63100 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Notices 

2016 CLWR SEIS to determine if 

additional environmental review under 

NEPA was needed, consistent with CEQ 

regulations at 40 CFR 1502.9(d). The 

analysis demonstrated that the current 

proposal does not represent a 

substantive change to operations, 

activities, and associated impacts 

assessed in existing NEPA 

documentation. Both the TVA analysis 

and the CLWR SEIS analysis indicate 

that there would not be any significant 

increase in radiation exposure 

associated with TPBAR irradiation for 

facility workers or the public. For all 

analyzed alternatives (including both 

Alternatives 4 and 6), estimated 

radiation exposures would remain well 

below regulatory limits. The calculated 

estimated exposures for normal reactor 

operations with even the maximum 

number of TPBARs are comparable to 

those for normal reactor operation 

without TPBARs. 

Amended Decision 

NNSA is amending its previous 

decision (81 FR 40685), which was to 

choose the 2016 CLWR SEIS’s 

Alternative 6 that assumes TVA would 

irradiate up to a total of 5,000 TPBARs 

every 18 months using both the Watts 

Bar and Sequoyah sites. Because TVA 

would irradiate a maximum of 2,500 

TPBARs in any one reactor, this could 

involve the use of one or both reactors 

at each of the sites. Instead, NNSA’s 

new decision is to choose the 2016 

CLWR SEIS’s Alternative 4 that assumes 

TVA would irradiate up to a total of 

5,000 TPBARs every 18 months at the 

Watts Bar site using Watts Bar 1 and 2 

reactors. Since TVA would irradiate a 

maximum of 2,500 TPBARs in any one 

reactor, this would involve use of both 

Watts Bar reactors. Under this decision, 

TVA will not irradiate TPBARs for 

tritium production at the Sequoyah site. 

Basis for Decision 

The environmental impacts of this 

proposed action have been addressed in 

previous environmental impact 

statements, i.e., the 1999 Final EIS for 

the Production of Tritium in a 

Commercial Light Water Reactor (DOE/ 

EIS–0288) and the 2016 CLWR SEIS. 

However, TVA staff reviewed new 

information or circumstances relevant to 

environmental concerns that could 

potentially have a bearing on the current 

proposal or its impacts. This new 

information was analyzed in a February 

6, 2023 TVA memorandum, i.e., 

‘‘Determination of NEPA Adequacy, 

Production of Tritium in a Commercial 

Light Water Nuclear Reactor (Watts Bar 

Nuclear Plant), Tennessee Valley 

Authority.’’ In this memo, TVA 

addresses their recent review of the 

2016 CLWR SEIS to determine if 

additional environmental review under 

NEPA was needed, consistent with CEQ 

regulations at 40 CFR 1502.9(d). During 

an interagency teleconference held in 

May 2021, NNSA requested information 

from TVA to help NNSA in its 

determination of the adequacy of the 

2016 SEIS as far as TVA’s updated 

proposal. Additional information given 

to NNSA addresses anticipated effects 

on the amount of spent fuel to be 

generated at Watts Bar, the fuel cycle 

there, and the amount of tritiated 

wastewater estimated to be generated 

from TPBAR irradiation. In terms of the 

amount of spent fuel to be generated at 

Watts Bar, TVA’s current proposal 

would result in 36 additional fuel 

assemblies every 18 months. The SEIS 

assumed up to 41 additional fuel 

assemblies, so it provides a conservative 

bounding analysis of the approximately 

2500 TPBAR equilibrium core designs. 

There would be additional spent fuel 

generated with the new proposal. 

However, TVA has assured NNSA that 

it has infrastructure in place to manage 

the increased volume of spent nuclear 

fuel assemblies. Regarding the new 

proposal’s effects on the fuel cycle, the 

cycle length is only mentioned in the 

SEIS twice, and only in the context of 

being a ‘‘potential uncertainty’’ in 

determining if it was necessary to 

assume in the SEIS a higher, more 

conservative tritium permeation rate. 

