55634 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 183 / Thursday, September 22, 2005 / Notices 

Those permitted to intervene become 

parties to the proceeding, subject to any 

limitations in the order granting leave to 

intervene, and have the opportunity to 

participate fully in the conduct of the 

hearing. 

Nontimely requests and/or petitions 

and contentions will not be entertained 

absent a determination by the 

Commission or the presiding officer of 

the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 

that the petition, request and/or the 

contentions should be granted based on 

a balancing of the factors specified in 10 

CFR 2.309(c)(1)(i)–(viii). 

A request for a hearing or a petition 

for leave to intervene must be filed 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; (2) courier, express 

mail, and expedited delivery services: 

Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, 

One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 

Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, 

Attention: Rulemaking and 

Adjudications Staff; (3) E-mail 

addressed to the Office of the Secretary, 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV; or (4) 

facsimile transmission addressed to the 

Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, Washington, 

DC, Attention: Rulemakings and 

Adjudications Staff at (301) 415–1101, 

verification number is (301) 415–1966. 

A copy of the request for hearing and 

petition for leave to intervene should 

also be sent to the Office of the General 

Counsel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555–

0001, and it is requested that copies be 

transmitted either by means of facsimile 

transmission to 301–415–3725 or by email to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. A copy 

of the request for hearing and petition 

for leave to intervene should also be 

sent to Mr. Daniel F. Stenger, Ballard 

Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP, 601 

13th Street, NW., Suite 1000 South, 

Washington, DC 20005, attorney for the 

licensee. 

For further details with respect to this 

action, see the application for 

amendment dated July 7, 2005, as 

supplemented on August 15, 2005, 

which are available for public 

inspection at the Commission’s PDR, 

located at One White Flint North, Public 

File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike 

(first floor), Rockville, Maryland. 

Publicly available records will be 

accessible electronically from the 

ADAMS Public Electronic Reading 

Room on the Internet at the NRC Web 

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

adams.html. Persons who do not have 

access to ADAMS or who encounter 

problems in accessing the documents 

located in ADAMS, should contact the 

NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone 

at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, or 

by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day 

of September 2005. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Patrick D. Milano, Sr., 

Project Manager, Section 1, Project 

Directorate I, Division of Licensing Project 

Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor 

Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 05–18918 Filed 9–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 72–17] 

Portland General Electric Independent 

Spent Fuel Storage Installation 

Issuance of Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact Regarding a 

Proposed Exemption 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Issuance of Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Christopher M. Regan, Senior Project 

Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, 

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Washington, DC 20555. 

Telephone: (301) 415–1179; Fax 

number: (301) 415–8555; E-mail: 

cmr1@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 

is considering issuance of an exemption, 

pursuant to 10 CFR 72.7, from the 

provisions of 10 CFR 72.44(d)(3), to the 

Portland General Electric Company 

(PGE, or the licensee). The requested 

exemption (in conjunction with a 

conforming license amendment) would 

relieve PGE from the requirement to 

submit an annual radioactive effluent 

report for the Trojan Independent Spent 

Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). PGE 

submitted the exemption request by 

letter dated July 6, 2005, in which it also 

requested an amendment to the Trojan 

ISFSI license. Specifically, the 

amendment requested the deletion of 

item c. and last sentence of item b., 

Section 5.5.2 of Technical Specification; 

‘‘Radioactive Effluent Control Program’’

(Appendix A to License No. SNM–

2509). The licensee is currently storing 

spent nuclear fuel at the Trojan ISFSI on 

the site of the decommissioned Trojan 

Nuclear Power Plant in Rainier, Oregon. 

Environmental Assessment (EA) 

I. Identification of Proposed Action 

Portland General Electric (PGE) has 

requested an exemption and a 

conforming license amendment to 

obtain relief from the requirement to 

submit an annual radioactive effluent 

release report for the Trojan ISFSI in 

accordance with 10 CFR 72.44(d). The 

regulation requires a licensee to include 

Technical Specifications (TS) regarding 

radioactive effluents. Specifically, 10 

CFR 72.44(d)(3) requires that an annual 

report be submitted to the NRC 

specifying the quantity of each of the 

principal radionuclides released to the 

environment in liquid and in gaseous 

effluents during the previous 12 months 

of ISFSI operation. The proposed action 

before the NRC is whether to grant the 

exemption. 

