ML041280306
| ML041280306 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Point Beach  (DPR-024) |
| Issue date: | 05/05/2004 |
| From: | Kuo P NRC/NRR/DRIP/RLEP |
| To: | James Smith US Dept of Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service |
| Dam W, NRR/DRIP/RLEP, 415-3407 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML041280325 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML041280306 (6) | |
Text
May 5, 2004 Ms. Janet Smith Field Supervisor U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Green Bay ES Field Office 2661 Scott Tower Drive New Franken, WI 54229-9565
SUBJECT:
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION (NRC) ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND REQUEST FOR PROTECTED SPECIES WITHIN THE AREA UNDER EVALUATION FOR THE POINT BEACH NUCLEAR PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL
Dear Ms. Smith:
Thank you for providing my staff the opportunity to meet with you on March 17, 2004, to discuss the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions (NRC) process for reviewing an application to extend the operating licenses of Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 (PBNP).
Mr. William Dam and our consultant with Los Alamos National Laboratory, Dr. Paul Schumann, found the discussions with you, Ken Stromberg, and Larry Thompson to be very informative and beneficial as we begin the process of collecting information to write a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS).
The NRC has established that, as part of the staff review of any nuclear power plant license renewal action, a site-specific SEIS to its Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants (GEIS), NUREG-1437, will be prepared under the provisions of 10 CFR Part 51, the NRC rules that implement the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). In addition the NEPA interactions satisfy the provisions of the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act of 1934.
To support the SEIS preparation process and to ensure compliance with Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the NRC requests a list of species and information on protected, proposed, and candidate species and critical habitat that may be in the vicinity of PBNP and its associated transmission lines. As mentioned in your February 26, 2004 letter to Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC), we understand that your office will coordinate and request input from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which maintains the Natural Heritage Inventory. In addition, our staff received the September 2003 report you sent titled, Recovery Plan for the Great Lakes Piping Plover, which provides important information that we will include in the SEIS.
Attached is a map of the transmission-line corridors from the NMC license application (Enclosure). NMC has agreed to provide you with an additional detailed geo-referenced map of the site and transmission-line corridors. The proposed action would include the use and continued maintenance of existing plant facilities and transmission lines. The PBNP site
J. Smith 2
located in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, covers approximately 1260 acres, of which approximately 1050 acres are used for agriculture.
For the specific purpose of connecting PBNP to the regional transmission system, there is a total of approximately 73 miles of transmission lines that occupy approximately 1955 acres of land. These transmission line corridors are being evaluated as part of the SEIS process. The transmission line corridors traverse Brown and Manitowoc Counties. The corridors pass through land that is primarily rolling hills covered with forests or farm land. Three 345-kilovolt (kV) lines connect PBNP to the electric grid. A fourth transmission line connects Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant to the PBNP substation.
NRC will hold two public scoping meetings for the PBNP license renewal supplement to the GEIS on June 15, 2004, at Fox Hills, 250 West Church Street in Mishicot, Wisconsin. There will be two sessions to accommodate interested parties with the first session convening at 1:30 p.m. and continuing until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session will convene at 7:00 p.m., with a repeat of the overview portions of the meeting, and will continue until 10:00 p.m., as necessary. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour before the start of each session. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in writing. No formal comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS will be accepted during informal discussions. In addition to attending the public meetings, you and your staff are invited to attend our site audit at PBNP on June 16-17, 2004. The audit will include a tour of the area surrounding the facility, examination of the intake structure, screen house, and transmission line corridors, as well as document reviews.
The comment period on the scope of the environmental review closes on July 14, 2004.
Comments should be submitted by mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Mail Stop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001, or by e-mail to PointBeachEIS@nrc.gov. At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC staff will prepare a summary of the significant issues identified and the conclusions reached and will mail a copy to you.
The NRC will issue the draft SEIS for public comment (anticipated publication date, January 2005), and will hold another set of public meetings in the site vicinity to solicit comments on the draft. A copy of the draft SEIS will be sent to you for your review and comment. After consideration of public comments received on the draft, the NRC will prepare a final SEIS. The issuance of a final SEIS for PBNP is planned for August 2005. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Mr. William Dam, Environmental Project Manager, at 301-415-4014 or WLD@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos.: 50-266 and 50-301
Enclosure:
As stated cc: See next page
J. Smith 2
Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, covers approximately 1260 acres, of which approximately 1050 acres are used for agriculture.
For the specific purpose of connecting PBNP to the regional transmission system, there is a total of approximately 73 miles of transmission lines that occupy approximately 1955 acres of land. These transmission line corridors are being evaluated as part of the SEIS process. The transmission line corridors traverse Brown and Manitowoc Counties. The corridors pass through land that is primarily rolling hills covered with forests or farm land. Three 345-kilovolt (kV) lines connect PBNP to the electric grid. A fourth transmission line connects Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant to the PBNP substation.
