Jump to main content.

Southern Nuclear Operating Company and Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

 [Federal Register: April 12, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 71)]
[Notices]
[Page 19797-19798]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr12ap00-82]

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

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-321 and 50-366]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company and Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear
Plant; Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
and Conduct Scoping Process

    Southern Nuclear Operating Company (SNC) has submitted an
application for renewal of operating licenses DPR-57and NPF-5 for an
additional 20 years of operation at the Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant,
Units 1 and 2 (Hatch). Hatch is located in Appling County, Georgia. The
application for renewal was submitted by letter dated February 29,
2000, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 54. A notice of receipt of application,
including the environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal
Register on March 10, 2000 (65 FR 13061). A notice of acceptance for
docketing of the application for renewal of the facility operating
license was published in the Federal Register on April 3, 2000 (65 FR
17543). The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be preparing an
environmental impact statement in support of the review of the license
renewal application and to provide the public an opportunity to
participate in the environmental scoping process as defined in 10 CFR
51.29.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 54.23 and 10 CFR 51.53(c), SNC submitted
the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10
CFR Part 51 and is available for public inspection at the Commission's
Public Document Room in the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC, 20003-1527. In addition, the Appling County Library,
located at 242 East Parker Street, Baxley, GA, 31513, has agreed to
make the ER available for public inspection.
    This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the
information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the
Commission's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for
License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' (NUREG-1437) in support of the
review of the application for renewal of the Hatch operating licenses
for an additional 20 years. Possible alternatives to the proposed
action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative
energy sources. 10 CFR 51.95 requires that the NRC prepare a supplement
to the GEIS in connection with the renewal of an operating license.
This notice is being published in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the NRC's regulations found in 10
CFR Part 51.
    The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the 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, 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 which 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 that are not significant.
    d. Identify any environmental assessments and other environmental
impact statements (EISs) that are being or will be prepared that are
related to but are not part of the scope of the supplement to the GEIS
being considered.
    e. Identify other environmental review and consultation
requirements related to the proposed action.
    f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation
of environmental analyses and the Commission'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.
    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 the
scoping process:
    a. The applicant, Southern Nuclear Operating Company.
    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.
     f. Any person who intends to petition for leave to intervene.
    Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS
does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to
which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Notice of opportunity for a
hearing regarding the renewal application was the subject of the
aforementioned Federal Register notice of acceptance for docketing.
Matters related to participation in any hearing are outside the scope
of matters to be discussed at this public meeting.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS may
include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant issues
related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope of issues to
be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold a public meeting
for the Hatch license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping
meeting will be held at the small auditorium at the Southeastern
Technical Institute 3001 East First Street, Vidalia, Georgia, on
Wednesday, May 10, 2000. There will be two sessions to accommodate
interested parties. The first session will convene at 1:30 p.m. and
will continue until 4:30 p.m. The second session will convene at 7 p.m.
with a repeat of the overview portions of the meeting and will continue
until 10:00 p.m. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include (1)
an overview by the NRC staff of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) environmental review process, the proposed scope of the
supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule; (2) an
overview by SNC of the proposed action, Hatch license renewal, and the
environmental impacts as outlined in the ER; and (3) the opportunity
for interested Government agencies, organizations, and individuals to
submit comments or suggestions on the environmental issues or the
proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS. Persons may register to
attend or present oral comments at the meeting on the NEPA scoping
process by contacting Mr. James H. Wilson by telephone at 1 (800) 368-
5642, extension 1108, or by Internet to the NRC at hatcheis@nrc.gov no
later than May 5, 2000. Members of the public may also register to
speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of each session.
Individual oral comments may be limited by the time

[[Page 19798]]

available, depending on the number of persons who register. Members of
the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to
speak, if time permits. Public comments will be considered in the
scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS. If special equipment or
accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the
public meeting, the need should be brought to Mr. Wilson's attention no
later than May 5, 2000, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the
request can be accommodated.
    Members of the public may send written comments on the
environmental scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS to Chief,
Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services,
Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6 D 59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
    Comments may be hand-delivered to the NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland, between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal
workdays. To be considered in the scoping process, written comments
should be postmarked by June 9, 2000. Electronic comments may be sent
by the Internet to the NRC at hatcheis@nrc.gov. Electronic submissions
should be sent no later than June 9, 2000, to be considered in the
scoping process. Comments will be available electronically and
accessible through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room (PERR) link
http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html at the NRC Homepage.
    At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a
concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached, including
the significant issues identified, and will send a copy of the summary
to each participant in the scoping process. The summary will also be
available for inspection through the PERR link. The staff will then
prepare and issue for comment the draft supplement to the GEIS, which
will be the subject of separate notices and a separate public meeting.
Copies will be available for public inspection at the above-mentioned
addresses, and one copy per request will be provided free of charge.
After receipt and consideration of the comments, the NRC will prepare a
final supplement to the GEIS, which will also be available for public
inspection.
    Information about the proposed action, the supplement to the GEIS,
and the scoping process may be obtained from Mr. Wilson at the
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of April 2000.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
David B. Matthews,
Director, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 00-9058 Filed 4-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
 

Local Navigation

Jump to main content.