ML103190723
| ML103190723 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Levy County |
| Issue date: | 12/22/2010 |
| From: | Scott Flanders NRC/NRO/DSER |
| To: | Croom M US Dept of Commerce, National Marine Fisheries Service |
| Bruner D, NRO/DSER, 415-2730 | |
| References | |
| +reviewedbca1 | |
| Download: ML103190723 (13) | |
Text
December 22, 2010 Mr. Miles M. Croom Assistant Regional Administrator for Habitat Conservation Division National Marine Fisheries Service Southeast Regional Office 263 13th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5505
SUBJECT:
RESPONSE TO ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING PROPOSED LEVY NUCLEAR PLANT UNITS 1 AND 2
Dear Mr. Croom:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) received your letter, dated October 26, 2010, providing the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) comments and conservation recommendations in response to the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and essential fish habitat (EFH) assessment, respectively, for the construction and operation of the proposed Levy Nuclear Plant (LNP) Units 1 and 2 site in Levy County, Florida. As cooperating agencies, the NRC and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have conducted a joint EFH consultation with NMFS in association with reviews of the application submitted by Progress Energy Florida (PEF) for combined licenses from the NRC and a Department of the Army permit from USACE. The joint EFH consultation was initiated pursuant to Section 305 of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (Public Law 94-265, December 1996) (the Act), and the EFH assessment was included in Appendix F of the DEIS, which was issued in August 2010. This letter focuses on responding to the EFH conservation recommendations for the purpose of concluding the EFH consultation by the NRC, as required by Section 305(b)(4)(B) for the Act. It is our understanding that the USACE will respond to the NMFS by separate letter.
In the EFH assessment, the NRC and USACE determined that construction and operation of proposed Units 1 and 2 at the LNP site would have minimal adverse effects on EFH within the Crystal Bay area of the Gulf of Mexico, Old Withlacoochee River, and Cross Florida Barge Canal (CFBC), as a result of the loss of spawning, nursery, forage, and/or shelter habitat for the 14 species evaluated. NMFSs EFH conservation recommendations from your October 26, 2010, letter are reproduced below:
- 1) A minimum 5-year baseline survey should be developed and coordinated with state and Federal natural resource agencies to determine site-specific, year-round impacts to fish and invertebrate resources present at the cooling water intake site following plant operation. Acquired data could then be used to quantitatively calculate potential impacts to LNP operations on identified fishery resources and, if determined necessary, to develop and implement Best Management practices and adaptive management mitigation options to further reduce such impacts.
M. Croom 2) A minimum 3-year Submerged Aquatic Vegetation (SAV) survey, conducted between June 1 through September 30, should be conducted in portions of the Gulf of Mexico offshore of the cooling water discharge canal at the Crystal River Energy Complex facility to determine if discharge of additional cooling water from LNP operations is resulting in adverse impacts to SAV. Following SAV sampling and if survey results indicate diminished SAV densities are occurring as a result of discharge of LNP cooling water, an SAV mitigation plan should be developed in consultation with state and Federal natural resource agencies.
- 3) The filling of approximately 4.5 acres of estuarine emergent marsh habitats for proposed blowdown pipeline corridor routing between the LNP and existing Crystal River Energy Complex facility should not be authorized. Alternatively, necessary pipeline construction should be aligned through available upland areas between these sites.
- 4) If it is determined there is a need for dredging portions of the Gulf of Mexico immediately offshore from the Cross Florida Barge Canal, then benthic surveys should be conducted.
Such surveys should also include benthic habitat assessments to determine the presence and abundance of SAV and hardbottom habitats. Results of these surveys should be provided to NMFS staff for review.
- 5) Provided unavoidable hardbottom and SAV impacts are expected to occur as a result of Item 4, above, development of a conceptual compensatory mitigation plan for impacts to marine habitats should include the following elements: 1) description of the mitigation plan; 2) quantification of anticipated impact acreage verses proposed mitigation acreage and justification for the proposed mitigation acreage; 3) scientific criteria for determining mitigation success; 4) a project and mitigation implementation schedule; 5) targeted climax communities expected in mitigation area(s), including their acreage and configurations; 6) material and methods to be used to achieve the intended mitigation;
- 7) comprehensive 5-year monitoring and reporting schedules; and 8) contingency plans by which equivalent mitigation would be completed if the proposed mitigation fails.
