Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 233 / Monday, December 4, 2000 / Notices 75735

Description of Permit and Modification

1. On September 15, 1999, the

National Science Foundation issued a

permit (ACA #2000–004) to Dr. Paul J.

Ponganis after posting a notice in the

August 17, 1999 Federal Regiser. Public

comments were not received. A request

to modify the permit was posted in the

Federal Register on October 20, 2000.

No public comments were received. The

modification, issued by the Foundation

on November 1, 2000, allows for entry

into the Cape Crozier Antarctic

Specially Protected Area No. 124 for the

purpose of conducting a census on the

newly hatched Emperor penguin chicks.

Location: ASPA 124—Cape Crozier,

Ross Island.

Dates: November 15, 2000 to February

28, 2002.

Nadene G. Kennedy,

Permit Officer.

[FR Doc. 00–30747 Filed 12–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7555–01–M

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Agency Information Collection

Activities: Proposed Collection;

Comment Request

AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (NRC).

ACTION: Notice of pending NRC action to

submit an information collection

request to OMB and solicitation of

public comment.

SUMMARY: The NRC is preparing a

submittal to OMB for review of

continued approval of information

collections under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35).

Information pertaining to the

requirement to be submitted:

1. The title of the information collection:

State Agreements Program, as authorized by

Section 274(b) of the Atomic Energy Act.

2. Current OMB approval number: 3150–

0029.

3. How often the collection is required:

One time or as needed.

4. Who is required or asked to report:

Thirty-two Agreement States who have

signed Section 274(b) Agreements with NRC.

5. The number of annual respondents: 32.

6. The number of hours needed annually

to complete the requirement or request: 1005.

7. Abstract: Agreement States are asked on

a one-time or as-needed basis, e.g., to

respond to a specific incident, to gather

information on licensing and inspection

practices and other technical statistical

information. The results of such information

requests, which are authorized under Section

274(b) of the Atomic Energy Act, are utilized

in part by NRC in preparing responses to

Congressional inquiries. Agreement State

comments are also solicited in the areas of

proposed procedure and policy development.

Submit, by February 2, 2001,

comments that address the following

questions:

1. Is the proposed collection of information

necessary for the NRC to properly perform its

functions? Does the information have

practical utility?

2. Is the burden estimate accurate?

3. Is there a way to enhance the quality,

utility, and clarity of the information to be

collected?

4. How can the burden of the information

collection be minimized, including the use of

automated collection techniques or other

forms of information technology?

A copy of the draft supporting

statement may be viewed free of charge

at the NRC Public Document Room, One

White Flint North, 11555 Rockville

Pike, Room O–1F23, Rockville, MD

20852. OMB clearance requests are

available at the NRC worldwide web

site: http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/PUBLIC/

OMB/index.html. The document will be

available on the NRC home page site for

60 days after the signature date of this

notice.

Comments and questions about the

information collection requirements

may be directed to the NRC Clearance

Officer, Brenda Jo. Shelton, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, T–6 E6,

Washington, DC 20555–0001, by

telephone at 301–415–7233, or by

Internet electronic mail at

BJS1@NRC.GOV.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day

of November, 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Brenda Jo. Shelton,

NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief

Information Officer.

[FR Doc. 00–30787 Filed 12–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–146]

GPU Nuclear, Inc. and Saxton Nuclear

Experimental Corporation; Saxton

Facility; Notice of Consideration of

Approval of Application Regarding

Proposed Merger 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 Amended

License No. DPR–4 for the Saxton

Facility, held by Saxton Nuclear

Experimental Corporation (SNEC) and

GPU Nuclear, Inc. (GPUN). The indirect

transfer would be to FirstEnergy Corp.

(FE), headquartered in Akron, Ohio.

According to a September 26, 2000,

application submitted by FE and GPUN,

as supplemented by letters dated

September 27, November 9, and

November 14, 2000, GPU, Inc., the

corporate parent of SNEC and GPUN, is

planning to be merged with and into FE.

FE will remain as the surviving

corporation in this transaction. Upon

consummating the merger, FE will

become a registered holding company

under the Public Utility Holding

Company Act of 1935, and SNEC and

GPUN, currently direct or indirect

subsidiaries of GPU, Inc., will become

direct or indirect subsidiaries of FE.

No physical changes to the Saxton

Facility or operational changes are being

proposed in the application. SNEC, the

licensed owner of the facility, will

continue to be so following the merger,

and GPUN, currently the licensee

authorized to decommission the facility,

will continue to maintain that status

after the merger. No direct transfer of

the license will result from the planned

merger.

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 holders of

the license, and that the transfer is

otherwise consistent with applicable

provisions of law, regulations, and

orders issued by the Commission

pursuant thereto.

