Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare Environmental Impact Statement; NextEra Energy Point Beach, LLC, Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, 7747-7749 [2021-02001]

Agencies

• NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 19 (Monday, February 1, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7747-7749]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-02001]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-266 and 50-301; NRC-2020-0277]


Notice of Intent To Conduct Scoping Process and Prepare 
Environmental Impact Statement; NextEra Energy Point Beach, LLC, Point 
Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[[Page 7748]]


ACTION: Intent to conduct scoping process and prepare environmental 
impact statement; public scoping meeting and request for comment.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a 
scoping process to gather information necessary to prepare an 
environmental impact statement (EIS) to evaluate the environmental 
impacts for the subsequent license renewal of the operating licenses 
for Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (Point Beach). The NRC is 
seeking public comment on this action and has scheduled a public 
scoping meeting that will take place as an online webinar.

DATES: The NRC will hold a public scoping meeting as an online webinar 
on February 17, 2021, from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time 
(EST). Submit comments on the scope of the EIS by March 3, 2021. 
Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical 
to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments 
received on or before this date.

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://regulations.gov 
and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0277. 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: Phyllis Clark, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6447, email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0277 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://regulations.gov 
and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0277.
     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 ADAMS accession number for each 
document referenced in this document (if it is available in ADAMS) is 
provided the first time that it is referenced.
     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-2020-0277 in the subject line of your comment 
submission in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make your comment 
submission available to the public in this docket.
    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 into ADAMS.

II. Discussion

    By letter dated November 16, 2020 (ADAMS Package Accession No. 
ML20329A292), NextEra Energy Point Beach, LLC (NextEra) submitted to 
the NRC an application for subsequent license renewal (SLR) of Renewed 
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-24 and DPR-27 for Point Beach, 
Units 1 and 2, respectively, for an additional 20 years of operation. 
This submission initiated the NRC's proposed action of determining 
whether to grant the SLR application. The Point Beach units are 
pressurized water reactors designed by Westinghouse Electric 
Corporation and are located on the shore of Lake Michigan, in the Town 
of Two Creeks, Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, approximately 15 miles 
north-northeast of Manitowoc. The current renewed facility operating 
license for Unit 1 expires at midnight on October 5, 2030, and the 
current renewed facility operating license for Unit 2 expires at 
midnight on March 8, 2033. The SLR application was submitted pursuant 
to part 54 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) and 
seeks to extend the renewed facility operating license for Unit 1 to 
midnight on October 5, 2050, and the renewed facility operating license 
for Unit 2 to midnight on March 8, 2053. A notice of receipt and 
availability of the application was published in the Federal Register 
on December 29, 2020 (85 FR 85685). A notice of acceptance for 
docketing of the application and of opportunity to request a hearing 
was published in the Federal Register on January 22, 2021 (86 FR 6684) 
and is available on the Federal Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov) by searching for Docket ID NRC-2020-0277.

III. Request for Comment

    This notice informs the public of the NRC's intention to conduct 
environmental scoping and prepare an EIS related to the SLR application 
for Point Beach, and to provide the public an opportunity to 
participate in the environmental scoping process, as defined in 10 CFR 
51.29.
    The regulations in 36 CFR 800.8, ``Coordination With the National 
Environmental Policy Act,'' allow agencies to use their National 
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.) (NEPA) 
process to

[[Page 7749]]

fulfill the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act of 1966 (54 U.S.C. 300101, et seq.) (NHPA). Therefore, 
pursuant to 36 CFR 800.8(c), the NRC intends to use its process and 
documentation required for the preparation of the EIS on the proposed 
action to comply with Section 106 of the NHPA in lieu of the procedures 
set forth at 36 CFR 800.3 through 800.6.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, NextEra 
submitted an environmental report (ER) as part of the SLR application. 
The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 CFR part 51 and is publicly 
available at ADAMS Accession No. ML20329A248. The ER will also be 
available for viewing at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/subsequent-license-renewal.html. In addition, the SLR 
application, including the ER, is available for public review on the 
website of the Lester Public Library at https://www.lesterlibrary.org/.
    The NRC intends to gather the information necessary to prepare a 
plant-specific supplement to NUREG-1437, ``Generic Environmental Impact 
Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants'' (ADAMS Package 
Accession No. ML13107A023) (GEIS), related to the SLR application for 
Point Beach. The NRC is required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a plant-
specific 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 at 10 CFR part 51.
    The supplement to the GEIS will evaluate the environmental impacts 
of subsequent license renewal for Point Beach, and reasonable 
alternatives thereto. Possible alternatives to the proposed action 
include the no action alternative and reasonable alternative energy 
sources.
    As part of its environmental review, the NRC will first conduct a 
scoping process for the plant-specific supplement to the GEIS and, as 
soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft supplement to the 
GEIS for public comment. Participation in this 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 that 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 are not significant or that have been covered by prior 
environmental review;
    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 under consideration;
    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 NRC'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, 
including any contractor assistance to be used.
    The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
    a. The applicant, NextEra;
    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 under 10 CFR 2.309.

IV. Public Scoping Meeting

    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26(b), the scoping process for an EIS 
may include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant 
issues related to the proposed action and to determine the scope of 
issues to be addressed in the EIS.
    The NRC is announcing that it will hold a public scoping meeting as 
an online webinar for the Point Beach subsequent license renewal 
supplement to the GEIS. The webinar will include a telephone line for 
members of the public to provide comments. A court reporter will 
transcribe all comments received during the webinar. To be considered, 
comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meeting or 
in writing, as discussed in the ADDRESSES section of this document. The 
public scoping webinar will be held on February 17, 2021, from 2:00 
p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST. Persons interested in attending this online 
webinar should monitor the NRC's Public Meeting Schedule website at 
https://www.nrc.gov/pmns/mtg for additional information, agendas for 
the meeting, and access information for the webinar. Please contact Ms. 
Phyllis Clark no later than February 10, 2021, if accommodations or 
special equipment is needed to attend or to provide comments, so that 
the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated.
    The public scoping meeting will include: (1) An overview by the NRC 
staff of the environmental and safety review processes, 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 
environmental issues or the proposed scope of the Point Beach 
subsequent license renewal supplement to the GEIS.
    Participation in the scoping process for the Point Beach subsequent 
license renewal 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: January 26, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Robert B. Elliott,
Chief, Environmental Review License Renewal Branch, Division of 
Rulemaking, Environment, and Financial Support, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2021-02001 Filed 1-29-21; 8:45 am]
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