11576 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 47 / Thursday, March 11, 2010 / Notices 

application would result in no change 

in current environmental impacts. The 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

action and the alternative action are 

similar. 

Alternative Use of Resources 

The action does not involve the use of 

any different resources than those 

previously considered in the Final 

Environmental Statement for the James 

A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant, 

Docket No. 50–333, dated March 1973 

and ‘‘Generic Environmental Impact 

Statement for License Renewal of 

Nuclear Plants Regarding James A. 

FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant 

(NUREG–1437, Supplement 31) Final 

Report.’’ 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

In accordance with its stated policy 

and the requirements of 10 CFR 

51.30(a)(2), on May 4, 2009, the NRC 

staff consulted with the New York State 

official, at the New York State Energy 

Research and Development Authority, 

regarding the environmental impact of 

the proposed action. The New York 

State official provided comments by email dated June 12, 2009 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML091690397). 

One comment is related to Federal 

Regulations governing the exemption 

process. Regulations under 10 CFR 

50.12, ‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ do not 

include comment period and 

opportunity for a hearing. The public 

can pursue other avenues, such as 

petition for changes to the regulatory 

framework to allow hearings via the 

rulemaking process (10 CFR 2.802), or a 

petition for enforcement action (10 CFR 

2.206) where stakeholders assert that 

license holders are not meeting 

regulatory requirements. 

The other comments from the New 

York State addressed the security issues, 

the feasibility of the proposed manual 

action during a fire, and the cumulative 

effects of this change in conjunction 

with previous fire protection changes. 

Based on its review the NRC staff has 

determined that the comments do not 

pertain to the environmental impacts 

associated with the proposed exemption 

request and therefore, do not alter the 

staff’s finding that there are no 

significant environmental impacts 

associated with the proposed exemption 

request. However, the comments related 

to the safety aspect of the exemption 

request will be appropriately considered 

in the NRC staff’s safety evaluation. 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

On the basis of the environmental 

assessment, the NRC concludes that the 

proposed action will not have a 

significant effect on the quality of the 

human environment. Accordingly, the 

NRC has determined not to prepare an 

environmental impact statement for the 

proposed action. 

For further details with respect to the 

proposed action, see the licensee’s letter 

dated February 18, 2009, as 

supplemented by letters dated March 

30, November 17, December 11, 2009, 

and January 19, 2010. Portions of letters 

dated February 18 and March 30, 2009, 

contain security related sensitive 

information, and are withheld from 

public disclosure in accordance with 10 

CFR 2.390. Publicly available versions 

of the letters dated February 18, and 

March 30, 2009, are accessible 

electronically from the Agencywide 

Documents Access and Management 

System (ADAMS) with Accession Nos. 

ML090860980 and ML091320387, 

respectively. Also, the letters dated 

November 17, December 11, 2009, and 

January 19, 2010, are accessible 

electronically from ADAMS with 

Accession Nos. ML093270075, 

ML093520408, and ML100210195, 

respectively. Publicly available versions 

of the documents may be examined, 

and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC’s 

Public Document Room (PDR), located 

at One White Flint North, Public File 

Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first 

floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly 

available records will be accessible 

electronically from the ADAMS Public 

Electronic Reading Room on the Internet 

at the NRC Web site, http:// 

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 

Persons who do not have access to 

ADAMS or who encounter problems in 

accessing the documents located in 

ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR 

Reference staff by telephone at 1–800– 

397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or send an 

e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day 

of March 2010. 

For The Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Bhalchandra K. Vaidya, 

Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch I– 

1, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5248 Filed 3–10–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–397; NRC–2010–0029] 

Energy Northwest; Notice of Intent To 

Prepare an Environmental Impact 

Statement and Conduct the Scoping 

Process for Columbia Generating 

Station 

Energy Northwest has submitted an 

application for renewal of Facility 

Operating License No. NPF–21 for an 

additional 20 years of operation at the 

Columbia Generating Station (CGS). 

CGS is located in Benton County, 

Washington, approximately 12 miles 

northwest of Richland. 

The current operating license for CGS 

expires on December 20, 2023. The 

application for renewal, dated January 

19, 2010, was submitted pursuant to 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR) Part 54, which 

included the environmental report (ER). 

A separate notice of receipt and 

availability of the application was 

published in the Federal Register on 

February 2, 2010 (75 FR 5353). A notice 

of acceptance for docketing of the 

application and opportunity for hearing 

regarding renewal of the facility 

operating licenses is also being 

published in the Federal Register. 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 (EIS) 

related to 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 addition, as 

outlined in 36 CFR 800.8, ‘‘Coordination 

with the National Environmental Policy 

Act,’’ the NRC plans to coordinate 

compliance with Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act in 

meeting the requirements of the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA). 

