Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 157 / Monday, August 17, 2009 / Notices 41461 

Environment for review on June 19, 

2009. On July 23, 2009, the Maryland 

Department of the Environment 

responded by e-mail. The State agreed 

with the conclusions of the EA and 

otherwise had no comments. 

The NRC staff has determined that the 

proposed action is of a procedural 

nature, and will not affect listed species 

or critical habitat. Therefore, no further 

consultation is required under Section 7 

of the Endangered Species Act. The 

NRC staff has also determined that the 

proposed action is not the type of 

activity that has the potential to cause 

effects on historic properties. Therefore, 

no further consultation is required 

under Section 106 of the National 

Historic Preservation Act. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

The NRC staff has prepared this EA in 

support of the proposed action. On the 

basis of this EA, the NRC finds that 

there are no significant environmental 

impacts from the proposed action, and 

that preparation of an environmental 

impact statement is not warranted. 

Accordingly, the NRC has determined 

that a Finding of No Significant Impact 

is appropriate. 

IV. Further Information 

Documents related to this action, 

including the application for license 

amendment and supporting 

documentation, are available 

electronically at the NRC’s Electronic 

Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, 

you can access the NRC’s Agencywide 

Documents Access and Management 

System (ADAMS), which provides text 

and image files of NRC’s public 

documents. The documents related to 

this action are listed below, along with 

their ADAMS accession numbers. 

1. NUREG–1757, ‘‘Consolidated 

NMSS Decommissioning Guidance’’ 

2. Title 10 Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 

‘‘Radiological Criteria for License 

Termination’’ 

3. Title 10, Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 51, ‘‘Environmental 

Protection Regulations for Domestic 

Licensing and Related Regulatory 

Functions’’ 

4. NUREG–1496, ‘‘Generic 

Environmental Impact Statement in 

Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 

Criteria for License Termination of 

NRC–Licensed Nuclear Facilities’’ 

5. Submittal Letter dated February 3, 

2006: ML060580094. 

6. Historical Site Assessment: 

ML060580564. 

7. Preliminary Site Specific Derived 

Concentration Guidelines: 

ML060580566. 

8. Radiological Scoping Survey: 

ML060580581. 

9. Environmental Assessment, 

Disposition of Thorium Nitrate: 

ML060580592. 

10. Request for Additional 

Information dated June 12, 2006: 

ML061640494. 

11. Deficiency Response Letter dated 

July 5, 2006: ML061870570. 

12. Deficiency Response Letter dated 

August 8, 2006: ML062290404. 

13. Characterization Survey Report: 

ML062650300. 

14. Decommissioning/Remediation 

Plan: ML062760618. 

15. Receipt of Decommissioning Plan: 

ML062930051. 

16. Federal Register Notice of 

Consideration: ML070230235. 

17. Request For Additional 

Information dated December 11, 2009: 

ML083460027. 

18. Deficiency Response Letter dated 

May 19, 2009: ML091410338. 

If you do not have access to ADAMS, 

or if there are problems in accessing the 

documents located in ADAMS, contact 

the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) 

Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 

415–4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. 

These documents may also be viewed 

electronically on the public computers 

located at the NRC’s PDR, O 1 F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 

reproduction contractor will copy 

documents for a fee. 

Dated at Region I, 475 Allendale Road, 

King of Prussia, PA, this 7th day of August 

2009. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

James P. Dwyer, 

Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division 

of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I. 

[FR Doc. E9–19648 Filed 8–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2008–0500] 

License Renewal Interim Staff 

Guidance LR–ISG–2007–01: License 

Renewal Interim Staff Guidance 

Process, Revision 1; Notice of 

Availability 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC). 

ACTION: Notice of availability. 

SUMMARY: The NRC is issuing the final 

License Renewal Interim Staff Guidance 

(LR–ISG) LR–ISG–2007–01, ‘‘License 

Renewal Interim Staff Guidance Process, 

Revision 1’’ (revised LR–ISG process). 

