Systematic Assessment for How the NRC Addresses Environmental Justice in Its Programs, Policies, and Activities, 43696-43698 [2021-16970]
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43696
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 10, 2021 / Notices
amendments involve NSHC. The basis
for this determination is contained in
the documents related to each action.
Accordingly, the amendment has been
issued and made effective as indicated.
For those amendments that have not
been previously noticed in the Federal
Register, within 60 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 guidance
concerning the Commission’s ‘‘Agency
Rules of Practice and Procedure’’ in 10
CFR part 2 as discussed in section II.A
of this document.
Unless otherwise indicated, the
Commission has determined that the
amendment satisfies the criteria for
categorical exclusion in accordance
with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefore, pursuant
to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental
impact statement or environmental
assessment need be prepared for this
amendment. If the Commission has
prepared an environmental assessment
under the special circumstances
provision in 10 CFR 51.12(b) and has
made a determination based on that
assessment, it is so indicated in the
safety evaluation for the amendment.
For further details with respect to
these actions, see the amendment and
associated documents such as the
Commission’s letter and safety
evaluation, which may be obtained
using the ADAMS accession numbers
indicated in the following table. The
safety evaluation will provide the
ADAMS accession number(s) for the
application for amendment and the
Federal Register citation for any
environmental assessment. All of these
items can be accessed as described in
the ‘‘Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments’’ section of this
document.
LICENSE AMENDMENT ISSUANCE—EXIGENT/EMERGENCY CIRCUMSTANCES
Pacific Gas and Electric Company; Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Unit 1; San Luis Obispo County, CA
Docket No(s) .......................................................
Amendment Date ................................................
ADAMS Accession No ........................................
Amendment No(s) ...............................................
Brief Description of Amendment(s) ....................
Local Media Notice (Yes/No) ..............................
Public Comments Requested as to Proposed
NSHC (Yes/No).
Dated: August 4, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Michael I. Dudek,
Deputy Director, Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2021–16925 Filed 8–9–21; 8:45 am]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
[NRC–2021–0137]
Systematic Assessment for How the
NRC Addresses Environmental Justice
in Its Programs, Policies, and Activities
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Extension of comment period.
AGENCY:
On July 9, 2021, the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
requested comments as part of its
systematic review for how NRC
programs, policies, and activities
address environmental justice.
Specifically, the NRC requested input
on how the agency is addressing
environmental justice, considering the
agency’s mission and statutory
authority. The information will be used
to inform the agency’s assessment of
how it addresses environmental justice.
The public comment period was
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originally scheduled to close on August
23, 2021. The NRC has decided to
extend the public comment period to
allow more time for members of the
public to develop and submit their
comments.
The due date for comments
requested in the notice published on
July 9, 2021 (86 FR 36307) is extended.
Submit comments by September 22,
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:
• Telephone: 301–415–3875 or 800–
882–4672.
• Email: NRC-EJReview@nrc.gov.
• 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.
• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov and search
for Docket ID NRC–2021–0137. Address
questions about Docket IDs in
Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301–415–0624; email:
Stacy.Schumann@nrc.gov. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed
DATES:
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
SUMMARY:
50–275.
July 8, 2021.
ML21188A345.
238.
The amendment provided a new Technical Specification 3.7.8 Condition A note, to allow a
one-time Completion Time of 144 hours to replace the Auxiliary Saltwater System Pump 1–1
motor during Cycle 23.
No.
No.
PO 00000
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in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
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:
Allen Fetter, Office of the Executive
Director for Operations, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555–0001, telephone: 301–415–
8556, email: Allen.Fetter@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and
Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC–2021–
0137 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–2021–0137.
• 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
E:\FR\FM\10AUN1.SGM
10AUN1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 10, 2021 / Notices
‘‘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 Staff Requirements
Memorandum (SRM)–M210218B,
‘‘Briefing on Equal Employment
Opportunity, Affirmative Employment,
and Small Business, 10:00 a.m.,
Thursday, February 18, 2021, Video
Conference Meeting,’’ dated April 23,
2021, which provides direction to the
staff or this assessment, is available in
ADAMS under Accession No.
