32916 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 

charge by contacting the NRC’s 

Clearance Officer, David Cullison, 

Office of the Chief Information Officer, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–2084; email: 

INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@NRC.GOV. 

B. Submitting Comments 

The NRC cautions you not to include 

identifying or contact information in 

comment submissions that you do not 

want to be publicly disclosed in your 

comment submission. All comment 

submissions are posted at https://

www.regulations.gov and entered into 

ADAMS. Comment submissions are not 

routinely edited to remove identifying 

or contact information. 

If you are requesting or aggregating 

comments from other persons for 

submission to the OMB, then you 

should inform those persons not to 

include identifying or contact 

information that they do not want to be 

publicly disclosed in their comment 

submission. Your request should state 

that comment submissions are not 

routinely edited to remove such 

information before making the comment 

submissions available to the public or 

entering the comment into ADAMS. 

II. Background 

Under the provisions of the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 

U.S.C. Chapter 35), the NRC recently 

submitted a request for renewal of an 

existing collection of information to 

OMB for review entitled, ‘‘10 CFR [Code 

of Federal Regulations] Part 62, Criteria 

and Procedures for Emergency Access to 

Non-Federal and Regional Low-Level 

Waste Disposal Facilities.’’ The NRC 

hereby informs potential respondents 

that an agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and that a person is not 

required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

The NRC published a Federal 

Register notice with a 60-day comment 

period on this information collection on 

April 24, 2018 (83 FR 18353). 

1. The title of the information 

collection: 10 CFR part 62, ‘‘Criteria and 

Procedures for Emergency Access to 

Non-Federal and Regional Low-Level 

Waste Disposal Facilities.’’ 

2. OMB approval number: 3150–0143. 

3. Type of submission: Revision. 

4. The form number if applicable: Not 

applicable. 

5. How often the collection is required 

or requested: On occasion. 

6. Who will be required or asked to 

respond: Part 62 of 10 CFR sets out the 

information that must be provided to 

the NRC by any low-level waste 

generator or governor of a State on 

behalf of generators seeking emergency 

access to an operating low-level waste 

disposal facility. The information is 

required to allow the NRC to determine 

if denial of disposal constitutes a 

serious and immediate threat to public 

health and safety or common defense 

and security. Part 62 of 10 CFR also 

provides that the Commission may grant 

an exemption from the requirements in 

this part upon application of an 

interested person or upon its own 

initiative. 

7. The estimated number of annual 

responses: 2. 

8. The estimated number of annual 

respondents: 1. 

9. An estimate of the total number of 

hours needed annually to comply with 

the information collection requirement 

or request: 233. 

10. Abstract: Part 62 of 10 CFR sets 

out the information that must be 

provided to the NRC by any low-level 

waste generator or governor of a State on 

behalf of generators seeking emergency 

access to an operating low-level waste 

disposal facility. The information is 

required to allow the NRC to determine 

if denial of disposal constitutes a 

serious and immediate threat to public 

health and safety or common defense 

and security. Part 62 of 10 CFR also 

provides that the Commission may grant 

an exemption from the requirements in 

this part upon application of an 

interested person or upon its own 

initiative. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 10th day 

of July 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Kristen Benney, 

Acting NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the 

Chief Information Officer. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15081 Filed 7–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–397; NRC–2018–0146] 

Energy Northwest; Columbia 

Generating Station 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Environmental assessment and 

finding of no significant impact; 

issuance. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is considering 

issuance of an amendment to Renewed 

Facility Operating License No. NPF–21, 

issued on May 22, 2012, and held by 

Energy Northwest (the licensee) for the 

operation of Columbia Generating 

Station (Columbia), located in Benton 

County, Washington. The proposed 

amendment would revise the 

Environmental Protection Plan (NonRadiological) (EPP), contained in 

Appendix B to the Columbia renewed 

facility operating license. The NRC is 

issuing a final environmental 

assessment (EA) and finding of no 

significant impact (FONSI) associated 

with the proposed license amendment. 

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in 

this document is available on July 16, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID 

NRC–2018–0146 when contacting the 

NRC about the availability of 

information regarding this document. 