In addition, your letter recommends that the NRC and USACE coordinate with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to assess the potential cumulative effects of the Levy Nuclear and Inglis Hydropower Plants (IHP) operations on diadromous species and their associated habitats and address preliminary measures for protection, mitigation, and enhancement of these resources.
Although the NRC considered the mitigative measures in the EFH assessment, the NRCs statutory authority under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, does not allow the NRC to impose on NRC licenses the mitigative measures described in your letter. Instead, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) as delegated by the Environmental Protection Agency and USACE have such authority under the Clean Water Act. Therefore, regarding Items 1, 2, 4, and 5, above, the NRC encourages NMFS to collaborate with the FDEP or USACE to implement: 1) baseline fish and invertebrate surveys by the cooling water intake site; 2) SAV surveys; 3) potential benthic survey associated with dredging in the Gulf of Mexico; and 4) development of a conceptual compensatory mitigation plan for impacts to marine habitats that could occur as a result of dredging in the Gulf of Mexico.
M. Croom In April 2010, a petition for Notification to Modify the States Site Certification Application for the Levy project was submitted by PEF to the FDEP. The primary purpose of the modification is to avoid 4.5 acres of estuarine emergent marsh habitats as presented in EFH conservation recommendation number three. The FDEP is expected to decide on the petition in January 2011.
Although not an EFH conservation recommendation, your October 26, 2010, letter recommended that the NRC and the USACE coordinate with FERC to assess the potential cumulative effects of the proposed LNP and the proposed IHP on diadromous species and their associated habitats as well as addressing preliminary measures for protection, mitigation, and enhancement of these resources. The review team is unaware of any diadromous fish species that currently or historically inhabited the Withlacoochee River. The review team did evaluate the potential for cumulative impacts associated with the IHP and the LNP in Section 7.3.2 of the August 2010 DEIS. The review team concluded that construction of the hydropower plant could temporarily affect downstream migration of fish from Lake Rousseau to the Withlacoochee River but would have no effect on the CFBC or the Old Withlacoochee River. The review team also found that the IHP is isolated from impacts on the CFBC because the Inglis Lock bypass channel and the Withlacoochee River are not hydraulically connected to the CFBC. The construction and operation of the IHP would have no effect on fish populations or EFH in the CFBC. Thus, the staff concluded that the hydropower project would have no detectable incremental cumulative impact on EFH or fish populations affected by the building and operating of LNP. Therefore, the review team finds no reason to coordinate with FERC to further assess the potential cumulative effects of the IHP and LNP on diadromous species, EFH, or the local fishery.
This response letter concludes the NRCs portion of the joint EFH consultation regarding construction and operation of proposed Units 1 and 2 at the LNP site. The USACE will complete its consultation with the NMFS through a separate letter. If you have any questions concerning the response to NMFSs EFH conservation recommendations, please contact Mr. Douglas Bruner of my staff at 301-415-2730, or via e-mail to Douglas.Bruner@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/ By Nilesh C. Chokshi Acting For Scott C. Flanders, Director Division of Site and Environmental Reviews Office of New Reactors Docket Nos.: 52-029 and 52-030 cc: See next page
ML103190723 *via e-mail NRO-002 OFFICE NRO/DSER/RAP2:PM NRO/DSER/RAP3:LA NRO/DSER/RENV:AB NAME DBruner MBrown* MMasnik DATE 12/ 09 /10 12/ 22 /10 12/ 13 /10 OFFICE OGC NRO/DSER/RAP3:BC NRO/DSER:DD NAME JMartin RSchaaf SFlanders DATE 12/ 17 /10 12/ 21 /10 12/ 22 /10 Letter to Miles M. Croom from Scott C. Flanders dated December 22, 2010
