[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 122 (Tuesday, June 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34282-34285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-13778]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50-528, 50-529, and 72-44; NRC-2021-0126]


Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, Units 1 and 2 and 
Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation; Consideration of Approval 
of Transfer of Licenses

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Application for indirect transfer of license; opportunity to 
comment, request a hearing, and petition for leave to intervene.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) 
received and is considering approval of a license transfer application 
filed by Arizona Public Service Company (APS), on behalf of the Salt 
River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) and 
Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) on May 19, 2021. The 
application seeks NRC approval of the transfer of Renewed Facility 
Operating License Nos. NPF-41 and NPF-51 for Palo Verde Nuclear 
Generating Station (Palo Verde), Units 1 and 2, respectively, and the 
general license for the Palo Verde Independent Spent Fuel Storage 
Installation (ISFSI) as a result of SRP acquiring PNM's 7.9333330 
percent share of the undivided interests in Palo Verde, Unit 1, and 
0.7933333 percent share of the undivided interests in Palo Verde, Unit 
2, whereby SRP would own a total of 25.423333 percent of the shares in 
Unit 1, and 18.2833333 percent of the shares in Unit 2, and PNM would 
own a total of 2.266667 percent of the shares in Unit 1, and 9.4066667 
percent of the shares in Unit 2.

DATES: Comments must be filed by July 29, 2021. Requests for a hearing 
or petitions for leave to intervene must be filed by July 19, 2021.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any of the following methods; 
however, the NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking website:
    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0126. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Stacy Schumann; 
telephone: 301-287-0624; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#54072035372d7a07373c2139353a3a143a26377a333b22"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="8fdcfbeeecf6a1dcece7fae2eee1e1cfe1fdeca1e8e0f9">[email protected]</span></a>. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
    <bullet> Email comments to: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#eba38e8a9982858cc5af8488808e9fab859988c58c849d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f3bb9692819a9d94ddb79c90989687b39d8190dd949c85">[email protected]</span></a>. If you do not 
receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact us at 
301-415-1677.
    <bullet> Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission at 301-415-1101.
    <bullet> Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and 
Adjudications Staff.
    For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting 
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Siva P. Lingam, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-1564, email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#11427867703f5d787f76707c517f63723f767e67"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="04576d72652a486d6a636569446a76672a636b72">[email protected]</span></a>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments

A. Obtaining Information

    Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2021-0126 when contacting the NRC 
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain 
publicly available information related to this action by any of the 
following methods:

[[Page 34283]]

    <bullet> Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2021-0126.
    <bullet> NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#7d0d190f530f180e12080f1e183d130f1e531a120b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4b3b2f3965392e38243e39282e0b253928652c243d">[email protected]</span></a>. The application for transfer of 
licenses dated May 19, 2021, is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML21139A330.
    <bullet> Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents, is currently closed. You may submit your request 
to the PDR via email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#5b2b3f2975293e28342e29383e1b352938753c342d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="f0809482de8295839f85829395b09e8293de979f86">[email protected]</span></a> or call 1-800-397-4209 or 
301-415-4737, between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (ET), Monday through 
Friday, except Federal holidays.

B. Submitting Comments

    The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the 
Federal Rulemaking Website (https://www.regulations.gov). Please 
include Docket ID NRC-2021-0126 in your comment submission.
    The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact 
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your 
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at 
https://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions 
into ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove identifying or contact information.
    If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons 
for submission to the NRC, 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 the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to 
remove such information before making the comment submissions available 
to the public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.