TVA does not consider the operating 

cycle length to be uncertain, and it also 

does not anticipate that irradiation of up 

to 2500 TPBARs at each reactor would 

affect the typical fuel cycle. Therefore, 

the issue has no bearing on the review 

for adequacy of the SEIS for any future 

TVA action to irradiate up to 5000 

TPBARs at Watts Bar. Lastly, the 

estimated amount of tritiated 

wastewater (due to permeation from the 

TPBARs into the cooling water) was not 

identified in the SEIS, as it is difficult 

to separate this out from other releases 

from such things as turbine building 

sumps, floor drain collector sumps, 

groundwater sumps, etc. However, to 

keep maximum tritium concentrations 

low, TVA will use a ‘‘feed and bleed’’ 

technique, which will require additional 

cooling water per fuel cycle in order to 

ensure that TVA discharges are within 

regulatory limits. TVA estimates that 

using this technique will increase water 

usage by approximately 25% but is not 

expected to affect environmental 

impacts. The current proposal does not 

represent a substantive change to 

operations, activities, and associated 

impacts assessed in existing NEPA 

documentation. Therefore, the decision 

to choose the previously analyzed 2016 

CLWR SEIS Alternative 4, along with 

the updated analysis provided by TVA 

(summarized previously) and confirmed 

by NNSA, is reasonable, and 

accordingly, no further NEPA analysis 

of this TVA proposal is required. 

Signing Authority 

This document of the Department of 

Energy was signed on June 29, 2023, by 

Jill Hruby, Under Secretary for Nuclear 

Security and Administrator, NNSA, 

pursuant to delegated authority from the 

Secretary of Energy. That document 

with the original signature and date is 

maintained by DOE. For administrative 

purposes only, and in compliance with 

requirements of the Office of the Federal 

Register, the undersigned DOE Federal 

Register Liaison Officer has been 

authorized to sign and submit the 

document in electronic format for 

publication, as an official document of 

the Department of Energy. This 

administrative process in no way alters 

the legal effect of this document upon 

publication in the Federal Register. 

Signed in Washington, DC, on September 

11, 2023. 

Treena V. Garrett, 

Federal Register Liaison Officer, U.S. 

Department of Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19909 Filed 9–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

[Docket No. CP23–82–000] 

Columbia Gas Transmission, LLC; 

Notice of Availability of the 

Environmental Assessment for the 

Proposed Lucas and Pavonia Wells 

Abandonment Project 

The staff of the Federal Energy 

Regulatory Commission (FERC or 

Commission) has prepared an 

environmental assessment (EA) for the 

Lucas and Pavonia Wells Abandonment 

Project, proposed by Columbia Gas 

Transmission, LLC (Columbia) in the 

above-referenced docket. Columbia 

requests authorization to abandon 37 

injection/withdrawal wells and 

associated pipelines and appurtenances 

at its existing certificated Lucas and 

Pavonia Storage Fields in Ashland and 

Richland Counties, Ohio. 

The EA assesses the potential 

environmental effects of the 

construction and operation of the Lucas 

and Pavonia Wells Abandonment 

Project in accordance with the 


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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 177 / Thursday, September 14, 2023 / Notices 63101 

requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The 

FERC staff concludes that approval of 

the proposed project, with appropriate 

mitigating measures, would not 

constitute a major Federal action 

significantly affecting the quality of the 

human environment. 

The proposed Lucas and Pavonia 

Wells Abandonment Project includes 

the following facilities and activities: 

• abandonment of 37 injection/ 

withdrawal wells at the Lucas and 

Pavonia Storage Fields by permanently 

plugging and abandoning the wells in 

place; 

• abandonment of approximately 

41,423 feet of associated 3- to 6-inchdiameter pipeline, of which 39,402 feet 

would be capped and abandoned in 

place and 2,021 feet would be 

abandoned by removal; and 

• abandonment by removal of all 

associated aboveground appurtenances, 

including, but not limited to, tie-in 

valves, pipeline markers, cathodic 

protection test stations, rectifiers, casing 

vents, and above-ground pipeline 

blowdown vents. 

The Commission mailed a copy of the 

Notice of Availability of the EA to 

Federal, State, and local government 

representatives and agencies; elected 

officials; environmental and public 

interest groups; Native American Tribes; 

potentially affected landowners and 

other interested individuals and groups; 

and newspapers and libraries in the 

project area. The EA is only available in 

electronic format. It may be viewed and 

downloaded from the FERC’s website 

(www.ferc.gov), on the natural gas 

environmental documents page (https:// 

www.ferc.gov/industries-data/naturalgas/environment/environmentaldocuments). In addition, the EA may be 

accessed by using the eLibrary link on 

the FERC’s website. Click on the 

eLibrary link (https://elibrary.ferc.gov/ 

eLibrary/search), select ‘‘General 

Search’’ and enter the docket number in 

the ‘‘Docket Number’’ field, excluding 

the last three digits (i.e. CP23–82). Be 

sure you have selected an appropriate 

date range. For assistance, please 

contact FERC Online Support at 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov or toll free 

at (866) 208–3676, or for TTY, contact 

(202) 502–8659. 

