Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices 67559

investments in funds tied to market

indices or other non-nuclear sector

mutual funds, investments in any entity

owning one or more nuclear power

plants are prohibited.

c. The decommissioning trust

agreement must provide that the trustee,

investment advisor, or anyone else

directing the investments made in the

trusts shall adhere to the standards for

such investments established by the

Public Utility Commission of Texas

(e.g., 16 Texas Administration Code

§ 25.301).

d. The decommissioning trust

agreement must provide that except for

ordinary administrative expenses, no

disbursements or payments from the

trusts shall be made by the trustee

unless the trustee has first given the

NRC 30 days prior written notice of

such disbursement or payment. The

decommissioning trust agreement shall

further contain a provision that no

disbursements or payments from the

trusts shall be made if the trustee

receives prior written notice of an

objection from the Director, Office of

Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

e. The decommissioning trust

agreement must provide that the

agreement cannot be modified in any

material respect without 30 days prior

written notification to the Director,

Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

(4) Reliant and Texas Genco LP shall

take all necessary steps to ensure that

the decommissioning trusts are

maintained in accordance with the

application, the requirements of this

Order, and the related safety evaluation.

(5) Texas Genco LP shall provide the

Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation a copy of any application, at

the time it is filed, to transfer (excluding

grants of security interests or liens) from

CenterPoint Energy, Inc., or its

subsidiaries, to a proposed direct or

indirect parent, or to any other affiliated

company, facilities for the production of

electric energy having a depreciated

book value exceeding ten percent (10%)

of such licensee’s consolidated net

utility plant, as recorded on Texas

Genco LP’s book of accounts.

(6) Texas Genco LP shall inform the

Director of the Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation of the date of the closing of

the direct transfer no later than two

business days prior to such date. If the

direct and indirect transfers of the

licenses approved by this Order are not

completed by December 31, 2002, this

Order shall become null and void,

provided, however, upon written

application and for good cause shown,

such date may in writing be extended.

It is further ordered that, consistent

with 10 CFR 2.1315(b), license

amendments that make changes, as

indicated in Enclosure 2 to the cover

letter forwarding this Order, to conform

the licenses to reflect the subject direct

license transfers are approved. The

amendments shall be issued and made

effective at the time the proposed direct

license transfers are completed. It is

hereby noted that the staff is also

considering approving a transfer of the

licenses to the extent held by CPL.

Should the transfer of the licenses to the

extent held by CPL take place prior to

issuance of the amendments in the

current case, the amendments approved

here should reflect any conforming

amendments approved and issued in

connection with the CPL transfer.

This Order is effective upon issuance.

For further details with respect to this

Order, see the initial application dated

May 31, 2001, the supplemental

submittals dated June 14, August 13,

October 16, and November 7, 2001, and

the safety evaluation dated December

20, 2001, which are available for public

inspection at the Commission’s Public

Document Room, located at One White

Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first

floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly

available records will be accessible

electronically from the Agencywide

Documents Access and Management

Systems (ADAMS) Public Electronic

Reading Room on the internet at the

NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 20th day

of December, 2001.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Brian W. Sheron,

Acting Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 01–32059 Filed 12–28–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 50–361 and 50–362]

In the Matter of Southern California

Edison Company (San Onofre Nuclear

Generating Station, Units 2 and 3);

Exemption

I

Southern California Edison Company

(the licensee) is the holder of Facility

Operating License Nos. NPF–10 and

NPF–15, which authorize operation of

the San Onofre Nuclear Generating

Station, Units 2 and 3, (SONGS) at

power levels not to exceed 3438

megawatts thermal. The facility consists

of two pressurized-water reactors

located at the licensee’s site in San

Diego County, California. The license

provides, among other things, that the

licensee is subject to all rules,

regulations, and orders of the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission (NRC, the

Commission) now or hereafter in effect.