You may obtain publicly-available 

information related to this document 

using any of the following methods: 

• Federal Rulemaking website: Go to 

http://www.regulations.gov and search 

for Docket ID NRC–2018–0146. Address 

questions about NRC dockets to Jennifer 

Borges; telephone: 301–287–9127; 

email: Jennifer.Borges@nrc.gov. For 

technical questions, contact the 

individual listed in the FOR FURTHER

INFORMATION CONTACT section of this 

document. 

• NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS): You may obtain publiclyavailable documents online in the 

ADAMS Public Documents collection at 

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

adams.html. To begin the search, select 

‘‘ADAMS Public Documents’’ and then 

select ‘‘Begin Web-based ADAMS 

Search.’’ For problems with ADAMS, 

please contact the NRC’s Public 

Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 

1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or by 

email to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. The 

ADAMS accession number for each 

document referenced in this notice (if 

that document is available in ADAMS) 

is provided the first time that a 

document is referenced. 

• NRC’s PDR: You may examine and 

purchase copies of public documents at 

the NRC’s PDR, Room O1–F21, One 

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John 

Klos, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555– 

0001; telephone: 301–415–5136; email: 

John.Klos@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The NRC is considering issuance of an 

amendment to Renewed Facility 

Operating License No. NPF–21 issued to 


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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 32917 

1The ESA prohibits the take of any federally 

listed species without a special exemption and 

states that the term ‘‘take’’ means to harass, harm, 

pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or 

collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct. 

Energy Northwest for operation of 

Columbia, located in Benton County, 

Washington. The licensee submitted its 

license amendment request by letter 

dated December 18, 2017 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML17352B255). If 

approved, the license amendment 

would add Section 4.2.2, ‘‘Aquatic 

Issues,’’ to the Columbia EPP to require 

Energy Northwest to adhere to the 

specific requirements within the 

Incidental Take Statement (ITS) in the 

currently applicable biological opinion. 

The NRC prepared an EA to document 

its findings related to the proposed 

license amendment request in 

accordance with Section 51.21 of title 

10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

(10 CFR). Based on the results of the EA 

documented herein, the NRC did not 

identify any significant environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

amendment and is, therefore, issuing a 

FONSI in accordance with 10 CFR 

51.32. 

II. Environmental Assessment 

Plant Site and Environs 

Columbia is a single unit plant with 

a boiling water reactor and a closedcycle cooling system that withdraws 

water from and discharges water to the 

Columbia River. The facility occupies 

approximately 1,089 acres (441 

hectares) of land leased from the U.S. 

Department of Energy within the 

Hanford Reservation. The leased land is 

located in Benton County, Washington, 

12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of 

Richland and approximately 160 miles 

(257 kilometers) southeast of Seattle. 

The Columbia River borders the site to 

the east and flat rolling hills surround 

the site. 

The U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 

the NRC’s predecessor agency, and the 

NRC have previously conducted 

environmental reviews of Columbia 

operations in several documents, which 

contain more detailed descriptions of 

the plant site and environs. Those 

documents include the Final 

Environmental Statement related to 

construction of the facility in December 

1972 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML101870543); the Final Environmental 

Statement related to initial operation of 

the facility in December 1981 (ADAMS 

Accession No. ML100570374); and 

NUREG–1437, ‘‘Generic Environmental 

Impact Statement [GEIS] for License 

Renewal of Nuclear Plants, Supplement 

47, Regarding Columbia Generating 

Station—Final Report,’’ dated April 

2012 and its associated GEIS documents 

(ADAMS Package Accession No. 

ML12097A267). 

Description of the Proposed Action 

The proposed action would add 

language in Section 4.2, ‘‘Environmental 

Monitoring,’’ of the Columbia EPP to 

require Energy Northwest to adhere to 

the specific requirements within the ITS 

in the currently applicable biological 

opinion. The proposed action would be 

in accordance with the licensee’s 

application dated December 18, 2017. 

By amending Section 4.2 of the EPP 

to state that Energy Northwest must 

adhere to the ITS in the currently 

applicable biological opinion, the 

proposed action would require Energy 

Northwest’s compliance with the 

National Marine Fisheries Service’s 

(NMFS) biological opinion, dated March 

10, 2017 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML17072A036). This biological opinion 

applies to Upper Columbia River spring 

run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus 

tshawytscha) and Upper Columbia River 

steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and 

concludes that the continued operation 

of Columbia is not likely to jeopardize 

the continued existence of these species 

or destroy or adversely modify the 

designated critical habitat of these 

species. The ITS included in the 

biological opinion exempts the 

incidental take of these species from the 

prohibitions of Section 9 of the 

Endangered Species Act of 1973, as 

amended (ESA), provided that the 

specified Reasonable and Prudent 

Measures (RPMs) are implemented. The 

RPMs are: 

1. Minimize the potential for 

incidental take of ESA-listed species as 

a result of elevated concentrations of 

chemical constituents in the mainstem 

Columbia River. 

