Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 47 / Thursday, March 11, 2010 / Notices 11575 

Reading Room 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. If you do not 

have access to ADAMS or if there are 

problems in accessing the documents 

located in ADAMS, contact the NRC’s 

PDR reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 

301–415–4737, or by e-mail to 

pdr.resource@nrc.gov. DG–1242 is 

available electronically under ADAMS 

Accession Number ML093410510. In 

addition, electronic copies of DG–1242 

are available through the NRC’s public 

Web site under Draft Regulatory Guides 

in the ‘‘Regulatory Guides’’ collection of 

the NRC’s Electronic Reading Room at 

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

Federal Rulemaking Web site: Public 

comments and supporting materials 

related to this notice can be found at 

http://www.regulations.gov by searching 

on Docket ID: NRC–2010–0097. 

Comments would be most helpful if 

received by May 12, 2010. Comments 

received after that 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. Although a time limit is given, 

comments and suggestions in 

connection with items for inclusion in 

guides currently being developed or 

improvements in all published guides 

are encouraged at any time. 

Regulatory guides are not 

copyrighted, and Commission approval 

is not required to reproduce them. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day 

of March, 2010. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Andrea D. Valentin, 

Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, 

Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear 

Regulatory Research. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5225 Filed 3–10–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–333; NRC–2010–0095] 

James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power 

Plant Environmental Assessment and 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is considering 

issuance of an exemption from the 

requirements of Part 50 of Title 10 of the 

Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), 

Appendix R, ‘‘Fire Protection Program 

for Nuclear Power Facilities Operating 

Prior to January 1, 1979,’’ issued to 

Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (the 

licensee), for the operation of the James 

A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant 

(JAFNPP) located in Oswego County, 

NY. Therefore, as required by 10 CFR 

51.21, the NRC is issuing this 

environmental assessment and finding 

of no significant impact. 

Environmental Assessment 

Identification of Proposed Action 

Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 

2006–10 documents the NRC position 

on the use of operator manual actions as 

part of a compliance strategy to meet the 

requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, 

Appendix R, Section III.G.2. The NRC 

requires plants which credit manual 

actions for 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, 

Section III.G.2 compliance to obtain 

NRC approval for the manual action 

using the exemption process in 

accordance with the requirements of 10 

CFR 50.12. In response to RIS 2006–10, 

the licensee requested this licensing 

action which would exempt the JAFNPP 

from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 

50, Appendix R, Section III.G.2. The 

proposed exemption would allow 

operator manual action, in a safe area of 

the reactor building, that will prevent 

the failure of the systems in Fire Area 

10 from affecting the ability to achieve 

and maintain hot shutdown conditions 

of the reactor as required by Title 10 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations Part 50, 

Appendix R, Section III.G.2. 

The proposed action is in accordance 

with the licensee’s application 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. 

The Need for the Proposed Action 

The proposed action is needed to 

allow the licensee an alternate method, 

not authorized in 10 CFR Part 50, to 

achieve and maintain hot shutdown 

conditions in the event of a fire that 

could disable electrical cables and 

equipment in Fire Area 10. 

The criteria for granting specific 

exemptions from 10 CFR Part 50 

Regulations are specified in 10 CFR 

50.12. In accordance with 10 CFR 

50.12(a)(1), the NRC is authorized to 

grant an exemption upon determining 

that the exemption is authorized by law, 

will not present an undue risk to the 

public health and safety, and is 

consistent with the common defense 

and security. 

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 

Action 

The NRC has completed its evaluation 

of the environmental impact of the 

proposed action. The staff has 

concluded that such actions would not 

adversely affect the environment. The 

proposed action would not result in an 

increased radiological hazard. There 

will be no change to the radioactive 

effluent releases that effect radiation 

exposures to plant workers and 

members of the public. The proposed 

action will be performed inside the 

reactor building. No changes will be 

made to plant structures or the site 

property. Therefore, no changes or 

different types of radiological impacts 

are expected as a result of the proposed 

exemption. 

The proposed action does not result 

in changes to land use or water use, or 

result in changes to the quality or 

quantity of non-radiological effluents. 

No changes to the National Pollution 

Discharge Elimination System permit 

are needed. No effects on the aquatic or 

terrestrial habitat in the vicinity or the 

plant, or to threatened, endangered, or 

protected species under the Endangered 

Species Act, or impacts to essential fish 

habitat covered by the MagnusonSteven’s Act are expected. There are no 

impacts to historical and cultural 

resources. There would be no impact to 

socioeconomic resources. Therefore, no 

changes or different types of nonradiological environmental impacts are 

expected as a result of the proposed 

exemption. 

Accordingly, the NRC concludes that 

there are no significant environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action. 

The details of the staff’s safety 

evaluation will be provided in the 

license exemption that will be issued as 

part of the letter to the licensee 

approving the exemption to the 

regulation. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

As an alternative to the proposed 

action, the NRC staff considered denial 

of the proposed action (i.e., the ‘‘noaction’’ alternative). Denial of the 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
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