II

Section IV.F.2.b of Appendix E to

Title 10 of the Code of Federal

Regulations (10 CFR) part 50 requires

each licensee at each site to conduct an

exercise of its onsite emergency

preparedness plan (EPP) every 2 years

and indicates the exercise may be

included in the full participation

biennial exercise of the offsite EPP

required by paragraph 2.c. Paragraph 2.c

requires the offsite EPP for each site to

be exercised biennially with full

participation by each offsite authority

having a role under the plan. During

such biennial full participation

exercises, the NRC evaluates onsite

emergency preparedness activities and

the Federal Emergency Management

Agency (FEMA) evaluates offsite

emergency preparedness activities. The

licensee successfully conducted an

NRC/FEMA-evaluated full participation

exercise for SONGS on October 27, 28,

and 29, 1999.

By letter dated September 18, 2001,

the licensee requested an exemption

from Sections IV.F.2.b and c of

Appendix E regarding the conduct of a

full participation onsite and offsite

exercise originally scheduled for

September 12, 2001. Specifically, the

licensee requested a one-time

exemption, in accordance with 10 CFR

50.12, ‘‘Specific exemptions,’’ from the

requirements in 10 CFR Part 50,

Appendix E, Items IV.F.2.b and c to

perform a biennial exercise of the onsite

and offsite EPPs with full participation

of each offsite authority having a role

under the plan (i.e., a full participation

EPP exercise), for SONGS. A full

participation onsite and offsite exercise

had been scheduled for SONGS for

September 12, 2001; however, as a

result of the national security events

occurring in the United States on

September 11, 2001, this exercise was

canceled. The licensee requested that

the biennial exercise for 2001 not be

conducted as required by Appendix E,

and the next full participation exercise

be conducted in 2003 and every two

years thereafter.

The licensee has provided the

Commission with copies of letters from

five local authorities that would

participate in the full participation EPP

exercise at SONGS, requesting relief

from FEMA to cancel the 2001 SONGS

full participation exercise. The letters

were to the Governor’s Office of

Emergency Services, State of California,

which in its letter dated December 13,

67560 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 250 / Monday, December 31, 2001 / Notices

2001, to FEMA, requested the

cancellation from FEMA for the State

and the five local authorities. The State

requested that the next biennial full

participation exercise to be held at

SONGS with NRC/FEMA participation

be conducted in 2003. Although the

requests from the State and local

authorities do not come under the

responsibility and authority of the

Commission, the Commission realizes

that the full participation exercise

required by Appendix E would require

the participation of the State and these

local authorities. The State’s letter is

addressed in the safety evaluation dated

December 21, 2001.

Based on the safety evaluation dated

December 21, 2001, the Commission

concludes that the licensee’s request for

an exemption should be denied.

However, because the scheduled 2001

full participation exercise to meet the

regulations was canceled for good cause;

there is insufficient time before January

1, 2002, when the licensee would be in

violation of the regulations, to prepare

and conduct the exercise; and the

licensee has provided sufficient

information for a one-year schedular

extension to the requirements in the

regulations, the Commission concludes

that such a schedular exemption to the

biennial exercise requirements in

Sections IV.F.b and c of Appendix E to

10 CFR Part 50 should be granted to

SONGS.

The Commission, pursuant to 10 CFR

50.12(a)(1), may grant exemptions from

the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 that

are authorized by law, will not present

an undue risk to public health and

safety, and are consistent with the

common defense and security. The

Commission, however, pursuant to 10

CFR 50.12(a)(2), will not consider

granting an exemption unless special

circumstances are present. Under 10

CFR 50.12(a)(2)(v), special

circumstances are present whenever the

exemption would provide only

temporary relief from the applicable

regulation and the licensee or applicant

has made good faith efforts to comply

with the regulation.

III

The revised exemption is a one-time

postponement of the 2001 full

participation exercise for SONGS. The

full participation exercise may be

conducted in 2002. It is requested that

the exercise be conducted as soon as

practical, but the challenges of

rescheduling the exercise are recognized

and the exemption is not predicated on

the early conduct of the exercise.