NRC will hold two public scoping meetings for the PBNP license renewal supplement to the GEIS on June 15, 2004, at Fox Hills, 250 West Church Street in Mishicot, Wisconsin. There will be two sessions to accommodate interested parties with the first session convening at 1:30 p.m. and continuing until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session will convene at 7:00 p.m., with a repeat of the overview portions of the meeting, and will continue until 10:00 p.m., as necessary. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour before the start of each session. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in writing. No formal comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS will be accepted during informal discussions. In addition to attending the public meetings, you and your staff are invited to attend our site audit at PBNP on June 16-17, 2004. The audit will include a tour of the area surrounding the facility, examination of the intake structure, screen house, and transmission line corridors, as well as document reviews.
The comment period on the scope of the environmental review closes on July 14, 2004.
Comments should be submitted by mail to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Mail Stop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001, or by e-mail to PointBeachEIS@nrc.gov. At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC staff will prepare a summary of the significant issues identified and the conclusions reached and will mail a copy to you.
The NRC will issue the draft SEIS for public comment (anticipated publication date, January 2005), and will hold another set of public meetings in the site vicinity to solicit comments on the draft. A copy of the draft SEIS will be sent to you for your review and comment. After consideration of public comments received on the draft, the NRC will prepare a final SEIS. The issuance of a final SEIS for PBNP is planned for August 2005. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Mr. William Dam, Environmental Project Manager, at 301-415-4014 or WLD@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos.: 50-266 and 50-301
Enclosure:
As stated Accession nos.: 1: Letter to J. Smith: ML041280306, 2. Maps: ML041260414, 3. Pkg.; ML041280325 cc: See next page DOCUMENT NAME: G:\\DRIP\\RLEP\\Environmental Section\\Point Beach\\Letters\\USFWletter.wpd OFFICE LA:RLEP GE:RLEP PM:RLEP SC:RLEP PD:RLEP NAME MJenkins SImboden WDam JTappert PTKuo DATE 5/4/04 5/4/04 5/4/04 5/5/04 5/5/04 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
DISTRIBUTION: Ltr. to J. Smith, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Dated: May 5, 2004 D. Matthews/F. Gillespie J. Wilson H. Chernof P. Schumann (LANL)
P.T. Kuo W. Dam J. Tappert R. Emch S. Imboden M. Morgan K. Cozens C. Marco L. Kozak, RIII R. Morris, RIII P. Krohn, RIII RLEP R/F
Point Beach Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2 Jonathan Rogoff, Esquire Vice President, Counsel & Secretary Nuclear Management Company, LLC 700 First Street Hudson, WI 54016 Mr. Richard R. Grigg President and Chief Operating Officer Wisconsin Electric Power Company 231 West Michigan Street Milwaukee, WI 53201 Regulatory Affairs Manager Point Beach Nuclear Plant Nuclear Management Company, LLC 6610 Nuclear Road Two Rivers, WI 54241 Mr. Ken Duveneck Town Chairman Town of Two Creeks 13017 State Highway 42 Mishicot, WI 54228 Chairman Public Service Commission of Wisconsin P.O. Box 7854 Madison, WI 53707-7854 Regional Administrator, Region III U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 801 Warrenville Road Lisle, IL 60532-4351 Resident Inspectors Office U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 6612 Nuclear Road Two Rivers, WI 54241 Mr. Jeffrey Kitsembel Electric Division Public Service Commission of Wisconsin P.O. Box 7854 Madison, WI 53707-7854 Nuclear Asset Manager Wisconsin Electric Power Company 231 West Michigan Street Milwaukee, WI 53201 John Paul Cowan Executive Vice President & Chief Nuclear Officer Nuclear Management Company, LLC 700 First Street Hudson, WI 54016 Douglas E. Cooper Senior Vice President - Group Operations Palisades Nuclear Plant Nuclear Management Company, LLC 27780 Blue Star Memorial Highway Covert, MI 49043 Site Director of Operations Nuclear Management Company, LLC 6610 Nuclear Road Two Rivers, WI 54241 Mr. Gary Van Middlesworth Site Vice President Point Beach Nuclear Plant Nuclear Management Company, LLC 6610 Nuclear Road Two Rivers, WI 54241 Mr. Kenneth Westlake Chief, Environmental Planning and Evaluation Branch U.S. EPA Mail Code B-195 77 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604 Mr. Fred Emerson Nuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, NW, Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 Mr. Nick Niederlander Lester Public Library 1001 Adams Street Two Rivers, WI 54241