This process describes the basic 

framework for developing and 

implementing interim changes to certain 

NRC license renewal guidance 

documents. These documents facilitate 

the implementation of and NRC staff 

review of license renewal applications 

submitted in accordance with Title 10 of 

the Code of Federal Regulations (10 

CFR), Part 54, ‘‘Requirements for 

Renewal of Operating Licenses for 

Nuclear Power Plants,’’ and Part 51, 

‘‘Environmental Protection Regulations 

for Domestic Licensing and Related 

Regulatory Functions’’ of 10 CFR. The 

revised LR–ISG process supersedes the 

existing process issued on December 12, 

2003, entitled, ‘‘Process for Interim Staff 

Guidance.’’ An electronic copy of the 

revised LR–ISG process is available in 

the NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS) under Accession No. 

ML091950069. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

Matthew Homiack, Division of License 

Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001; telephone 301–415–1683; or email Matthew.Homiack@nrc.gov. 

ADDRESSES: Documents created or 

received after November 1, 1999, are 

available electronically at the NRC’s 

Public Electronic Reading Room on the 

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

reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, 

the public can gain entry into ADAMS. 

If you do not have access to the Internet 

or if there are any problems in accessing 

the documents located in ADAMS, 

contact the NRC Public Document Room 

reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 

415–4737, or by e-mail at 

PDR.Resource@nrc.gov. 

The NRC posts LR–ISGs on its public 

Web page under the ‘‘License Renewal’’ 

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

reading-rm/doc-collections/isg. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background 

On December 12, 2003, the NRC staff 

issued a document entitled, ‘‘Process for 

Interim Staff Guidance’’ 

(ML023520620), which is Revision 0 of 

the LR–ISG process (previous LR–ISG 

process). This document, developed 

with input from stakeholders, describes 

a process under which the NRC staff 

may evaluate proposed changes to 

certain license renewal guidance 

documents and then, if warranted, 

implement a guidance document change 

through issuance of an LR–ISG. In this 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

41462 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 157 / Monday, August 17, 2009 / Notices 

way, guidance addressing new insights, 

lessons learned, and emergent issues 

may be issued without the NRC staff 

needing to publish a complete license 

renewal guidance document revision. 

Approved LR–ISGs are eventually 

incorporated into a formal guidance 

document revision; however, until 

publication of such a revision, the NRC 

staff will review license renewal 

applications in accordance with the LR– 

ISG and stakeholders may use the LR– 

ISG as they deem appropriate. Under 

the LR–ISG process, the NRC staff or 

stakeholders may propose changes to 

certain license renewal guidance 

documents. The process provides for 

interactions with stakeholders during 

LR–ISG development and the NRC staff 

provides the opportunity for public 

comment on each proposed LR–ISG 

through notices published in the 

Federal Register. 

In 2007, the NRC staff created LR– 

ISG–2007–01 for updating the actual 

LR–ISG process. The NRC staff 

identified the need to revise the process 

to reflect issuance of revised license 

renewal guidance documents in 

September 2005. The NRC staff also 

identified the need to extend the 

process to facilitate the development 

and implementation of changes to NRC 

guidance documents associated with the 

environmental review of license 

renewal applications under 10 CFR Part 

51. The need to make administrative 

changes to the LR–ISG process, such as 

references to the current NRC 

organizational structure, was also 

identified. 

On September 6, 2007, the NRC’s 

Office of the Inspector General (OIG) 

issued OIG–07–A–15, ‘‘Audit of the 

NRC’s License Renewal Program’’ 

(ML072490486). In its audit, the OIG 

identified an area for improving the LR– 

ISG process. Concerning evaluation of 

NRC staff positions in LR–ISGs for 

backfit application, in page 56 of its 

report, the OIG stated that, ‘‘* * * there 

is no documented means to determine 

whether [LR–ISGs] have met the 

provisions in 10 CFR 54.37(b) and 

thereby not subject to backfitting.’’ 

Consequently, OIG recommended that 

the NRC, ‘‘Establish a review process to 

determine whether or not Interim Staff 

Guidance meets the provisions of 10 

CFR 54.37(b), and document 

accordingly.’’ The NRC staff agreed with 

the OIG’s recommendation and, 

accordingly, decided to make revisions 

to the LR–ISG process. 