II. Introduction

    The NRC is considering the issuance of an order under Sec.  50.80 
and Sec.  72.50 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 
approving the partial transfer of Renewed Facility Operating License 
Nos. NPF-41 and NPF-51 for Palo Verde, Units 1 and 2, respectively, and 
the general license for the Palo Verde ISFSI. The proposed partial 
license transfer would result from SRP acquiring PNM's 7.9333330 
percent share of the undivided interests in Palo Verde, Unit 1, and 
0.7933333 percent share of the undivided interests in Palo Verde, Unit 
2.
    According to the application, PNM currently has a 10.2 percent 
interest in Palo Verde, Units 1, 2, and 3. While most of this interest 
is directly owned by PNM, the remainder, specifically the Unit 1 
interests and Unit 2 interest, is leased from financial institutions 
pursuant to sale-leaseback transactions PNM executed in 1985 and 1986 
with investment and banking firms. As the lessee, PNM retained all of 
the leasehold and control rights and responsibility associated 
therewith. The NRC consented to these sale-leaseback transactions 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML021680489). Under the terms of these past 
transactions, the Unit 1 interests and the Unit 2 interest are 
currently held in trust and leased to PNM pursuant to the NRC's prior 
orders, license amendments, and creditor regulations in accordance with 
10 CFR 50.81. The sale-leaseback transactions were structured so that 
although the investment and banking firms own the Unit 1 interests and 
the Unit 2 interest, none has direct or indirect controlling interest 
in Palo Verde. Instead, under the leases, PNM retains leasehold and 
control rights and responsibility under the NRC licenses for these 
interests.
    According to the application, PNM entered into a total of 11 sale-
leaseback transactions refinancing portions of its interests in Palo 
Verde, Units 1 and 2. Six leases have since expired, leaving five 
remaining. This application concerns those remaining five leases, which 
are approaching their expiration dates and cannot be renewed, with four 
leases expiring in 2023 and one in 2024. The financial institutions 
have agreed to sell and transfer these interests to SRP starting from 
2021 and SRP has agreed to purchase these interests, provided that SRP 
and PNM have secured the requisite approval from the NRC for SRP 
ownership of the incremental interests once the leases expire. After 
the proposed transfer, SRP would own a total of 25.423333 percent of 
the shares in Unit 1, and 18.2833333 percent of the shares in Unit 2, 
and PNM would own a total of 2.266667 percent of the shares in Unit 1, 
and 9.4066667 percent of the shares in Unit 2. APS owns a 29.1 percent 
tenant-in-common interest and holds both operating and possession 
rights in the NRC licenses. Further, APS operates, and would continue 
to operate, each of the Palo Verde units and the ISFSI pursuant to the 
operating rights granted to it under the license of each Palo Verde 
unit. The remaining tenant-in-common co-owners that hold possession-
only rights in the NRC licenses are: Southern California Edison Company 
(15.8 percent); IIF US Holding 2 LP (15.8 percent); Southern California 
Public Power Authority (5.91 percent); and Los Angeles Department of 
Water and Power (5.7 percent). Although the ownership interests in Palo 
Verde would change, significant actions involving operation of the Palo 
Verde units require unanimity of all owners of Palo Verde. Currently, 
no entity owns 50 percent or more of the voting interests. The same 
would be true following the proposed transfer of the leased interests. 
Accordingly, after the effective date of the transactions, there would 
be no change in the control of operation of Palo Verde; APS would 
continue to make all technical decisions that do not require approval 
from all owners of Palo Verde.
    No physical changes to the facilities or operational changes are 
being proposed in the application.
    The NRC's regulations at 10 CFR 50.80 and 10 CFR 72.50 state that 
no license, or any right thereunder, shall be transferred, either 
voluntarily or involuntarily, directly or indirectly, through transfer 
of control of the license, unless the Commission gives its consent in 
writing. The Commission will approve an application for the transfer of 
a license if the Commission determines that the proposed transferee is 
qualified to be the holder of the license, and that the transfer is 
otherwise consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, 
and orders issued by the Commission.

III. Opportunity to Comment

    Within 30 days from the date of publication of this notice, 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 as described in the ADDRESSES section of this document.

IV. Opportunity To Request a Hearing and Petition for Leave To 
Intervene

    Within 20 days after the date of publication of this notice, any 
persons (petitioner) whose interest may be affected by this action may 
file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene 
(petition) with respect to the