ML21113A070.
• 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. (ET),
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays.
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages comment
submission via email and phone. Please
reference Docket ID NRC–2021–0137 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 comment
submissions received via
regulations.gov 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. Background
The NRC is an independent agency
established by the Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974 that began
operations in 1975 as a successor to the
licensing and regulatory activities of the
Atomic Energy Commission. The NRC’s
mission is to license and regulate the
Nation’s civilian use of radioactive
materials to provide reasonable
assurance of adequate protection of
public health and safety and to promote
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the common defense and security and to
protect the environment. As part of its
licensing and regulatory activities, the
NRC conducts safety, security, and
environmental reviews.
Specifically, with respect to
environmental reviews, the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of
1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq., requires all
Federal agencies to evaluate the impacts
of proposed major actions on the human
environment. As part of its
responsibilities under NEPA, the NRC
considers environmental justice.
According to the Commission, ‘‘[t]he
term ‘environmental justice’ refers to the
federal policy established in 1994 by
Executive Order 12898, which directed
federal agencies to identify and address
‘disproportionately high and adverse
human health or environmental effects
of its programs, policies, and activities
on minority and low-income
populations.’’’ Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc. (Indian Point Nuclear
Generating Units 2 and 3), CLI–15–6, 81
NRC 340, 369 (2015).
The NRC, as an independent agency,
was requested, rather than directed, to
comply with Executive Order 12898,
and this Executive Orderdid not, in
itself, create new substantive authority
for Federal agencies. In a March 31,
1994, letter to President Clinton, NRC
Chairman Ivan Selin indicated that the
NRC would endeavor to carry out the
measures set forth in Executive Order
12898 and the accompanying
memorandum as part of the NRC’s
efforts to comply with NEPA (ADAMS
Accession No. ML033210526). As noted
in the NRC’s 1995 Environmental
Justice Strategy (ADAMS Accession No.
ML20081K602 (March 24, 1995)),
because ‘‘the NRC is not a ‘land
management’ agency, i.e., it neither
sites, owns, or manages facilities or
properties,’’ the NRC determined that
Executive Order 12898 would
‘‘primarily apply to [NRC] efforts to
fulfill’’ NEPA requirements as part of
NRC’s licensing process.
On August 24, 2004, following public
comment on a draft Policy Statement
(68 FR 62642), the Commission issued
its ‘‘Policy Statement on the Treatment
of Environmental Justice Matters in NRC
Regulatory and Licensing Actions’’ (69
FR 52040). The purpose of this Policy
Statement was to set forth a
‘‘comprehensive statement of the
Commission’s policy on the treatment of
environmental justice matters in NRC
regulatory and licensing actions.’’ Id. at
52,041. The Policy Statement explains
that the focus of an environmental
justice review ‘‘should be on identifying
and weighing disproportionately
significant and adverse environmental
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
43697
impacts on minority and low-income
populations that may be different from
the impacts on the general population.
It is not a broad-ranging or even limited
review of racial or economic
discrimination.’’ Id. at 52,047.
The Policy Statement also reiterates
guidance on defining the geographic
area for environmental justice
assessments and identifying low-income
and minority communities. Id. In
addition, it explains that a scoping
process is used to ‘‘assist the NRC in
ensuring that minority and low-income
communities, including transient
populations, affected by the proposed
action are not overlooked in assessing
the potential for significant impacts
unique to those communities.’’ Id. at
52,048. In performing a NEPA analysis,
‘‘published demographic data,
community interviews and public input
through well-noticed public scoping
meetings should be used in identifying
minority and low-income communities
that may be subject to adverse
environmental impacts.’’ Id.