In addition to the exemption, PGE has 

requested a conforming license 

amendment which will make two 

deletions from the Trojan ISFSI TS, 

Appendix A to the Special Nuclear 

Material License No. 2509 (SNM–2509). 

Section 5.5.2, Radioactive Effluent 

Control Program, item c., requires an 

annual report to be submitted pursuant 

to 10 CFR 72.44(d)(3). Section 5.5.2, 

item b., in the last sentence, of the 

Appendix A to the License No. SNM–

2509 states: ‘‘The Trojan ISFSI may be 

included in the environmental 

monitoring program for the Trojan 

Nuclear Plant.’’ The amendment would 

delete these two TS. 

The license amendment request is 

categorically excluded from the need for 

environmental review under 10 CFR 

51.22(c)(10)(ii) and 10 CFR 51.22(c)(11). 

II. Need for the Proposed Action 

The requirements of 10 CFR 

72.44(d)(3) impose certain regulatory 

obligations, with associated costs, on 

the licensee. Granting the requested 

exemption will relieve the licensee from 

the requirement to submit an annual 

radioactive effluent release report 

pursuant to 10 CFR 72.44(d)(3). The 

requirement to submit an annual 

radioactive effluent monitoring report is 

not needed for this facility in its current 

configuration and is an unnecessary 

administrative burden. Thus, the 

licensee will not have to incur the costs 

associated with preparing and 

submitting an annual radioactive 

effluent release report. 

III. Environmental Impacts of the 

Proposed Action 

In its Safety Evaluation Report related 

to the ISFSI license (Safety Evaluation 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 183 / Thursday, September 22, 2005 / Notices 55635 

Report Amendment No. 2 to the SNM–

2509 License, October 23, 2002), the 

staff found that there are no credible 

scenarios by which liquid or gaseous 

effluents could be released from the dry 

shielded canister. The licensee further 

stated that any concerns over small 

quantities of gaseous or liquid effluent 

that may be produced during cask 

loading and transfer decontamination 

activities are no longer relevant, since 

all the spent fuel has been transferred to 

the ISFSI, and that the Holtec 

International (Holtec) Multi-Purpose 

Canister (MPC) used at the Trojan ISFSI 

is a passive system which, by design, 

produces no gaseous or liquid effluent. 

The staff has determined that the 

proposed action would not endanger life 

or property. Further, the staff concludes 

that there is reasonable assurance that 

the proposed exemption will have no 

impact on off-site doses. 

The proposed action would not 

increase the probability or consequences 

of accidents, no changes would be made 

to the passive system design resulting in 

the generation of effluents during fuel 

storage, and there would be no increase 

in occupational or public radiation 

exposure. Therefore, there are no 

significant radiological environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action. Additionally, the proposed 

action would have no significant nonradiological impacts. 

IV. Alternative to the Proposed Action 

As an alternative to the proposed 

action, the staff considered denial of the 

exemption (i.e., the ‘‘no-action’’

alternative). Approval or denial of the 

exemption would result in no change in 

the environmental impacts. Therefore, 

the environmental impacts of the 

proposed action and the alternative 

action are similar. 

V. Agencies and Persons Consulted 

The NRC staff prepared this 

environmental assessment (EA); no 

other sources were used. On August 29, 

2005, the staff discussed the EA by 

phone call with Mr. Adam Bless of the 

State of Oregon Department of Energy. 

The State of Oregon stated to the NRC 

that they had no comments related to 

the EA or the Finding of no Significant 

Impact. The NRC staff has determined 

that consultation under Section 7 of the 

Endangered Species Act is not required 

for this specific exemption, which will 

not affect listed species or critical 

habitat. The NRC staff has also 

determined that the proposed action is 

not a type of activity having the 

potential to cause effects on historic 

properties. Therefore, no consultation is 

required under Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act. 