SUBJECT:
RESPONSE TO ESSENTIAL FISH HABITAT CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING PROPOSED LEVY NUCLEAR PLANT UNITS 1 AND 2 DISTRIBUTION:
Docket Nos.: 52-029 and 52-030 PUBLIC RidsOcaMailCenter SWyngarden, ISL (SWyngarden@icfi.com)
DBruner, NRO RidsNroDnrl RScherpelz, PNNL (scherpelz@pnl.gov)
BAnderson, NRO RidsNroDserRenv AStegen, PNNL (Amanda.Stegen@pnl.gov)
MBrown, NRO RidsOcaMailCenter RidsRgn2MailCenter RidsOgcMailCenter JMartin, OGC RidsOpaMail JSebrosky, NRO RidsNroDser KRoach, OGC GHambrick, USACE (Gordon.A.Hambrick@usace.army.mil)
RHanna, RII GWilson, RII TMorrisey, RII
Levy County Mailing List cc:
Ms. Pamela Albert Ms. Betsy Cox 5630 N Andri Drive 5213 Relay Way Crystal River, FL 34428 Raleigh, NC 27605 Mr. Hugh Arnold Avis Craig 14031 SE 82nd Court 10995 N. Citrus Avenue Inglis, FL 34429 Crystal River, FL 34428 Ms. Betty Berger The Honorable Mitchell Cypress PO Box 83 Chairman Ingilis, FL 34449 Seminole Tribe of Florida 6300 Stirling Road Ms. Carol Bergmann Hollywood, FL 33024 122 N. Pompeo Avenue Crystal River, FL 34429 Mr. Darryl A. Diamond 20165 SE 115th Avenue Mr. David Bernhart Inglis, FL 34449 Assistant Regional Administrator for Protected Resources Ms. Amanda Douglas Southeast Regional Office P.O. Box 1112 National Marine Fisheries Service Bronson, FL 32621 263 13th Avenue South St. Petersburg, FL 33701 Ms. Mimi Drew FDEP Deputy Secretary Mr. Troy Burrell, Jr. 3900Commonwealth Blvd 12005 N. Florida Avenue Mail Stop 15 Dunnellon, FL 34434 Tallahassee, FL 32399 Mr. Hal C. Flowers Ms. Lesa Ehlers 2919 Wallerford Avenue Citrus County Tampa, FL 33611 Costal Region Library 8619 W. Crystal Street Ms. Renate Cannon Crystal River, FL 34426 7451 NW 35th Street Chiefland, FL 32626-7317 Mr. Thomas Eppes 6900 Ulmerton Road Mr. Ken Cheek Largo, FL 33771 12005 North Florida Avenue Dunnellon, FL 34434 Ms. Patricia Foreman 323 E. Hill Street Ms. Linda Cohan Inverness, FL 34452 AF Knotts Public Library 11 56th Street Yankeetown, FL 34498 Page 1 of 5
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Mr. Barry Lenz Ms. Cindy Mulkey 5426 Bay Ctr Drive, Suite 400 Engineering Specialist Tampa, FL 33609 Florida Department of Environmental Protection Maloni R. Lewis 2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 48 786 NE 6th Terrace Tallahassee, FL 32399 Crystal River, FL 34428 Ms. Anne Mullins, Compliance Supervisor Mr. Gary Maidhof Tribal Historic Preservation Office 3600 W. Sovereign Path, Suite 109 Seminole Tribe of Florida Lecanto, FL 34461 34725 West Boundary Road Clewistown, FL 33440 Mr. Paul Marraffino 19544 SW 82nd Place Road Mr. Joe Murphy Dunnellon, FL 34432 34413 Orchird Parkway Ridge Manor, FL 33523 Ms. Katrice McCray-Holly PO Box 551 Mr. Michael Peters Crystal River, FL 34423 PO Box 7 Inglis, FL 34449 Mr. Walton McJordan PO Box 688 Mr. Guy Rabens Cedar Key, FL 32625 1417 SW 15th Avenue Ocala, FL 34471 Mr. Bruce Moore 5559 Cactus Circle E. E. Renfro Spring Hill, FL 34606 6588 W. Cannondale Drive Crystal River, FL 34429 Ms. Sandy Moseley Bronson Public Library Mr. John Russell Levy County 17810 Hyland Lane 600 Gilbert Street Dade City, FL 33523 Bronson, FL 32621 Mr. Noah Silverman Mr. Matt Mucci Natural Resources Specialist 4300 W. Cypress Street, Suite 250 NOAA Fisheries Service Tampa, FL 33607 Southeast Regional Office 263 13th Avenue South Mr. Heinz Mueller Petersburg, FL 33701 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 Ms. Laura Slaback 61 Forsyth Street PO Box 1086 Atlanta, GA 30303 Branson, FL 32621 Page 3 of 5
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COL - Progress Energy - Levy County Mailing List (Revised 06/23/2010) cc:
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P.O. Box 14042 Saint Petersburg, FL 33733 Page 1 of 3
COL - Progress Energy - Levy County Mailing List Email APH@NEI.org (Adrian Heymer) awc@nei.org (Anne W. Cottingham)
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COL - Progress Energy - Levy County Mailing List stephan.moen@ge.com (Stephan Moen)
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