2. Minimize the potential for 

incidental take of ESA-listed species as 

a result of entrainment and 

impingement associated with the 

cooling water intake structure for 

Columbia. 

3. Minimize the potential for 

incidental take 1 of ESA-listed species as 

a result of biological monitoring. 

4. Ensure completion of a monitoring 

and reporting program to confirm that 

the terms and conditions in this ITS 

were effective in avoiding and 

minimizing incidental take from 

permitted activities and ensuring 

incidental take is not exceeded. 

In order to implement the RPMs, the 

ITS prescribes a number of Terms and 

Conditions (T&Cs). The T&Cs require 

Energy Northwest to conduct effluent 

monitoring (RPM1), conduct 

impingment and entrainment studies 

(RPM 2), implement various best 

practices while conducting biological 

monitoring studies to minimize impacts 

to listed species (RPM 3), and submit a 

report to NMFS regarding all biological 

monitoring activites (RPM 4). 

Specificially, to minimize chemical 

exposures to ESA-listed species as 

described in RPM 1, Energy Northwest 

must conduct physical and chemical 

monitoring of the Columbia effluent, as 

specified in its National Pollutant 

Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 

Permit No. WA002515–1, to ensure that 

effluent water quality controls are 

functioning as intended. To minimize 

potential impingment and entrainment 

as described in RPM 2, Energy 

Northwest must prepare and conduct an 

impingment study and an entrainment 

study for NMFS’s review and comment, 

as described in its NPDES permit. 

To minimize the potential for a take 

during biological monitoring as 

described in RPM 3, the ITS prescribes 

several best practices and reporting 

requirements for Energy Northwest to 

implement, including: 

• Fish handling practices. 

• Requirements to stop sampling 

when water temperatures reach 

specified limits, or if any ESA-listed 

adult salmon or steelhead or steelhead 

redds are observed at the site. 

• Reporting requirments if Energy 

Northwest unintentionally captures any 

ESA-listed adult salmon or steelhead 

while angling for resident fish, if a take 

is likely, or if any authorized level of 

take is exceeded than the levels specied 

in the ITS. 

To ensure completion of a monitoring 

and reporting program and to ensure 

that incidental take is not exceeded as 

described in RPM 4, Energy Northwest 

must submit to NMFS, with a copy to 

NRC, an annual post-season report 

describing the biological monitoring 

activities that occurred and a summary 

of each take including the ESA-listed 

species affected, the type of take, the 

location where the take occurred, and 

the date of occurrence. The annual 

report must also summarize any 

operational changes to Columbia that 

affect the effluent discharge and have 

the potential to affect ESA-listed 

resources. 

Notably, because the proposed 

amendment would require Energy 

Northwest’s compliance with the 

‘‘currently applicable’’ biological 

opinion, if NMFS were to issue a new 

biological opinion in the future, the 

proposed amendment would require 

Energy Northwest to adhere to the 

specific requirements in the ITS of that 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
32918 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 136 / Monday, July 16, 2018 / Notices 

new biological opinion, and Energy 

Northwest would no longer be required 

to adhere to the March 10, 2017, 

biological opinion upon issuance of a 

new biological opinion. 

Need for the Proposed Action 

The proposed action is needed to 

reflect the biological opinion issued by 

NMFS on March 10, 2017, and to 

require Energy Northwest’s compliance 

with the ITS and related RPMs and 

T&Cs contained therein. The proposed 

action is administrative in nature. 

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 

Action 

The NRC has completed its evaluation 

of the proposed action and concludes 

that the proposed changes are 

administrative in nature, would have no 

direct effects on plant equipment or 

plant operation, and would not involve 

any changes to the design bases for 

Columbia. 

With regard to potential radiological 

impacts, the proposed action would not 

increase the probability or consequences 

of accidents, would not change the 

types or increase the amount of effluent 

that may be released offsite, and would 

result in no increase in occupational or 

public radiation exposure. Therefore, 

there are no significant radiological 

environmental impacts associated with 

the proposed action. 