Subsequent full participation exercises

for SONGS would be scheduled at no

greater than 2-year intervals in

accordance with 10 CFR part 50,

appendix E, Section IV.F.2.c. The

calendar biennium for SONGS would

not be affected by this schedular

exemption and the next full

participation exercise would be required

to be performed in 2003. Accordingly,

the exemption would provide only

temporary relief from that regulation.

As indicated in the licensee’s request

for an exemption of September 18, 2001,

the licensee had originally scheduled a

full participation exercise for September

12, 2001. As further set forth in that

letter, as a result of the national security

events occurring in the United States on

September 11, 2001, this exercise was

canceled. Accordingly, the licensee

made a good faith effort to comply with

the schedular requirements of Appendix

E for full participation exercises.

The NRC staff has completed its

evaluation of the revised exemption.

The NRC staff, having considered the

schedule and resource issues resulting

from this schedular exemption and the

fact that the licensee successfully

conducted the last full participation

exercise for SONGS on October 27, 28,

and 29, 1999, which was evaluated by

the NRC and FEMA, and conducted a

full participation ‘‘dress rehearsal’’

exercise on August 8, 2001, in

preparation for the September 12, 2001,

exercise that was canceled, finds the

request for a schedular exemption for

rescheduling the 2001 biennial full

participation exercise acceptable. The

inspection/evaluation by NRC and

FEMA indicated that the performance

demonstrated during the 1999 exercise

was a satisfactory test of the EPP. In its

letter, the licensee stated that it

successfully conducted the ‘‘dress

rehearsal’’ exercise on August 8, 2001,

with the same emergency planning

elements that were planned for the

September 12, 2001, exercise. The NRC

staff also recognizes that it was not

appropriate to conduct an exercise

during the period of disruption and

heightened security directly after the

national emergency of September 11,

2001. However, in this period of

heightened security concerns regarding

nuclear plant vulnerability, it is prudent

to conduct the full participation

exercise as soon as practical to

demonstrate and maintain readiness.

IV

The Commission has determined that,

pursuant to 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix

E, this exemption is authorized by law,

will not present an undue risk to the

public health and safety, and is

consistent with the common defense

and security, and is otherwise in the

public interest. Further, the Commission

has determined, pursuant to 10 CFR

50.12(a), that special circumstances of

10 CFR 50.12(a)(v) are applicable in that

the exemption would provide only

temporary relief from the applicable

regulation and the licensee has made

good faith efforts to comply with the

regulation. Therefore, the Commission

hereby grants a one year schedular

exemption from Sections IV.F.2.b and c

of Appendix E to 10 CFR Part 50.

Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the

Commission has determined that the

granting of this exemption will have no

significant impact on the quality of the

human environment (66 FR 66000).

This exemption is effective upon

issuance.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day

of December 2001.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Ledyard B. Marsh,

Acting Director, Division of Licensing Project

Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor

Regulation.

[FR Doc. 01–32061 Filed 12–28–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P

NUCLEAR REGULATORY

COMMISSION

Advisory Committee on Nuclear

Waste; Revised

The 131st ACNW meeting scheduled

to be held on January 8–10, 2002, has

been changed to a two-day meeting,

which will be held on January 8–9, 2002.

The ACNW meeting with the NRC

Commissioners scheduled to be held

between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. on January

9, 2002 has been canceled, and will be

rescheduled for March 20, 2002. Notice

of this meeting was previously

published in the Federal Register on

Wednesday, December 19, 2001, (66 FR

65522). A revised agenda is provided

below.

Tuesday, January 8, 2002

A. 8:30—10:45 A.M.: Opening

Statement/Planning and Procedures

(Open)—The Chairman will open the

meeting with brief opening remarks.

The Committee will then review items

under consideration at this meeting and

consider topics proposed for future

ACNW meetings.

B. 11:00—12:00 Noon: Proposed

Amendment to 10 CFR Part 63 (Open)—

The staff will provide an information

briefing on the proposed amendment to

10 CFR Part 63, that would clarify the

types of features, events, and processes

that must be considered in performance

analyses of human intrusion and