Document: 10 CFR Part 51
Document ID: 130e3241-377c-4dc3-9446-d3b7a8503d2d
Document Type: cfr
Title: Draft environmental impact statement—contents.
Source: 10 CFR Part 51
Source URL: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-10/part-51/section-51.71
Revision Date: 
Chapter: 
Section ID: 51.71
CFR Part: 51
CFR Title: 10

Content:
ropriate, and will be reached after considering the environmental effects of the proposed action and reasonable alternatives, [ 4 ] and, except for supplemental environmental impact statements for the operating license renewal stage prepared pursuant to § 51.95(c) , after weighing the costs and benefits of the proposed action. In lieu of a recommendation, the NRC staff may indicate in the draft statement that two or more alternatives remain under consideration. [ 49 FR 9381 , Mar. 12, 1984, as amended at 61 FR 28488 , June 5, 1996; 61 FR 66544 , Dec. 18, 1996; 72 FR 49514 , Aug. 28, 2007; 72 FR 57445 , Oct. 9, 2007; 78 FR 37317 , June 20, 2013] Footnotes - 51.71 [ 3 ] Compliance with the environmental quality standards and requirements of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (imposed by EPA or designated permitting states) is not a substitute for, and does not negate the requirement for NRC to weigh all environmental effects of the proposed action, including the degradation, if any, of water quality, and to consider alternatives to the proposed action that are available for reducing adverse effects. Where an environmental assessment of aquatic impact from plant discharges is available from the permitting authority, the NRC will consider the assessment in its determination of the magnitude of environmental impacts for striking an overall cost-benefit balance at the construction permit and operating license and early site permit and combined license stages, and in its determination of whether the adverse environmental impacts of license renewal are so great that preserving the option of license renewal for energy planning decision-makers would be unreasonable at the license renewal stage. When no such assessment of aquatic impacts is available from the permitting authority, NRC will establish on its own, or in conjunction with the permitting authority and other agencies having relevant expertise, the magnitude of potential impacts for striking an overall