,
Division of Operating Reactor Licensing,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2021–01742 Filed 1–26–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50–438 and 50–439; NRC–
2020–0273]
In the Matter of Tennessee Valley
Authority Bellefonte Nuclear Plant,
Units 1 and 2
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Order; issuance.
AGENCY:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) has approved the
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
requests to extend the latest
construction completion dates for
Bellefonte Nuclear Plant (BLN), Units 1
and 2, to October 1, 2021. TVA is the
current construction permit (CP) holder
for BLN, Units 1 and 2. The initial CPs
for BLN were issued on December 24,
1974, authorizing TVA to construct
BLN, Units 1 and 2, in Jackson County,
AL.
DATES: The Order was issued on January
22, 2021.
ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket NRC–
2020–0273 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information
regarding this document. You may
obtain publicly available information
related to this document using any of
the following methods:
• Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2020–0273. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301–287–9127; email:
Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed
in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\27JAN1.SGM
27JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 16 (Wednesday, January 27, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7310-7313]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01742]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket Nos. 50-528, 50-529, 50-530, and 72-44; NRC-2021-0031]
Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1, 2, and 3;
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Consideration of Approval
of Transfer of Licenses
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Application for indirect transfer of license; opportunity to
comment, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received and is
considering approval of an indirect license transfer application filed
by Arizona Public Service Company (APS) on December 2, 2020. The
application seeks NRC approval of the indirect transfer of possession-
only non-operating interests in Renewed Facility Operating License Nos.
NPF-41, NPF-51, and NPF-74 for Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station
(Palo Verde), Units 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and the general license
for the Palo Verde Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI)
from Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to Avangrid, Inc.
(Avangrid), whereby PNM and its parent holding company would become
indirect wholly owned subsidiaries of Avangrid. PNM currently owns a
10.2
[[Page 7311]]
percent tenant-in-common interest and holds possession-only rights in
the NRC licenses. The proposed indirect license transfer would result
from Avangrid acquiring PNM and its parent holding company as its
subsidiaries, thereby owning 100 percent of the shares in PNM.
DATES: Comments must be filed by February 26, 2021. Requests for a
hearing or petitions for leave to intervene must be filed by February
16, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods;
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking Website:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0031. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges;
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
Mail comments to: Office of Administration, Mail Stop:
TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, ATTN: Program Management, Announcements and Editing Staff.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Siva P. Lingam, Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1564, email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0031 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly available information related to this action by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0031.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 [email protected]. The application for indirect transfer
of the licenses dated December 2, 2020, is available in ADAMS under
Accession No. ML20337A344.
Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request
to the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 or
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the
Federal Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please
include Docket ID NRC-2021-0031 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment submissions available
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. Introduction
The NRC is considering the issuance of an order under Sec. 50.80
and Sec. 72.50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10
CFR), approving the indirect transfer of Renewed Facility Operating
License Nos. NPF-41, NPF-51, and NPF-74 for Palo Verde, Units 1, 2, and
3, respectively, and the general license for the Palo Verde ISFSI. PNM
currently owns a 10.2 percent tenant-in-common interest and holds
possession-only rights in the NRC licenses. The proposed indirect
license transfer would result from Avangrid acquiring PNM and its
parent holding company as its subsidiaries, thereby owning 100 percent
of the shares in PNM.
According to the application, Avangrid is a New York corporation,
and its shares are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
Approximately 18.5 percent of the shares are widely held, with the vast
majority of these shares held by institutional investors. Approximately
81.5 percent of the shares are owned by Iberdrola, S.A. (Iberdrola), a
Sociedad An[oacute]nima organized under the laws of the Kingdom of
Spain. Iberdrola's shares are widely held and publicly traded on the
Madrid Stock Exchange. It is one of the largest energy companies in the
world with a market capitalization of $85 billion. Iberdrola is based
in Spain. The only known government-controlled entities with interests
in Iberdrola are the Qatar Investment Authority, which owns
approximately 8.69 percent of Iberdrola, and Norges Bank (the central
bank of Norway), which owns approximately 3.43 percent of Iberdrola.
Neither the Qatar Investment Authority nor Norges Bank has control over
Iberdrola or Avangrid or is represented on their boards. Iberdrola has
ownership interests in six operating nuclear reactors in Spain, one of
which it operates.
With respect to Palo Verde, APS owns a 29.1 percent tenant-in-
common interest and holds both operating and possession rights in the
NRC licenses. Further, APS operates each of the Palo Verde units and
the ISFSI pursuant to the operating rights granted to it under the
license of each Palo Verde unit. The remaining tenant-in-common co-
owners that hold possession-only rights in the NRC licenses are: Salt
River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (17.49
percent); Southern California Edison Company (15.8 percent); IIF US
Holding 2 LP (15.8 percent); Southern California Public Power Authority
(5.91 percent); and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (5.7
percent). The proposed transaction would not involve or implicate any
change in PNM's rights and obligations under any of the NRC licenses,
nor would it implicate APS's or any other possession-only co-owners'
rights and obligations under any of the NRC licenses.
According to the application, the proposed indirect license
transfer is acceptable because: (1) PNM will continue to have the
requisite managerial, technical, and financial qualifications to
continue its role as a Palo Verde licensee; (2) PNM will continue to
provide reasonable assurance of funding for decommissioning Palo Verde;
(3) the
[[Page 7312]]
terms of the Palo Verde licenses will not be affected; and (4) PNM has
committed to adopting a Negation Action Plan in order to assure that
the proposed indirect license transfer will not result in any
impermissible foreign ownership, control, or domination.
No physical changes or operational changes are being proposed in
the application.