In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) 

and 10 CFR 54.23, Energy Northwest 

submitted the ER as part of the 

application. The ER was prepared 

pursuant to 10 CFR Part 51 and is 

publicly available at the NRC Public 

Document Room (PDR), located at One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, or 

from the NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS). The ADAMS Public 

Electronic Reading Room is accessible at 

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ 

adams.html. From this page, the public 

can gain entry into ADAMS, which 

provides text and image files of NRC’s 

public documents. The ADAMS 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 47 / Thursday, March 11, 2010 / Notices 11577 

Accession Number for the CGS ER is 

ML100250666. Persons who do not have 

access to ADAMS, or who encounter 

problems in accessing the documents 

located in ADAMS, 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@nrc.gov. The CGS 

ER may also be viewed on the Internet 

at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/ 

operating/licensing/renewal/ 

applications/columbia.html. In 

addition, the ER is available to the 

public near the site at the Richland 

Public Library, 955 Northgate Drive, 

Richland, Washington 99352 and at the 

Kennewick Branch of Mid-Columbia 

Libraries, 1620 South Union Street, 

Kennewick, Washington 99338. Public 

comments and supporting materials 

related to this notice can be found at the 

Federal rulemaking Web site, http:// 

www.regulations.gov, by searching on 

Docket ID NRC–2010–0029. 

This notice advises the public that the 

NRC intends to gather the information 

necessary to prepare a plant-specific 

supplement to the NRC’s ‘‘Generic 

Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) 

for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,’’ 

(NUREG–1437) related to the review of 

the application for renewal of the CGS 

operating license for an additional 20 

years. Possible alternatives to the 

proposed action (license renewal) 

include no action and reasonable 

alternative energy sources. The NRC is 

required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a 

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 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 the 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 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 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 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 the 

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; and 

h. Describe how the supplement to 

the GEIS will be prepared, and include 

any contractor assistance to be used. 

The NRC invites the following entities 

to participate in scoping: 

a. The applicant, Energy Northwest; 

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. 

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 

public meetings for the CGS license 

renewal supplement to the GEIS. The 

scoping meetings will be held on April 

6, 2010, and there will be two sessions 

to accommodate interested parties. The 

first session will convene at 1:30 p.m. 

and will continue until 3:30 p.m. The 

second session will convene at 6 p.m. 

with a repeat of the overview portions 

of the meeting and will continue until 

8 p.m., as necessary. Both sessions will 

be held at the Richland Public Library, 

955 Northgate Drive, Richland, 

Washington 99352. Both meetings will 

be transcribed and will include: (1) An 

overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA 

environmental review process, 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 the 

environmental issues or the proposed 

scope of the supplement to the GEIS. 

Additionally, the NRC staff will host 

informal discussions one hour prior to 

the start of each session at the same 

location. No formal comments on the 

proposed scope of the supplement to the 

GEIS will be accepted during the 

informal discussions. To be considered, 

comments must be provided either at 

the transcribed public meetings or in 

writing, as discussed below. Persons 

may register to attend or present oral 

comments at the meetings on the scope 

of the NEPA review by contacting the 

NRC Project Manager, Mr. Daniel Doyle, 

by telephone at 1–800–368–5642, 

extension 3748, or by e-mail at 

Daniel.Doyle@nrc.gov no later than 

March 30, 2010. 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 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. Mr. Doyle will need to be 

contacted no later than March 23, 2010, 

if special equipment or accommodations 

are needed to attend or present 

information at the public meeting so 

that the NRC staff can determine 

whether the request can be 

accommodated. 

Members of the public may submit 

comments by any one of the following 

methods. Please include Docket ID 

NRC–2010–0029 in the subject line of 

the comments. Comments submitted in 

writing or in electronic form will be 

posted on the NRC Web site and on the 

Federal rulemaking Web site 

Regulations.gov. Because comments will 

not be edited to remove any identifying 

or contact information, the NRC 

cautions against including any 

information that the submitter does not 

want to be publicly disclosed. 

The NRC requests that any party 

soliciting or aggregating comments 

received from other persons for 

submission to the NRC inform those 

persons that the NRC will not edit their 

comments to remove any identifying or 

contact information and, therefore, they 

should not include any information in 

their comments that they do not want 

publicly disclosed. 

Submit comments electronically via 

the Federal rulemaking Web site: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for documents filed under Docket ID 

NRC–2010–0029. Address questions 

about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher at 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
11578 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 47 / Thursday, March 11, 2010 / Notices 

301–492–3668 or via e-mail at 

Carol.Gallagher@nrc.gov. 

Mail comments to: Michael T. Lesar, 

Chief, Rulemaking and Directives 

Branch (RDB), Division of 

Administrative Services, Office of 

Administration, Mail Stop: TWB–05– 

B01M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001, or by fax to RDB at (301) 492– 

3446. 

To be considered in the scoping 

process, written comments should be 

postmarked by May 11, 2010. Comments 

will be available electronically and 

accessible through ADAMS at http:// 

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 

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. Matters related to 

participation in any hearing are outside 

the scope of matters to be discussed at 

this public meeting. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 5th day 

of March 2010. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Bo M. Pham, 

Chief, Projects Branch 1, Division of License 

Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5270 Filed 3–10–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket Nos. 50–263; NRC–2010–0045] 

Northern States Power Company of 

Minnesota, Monticello Nuclear 

Generating Plant; Exemption 

1.0 Background 

Northern States Power Company of 

Minnesota (NSPM, the licensee) is the 

holder of Facility Operating License No. 

