34370 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 103 / Friday, May 26, 2000 / Notices

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. STN 50–528, stn 50–529, and

STN 50–530]

Arizona Public Service Company, et

al.; Palo Verde Nuclear Generating

Station, Units 1, 2, and 3; Notice of

Consideration of Approval of

Application Regarding Proposed

Corporate Restructuring of Public

Service Company of New Mexico and

Conforming Amendments, and

Opportunity for a Hearing

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (the Commission) is

considering the issuance of an order

under 10 CFR 50.80 approving the

indirect transfer of Facility Operating

Licenses Nos. NPF–41, NPF–51, and

NPF–74 for the Palo Verde Nuclear

Generating Station (Palo Verde), Units 1,

2, and 3, respectively, to the extent held

by Public Service Company of New

Mexico (PNM), one of seven joint

owners or lessees of Palo Verde. The

indirect transfers would occur in

connection with a proposed corporate

restructuring of PNM. The Commission

is also considering approving

conforming license amendments to

reflect the proposed renaming of PNM,

which is part of the restructuring plan

for PNM. The facility is located in

Maricopa County, Arizona.

According to an application filed by

PNM dated March 3, 2000, the proposed

indirect transfers of the Palo Verde

licenses as held by PNM would be to a

newly created holding company,

Manzano Corporation (Manzano).

Manzano, which presently exists as a

subsidiary of PNM, was formed to

eventually become the holding company

for PNM to implement the public utility

restructuring requirements of the New

Mexico Electric Utility Industry

Restructuring Act of 1999. The proposed

restructuring of PNM encompasses the

formation of Manzano as a holding

company, the transfer by PNM of its

electric and gas transmission and

distribution businesses to an affiliated

company (with PNM and such affiliated

company being under common control

by Manzano), and a change in PNM’s

name to Manzano Energy Corporation

(Manzano Energy).

Arizona Public Service Company, the

sole licensed operator of the facility,

would remain as the managing agent for

the joint owners or lessees of the facility

and would continue to have exclusive

responsibility for the management,

operation, and maintenance of Palo

Verde. The application does not propose

a change in the rights, obligations, or

interests of the other licensees of Palo

Verde. In addition, no physical changes

to Palo Verde or operational changes are

being proposed.

By letter dated April 26, 2000,

Arizona Public Service Company

submitted the associated conforming

amendments request. The proposed

amendments would reflect the change

in the name of Public Service Company

of New Mexico to Manzano Energy

Corporation in the licenses.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80, no license,

or any right thereunder, shall be

transferred, directly or indirectly,

through transfer of control of the

license, unless the Commission shall

give its consent in writing. The

Commission will approve an

application for the indirect transfer of a

license if the Commission determines

that the underlying transaction that will

effectuate the indirect transfer will not

affect the qualifications of the holder of

the license, and that the transfer is

otherwise consistent with applicable

provisions of law, regulations, and

orders issued by the Commission

pursuant thereto.

Before issuance of the proposed

conforming license amendments, the

Commission will have made findings

required by the Atomic Energy Act of

1954, as amended (the Act), and the

Commission’s regulations.

As provided in 10 CFR 2.1315, unless

otherwise determined by the

Commission with regard to a specific

application, the Commission has

determined that any amendment to the

license of a utilization facility which

does no more than conform the license

to reflect the transfer action involves no

significant hazards consideration. No

contrary determination has been made

with respect to this specific license

amendment application. In light of the

generic determination reflected in 10

CFR 2.1315, no public comments with

respect to significant hazards

considerations are being solicited,

notwithstanding the general comment

procedures contained in 10 CFR 50.91.

The filing of requests for hearing and

petitions for leave to intervene, and

written comments with regard to the

license transfer application, are

discussed below.

By June 15, 2000, any person whose

interest may be affected by the

Commission’s action on the application

may request a hearing, and, if not the

applicants, may petition for leave to

intervene in a hearing proceeding on the

Commission’s action. Requests for a

hearing and petitions for leave to

intervene should be filed in accordance

with the Commission’s rules of practice

set forth in Subpart M, ‘‘Public

Notification, Availability of Documents

and Records, Hearing Requests and

Procedures for Hearings on License

Transfer Applications,’’ of 10 CFR part

2. In particular, such requests and

petitions must comply with the

requirements set forth in 10 CFR 2.1306,

and should address the considerations

contained in 10 CFR 2.1308(a).

Untimely requests and petitions may be

denied, as provided in 10 CFR

2.1308(b), unless good cause for failure

to file on time is established. In

addition, an untimely request or

petition should address the factors that

the Commission will also consider, in

reviewing untimely requests or

petitions, set forth in 10 CFR

2.1308(b)(1)–(2).

Requests for a hearing and petitions

for leave to intervene should be served

upon counsel for PNM, Matias F.

Travieso-Diaz, Esq., Shaw Pittman, 2300

N Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037;

the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555 (e-mail address for filings

regarding license transfer cases only:

OGCLT@NRC.gov); and the Secretary of

the Commission, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555–0001, Attention: Rulemakings

and Adjudications Staff, in accordance

with 10 CFR 2.1313.

The Commission will issue a notice or

order granting or denying a hearing

request or intervention petition,

designating the issues for any hearing

that will be held and designating the

Presiding Officer. A notice granting a

hearing will be published in the Federal

Register and served on the parties to the

hearing.

As an alternative to requests for

hearing and petitions to intervene, by

June 26, 2000, persons may submit

written comments regarding the license

transfer application, as provided for in

10 CFR 2.1305. The Commission will

consider and, if appropriate, respond to

these comments, but such comments

will not otherwise constitute part of the

decisional record. Comments should be

submitted to the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555–0001, Attention: Rulemakings

and Adjudications Staff, and should cite

the publication date and page number of

this Federal Register notice.

For further details with respect to this

action, see the license transfer

application filed by PNM dated March

3, 2000, and the application for the

proposed license amendments filed by

the Arizona Public Service Company

dated April 26, 2000, which are

available for public inspection at the

Commission’s Public Document Room,

the Gelman Building, 2120 L Street,

NW., Washington, DC, and accessible

Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 103 / Friday, May 26, 2000 / Notices 34371

electronically through the ADAMS

Public Electronic Reading Room link at

the NRC Web site http://www.nrc.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 23rd day

of May 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Mel B. Fields,

Project Manager, Section 2, Project

Directorate IV & Decommissioning, Division

of Licensing Project Management, Office of

Nuclear Reator Regulation.

[FR Doc. 00–13426 Filed 5–25–00; 8:45 am]

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