On April 23, 2021, in a Staff
Requirements Memorandum (ADAMS
Accession No. ML21113A070), the
Commission directed the staff to
‘‘systematically review how the agency’s
programs, polices, and activities address
environmental justice.’’ As part of this
review, the Commission directed the
staff to evaluate recent Executive Orders
and assess whether environmental
justice is appropriately considered and
addressed in the agency’s programs,
policies, and activities, given the
agency’s mission. As directed, the staff
will consider the practices of other
Federal, State, and Tribal agencies and
evaluate whether the NRC should
incorporate environmental justice
beyond implementation through NEPA.
The staff will also review the adequacy
of the 2004 Policy Statement. The
Commission further directed the staff to
consider whether establishing formal
mechanisms to gather external
stakeholder input would benefit any
future environmental justice efforts. To
carry out the Commission’s direction,
the staff is seeking to engage
stakeholders and interested persons
representing a broad range of
perspectives. This Federal Register
notice is part of this engagement effort.
III. Requested Information and
Comments
On July 9, 2021, the NRC published
a notice in the Federal Register (86 FR
36307) requesting comments. The
comment period was originally
scheduled to close on August 23, 2021.
The NRC staff has decided to extend the
comment period until September 13,
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43698
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 151 / Tuesday, August 10, 2021 / Notices
2021, to allow more time for members
of the public to submit their comments.
The NRC is interested in obtaining a
broad range of perspectives from
stakeholders and interested persons.
The focus of this request is to gather
information to inform a systematic
assessment for how the NRC addresses
environmental justice in its programs,
policies, and activities, considering the
agency’s mission and statutory
authority. The NRC is particularly
interested in receiving input on the
following questions:
(1) What is your understanding of
what is meant by environmental justice
at the NRC?
(2) As described in the Commission’s
2004 Policy Statement on the Treatment
of Environmental Justice Matters in NRC
Regulatory and Licensing Actions (69
FR 52040), the NRC currently addresses
environmental justice in its NEPA
reviews to determine if a proposed
agency action will have
disproportionately high and adverse
impacts on minority and low-income
communities, defined as environmental
justice communities.
(a) When the NRC is conducting
licensing and other regulatory reviews,
the agency uses a variety of ways to
gather information from stakeholders
and interested persons on
environmental impacts of the proposed
agency action, such as in-person and
virtual meetings, Federal Register
notices requesting input, and dialog
with community organizations.
(i) How could the NRC expand how
it engages and gathers input?
(ii) What formal tools might there be
to enhance information gathering from
stakeholders and interested persons in
NRC’s programs, policies, and
activities?
(iii) Can you describe any challenges
that may affect your ability to engage
with the NRC on environmental justice
issues?
(b) How could the NRC enhance
opportunities for members of
environmental justice communities to
participate in licensing and regulatory
activities, including the identification of
impacts and other environmental justice
concerns?
(c) What ways could the NRC enhance
identification of environmental justice
communities?
(d) What has the NRC historically
done well, or currently does well that
we could do more of or expand with
respect to environmental justice in our
programs, policies, and activities,
including engagement efforts? In your
view, what portions of the 2004 Policy
Statement are effective?
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17:05 Aug 09, 2021
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(3) What actions could the NRC take
to enhance consideration of
environmental justice in the NRC’s
programs, policies and activities and
agency decision-making, considering
the agency’s mission and statutory
authority?
(a) Would you recommend that NRC
consider any particular organization’s
environmental justice program(s) in its
assessment?
(b) Looking to other Federal, State,
and Tribal agencies’ environmental
justice programs, what actions could the
NRC take to enhance consideration of
environmental justice in the NRC’s
programs, policies, and activities?
(c) Considering recent Executive
Orders on environmental justice, what
actions could the NRC take to enhance
consideration of environmental justice
in the NRC’s programs, policies, and
activities?
(d) Are there opportunities to expand
consideration of environmental justice
in NRC programs, policies, and
activities, considering the agency’s
mission? If so, what are they?
Dated: August 4, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gregory F. Suber,
Director, Environmental Justice Review Team,
Office of the Executive Director for
Operations.
[FR Doc. 2021–16970 Filed 8–9–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–92561; File No. SR–FINRA–
2021–009]
Self-Regulatory Organizations;
Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc.; Order Approving a
Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a
Supplemental Liquidity Schedule, and
Instructions Thereto, Pursuant to
FINRA Rule 4524 (Supplemental
FOCUS Information)
August 4, 2021.