With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, because the 

proposed action is administrative in 

nature, it would not have any direct 

impacts on land, air, or water resources, 

including impacts to terrestrial biota. In 

addition, the NRC staff identified no 

socioeconomic or environmental justice 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action. Therefore, there are no 

significant non-radiological 

environmental impacts associated with 

the proposed action. 

An indirect effect of the proposed 

action is that Energy Northwest’s 

impingement and entrainment studies 

(RPM 1 and 2) would likely require inwater work and the collection of larvae 

and eggs. In-water work could cause 

minor disturbances to nearby biota. 

However, the activity would be 

temporary and fish could swim away to 

avoid the area and return once the 

temporary work is completed. Removal 

of larvae and eggs of resident fish 

species could occur during collection 

periods for the entrainment study. 

However, the amount of individuals that 

would be collected for the study would 

be negliable when compared to the size 

of local resident fish populations. In 

addition, RPM 3 requires Energy 

Northwest to modify some of its 

collection practices while conducting 

biological monitoring studies. In 

general, these practices will result in 

beneficial effects to ESA-listed species 

because the purpose of the 

modifications are to minimize impacts. 

For example, during electrofishing, 

where fish are temporarily stunned for 

biologists to collect and measure them, 

RPM 3 requires Energy Northwest to 

handle ESA-listed fish with extreme 

care and keep them in cold water to the 

maximum extent possible during 

sampling and processing procedures. 

The NRC staff concludes that the 

indirect effects from the impingement 

and entrainment studies as well as the 

modified collection practices will not 

result in significant environmental 

impacts to the radiological or nonradiological environment. 

Based on the foregoing analysis, the 

NRC concludes that there are no 

significant environmental impacts 

associated with the proposed action. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

As an alternative to the proposed 

action, the NRC staff considered denial 

of the proposed license amendment (i.e., 

the ‘‘no-action’’ alternative). Denial of 

the application would result in no 

change in current environmental 

conditions or impacts. Accordingly, the 

environmental impacts of the proposed 

action and the no-action alternative are 

similar. 

Alternative Use of Resources 

The proposed action does not involve 

the use of any different resources than 

those previously considered in NUREG– 

1437, Supplement 47, prepared for the 

license renewal of Columbia. 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

The NRC did not enter into 

consultation with any other Federal 

Agency or with the State of Washington 

regarding the environmental impact of 

the proposed action. However, on June 

6, 2018, the NRC notified the 

Washington State official, Mr. Richard 

Cowley, Washington State Department 

of Health, Office of Radiation Protection 

of the proposed amendment. The State 

official had no comments. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

The NRC is considering issuance of an 

amendment to Renewed Facility 

Operating License No. NPF–21, issued 

to Energy Northwest for operation of 

Columbia. The proposed amendment 

would revise the Columbia EPP to 

require Energy Northwest to adhere to 

the specific requirements within the ITS 

in the currently applicable biological 

opinion. On the basis of the EA 

included in Section II of this document 

and incorporated by reference into this 

finding, the NRC concludes that the 

proposed action would not have 

significant effects on the quality of the 

human environment. The NRC’s 

evaluation considered information 

provided in the licensee’s application as 

well as the NRC’s independent review 

of other relevant environmental 

documents. Based on its findings, the 

NRC has determined not to prepare an 

environmental impact statement for the 

proposed action. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 11th day 

of July 2018. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

L. John Klos, 

Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch 

IV–1, Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, 

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15091 Filed 7–13–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[NRC–2018–0050] 

Information Collection: 10 CFR Part 

140, Financial Protection 

Requirements and Indemnity 

Agreements 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of submission to the 

Office of Management and Budget; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) has recently 

submitted a request for renewal of an 

existing collection of information to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) for review. The information 

collection is entitled, ‘‘10 CFR part 140, 

Financial Protection Requirements and 

Indemnity Agreements.’’ 

DATES: Submit comments by August 15, 

2018. 

ADDRESSES: Submit comments directly 

to the OMB reviewer at: OMB Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs 

(3150–0039), Attn: Desk Officer for the 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 725 

17th Street NW, Washington, DC 20503; 

email: oira_submission@omb.eop.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Cullison, NRC Clearance Officer, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001; telephone: 

301–415–2084; email: 

INFOCOLLECTS.Resource@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 


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