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 December 26, 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,

75736 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 233 / Monday, December 4, 2000 / Notices

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 FE, Roy P. Lessey,

Esq., Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer, &

Feld, L.L.P., 1333 New Hampshire Ave.,

NW., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20036,

(202) 887–4500, (202) 887–4288 (fax), email: rlessy@akingump.com; and Mary

O’Reilly, Esq., FirstEnergy Corp., 76

South Main Street, Akron, OH 44308,

(330) 384–5224, (330) 384–3875 (fax), email: meoreilly@firstenergycorp.com;

counsel for GPUN, David R. Lewis, Esq.,

Shaw Pittman, 2300 N Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20037–1128, (202) 663–

8474, (202) 663–8007 (fax), e-mail:

david.lewis@shawpittman.com; and

Michael J. Connolly, Esq., Vice

President—Law, GPU Service, Inc., 300

Madison Avenue, Morristown, NJ

07962, (973) 455–8245, (973) 993–4801

(fax), e-mail: mconnolly@gpu.com; the

General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear

Regulatory Commission, Washington,

DC 20555 (e-mail address for filings

regarding license transfer cases only:

ogclt@nyc.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

January 3, 2001, 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 dated September 26, 2000,

and supplements dated September 27,

November 9, and November 14, 2000,

available for public inspection at the

Commission’s Public Document Room,

located at One White Flint North, 11555

Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,

Maryland, and accessible electronically

through the ADAMS Public Electronic

Reading Room link at the NRC Web site

(http://www.nrc.gov).

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 22nd day

of November 2000.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

John L. Minns,

Project Manager, Decommissioning Section,

Project Directorate IV & Decommissioning,

Division of Licensing Project Management,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

[FR Doc. 00–30786 Filed 12–1–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket No. 50–423]

Northeast Nuclear Energy Company, et

al.; Notice of Issuance of Amendment

to Facility Operating License and Final

Determination of No Significant

Hazards Consideration

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

Commission (Commission) has issued

Amendment No. 189 to Facility

Operating License No. NPF–49, issued

to Northeast Nuclear Energy Company

(NNECO), which revised the Technical

Specifications (TSs) for operation of the

Millstone Nuclear Power Station, Unit

No. 3 located in New London,

Connecticut. The amendment was

effective as of the date of its issuance.

The amendment modifies License No.

NPF–49 for the Millstone Nuclear Power

Station, Unit No. 3 (MNPS3) by revising

TSs 1.40, ‘‘Spent Fuel Pool Storage

Pattern’’; 1.41, ‘‘3-OUT-OF-4 AND 4-

OUT-OF-4’’; 3/4.9.1.2, ‘‘Boron

Concentration’’; 3/4.9.7, ‘‘Crane TravelSpent Fuel Storage Areas’’; 3/4.9.13,

‘‘Spent Fuel Pool-Reactivity’’; 3.9.14,

‘‘Spent Fuel Pool-Storage Pattern’’;

5.6.1.1, ‘‘Design Features—Criticality’’;

and 5.6.3, ‘‘Design Features—Capacity.’’

In addition, the amendment revises

INDEX pages xii and xv for new figures

and page numbers and replaces Figures

3.9–1 and 3.9–2 with four new figures

and makes changes to the TS Bases

consistent with changes to their

respective TS sections. These changes

are being made to support the increase

in the capacity of the spent fuel pool at

MNPS3 from 756 assemblies to 1,860

assemblies.

The application for the amendment

complies with the standards and

requirements of the Atomic Energy Act

of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the

Commission’s rules and regulations.

The Commission has made appropriate

findings as required by the Act and the

Commission’s rules and regulations in

10 CFR Chapter I, which are set forth in

the license amendment.

Notice of Consideration of Issuance of

Amendment and Proposed No

Significant Hazards Consideration

Determination and Opportunity for

Hearing in connection with this action

was published in the Federal Register

on September 7, 1999 (64 FR 48672). A

request for a hearing was filed on

October 6, 1999, by the Connecticut

Coalition Against Millstone (CCAM) and

the Long Island Coalition Against

Millstone (CAM). As a result of the

request, the Atomic Safety and

Licensing Board (ASLB) held hearings

on July 19, 2000. The ASLB, reaching a

conclusion on the contentions brought

before it, issued its Memorandum and

Order on October 26, 2000. Having

reached a conclusion, the ASLB ordered

the hearing terminated. However, the

proceeding continues, since, on

November 13, 2000, CCAM/CAM

petitioned the Commission for review of

the Memorandum and Order.

Under its regulations, the Commission

may issue and make an amendment

immediately effective, notwithstanding

the pendency before it of a request for

a hearing from any person, in advance

of the holding and completion of any

required hearing, where it has

determined that no significant hazards

consideration is involved.

The Commission has applied the

standards of 10 CFR 50.92 and has made

a final determination that the

amendment involves no significant

hazards consideration. The basis for this

determination is contained in the Safety

Evaluation related to this amendment.

Accordingly, as described above, the

amendment has been issued and made

immediately effective.

The Commission has determined that

this amendment satisfies the criteria for

categorical exclusion in accordance

with 10 CFR 51.22. Therefore, pursuant

to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental

impact statement or environmental

assessment need be prepared for this

amendment.

For further details with respect to this

action see: (1) The application for an

amendment filed by NNECO dated

March 19, 1999, as supplemented April

17, May 5, June 16, July 26, and

November 21, 2000, (2) Amendment No.