I. Introduction
On April 30, 2021, the Financial
industry Regulatory Authority
(‘‘FINRA’’) filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or
‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section
19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act
(‘‘Exchange Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4
thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to
adopt a Supplemental Liquidity
Schedule, and Instructions thereto,
1 15
2 17
PO 00000
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
Frm 00075
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
pursuant to FINRA Rule 4524
(Supplemental FOCUS Information).
The proposed rule change was
published for comment in the Federal
Register on May 18, 2021.3 The
comment period closed on June 8, 2021.
The Commission received one comment
letter in response to the Notice.4 On
June 22, 2021, FINRA extended the time
period in which the Commission must
approve the proposed rule change,
disapprove the proposed rule change, or
institute proceedings to determine
whether to disapprove the proposed
rule change to August 16, 2021. On July
7, 2021, FINRA responded to the
comment letter received in response to
the Notice.5 For the reasons discussed
below, the Commission is approving the
proposed rule change.
II. Description of the Proposed Rule
Change 6
FINRA Rule 4524 provides in part
that FINRA may require certain
members to file supplements to the
Financial and Operational Combined
Uniform Single Report (‘‘FOCUS
Report’’), which is filed pursuant to
Rule 17a–5 under the Exchange Act 7
and FINRA Rule 2010. These
supplements may include such
additional financial or operational
schedules or reports as FINRA may
deem necessary or appropriate for the
protection of investors or in the public
interest. FINRA Rule 4524 further
requires FINRA to file a proposed
schedule or report with the Commission
pursuant to section 19(b) of the
Exchange Act. Pursuant to FINRA Rule
4524, FINRA proposed to adopt a
Supplemental Liquidity Schedule
(‘‘SLS’’), and Instructions thereto.
A FINRA member that would be
required to file the Form SLS would
report detailed information relating to
the member’s:
3 See Exchange Act Release No. 91876 (May 12,
2021), 86 FR 27005 (May 18, 2021) (File No. SR–
FINRA–2021–009) (‘‘Notice’’).
4 See Letter from Kevin Zambrowicz, Managing
Director & Associate General Counsel, the Securities
Industry and Financial Markets Association
(‘‘SIFMA’’), dated June 8, 2021 (‘‘SIFMA Letter’’).
5 See Letter from Adam Arkel, Associate General
Counsel, Office of General Counsel, FINRA, to
Vanessa Countryman, Secretary, U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, dated July 7, 2021 (‘‘FINRA
Letter’’). The FINRA Letter is available on FINRA’s
website at https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/
2021-07/sr-finra-2021-009-response-tocomments.pdf, on the Commission’s website at
https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2021-009/
srfinra2021009.htm, and at the Commission’s
Public Reference Room.
6 The subsequent description of the proposed rule
change is substantially excerpted from FINRA’s
description in the Notice. See Notice, 86 FR at
27005–06.
7 17 CFR 240.17a–5 (‘‘Rule 17a–5’’). Paragraph (a)
of Rule 17a–5 requires a broker-dealer to file a
version of the FOCUS Report.
E:\FR\FM\10AUN1.SGM
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 151 (Tuesday, August 10, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43696-43698]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-16970]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2021-0137]
Systematic Assessment for How the NRC Addresses Environmental
Justice in Its Programs, Policies, and Activities
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Extension of comment period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: On July 9, 2021, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
requested comments as part of its systematic review for how NRC
programs, policies, and activities address environmental justice.
Specifically, the NRC requested input on how the agency is addressing
environmental justice, considering the agency's mission and statutory
authority. The information will be used to inform the agency's
assessment of how it addresses environmental justice. The public
comment period was originally scheduled to close on August 23, 2021.
The NRC has decided to extend the public comment period to allow more
time for members of the public to develop and submit their comments.
