Nuclear Regulatory Commission September 2007 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of October 24, 2007, for a direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on August 10, 2007 (72 FR 44951). This direct final rule amended the NRC's regulations concerning the size standard it uses to qualify an NRC licensee as a small entity under the Regulatory Flexibility Act and has made the same change to its annual fee rule.

This notice revises a notice published on August 31, 2007 in the Federal Register (72 FR 50414) which announced that an additional scoping meeting for the NRC's Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) would be held in Gallup, New Mexico on September 27, 2007, and that the GEIS scoping comment period was extended to October 8, 2007. The GEIS will assess the potential environmental impacts associated with uranium recovery at milling facilities employing the in-situ leach (ISL) process. The GEIS may also assess the potential environmental impacts of alternative methods of uranium recovery (including the conventional milling process). The purpose of this revised notice is to: (1) Reiterate that an additional scoping meeting will be held in Gallup, New Mexico on September 27, 2007; (2) extend the scoping comment period to October 31, 2007; and (3) announce that site-specific environmental assessments (EAs) that incorporate conclusions from the GEIS (i.e., tiered off the GEIS) will be issued for public comment.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is confirming the effective date of October 29, 2007, for the direct final rule that was published in the Federal Register on August 13, 2007 (72 FR 45147). This direct final rule amended the NRC's regulations to correct or clarify the rule language in several sections in the regulations that govern specific domestic licenses to manufacture or transfer certain items containing byproduct material and medical use of byproduct material.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Sequoyah Fuels Corporation (SFC) license amendment application, dated January 28, 2003, and subsequently revised by letters dated February 27, 2004, and July 30, 2004, for the surface reclamation of SFC's former uranium conversion site near Gore, Oklahoma. The DEIS also addresses the SFC license amendment application dated June 12, 2003, for groundwater corrective actions at the SFC site. The DEIS discusses the purpose and need for SFC's proposed surface reclamation activities and groundwater corrective actions and reasonable alternatives to the proposed action, including the no-action alternative. The DEIS also discusses the environment potentially affected by the SFC proposal, presents and compares the potential environmental impacts resulting from the proposed action and its alternatives, and identifies mitigation measures that could eliminate or lessen the potential environmental impacts. The DEIS is being issued as part of the NRC's decision-making process on whether to approve SFC's proposed surface reclamation activities and groundwater corrective actions. Based on the preliminary evaluation in the DEIS, the NRC environmental review staff has concluded that the proposed action would have small effects on the physical environment and human communities with the exception of land use, for which the impact would be moderate. The DEIS is a preliminary analysis of the environmental impacts of the proposed action and its alternatives. The Final EIS and any decision documentation regarding the proposed action will not be issued until public comments on the DEIS have been received and evaluated. Notice of the availability of the Final EIS will be published in the Federal Register.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has announced the following appointments to the NRC Performance Review Boards. The following individuals are appointed as members of the NRC Performance Review Board (PRB) responsible for making recommendations to the appointing and awarding authorities on performance appraisal ratings and performance awards for Senior Executives and Senior Level employees: Darren B. Ash, Deputy Executive Director for Information Services and Chief Information Officer; R. Wiliam Borchardt, Director, Office of New Reactors; Samuel J. Collins, Regional Administrator, Region I; Karen D. Cyr, General Counsel; Timothy F. Hagan, Director, Office of Administration; Bruce S. Mallet, Deputy Executive Director for Reactor and Preparedness Programs (Designate), Office of the Executive Director for Operations; William M. McCabe, Chief Financial Officer; Charles L. Miller, Director, Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management Programs; Luis A. Reyes, Executive Director for Operations; Martin J. Virgilio, Deputy Executive Director for Materials, Waste, Research, State, Tribal, and Compliance Programs. The following individuals will serve as members of the NRC PRB Panel that was established to review appraisals and make recommendations to the appointing and awarding authorities for NRC PRB members: Stephen G. Burns, Deputy General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel; Brian W. Sheron, Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research; Roy P. Zimmerman, Director, Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response. All appointments are made pursuant to section 4314 of Chapter 43 of Title 5 of the United States Code.

Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a supplement to the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Diablo Canyon Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) and a final Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). NRC issued the EA and initial FONSI for this action on October 24, 2003, and subsequently issued a license for the Diablo Canyon ISFSI to the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), on March 22, 2004. The license authorizes PG&E to receive, possess, store, and transfer spent nuclear fuel and associated radioactive materials resulting from the operation of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in an ISFSI at the site for a term of 20 years. NRC is issuing this supplement to the EA and final FONSI in response to the June 2, 2006, decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace v. NRC, 449 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2006). This supplement to the EA addresses the environmental impacts from potential terrorist acts against the Diablo Canyon ISFSI.

The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the following proposal for the collection of information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Extension. 2. The title of the information collection: 10 CFR part 63, ``Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Wastes in a Proposed Geologic Repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.'' 3. The form number if applicable: Not applicable. 4. How often the collection is required: One time. 5. Who will be required or asked to report: The State of Nevada, local governments, or affected Indian Tribes, or their representatives, requesting consultation with the NRC staff regarding review of the potential high-level waste geologic repository site, or wishing to participate in a license application review for the potential geologic repository. 6. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 9. 7. The estimated number of annual respondents: 3. 8. An estimate of the total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement or request: 363 (An average of 40 hours per response for consultation requests, 80 hours per response for license application review participation proposals, and one hour per response for statements of representative authority). 9. An indication of whether Section 3507(d), Pub. L. 104-13 applies: Not applicable. 10. Abstract: 10 CFR Part 63 requires the State of Nevada, local governments, or affected Indian Tribes to submit certain information to the NRC if they request consultation with the NRC staff concerning the review of the potential repository site, or wish to participate in a license application review for the potential repository. Representatives of the State of Nevada, local governments, or affected Indian Tribes must submit a statement of their authority to act in such a representative capacity. The information submitted by the State, local governments, and affected Indian Tribes is used by the Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards as a basis for decisions about the commitment of NRC staff resources to the consultation and participation efforts. A copy of the final supporting statement may be viewed free of charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide Web site: https:// www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/. The document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days after the signature date of this notice. Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer listed below by October 4, 2007. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date. Nathan J. Frey, Desk Officer, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (3150-0199), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 20503. Comments can also be e-mailed to NathanJ.Frey@omb.eop.gov or submitted by telephone at (202) 395-7345. The NRC Clearance Officer is Margaret A. Janney, 301-415-7245.