NRC SEEKS INPUT ON PROPOSED RULE REVISIONS TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL 

PROTECTION REGULATIONS AND REVISED GENERIC ENVIRONMENTAL 

IMPACT STATEMENT FOR NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWALS 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold five public meetings in September 

and October seeking comments on the proposed rule to the environmental protection regulations, 

specifically the Summary of Findings on National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Issues for 

License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants and the draft revision of Generic Environmental 

Impact Statement (GEIS) for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants, NUREG-1437, originally 

published in 1996. The deadline for comments to be submitted on these documents is Oct. 14. 

 The proposed rule revisions redefine the number and scope of environmental impact 

issues that must be addressed in a nuclear power plant license renewal review. The NRC 

conducted public scoping meetings and collected comments over the past few years that were 

considered in the revised GEIS. In addition, knowledge gained and lessons learned from 

previous license renewal reviews, as well as new information were incorporated in the revision. 

On a 10-year cycle, the Commission stated it intends to review and update the rule as necessary. 

 The GEIS assesses the overall scope and impact of environmental effects associated with 

license renewal at any nuclear power plant site and it improves the efficiency of the license 

renewal process. Plant-specific supplements to the GEIS are prepared for each license renewal 

review. The NRC’s environmental protection regulations stem from the National Environmental 

Policy Act (NEPA); which requires an environmental impact statement for major federal actions 

significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, such as renewing the license of a 

nuclear plant. 

Concurrent with the rulemaking and GEIS revision, the NRC is publishing for public 

comment, a revised Regulatory Guide 4.2, Supplement 1, Preparation of Environmental Reports 

for License Renewal Applications, and NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, Standard Review Plans for 

Environmental Reviews for Nuclear Power Plants. 

The NRC will hold public meetings in Georgia, Massachusetts, California, Illinois and 

Maryland. At these meetings, the members of the public will have an opportunity to comment on 

the documents. The NRC staff will be available to answer questions. 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa.resource@nrc.gov

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 09-130 July 31, 2009
In September, the staff will be available to answer questions during an open house prior 

to each meeting. Each open house will start at 5 p.m. and the public meetings will start at 7 p.m. 

The October public meeting will start at 1 p.m. and staff will be available to answer questions 

following this meeting at 5 p.m. The October 1 meeting will be webstreamed to maximize the 

potential to include interested stakeholders via the NRC’s website at: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/webcast-live.html. No public comments will 

be taken during the open house and discussion sessions. 

The meetings will be held on the following dates and locations: 

• Sept. 15 : DoubleTree Atlanta Perimeter, 6120 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, Atlanta, Ga; 

• Sept. 17: Boston Marriott Newton, 2345 Commonwealth Avenue, Newton, Mass.; 

• Sept. 22: Hyatt Westlake Plaza, 880 South Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village, Calif.; 

• Sept. 24: DoubleTree Oak Brook, 1909 Spring Road, Oak Brook, Ill. and 

• Oct. 1: NRC HQ, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. 

 

 Those who wish to make oral comments during the meetings are encouraged to preregister and anyone with questions or special needs should contact Jennifer Davis, the NRC 

Project Manager at 1-800-368-5642, extension 3835, or by e-mail at LRGEISupdate@nrc.gov . 

Meeting transcripts will be posted to NRC’s Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doccomment.html. 

Comments on the proposed rule, draft revised GEIS and associated documents may be 

submitted over the federal e-Rulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov (Docket I.D. 

NRC-2008-0608); by e-mail to Rulemaking.Comments@nrc.gov; by mail to Secretary, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 

Adjudications Staff; or by fax to 301-492-3466. Written comments on the draft revised GEIS 

should be sent to: Chief, Rulemaking, Directives and Editing Branch, Division of Administrative 

Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. 

The draft revised GEIS is publicly available at the NRC Public Document Room (PDR), 

located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. 20852, or from the 

NRC=s Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at 

http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm . The accession numbers for the draft revised GEIS 

is ML090220654; the draft Regulatory Guide 4.2 Supplement 1, Rev. 1 is ML091620409 and 

the Draft NUREG-1555, Supplement 1, Rev. 1 is ML090230497. Persons with ADAMS 

questions should contact the NRC=s PDR reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-

415-4737, or by e-mail at pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 

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