DATES: The due date for comments requested in the notice published on
July 9, 2021 (86 FR 36307) is extended. Submit comments by September
22, 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:
Telephone: 301-415-3875 or 800-882-4672.
Email: [email protected].
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.
Federal Rulemaking website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0137. Address
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann;
telephone: 301-415-0624; email: [email protected]. For technical
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT section of this document.
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: Allen Fetter, Office of the Executive
Director for Operations, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone: 301-415-8556, email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0137 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-2021-0137.
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
[[Page 43697]]
``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 Staff
Requirements Memorandum (SRM)-M210218B, ``Briefing on Equal Employment
Opportunity, Affirmative Employment, and Small Business, 10:00 a.m.,
Thursday, February 18, 2021, Video Conference Meeting,'' dated April
23, 2021, which provides direction to the staff or this assessment, is
available in ADAMS under Accession No. ML21113A070.
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. (ET), Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
B. Submitting Comments
The NRC encourages comment submission via email and phone. Please
reference Docket ID NRC-2021-0137 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 comment submissions received via
regulations.gov 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. Background
The NRC is an independent agency established by the Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974 that began operations in 1975 as a successor
to the licensing and regulatory activities of the Atomic Energy
Commission. The NRC's mission is to license and regulate the Nation's
civilian use of radioactive materials to provide reasonable assurance
of adequate protection of public health and safety and to promote the
common defense and security and to protect the environment. As part of
its licensing and regulatory activities, the NRC conducts safety,
security, and environmental reviews.
Specifically, with respect to environmental reviews, the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.,
requires all Federal agencies to evaluate the impacts of proposed major
actions on the human environment. As part of its responsibilities under
NEPA, the NRC considers environmental justice. According to the
Commission, ``[t]he term `environmental justice' refers to the federal
policy established in 1994 by Executive Order 12898, which directed
federal agencies to identify and address `disproportionately high and
adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs,
policies, and activities on minority and low-income populations.'''
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Indian Point Nuclear Generating Units
2 and 3), CLI-15-6, 81 NRC 340, 369 (2015).
The NRC, as an independent agency, was requested, rather than
directed, to comply with Executive Order 12898, and this Executive
Orderdid not, in itself, create new substantive authority for Federal
agencies. In a March 31, 1994, letter to President Clinton, NRC
Chairman Ivan Selin indicated that the NRC would endeavor to carry out
the measures set forth in Executive Order 12898 and the accompanying
memorandum as part of the NRC's efforts to comply with NEPA (ADAMS
Accession No. ML033210526). As noted in the NRC's 1995 Environmental
Justice Strategy (ADAMS Accession No. ML20081K602 (March 24, 1995)),
because ``the NRC is not a `land management' agency, i.e., it neither
sites, owns, or manages facilities or properties,'' the NRC determined
that Executive Order 12898 would ``primarily apply to [NRC] efforts to
fulfill'' NEPA requirements as part of NRC's licensing process.
On August 24, 2004, following public comment on a draft Policy
Statement (68 FR 62642), the Commission issued its ``Policy Statement
on the Treatment of Environmental Justice Matters in NRC Regulatory and
Licensing Actions'' (69 FR 52040). The purpose of this Policy Statement
was to set forth a ``comprehensive statement of the Commission's policy
on the treatment of environmental justice matters in NRC regulatory and
licensing actions.'' Id. at 52,041. The Policy Statement explains that
the focus of an environmental justice review ``should be on identifying
and weighing disproportionately significant and adverse environmental
impacts on minority and low-income populations that may be different
from the impacts on the general population. It is not a broad-ranging
or even limited review of racial or economic discrimination.'' Id. at
52,047.
The Policy Statement also reiterates guidance on defining the
geographic area for environmental justice assessments and identifying
low-income and minority communities. Id. In addition, it explains that
a scoping process is used to ``assist the NRC in ensuring that minority
and low-income communities, including transient populations, affected
by the proposed action are not overlooked in assessing the potential
for significant impacts unique to those communities.'' Id. at 52,048.