[[Page 34284]]

action. Petitions shall be filed in accordance with the Commission's 
``Agency Rules of Practice and Procedure'' in 10 CFR part 2. Interested 
persons should consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309. The NRC's 
regulations are accessible electronically from the NRC Library on the 
NRC's website at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. 
If a petition is filed, the Commission or a presiding officer will rule 
on the petition and, if appropriate, a notice of a hearing will be 
issued.
    As required by 10 CFR 2.309(d) the petition should specifically 
explain the reasons why intervention should be permitted with 
particular reference to the following general requirements for 
standing: (1) The name, address, and telephone number of the 
petitioner; (2) the nature of the petitioner's right to be made a party 
to the proceeding; (3) the nature and extent of the petitioner's 
property, financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) the 
possible effect of any decision or order which may be entered in the 
proceeding on the petitioner's interest.
    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f), the petition must also set 
forth the specific contentions that the petitioner seeks to have 
litigated in the proceeding. Each contention must consist of a specific 
statement of the issue of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In 
addition, the petitioner must provide a brief explanation of the bases 
for the contention and a concise statement of the alleged facts or 
expert opinion that support the contention and on which the petitioner 
intends to rely in proving the contention at the hearing. The 
petitioner must also provide references to the specific sources and 
documents on which the petitioner intends to rely to support its 
position on the issue. The petition must include sufficient information 
to show that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant or licensee on 
a material issue of law or fact. Contentions must be limited to matters 
within the scope of the proceeding. The contention must be one that, if 
proven, would entitle the petitioner to relief. A petitioner who fails 
to satisfy the requirements at 10 CFR 2.309(f) with respect to at least 
one contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
    Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, 
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to intervene. 
Parties have the opportunity to participate fully in the conduct of the 
hearing with respect to resolution of that party's admitted 
contentions, including the opportunity to present evidence, consistent 
with the NRC's regulations, policies, and procedures.
    Petitions must be filed no later than 20 days from the date of 
publication of this notice. Petitions and motions for leave to file new 
or amended contentions that are filed after the deadline will not be 
entertained absent a determination by the presiding officer that the 
filing demonstrates good cause by satisfying the three factors in 10 
CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i) through (iii). The petition must be filed in 
accordance with the filing instructions in the ``Electronic Submissions 
(E-Filing)'' section of this document.
    A State, local governmental body, Federally recognized Indian 
Tribe, or agency thereof, may submit a petition to the Commission to 
participate as a party under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(1). The petition should 
state the nature and extent of the petitioner's interest in the 
proceeding. The petition should be submitted to the Commission no later 
than 20 days from the date of publication of this notice. The petition 
must be filed in accordance with the filing instructions in the 
``Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)'' section of this document, and 
should meet the requirements for petitions set forth in this section, 
except that under 10 CFR 2.309(h)(2) a State, local governmental body, 
Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof does not need to 
address the standing requirements in 10 CFR 2.309(d) if the facility is 
located within its boundaries. Alternatively, a State, local 
governmental body, Federally recognized Indian Tribe, or agency thereof 
may participate as a non-party under 10 CFR 2.315(c).
    If a hearing is granted, any person who is not a party to the 
proceeding and is not affiliated with or represented by a party may, at 
the discretion of the presiding officer, be permitted to make a limited 
appearance pursuant to the provisions of 10 CFR 2.315(a). A person 
making a limited appearance may make an oral or written statement of 
his or her position on the issues but may not otherwise participate in 
the proceeding. A limited appearance may be made at any session of the 
hearing or at any prehearing conference, subject to the limits and 
conditions as may be imposed by the presiding officer. Details 
regarding the opportunity to make a limited appearance will be provided 
by the presiding officer if such sessions are scheduled.