The NRC's regulations at 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50 state that
no license for a utilization facility or ISFSI, or any right
thereunder, shall be transferred, either voluntarily or involuntarily,
directly or indirectly, through transfer of control of the license,
unless the Commission gives its consent in writing. The Commission will
approve an application for the indirect transfer of a license if the
Commission determines that the proposed transaction will not affect the
qualifications of the licensee to hold the license, and that the
transfer is otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law,
regulations, and orders issued by the Commission.
III. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To
Intervene
Within 20 days after the date of publication of this notice, any
persons (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene
(petition) with respect to the action. Petitions shall be filed in
accordance with the Commission's ``Agency Rules of Practice and
Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons should consult a
current copy of 10 CFR 2.309. The NRC's regulations are accessible
electronically from the NRC Library on the NRC's website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. If a petition is filed,
the Commission or a presiding officer will rule on the petition and, if
appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be issued.
As required by 10 CFR 2.309(d) the petition should specifically
explain the reasons why intervention should be permitted with
particular reference to the following general requirements for
standing: (1) The name, address, and telephone number of the
petitioner; (2) the nature of the petitioner's right to be made a party
to the proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the petitioner's
property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) the
possible effect of any decision or order which may be entered in the
proceeding on the petitioner's interest.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f), the petition must also set
forth the specific contentions that the petitioner seeks to have
litigated in the proceeding. Each contention must consist of a specific
statement of the issue of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In
addition, the petitioner must provide a brief explanation of the bases
for the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or
expert opinion that support the contention and on which the petitioner
intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing. The
petitioner must also provide references to the specific sources and
documents on which the petitioner intends to rely to support its
position on the issue. The petition must include sufficient information
to show that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant or licensee on
a material issue of law or fact. Contentions must be limited to matters
within the scope of the proceeding. The contention must be one which,
if proven, would entitle the petitioner to relief. A petitioner who
fails to satisfy the requirements at 10 CFR 2.309(f) with respect to at
least one contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding,
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene.
Parties have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the
hearing with respect to resolution of that party's admitted
contentions, including the opportunity to present evidence, consistent
with the NRC's regulations, policies, and procedures.
Petitions must be filed no later than 20 days from the date of
publication of this notice. Petitions and motions for leave to file new
or amended contentions that are filed after the deadline will not be
entertained absent a determination by the presiding officer that the
filing demonstrates good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) through (iii). The petition must be filed in
accordance with the filing instructions in the ``Electronic Submissions
(E-Filing)'' section of this document.
A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian
Tribe, or agency thereof, may submit a petition to the Commission to
participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(1). The petition should
state the nature and extent of the petitioner's interest in the
proceeding. The petition should be submitted to the Commission no later
than 20 days from the date of publication of this notice. The petition
must be filed in accordance with the filing instructions in the
``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document, and
should meet the requirements for petitions set forth in this section,
except that under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(2) a State, local governmental body,
or Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof does not need
to address the standing requirements in 10 CFR 2.309(d) if the facility
is located within its boundaries. Alternatively, a State, local
governmental body, Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof
may participate as a non-party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
If a petition is submitted, any person who is not a party to the
proceeding and is not affiliated with or represented by a party may, at
the discretion of the presiding officer, be permitted to make a limited
appearance pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.315(a). A person
making a limited appearance may make an oral or written statement of
his or her position on the issues but may not otherwise participate in
the proceeding. A limited appearance may be made at any session of the
hearing or at any prehearing conference, subject to the limits and
conditions as may be imposed by the presiding officer. Details
regarding the opportunity to make a limited appearance will be provided
by the presiding officer if such sessions are scheduled.
V. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)
All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a
request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition), any
motion or other document filed in the proceeding prior to the
submission of a request for hearing or petition to intervene, and
documents filed by interested governmental entities that request to
participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with the
NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR
46562, August 3, 2012). The E-Filing process requires participants to
submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in
some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. Detailed
guidance on making electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance
for Electronic Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may not submit
paper copies of their filings unless they seek an exemption in
accordance with the procedures described below.
To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the
Office of the Secretary by email at [email protected], or by
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID)
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or
representative) to digitally sign
[[Page 7313]]
submissions and access the E-Filing system for any proceeding in which
it is participating; and (2) advise the Secretary that the participant
will be submitting a petition or other adjudicatory document (even in
instances in which the participant, or its counsel or representative,
already holds an NRC-issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this
information, the Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the
hearing in this proceeding if the Secretary has not already established
an electronic docket.
Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the
time the documents are submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To
be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing
system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon
receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system time-stamps the document
and sends the submitter an email notice confirming receipt of the
document. The E-Filing system also distributes an email notice that
provides access to the document to the NRC's Office of the General
Counsel and any others who have advised the Office of the Secretary
that they wish to participate in the proceeding, so that the filer need
not serve the document on those participants separately. Therefore,
applicants and other participants (or their counsel or representative)
must apply for and receive a digital ID certificate before adjudicatory
documents are filed so that they can obtain access to the documents via
the E-Filing system.
A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by
email to [email protected], or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m.
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government
holidays.
Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and
Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this
manner are responsible for serving the document on all other
participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of
the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the
provider of the service. A presiding officer, having granted an
exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a participant or
party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer subsequently determines
that the reason for granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no
longer exists.
Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued
digital ID certificate as described above, click ``cancel'' when the
link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to
the NRC's electronic hearing docket where you will be able to access
any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket.
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information,
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone
numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law
requires submission of such information. For example, in some
instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate
proximity to a facility or site. With respect to copyrighted works,
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants are
requested not to include copyrighted materials in their submission.
The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues for
any hearing that will be held, and designating the Presiding Officer. A
notice granting a hearing will be published in the Federal Register and
served on the parties to the hearing.
For further details with respect to this application, see the
application dated December 2, 2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20337A344).
Dated: January 21, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dennis J. Galvin,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2021-01742 Filed 1-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