VI. Conclusions 

The staff has reviewed the exemption 

request submitted by PGE and has 

determined that relieving the licensee 

from the requirement to submit an 

annual radioactive effluent release 

report pursuant to 10 CFR 72.44(d)(3) 

would have no significant impact on the 

environment. 

Finding of No Significant Impact 

The environmental impacts of the 

proposed action have been reviewed in 

accordance with the requirements set 

forth in 10 CFR part 51. Based upon the 

foregoing EA, the NRC finds that the 

proposed action of granting the 

exemption will not significantly impact 

the quality of the human environment. 

Accordingly, the NRC has determined 

that an environmental impact statement 

for the proposed exemption is not 

warranted. 

Further Information 

In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of 

NRC’s ‘‘Rules of Practice,’’ final NRC 

records and documents regarding this 

proposed action, including the 

exemption request dated July 6, 2005, 

are publically available in the records 

component of NRC’s Agencywide 

Documents Access and Management 

System (ADAMS). These documents 

may be inspected at NRC’s Public 

Electronic Reading Room at http:// 

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. 

These documents may also be viewed 

electronically on the public computers 

located at the NRC’s Public Document 

Room (PDR), O1F21, One White Flint 

North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 

contractor will copy documents for a 

fee. Persons who do not have access to 

ADAMS or who encounter problems in 

accessing the documents located in 

ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR 

Reference staff by telephone at 1–800–

397–4209 or (301) 415–4737, or by email to pdr@nrc.gov. 

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day 

of September 2005. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Robert J. Lewis, 

Chief, Licensing Section, Spent Fuel Project 

Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards. 

[FR Doc. 05–18919 Filed 9–21–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 50–219] 

AmerGen Energy Company, LLC, 

Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating 

Station; Notice of Intent To Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement and 

Conduct Scoping Process 

AmerGen Energy Company, LLC 

(AmerGen) has submitted an application 

for renewal of Facility Operating 

License DPR–16 for an additional 20 

years of operation at the Oyster Creek 

Nuclear Generating Station (OCNGS). 

OCNGS is located along the western 

shore of Barnegat Bay between the 

South Branch of Forked River and 

Oyster Creek, in Ocean County, New 

Jersey. The operating license for OCNGS 

expires April 9, 2009. The application 

for renewal, submitted pursuant to Title 

10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 

Part 54 (10 CFR Part 54), was received 

on July 22, 2005. A notice of receipt and 

availability of the application, which 

included the environmental report (ER), 

was published in the Federal Register 

on August 4, 2005 (70 FR 44940). A 

notice of acceptance for docketing of the 

application for renewal of the facility 

operating licenses was published in the 

Federal Register on September 15, 2005, 

(70 FR 54585). The purpose of this 

notice is to inform the public that the 

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

(NRC) will be preparing an 

environmental impact statement (EIS) in 

support of the review of the license 

renewal application and to provide the 

public an opportunity to participate in 

the environmental scoping process, as 

defined in 10 CFR 51.29. In addition, as 

outlined in 36 CFR 800.8, ‘‘Coordination 

with the National Environmental Policy 

Act,’’ the NRC plans to coordinate 

compliance with Section 106 of the 

National Historic Preservation Act in 

meeting the requirements of the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969 (NEPA). 

In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) 

and 10 CFR 54.23, AmerGen submitted 

the ER as part of the application. The ER 

was prepared pursuant to 10 CFR Part 

51 and is available for public inspection 

at the NRC Public Document Room 

(PDR), located at One White Flint North, 

11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), 

Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the 

Publicly Available Records component 

of NRC’s Agencywide Documents 

Access and Management System 

(ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from 

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

reading-rm/adams.html, which 

provides access through the Public 

Electronic Reading Room link. Persons