On March 26, 2009, the NRC staff 

published in the Federal Register, 74 FR 

13272, a request for public comment on 

a proposed LR–ISG process revision 

(ML082180346). This document was 

issued as draft LR–ISG–2007–01. In this 

notice the NRC staff also requested 

comment on a proposed revision to NRC 

Regulatory Issue Summary (RIS) 2007– 

16, ‘‘Implementation of the 

Requirements of 10 CFR 54.37(b) for 

Holders of Renewed Licenses.’’ The 

NRC staff proposed changes to the RIS 

to clarify the role of the LR–ISG process 

for including ‘‘newly identified’’ 

systems, structures, and components in 

accordance with 10 CFR 54.37(b). 

As published in the Federal Register, 

74 FR 19109, on April 27, 2009, the 

NRC staff granted an extension to the 

public comment period at the request of 

the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). As to 

the basis for granting this request, the 

NRC staff agreed with NEI that 

discussions during a public meeting on 

April 29, 2009, could be beneficial to 

allow stakeholders to better prepare 

comments on the proposed LR–ISG 

process revision and RIS. In addition, 

the NRC staff believed that receipt of 

comments informed by discussions at 

the meeting would be beneficial in 

finalizing the two documents. 

During the public meeting at NRC 

headquarters on April 29, 2009, the 

proposed LR–ISG process revision and 

revision of RIS 2007–16 were discussed. 

NEI representatives provided comments; 

however, no other stakeholder provided 

comments or asked questions. The 

discussions are summarized in a 

document entitled, ‘‘Summary of the 

License Renewal Meeting between the 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

Staff and the Nuclear Energy Institute,’’ 

dated May 26, 2009 (ML091310269). 

The extended comment period ended 

on May 27, 2009. By letter of the same 

date, the NRC received comments from 

NEI (ML091540208). No other 

comments were received. The NRC staff 

has considered NEI’s comments from its 

letter dated May 27, 2009, and from the 

April 29, 2009, public meeting in 

developing the revised LR–ISG process. 

These comments and the NRC staff’s 

responses are discussed in the 

Comments and Responses section of this 

notice. 

Final Action 

By this action, the NRC is issuing the 

revised LR–ISG process as final LR– 

ISG–2007–01. The NRC staff will now 

use this process to guide the 

development and implementation of 

LR–ISGs. Below the NRC staff describes 

the more significant changes made to 

the previous LR–ISG process. 

(1) The LR–ISG process is extended to 

cover the evaluation and 

implementation of interim guidance 

concerning certain guidance documents 

associated with the staff’s 

environmental review of license 

renewal applications under 10 CFR Part 

51. These documents are NRC 

Regulatory Guide (RG) 4.2, Supplement 

1, ‘‘Preparation of Supplemental 

Environmental Reports for Applications 

to Renew Nuclear Power Plant 

Operating Licenses,’’ dated September 

2000 (ML003710495), and NUREG– 

1555, ‘‘Environmental Standard Review 

Plan,’’ Supplement 1, ‘‘Operating 

License Renewal,’’ dated March 2000 

(ML003702019). 

(2) The LR–ISG process is revised to 

specify that the NRC staff will evaluate 

and document its determinations as to 

whether LR–ISGs meet the provisions of 

10 CFR 54.37(b). The LR–ISG process is 

also augmented to focus on evaluation 

and documentation of the NRC staff’s 

backfitting evaluation of LR–ISGs under 

10 CFR 50.109. These improvements 

address the OIG recommendation. 

(3) The NRC staff has eliminated the 

former ‘‘clarification’’ and 

‘‘compliance’’ LR–ISG designations. As 

an alternative, the NRC staff will 

document in a backfitting discussion 

section of each LR–ISG the 

determinations and bases as to the 

applicability of 10 CFR 54.37(b) and 10 

CFR 50.109. 

(4) The LR–ISG process is revised to 

reflect the September 2005 publication 

of these revised safety license renewal 

guidance documents: NUREG–1800, 

Revision 1, ‘‘Standard Review Plan for 

Review of License Renewal 

Applications for Nuclear Power Plants’’ 

(ML052770566), NUREG–1801, Revision 

1, Volumes 1 and 2, ‘‘Generic Aging 

Lessons Learned (GALL) Report’’ 

(ML052770419 and ML052780376), and 

NRC Regulatory Guide 1.188, Revision 

1, ‘‘Standard Format and Content for 

Applications to Renew Nuclear Power 

Plant Operating Licenses’’ 

(ML051920430). 

Comments and Responses 

In response to the request for public 

comment published in the Federal 

Register, 74 FR 13272, NEI provided 

comments on both the proposed LR–ISG 

process revision and proposed revision 

to RIS 2007–16. The NRC staff plans to 

issue the final revision to RIS 2007–16 

separately from the LR–ISG process. As 

such, this notice only addresses 

comments that the NRC staff has 

determined to be applicable to the 

proposed LR–ISG process revision. 

Also, NEI’s comments from the April 29, 

2009, public meeting are consistent with 

those provided in its May 27, 2009 

letter. These comments are identified by 

number in the NEI’s letter. The NRC 

staff’s responses to each comment 

follow. 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 157 / Monday, August 17, 2009 / Notices 41463 

(1) NEI’s first comment addresses the 

proposed revision to RIS 2007–16. The 

NRC staff is addressing this comment in 

the revision to RIS 2007–16, which is 

planned to be issued separately. 

(2) NEI commented that it agrees with 

the NRC staff’s proposed change to RIS 

2007–16 to include a backfit review of 

all LR–ISG documents under 10 CFR 

50.109. However, NEI further 

commented, this addition of backfit 

review for LR–ISGs should have no 

impact on implementation or 

interpretation of 10 CFR 54.37(b). The 

NRC staff agrees with NEI’s comment 

and no changes have been made from 

the proposed LR–ISG process revision. 

The revised LR–ISG process contains 

the framework for developing and 

implementing LR–ISGs, including 

provisions for determining whether 10 

CFR 54.37(b) and 10 CFR 50.109 apply 

to an LR–ISG, and according 

documentation. The LR–ISG process 

references RIS 2007–16, which provides 

guidance on interpretation and licensee 

implementation of 10 CFR 54.37(b). 

NEI also commented that it agrees 

with the NRC staff’s proposed change to 

extend the LR–ISG process to include 

environmental review issues. As such, 

the NRC staff has made no changes to 

the proposed LR–ISG process revision. 

(3) NEI recommended that the NRC 

consider splitting RIS 2007–16 into two 

separate documents, one on 

implementation of 10 CFR 54.37(b) and 

the other on the LR–ISG process, 

including the requirement for backfit 

analysis for proposed LR–ISGs. The 

NRC staff agrees with NEI’s 

recommendation that the documents are 

separate. The two documents are the 

revised LR–ISG process and RIS 2007– 

16. The NRC staff intends for the focus 

of these two documents to be as 

described in the response to the 

previous comment. 

In its comments, NEI also suggested 

that the NRC include the requirement 

for ‘‘backfit analysis’’ for LR–ISGs. The 

NRC staff would like to clarify that, as 

described in the proposed LR–ISG 

process revision, the NRC staff will 

perform a backfitting review of LR–ISGs; 

however, the NRC staff will only 

prepare a backfitting analysis in certain 

cases, which is consistent with the 

requirements of 10 CFR 50.109. If, as a 

result of its backfitting review, the NRC 

staff determines that an LR–ISG 

constitutes backfitting, as defined in 10 

CFR 50.109(a)(1), then a backfitting 

analysis is required to demonstrate that 

backfitting is necessary because it 

constitutes a substantial increase in 

protection to public health and safety or 

the common defense and security, and 

the cost is justified in light of the 

substantial increase. If an LR–ISG 

constitutes backfitting, but one or more 

of the exceptions in 10 CFR 

50.109(a)(4)(i) through (iii) apply, then a 

backfitting analysis is not required, but 

the NRC staff is required to prepare a 

documented backfitting evaluation. 

(4) NEI commented that the NRC 

deleted from RIS 2007–16, Revision 0, 

NRC’s agreement to inform renewed 

license holders of new LR–ISGs and to 

inform the industry of ‘‘newly 

identified’’ SSCs. NEI suggested that 

this information could be added to 

Section 4.2.4 of the LR–ISG process. NEI 

indicated that this information is 

valuable to licensees and requested that 

the NRC staff retain the expectation to 

communicate it. 

The NRC staff agrees with NEI’s 

comment to include this information in 

Section 4.2.4 of the LR–ISG process. 

Accordingly, the revised LR–ISG 

process states that when an LR–ISG 

constitutes backfitting under 10 CFR 

50.109, or communicates ‘‘newlyidentified’’ SSCs under the provisions of 

10 CFR 54.37(b), the NRC staff will 

notify applicable renewed license 

holders as appropriate, for example, by 

issuing letters or a generic 

communication. The NRC staff will 

continue to make draft and final LR– 

ISGs publicly available, and notices of 

availability or the opportunity to 

provide comments will be published in 

the Federal Register. Electronic copies 

of draft and final LR–ISGs will be made 

available on the NRC’s public Web site. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day 

of August, 2009. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Samson S. Lee, 

Deputy Director, Division of License Renewal, 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. E9–19646 Filed 8–14–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Federal Register Notice 

AGENCY HOLDING THE MEETINGS: Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission. 

DATES: Week of August 10, 2009. 

PLACE: Commissioners’ Conference 

Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

Maryland. 

STATUS: Public and closed. 

Additional Items to be considered: 

Week of August 10, 2009 

Thursday, August 13, 2009 

1:25 p.m. 

Affirmation Session (Public Meeting) 

(Tentative). 

Pa’ina Hawaii, LLC (Materials License 

Application)—Applicant’s Motion to 

Transfer Case to the Commission 

(Tentative). 

*The schedule for Commission 

meetings is subject to change on short 

notice. To verify the status of meetings, 

call (recording)—(301) 415–1292. 

Contact person for more information: 

Rochelle Bavol, (301) 415–1651. 

Additional Information 

By a vote of 3–0 on August 11, 2009, 

the Commission determined pursuant to 

U.S.C. 552b(e) and § 9.107(a) of the 

Commission’s rules that Affirmation of 

Pa’ina Hawaii, LLC (Materials License 

Application)—Applicant’s Motion to 

Transfer Case to the Commission 

(Tentative) be held August 13, 2009, and 

on less than one week’s notice to the 

public. 

The NRC Commission Meeting 

Schedule can be found on the Internet 

at: http://www.nrc.gov/about-nrc/policymaking/schedule.html. 

The NRC provides reasonable 

accommodation to individuals with 

disabilities where appropriate. If you 

need a reasonable accommodation to 

participate in these public meetings, or 

need this meeting notice or the 

transcript or other information from the 

public meetings in another format (e.g., 

braille, large print), please notify the 

NRC’s Disability Program Coordinator, 

Rohn Brown, at 301–492–2279, TDD: 

301–415–2100, or by e-mail at 

rohn.brown@nrc.gov. Determinations on 

requests for reasonable accommodation 

will be made on a case-by-case basis. 

This notice is distributed 

electronically to subscribers. If you no 

longer wish to receive it, or would like 

to be added to the distribution, please 

contact the Office of the Secretary, 

Washington, DC 20555 (301–415–1969), 

or send an e-mail to 

darlene.wright@nrc.gov. 

Dated: August 12, 2009. 

Rochelle C. Bavol, 

Office of the Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–19746 Filed 8–13–09; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

Disaster Declaration #11694 and 

#11695; North Dakota Disaster Number 

ND–00015 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Amendment 3. 

SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the 

Presidential declaration of a major 

disaster for Public Assistance Only for 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with NOTICES