The EA is not a decision document. 

It presents Commission staff’s 

independent analysis of the 

environmental issues for the 

Commission to consider when 

addressing the merits of all issues in 

this proceeding. Any person wishing to 

comment on the EA may do so. Your 

comments should focus on the EA’s 

disclosure and discussion of potential 

environmental effects, reasonable 

alternatives, and measures to avoid or 

lessen environmental impacts. The more 

specific your comments, the more useful 

they will be. To ensure that the 

Commission has the opportunity to 

consider your comments prior to 

making its decision on this project, it is 

important that we receive your 

comments in Washington, DC on or 

before 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on 

October 10, 2023. 

For your convenience, there are three 

methods you can use to file your 

comments to the Commission. The 

Commission encourages electronic filing 

of comments and has staff available to 

assist you at (866) 208–3676 or 

FercOnlineSupport@ferc.gov. Please 

carefully follow these instructions so 

that your comments are properly 

recorded. 

(1) You can file your comments 

electronically using the eComment 

feature on the Commission’s website 

(www.ferc.gov) under the link to FERC 

Online. This is an easy method for 

submitting brief, text-only comments on 

a project; 

(2) You can also file your comments 

electronically using the eFiling feature 

on the Commission’s website 

(www.ferc.gov) under the link to FERC 

Online. With eFiling, you can provide 

comments in a variety of formats by 

attaching them as a file with your 

submission. New eFiling users must 

first create an account by clicking on 

‘‘eRegister.’’ You must select the type of 

filing you are making. If you are filing 

a comment on a particular project, 

please select ‘‘Comment on a Filing’’; or 

(3) You can file a paper copy of your 

comments by mailing them to the 

Commission. Be sure to reference the 

project docket number (CP23–82–000) 

on your letter. Submissions sent via the 

U.S. Postal Service must be addressed 

to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 

First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, 

DC 20426. Submissions sent via any 

other carrier must be addressed to: 

Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal 

Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 

Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 

20852. 

Filing environmental comments will 

not give you intervenor status, but you 

do not need intervenor status to have 

your comments considered. Only 

intervenors have the right to seek 

rehearing or judicial review of the 

Commission’s decision. At this point in 

this proceeding, the timeframe for filing 

timely intervention requests has 

expired. Any person seeking to become 

a party to the proceeding must file a 

motion to intervene out-of-time 

pursuant to Rule 214(b)(3) and (d) of the 

Commission’s Rules of Practice and 

Procedures (18 CFR 385.214(b)(3) and 

(d)) and show good cause why the time 

limitation should be waived. Motions to 

intervene are more fully described at 

https://www.ferc.gov/how-intervene. 

Additional information about the 

project is available from the 

Commission’s Office of External Affairs, 

at (866) 208–FERC, or on the FERC 

website (www.ferc.gov) using the 

eLibrary link. The eLibrary link also 

provides access to the texts of all formal 

documents issued by the Commission, 

such as orders, notices, and 

rulemakings. 

The Commission’s Office of Public 

Participation (OPP) supports meaningful 

public engagement and participation in 

Commission proceedings. OPP can help 

members of the public, including 

landowners, environmental justice 

communities, Tribal members and 

others, access publicly available 

information and navigate Commission 

processes. For public inquiries and 

assistance with making filings such as 

interventions, comments, or requests for 

rehearing, the public is encouraged to 

contact OPP at (202)502–6595 or OPP@

ferc.gov. 

In addition, the Commission offers a 

free service called eSubscription which 

allows you to keep track of all formal 

issuances and submittals in specific 

dockets. This can reduce the amount of 

time you spend researching proceedings 

by automatically providing you with 

notification of these filings, document 

summaries, and direct links to the 

documents. Go to https://www.ferc.gov/ 

ferc-online/overview to register for 

eSubscription. 

Dated: September 8, 2023. 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–19881 Filed 9–13–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6717–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Federal Energy Regulatory 

Commission 

Notice Announcing New Freedom of 

Information Act and Critical Energy 

Infrastructure Information Email 

Addresses 

On October 8, 2023, the Commission 

will discontinue utilization and access 

of the Commission’s email address, for 

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

requests and Critical Energy 

Infrastructure Information (CEII) 

requests, foia-ceii@ferc.gov. As of 


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