DPR–22, which authorizes operation of 

the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant 

(MNGP). The license provides, among 

other things, that the facility is subject 

to all rules, regulations, and orders of 

the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC, the Commission) 

now or hereafter in effect. 

The facility consists of a General 

Electric boiling-water reactor located in 

Wright County, Minnesota. 

2.0 Request/Action 

Title 10 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations (10 CFR) Part 73, ‘‘Physical 

protection of plants and materials,’’ 

Section 73.55, ‘‘Requirements for 

physical protection of licensed activities 

in nuclear power reactors against 

radiological sabotage,’’ published March 

27, 2009, effective May 26, 2009, with 

a full implementation date of March 31, 

2010, requires licensees to protect, with 

high assurance, against radiological 

sabotage by designing and 

implementing comprehensive site 

security programs. The amendments to 

10 CFR 73.55 published on March 27, 

2009, establish and update generically 

applicable security requirements similar 

to those previously imposed by 

Commission orders issued after the 

terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 

and implemented by licensees. In 

addition, the amendments to 10 CFR 

73.55 include additional requirements 

to further enhance site security based 

upon insights gained from 

implementation of the post-September 

11, 2001, security orders. It is from two 

of these new requirements that NSPM 

now seeks an exemption from the March 

31, 2010, implementation date. All other 

physical security requirements 

established by this recent rulemaking 

have already been or will be 

implemented by the licensee by March 

31, 2010. 

By letter dated November 3, 2009, the 

licensee requested an exemption in 

accordance with 10 CFR 73.5, ‘‘Specific 

exemptions.’’ The licensee’s November 

3, 2009, letter contains security-related 

information and, accordingly, is not 

available to the public. The licensee 

submitted a redacted version of its 

exemption request on December 15, 

2009, which is publicly available. The 

licensee has requested an exemption 

from the March 31, 2010, compliance 

date stating that it must complete a 

number of significant modifications to 

the current site security configuration 

before all requirements can be met. 

Specifically, the request is to extend the 

compliance date for two specific items 

from the current March 31, 2010, 

deadline to June 30, 2011. Being granted 

this exemption for the two items would 

allow the licensee to complete the 

modifications designed to update aging 

equipment and incorporate state-of-theart technology to meet the noted 

regulatory requirements. 

3.0 Discussion of Part 73 Schedule 

Exemptions From the March 31, 2010, 

Full Implementation Date 

Pursuant to 10 CFR 73.55(a)(1), ‘‘By 

March 31, 2010, each nuclear power 

reactor licensee, licensed under 10 CFR 

Part 50, shall implement the 

requirements of this section through its 

Commission-approved Physical Security 

Plan, Training and Qualification Plan, 

Safeguards Contingency Plan, and Cyber 

Security Plan referred to collectively 

hereafter as ‘security plans.’ ’’ Pursuant 

to 10 CFR 73.5, the Commission may, 

upon application by any interested 

person or upon its own initiative, grant 

exemptions from the requirements of 10 

CFR Part 73 when the exemptions are 

authorized by law, and will not 

endanger life or property or the common 

defense and security, and are otherwise 

in the public interest. 

This exemption would, as noted 

above, allow an extension from March 

31, 2010, until June 30, 2011, to allow 

for temporary noncompliance with the 

new rule in two specified areas. As 

stated above, 10 CFR 73.5 allows the 

NRC to grant exemptions from the 

requirements of 10 CFR part 73. The 

NRC staff has determined that granting 

of the licensee’s proposed exemption 

will not result in a violation of the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, 

or the Commission’s regulations. 

Therefore, the exemption is authorized 

by law. 

In the draft final rule provided to the 

Commission, the NRC staff proposed 

that the requirements of the new 

regulation be met within 180 days. The 

Commission directed a change from 180 

days to approximately 1 year for 

licensees to fully implement the new 

requirements. This change was 

incorporated into the final rule. From 

this, it is clear that the Commission 

wanted to provide a reasonable 

timeframe for licensees to achieve full 

compliance. 

As noted in the final rule, the 

Commission also anticipated that 

licensees would have to conduct sitespecific analyses to determine what 

changes were necessary to implement 

the rule’s requirements, and that 

changes could be accomplished through 

a variety of licensing mechanisms, 

including exemptions. Since issuance of 

the final rule, the Commission has 

rejected a request to generically extend 

the rule’s compliance date for all 

operating nuclear power plants, but 

noted that the Commission’s regulations 

provide mechanisms for individual 

licensees, with good cause, to apply for 

relief from the compliance date 

(Reference: June 4, 2009, letter from 

R.W. Borchardt, NRC, to M.S. Fertel, 

Nuclear Energy Institute). The licensee’s 

request for an exemption is, therefore, 

consistent with the approach set forth 

by the Commission and discussed in the 

June 4, 2009, letter. 

MNGP’s Schedule Exemption Request 

The licensee provided detailed 

information in its November 3, 2009, 

request for exemption. It described a 

comprehensive plan to install 

equipment related to certain 

requirements in the new Part 73 rule 

and provided a timeline for achieving 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES