26224 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2011 / Proposed Rules 

commercial grid power extending 

beyond a month, it is likely that water 

in spent fuel pools would heat up and 

boil off, fuel rods would become 

uncovered by water, zirconium cladding 

would catch fire, and large amounts of 

dangerous radionuclides would be 

released into the atmosphere.’’ 

The petitioner states that ‘‘a primary 

rationale for this proposed amendment 

is a recently documented vulnerability 

of the North American power grids to 

severe space weather which could cause 

multiple-year power outages.’’ In 

addition, the petitioner states that ‘‘a 

government-sponsored study of secondorder effects of commercial grid failure 

on petrochemical fuel and food supplies 

shows that any assumption of outside 

assistance to nuclear power plants, 

including resupply of diesel fuel and 

food, may not be valid.’’ The risks to the 

North American commercial grids from 

space weather and geomagnetic 

disturbance, and the effects of a 

commercial outage on the petrochemical 

fuel resupply and food and water 

supply are discussed in the petition. 

The petition also expresses the 

petitioner’s views on: (1) The necessity 

for the Department of Homeland 

Security to include in its National 

Security Guidelines a scenario for 

severe space weather and geomagnetic 

disturbance and the associated longterm and widespread commercial grid 

outage; (2) the August 1988 Oak Ridge 

National Laboratory (ORNL) and NRC 

Report ORNL/NRC/LTR–98/12, 

‘‘Evaluation of the Reliability for the 

Offsite Power Supply as a Contributor to 

the Risk of Nuclear Plants’’; (3) the 

regulatory actions after the 2003 

northeastern blackout; (4) the necessity 

for the North American Electric 

Reliability Council to publish a 

reliability standard for geomagnetic 

disturbance; and (5) the role of other 

Government agencies in protecting 

‘‘public health and safety in regard to 

geomagnetic disturbance.’’ 

In addition, the petitioner discusses 

the NRC’s probabilistic risk assessment 

(PRA) in NUREG–1738, ‘‘Technical 

Study of Spent Fuel Pool Accident Risk 

at Decommissioning Nuclear Power 

Plants,’’ February 2001, and proposes a 

‘‘PRA to more precisely gauge the 

probability of zirconium fires at spent 

fuel pools due to geomagnetic 

disturbance and resulting long-term 

Loss of Outside Power (LOOP).’’ The 

petitioner stated that the purpose of the 

PRA is ‘‘to show that an amendment to 

the CFR is required.’’ 

The Petition 

The petitioner requests that the NRC 

amend its regulations in 10 CFR Part 50 

to require licensees to provide reliable 

emergency systems to assure long-term 

cooling and water makeup for spent fuel 

pools using only onsite power sources. 

Specifically, the petitioner proposes 

amending 10 CFR Part 50 to require that 

the emergency systems be able to 

operate for a period of 2 years without 

human operator intervention and 

without offsite fuel resupply and that 

backup power systems for spent fuel 

pools be electrically isolated from other 

plant electrical systems during normal 

and emergency operation. In addition, 

the petitioner requests the NRC revise 

its requirements to state if weatherdependent power sources are used, 

sufficient water or power storage must 

be provided to maintain continual 

cooling during weather conditions 

which may temporarily constrict power 

generation. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day 

of May 2011. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Annette L. Vietti-Cook, 

Secretary of the Commission. 

[FR Doc. 2011–11112 Filed 5–5–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 52 

[EPA–R09–OAR–2011–0302; FRL–9292–5] 

Revisions to the California State 

Implementation Plan, Northern 

Sonoma County Air Pollution Control 

District (NSCAPCD) and Mendocino 

County Air Quality Management 

District (MCAQMD) 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing to approve 

revisions to the Northern Sonoma 

County Air Pollution Control District 

(NSCAPCD) and Mendocino County Air 

Quality Management District 

(MCAQMD) portions of the California 

State Implementation Plan (SIP). Both 

districts are required under Part C of 

title I of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to 

adopt and implement SIP-approved 

Prevention of Significant Deterioration 

(PSD) permit programs. These proposed 

revisions update the definitions used in 

the districts’ PSD permit programs. 

DATES: Any comments on this proposal 

must arrive by June 6, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, 

identified by docket number EPA–R09– 

OAR–2011–0302, by one of the 

following methods: 

1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions. 

2. E-mail: R9airpermits@epa.gov 

3. Mail or deliver: Gerardo Rios (Air3), U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, 

San Francisco, CA 94105–3901. 

Instructions: All comments will be 

included in the public docket without 

change and may be made available 

online at http://www.regulations.gov, 

including any personal information 

provided, unless the comment includes 

Confidential Business Information (CBI) 

or other information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Information that 

you consider CBI or otherwise protected 

should be clearly identified as such and 

should not be submitted through 

http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. 

http://www.regulations.gov is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, and EPA 

will not know your identity or contact 

information unless you provide it in the 

body of your comment. If you send email directly to EPA, your e-mail 

address will be automatically captured 

and included as part of the public 

comment. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. 