In performing a NEPA analysis, ``published demographic data, community
interviews and public input through well-noticed public scoping
meetings should be used in identifying minority and low-income
communities that may be subject to adverse environmental impacts.'' Id.
On April 23, 2021, in a Staff Requirements Memorandum (ADAMS
Accession No. ML21113A070), the Commission directed the staff to
``systematically review how the agency's programs, polices, and
activities address environmental justice.'' As part of this review, the
Commission directed the staff to evaluate recent Executive Orders and
assess whether environmental justice is appropriately considered and
addressed in the agency's programs, policies, and activities, given the
agency's mission. As directed, the staff will consider the practices of
other Federal, State, and Tribal agencies and evaluate whether the NRC
should incorporate environmental justice beyond implementation through
NEPA. The staff will also review the adequacy of the 2004 Policy
Statement. The Commission further directed the staff to consider
whether establishing formal mechanisms to gather external stakeholder
input would benefit any future environmental justice efforts. To carry
out the Commission's direction, the staff is seeking to engage
stakeholders and interested persons representing a broad range of
perspectives. This Federal Register notice is part of this engagement
effort.
III. Requested Information and Comments
On July 9, 2021, the NRC published a notice in the Federal Register
(86 FR 36307) requesting comments. The comment period was originally
scheduled to close on August 23, 2021. The NRC staff has decided to
extend the comment period until September 13,
[[Page 43698]]
2021, to allow more time for members of the public to submit their
comments.
The NRC is interested in obtaining a broad range of perspectives
from stakeholders and interested persons. The focus of this request is
to gather information to inform a systematic assessment for how the NRC
addresses environmental justice in its programs, policies, and
activities, considering the agency's mission and statutory authority.
The NRC is particularly interested in receiving input on the following
questions:
(1) What is your understanding of what is meant by environmental
justice at the NRC?
(2) As described in the Commission's 2004 Policy Statement on the
Treatment of Environmental Justice Matters in NRC Regulatory and
Licensing Actions (69 FR 52040), the NRC currently addresses
environmental justice in its NEPA reviews to determine if a proposed
agency action will have disproportionately high and adverse impacts on
minority and low-income communities, defined as environmental justice
communities.
(a) When the NRC is conducting licensing and other regulatory
reviews, the agency uses a variety of ways to gather information from
stakeholders and interested persons on environmental impacts of the
proposed agency action, such as in-person and virtual meetings, Federal
Register notices requesting input, and dialog with community
organizations.
(i) How could the NRC expand how it engages and gathers input?
(ii) What formal tools might there be to enhance information
gathering from stakeholders and interested persons in NRC's programs,
policies, and activities?
(iii) Can you describe any challenges that may affect your ability
to engage with the NRC on environmental justice issues?
(b) How could the NRC enhance opportunities for members of
environmental justice communities to participate in licensing and
regulatory activities, including the identification of impacts and
other environmental justice concerns?
(c) What ways could the NRC enhance identification of environmental
justice communities?
(d) What has the NRC historically done well, or currently does well
that we could do more of or expand with respect to environmental
justice in our programs, policies, and activities, including engagement
efforts? In your view, what portions of the 2004 Policy Statement are
effective?
(3) What actions could the NRC take to enhance consideration of
environmental justice in the NRC's programs, policies and activities
and agency decision-making, considering the agency's mission and
statutory authority?
(a) Would you recommend that NRC consider any particular
organization's environmental justice program(s) in its assessment?
(b) Looking to other Federal, State, and Tribal agencies'
environmental justice programs, what actions could the NRC take to
enhance consideration of environmental justice in the NRC's programs,
policies, and activities?
(c) Considering recent Executive Orders on environmental justice,
what actions could the NRC take to enhance consideration of
environmental justice in the NRC's programs, policies, and activities?
(d) Are there opportunities to expand consideration of
environmental justice in NRC programs, policies, and activities,
considering the agency's mission? If so, what are they?
Dated: August 4, 2021.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gregory F. Suber,
Director, Environmental Justice Review Team, Office of the Executive
Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 2021-16970 Filed 8-9-21; 8:45 am]
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