V. Electronic Submissions (E-Filing)

    All documents filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, including a 
request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene (petition), any 
motion or other document filed in the proceeding prior to the 
submission of a request for hearing or petition to intervene, and 
documents filed by interested governmental entities that request to 
participate under 10 CFR 2.315(c), must be filed in accordance with the 
NRC's E-Filing rule (72 FR 49139; August 28, 2007, as amended at 77 FR 
46562, August 3, 2012). The E-Filing process requires participants to 
submit and serve all adjudicatory documents over the internet, or in 
some cases to mail copies on electronic storage media. Detailed 
guidance on making electronic submissions may be found in the Guidance 
for Electronic Submissions to the NRC and on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html. Participants may not submit 
paper copies of their filings unless they seek an exemption in 
accordance with the procedures described below.
    To comply with the procedural requirements of E-Filing, at least 10 
days prior to the filing deadline, the participant should contact the 
Office of the Secretary by email at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection" class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="9af2fffbe8f3f4fdb4fef5f9f1ffeedaf4e8f9b4fdf5ec">[email protected]</a>, or by 
telephone at 301-415-1677, to (1) request a digital identification (ID) 
certificate, which allows the participant (or its counsel or 
representative) to digitally sign submissions and access the E-Filing 
system for any proceeding in which it is participating; and (2) advise 
the Secretary that the participant will be submitting a petition or 
other adjudicatory document (even in instances in which the 
participant, or its counsel or representative, already holds an NRC-
issued digital ID certificate). Based upon this information, the 
Secretary will establish an electronic docket for the hearing in this 
proceeding if the Secretary has not already established an electronic 
docket.
    Information about applying for a digital ID certificate is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals/getting-started.html. Once a participant has obtained a 
digital ID certificate and a docket has been created, the participant 
can then submit adjudicatory documents. Submissions must be in Portable 
Document Format (PDF). Additional guidance on PDF submissions is 
available on the NRC's public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/electronic-sub-ref-mat.html. A filing is considered complete at the 
time the documents are submitted through the NRC's E-Filing system. To 
be timely, an electronic filing must be submitted to the E-Filing 
system no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the due date. Upon 
receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing system timestamps the document 
and sends the submitter an email notice

[[Page 34285]]

confirming receipt of the document. The E-Filing system also 
distributes an email notice that provides access to the document to the 
NRC's Office of the General Counsel and any others who have advised the 
Office of the Secretary that they wish to participate in the 
proceeding, so that the filer need not serve the document on those 
participants separately. Therefore, applicants and other participants 
(or their counsel or representative) must apply for and receive a 
digital ID certificate before adjudicatory documents are filed so that 
they can obtain access to the documents via the E-Filing system.
    A person filing electronically using the NRC's adjudicatory E-
Filing system may seek assistance by contacting the NRC's Electronic 
Filing Help Desk through the ``Contact Us'' link located on the NRC's 
public website at https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/e-submittals.html, by 
email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ade0fee5e983ffc8dec2d8dfcec8edc3dfce83cac2db"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="4508160d016b1720362a30372620052b37266b222a33">[email protected]</span></a>, or by a toll-free call at 1-866-672-
7640. The NRC Electronic Filing Help Desk is available between 9 a.m. 
and 6 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, excluding government 
holidays.
    Participants who believe that they have a good cause for not 
submitting documents electronically must file an exemption request, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(g), with their initial paper filing 
stating why there is good cause for not filing electronically and 
requesting authorization to continue to submit documents in paper 
format. Such filings must be submitted by: (1) First class mail 
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: 
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or (2) courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service to the Office of the Secretary, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, Attention: Rulemaking and 
Adjudications Staff. Participants filing adjudicatory documents in this 
manner are responsible for serving the document on all other 
participants. Filing is considered complete by first-class mail as of 
the time of deposit in the mail, or by courier, express mail, or 
expedited delivery service upon depositing the document with the 
provider of the service. A presiding officer, having granted an 
exemption request from using E-Filing, may require a participant or 
party to use E-Filing if the presiding officer subsequently determines 
that the reason for granting the exemption from use of E-Filing no 
longer exists.
    Documents submitted in adjudicatory proceedings will appear in the 
NRC's electronic hearing docket which is available to the public at 
https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded pursuant to an order of the 
Commission or the presiding officer. If you do not have an NRC-issued 
digital ID certificate as described above, click ``cancel'' when the 
link requests certificates and you will be automatically directed to 
the NRC's electronic hearing docket where you will be able to access 
any publicly available documents in a particular hearing docket. 
Participants are requested not to include personal privacy information, 
such as social security numbers, home addresses, or personal phone 
numbers in their filings, unless an NRC regulation or other law 
requires submission of such information. For example, in some 
instances, individuals provide home addresses in order to demonstrate 
proximity to a facility or site. With respect to copyrighted works, 
except for limited excerpts that serve the purpose of the adjudicatory 
filings and would constitute a Fair Use application, participants are 
requested not to include copyrighted materials in their submission.
    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.
    For further details with respect to this application, see the 
application dated May 19, 2021 (ADAMS Accession No. ML21139A330).

    Dated: June 23, 2021.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Siva P. Lingam,
Project Manager, Plant Licensing Branch IV, Division of Operating 
Reactor Licensing, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2021-13778 Filed 6-28-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P


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