Docket: EPA has established a docket 

for this action under EPA–R09–OAR– 

2011–0302. Generally, documents in the 

docket for this action are available 

electronically at http:// 

www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at 

EPA Region IX, 75 Hawthorne Street, 

San Francisco, California. While all 

documents in the docket are listed at 

http://www.regulations.gov, some 

information may be publicly available 

only at the hard copy location (e.g., 

copyrighted material, large maps, multivolume reports) and some may not be 

available in either location (e.g., 

confidential business information 

(CBI)). To inspect the hard copy 

materials, please schedule an 

appointment during normal business 

hours with the contact listed in the FOR

FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Laura Yannayon, EPA Region IX, (415) 

972–3534, yannayon.laura@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This 

proposal addresses the following local 

rules: Northern Sonoma County Air 

Pollution Control District (NSCAPCD) 

Rule 130—Definitions and Mendocino 

County Air Quality Management District 

(MCAQMD) Rule 130—Definitions. In 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 88 / Friday, May 6, 2011 / Proposed Rules 26225 

the Rules and Regulations section of this 

Federal Register, we are approving 

these local rules in a direct final action 

without prior proposal because we 

believe these SIP revisions are not 

controversial. If we receive adverse 

comments, however, we will publish a 

timely withdrawal of the direct final 

rule and address the comments in 

subsequent action based on this 

proposed rule. Please note that if we 

receive adverse comment on an 

amendment, paragraph, or section of 

this rule and if that provision may be 

severed from the remainder of the rule, 

we may adopt as final those provisions 

of the rule that are not the subject of an 

adverse comment. 

We do not plan to open a second 

comment period, so anyone interested 

in commenting should do so at this 

time. If we do not receive adverse 

comments, no further activity is 

planned. For further information, please 

see the direct final action. 

Dated: March 31, 2011. 

Jared Blumenfeld, 

Regional Administrator, Region IX. 

[FR Doc. 2011–11035 Filed 5–5–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6560–50–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

40 CFR Part 721 

[EPA–HQ–OPPT–2010–0630; FRL–8871–7] 

RIN 2070–AJ71 

Elemental Mercury Used in 

Barometers, Manometers, 

Hygrometers/Psychrometers; 

Significant New Use Rule 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Proposed rule. 

SUMMARY: EPA is proposing a significant 

new use rule (SNUR) under section 

5(a)(2) of the Toxic Substances Control 

Act (TSCA) for elemental mercury for 

use in barometers, manometers, and 

hygrometers/psychrometers. This action 

would require persons who intend to 

manufacture (including import) or 

process elemental mercury for an 

activity that is designated as a 

significant new use by this proposed 

rule to notify EPA at least 90 days before 

commencing that activity. The required 

notification would provide EPA with 

the opportunity to evaluate the intended 

use and, if necessary, to prohibit or limit 

that activity before it occurs. Not 

included in this proposed SNUR is 

mercury use in barometers, manometers, 

and hygrometers/psychrometers when 

they are in service as of the publication 

date of this proposed rule and mercury 

use in portable battery-powered motoraspirated psychrometers that contain 

fewer than seven grams of elemental 

mercury because they are currently 

manufactured. For this proposed rule, 

the general SNUR exemption for 

persons that import or process chemical 

substances as part of an article at 

§ 721.45(f) would not apply. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before July 5, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by docket identification (ID) 

number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2010–0630, by 

one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Document Control Office 

(7407M), Office of Pollution Prevention 

and Toxics (OPPT), Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460– 

0001. 

• Hand Delivery: OPPT Document 

Control Office (DCO), EPA East Bldg., 

Rm. 6428, 1201 Constitution Ave., NW., 

Washington, DC. Attention: Docket ID 

Number EPA–HQ–OPPT–2010–0630. 

The DCO is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., 

Monday through Friday, excluding legal 

holidays. The telephone number for the 

DCO is (202) 564–8930. Such deliveries 

are only accepted during the DCO’s 

normal hours of operation, and special 

arrangements should be made for 

deliveries of boxed information. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

docket ID number EPA–HQ–OPPT– 

2010–0630. EPA’s policy is that all 

comments received will be included in 

the docket without change and may be 

made available on-line at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through regulations.gov or email. The regulations.gov Web site is an 

‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an e-mail comment directly 

to EPA without going through 

regulations.gov, your e-mail address 

will be automatically captured and 

included as part of the comment that is 

placed in the docket and made available 

on the Internet. If you submit an 

electronic comment, EPA recommends 

that you include your name and other 

contact information in the body of your 

comment and with any disk or CD–ROM 

you submit. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. 

Docket: All documents in the docket 

are listed in the docket index available 

at http://www.regulations.gov. Although 

listed in the index, some information is 

not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other 

information whose disclosure is 

restricted by statute. Certain other 

material, such as copyrighted material, 

will be publicly available only in hard 

copy. Publicly available docket 

materials are available electronically at 

http://www.regulations.gov, or, if only 

available in hard copy, at the OPPT 

Docket. The OPPT Docket is located in 

the EPA Docket Center (EPA/DC) at Rm. 

3334, EPA West Bldg., 1301 

Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC. The EPA/DC Public Reading Room 

hours of operation are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 

p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding 

legal holidays. The telephone number of 

the EPA/DC Public Reading Room is 

(202) 566–1744, and the telephone 

number for the OPPT Docket is (202) 

566–0280. Docket visitors are required 

to show photographic identification, 

pass through a metal detector, and sign 

the EPA visitor log. All visitor bags are 

processed through an X-ray machine 

and subject to search. Visitors will be 

provided an EPA/DC badge that must be 

visible at all times in the building and 

returned upon departure. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

technical information contact: Sue 

Slotnick, National Program Chemicals 

Division (7404T), Office of Pollution 

Prevention and Toxics, Environmental 

Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania 

Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20460– 

0001; telephone number: (202) 556– 

1973; e-mail address: 

slotnick.sue@epa.gov. 

For general information contact: The 

TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 422 

South Clinton Ave., Rochester, NY 

14620; telephone number: (202) 554– 

1404; e-mail address: 

TSCA-Hotline@epa.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. General Information 

A. Does this action apply to me? 

You may be potentially affected by 

this action if you manufacture (defined 

by statute to include import) or process 

elemental mercury used in barometers, 

manometers, or hygrometers/ 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with PROPOSALS