ML111600187

E-mail Dtd 6/9/11, Subj: Energy Nw, Columbia Generating Station Public Involvement and Notice List, Request for Hearings Re EIS

ML111600187
Person / Time
Site:	Columbia
Issue date:	06/09/2011
From:	Dan Doyle License Renewal Projects Branch 1
To:	Pollet G Heart of America Northwest
doyle, D, NRR/DLR/RPB1, 415-3748
References
TAC ME3121
Download: ML111600187 (5)

Text

From:

Doyle, Daniel Sent:

Thursday, June 09, 2011 10:11 AM To:

'gerry@hoanw.org' Cc:

Cunanan, Arthur

Subject:

RE: Energy NW, Columbia Generating Station public involvement and notice list, request for hearings re EIS Attachments:

CGS Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS and Conduct Scoping (75 FR 11576).pdf; Columbia Safety RAIs.docx; Columbia Environmental RAIs.docx; CGS Notice of Acceptance and Opportunity for Hearing (75 FR 11572).pdf Categories:

CGS Mr. Pollet, Thank you for your e-mail. Please find my responses to your requests below.

I added the mailing address below to the distribution list for the Columbia Generating Station Supplemental EIS (SEIS). This will ensure that you receive a hard copy of the draft and final SEIS when each is published.

Mr. Gerry Pollet Executive Director Heart of America Northwest 1314 NE 56th St #100 Seattle, WA 98105 We have only electronic (not hard copy) distribution for other correspondence related to this license renewal review. Any member of the public can sign up to receive via e-mail NRC correspondence for Columbia Generating Station at the website below. This will include NRC correspondence from the license renewal review as well as general operating reactor correspondence for Columbia Generating Station.

Steps to sign up for electronic distribution of NRC correspondence for Columbia Generating Station:

1. Go to http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver/plants-by-region.html

2. Enter the e-mail address and name in the appropriate fields.

3. Under Region IV in the far right column, check the box next to Columbia.

4. Click the Subscribe button at the bottom.

5. You will see a confirmation screen and you should get a confirmation e-mail also.

The planned public meetings are not a hearing, and the purpose of the public meetings is to get public comments on the draft SEIS. The public has many different ways to submit comments to the NRC if one is unable to attend the meetings which will be held in the vicinity of the plant.

These other methods include mail, fax, and the Federal rulemaking website http://www.regulations.gov. Detailed instructions about how to submit comments will be included in the Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the draft SEIS after it is issued.

I attached the Federal Register notice announcing the NRCs intent to prepare an environmental impact statement and conduct scoping (75 FR 11576). This was published on March 11, 2010.

In order to announce the public scoping meetings held in Richland on April 6, in addition to the Federal Register notice, the NRC issued a press release (on March 8), took out newspaper ads, posted flyers locally, and posted the meeting information on the NRC public website. NRC staff also met the editorial boards of the Seattle Times (on April 5) and the Tri-Cities Herald (on April 6).

The NRCs scoping summary report is accessible in the NRCs online document management systems (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)).

Steps to access NRC documents in ADAMS:

1. Go to http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html

2. Click on the link Begin Web-based ADAMS Search.

3. Select the tab at the top that says Simple Search.

4. Enter the ADAMS accession number (begins with ML) in the search box and click Search and the document will come up. If multiple documents are returned, look at the document title or accession number to select the correct one.

5. Click on the title to open a new window and view the document in PDF format.

The accession number for the Scoping Summary Report is ML102770232.

The accession numbers for all of the requests for additional information (RAIs) and the applicants responses are included in two attached Word files. Each document can be accessed in ADAMS using the steps above. The safety RAIs are related to the NRCs review of the applicants plan to manage the effects of aging on plant systems structures and components as required by NRC regulations. The NRC project manager for the safety review is Arthur Cunanan. The environmental RAIs are related to the NRCs NEPA review of the license renewal application. I am the project manager for the environmental review.

Finally, you asked why the deadline for requesting hearings elapsed prior to the NEPA environmental impact statement process. NRC regulations for licensing proceedings are outlined in 10 CFR Part 2. The NRC regulation governing requests for hearings is 10 CFR 2.309. Please note that the initial deadline for requesting a hearing does not foreclose the opportunity for hearing requests. The NRCs notice of docketing and opportunity to request a hearing (attached) published in the Federal Register on March 11, 2010 (75 FR 11572),

provides information on the requirements for requests for hearing and filing procedures.

Sincerely, Dan Doyle

Project Manager Division of License Renewal U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission daniel.doyle@nrc.gov (301) 415-3748 From: Doyle, Daniel Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 2:48 PM To: 'gerry@hoanw.org' Cc: Gettys, Evelyn; Cunanan, Arthur

Subject:

RE: Energy NW, Columbia Generating Station public involvement and notice list, request for hearings re EIS Mr. Pollet, Thank you for your e-mail. I am collecting the information you requested, and I will send you a reply by the end of this week.

Dan Doyle Project Manager Division of License Renewal U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission daniel.doyle@nrc.gov (301) 415-3748 From: Gerry Pollet [1]

Sent: Sunday, June 05, 2011 4:56 PM To: Gettys, Evelyn; Doyle, Daniel; Cunanan, Arthur Cc: office@hoanw.org; Chuck Johnson(2); Lloyd Marbet; Robin Klein; Sandy Polishuk; Steven Gilbert; Kelly Campbell; Tom Clements

Subject:

Energy NW, Columbia Generating Station public involvement and notice list, request for hearings re EIS June 5, 2011 Arthur Cunanan, Project Manager, License Renewal NRC Division of License Renewal Arthur.cunanan@nrc.gov Evelyn Gettys, Project Manager NRC Division of License Renewal Evelyn.gettys@nrc.gov Daniel Doyle, Project Manager NRC Division of License Renewal Daniel.doyle@nrc.gov RE: Public involvement lists and notices, including requests to be added to lists and requests for hearings

on the Draft EIS, for Columbia Generating Station license renewal, NRC Dockets 50-397 and 2010-0029

Dear Mr. Cunanan,

Ms. Gettys and Mr. Doyle, We are requesting that you include our email and street address in your public notice lists for notifications relating to the Energy Northwest application for relicensing of the Columbia Generating Station (CGS).

We request that hearings on the Draft EIS be held in several locations around the region to make it possible for the highly interested public and ratepayers to attend and comment within the region served by power from the facility and within the regions of locally publicly owned utilities which comprise Energy Northwest.

Specifically, we request that hearings on the Draft EIS be held in both Seattle, WA, home of Seattle City Light (a Board member and "participant" in Energy Northwest's Columbia Generating Station and convenient to other participants such as Snohomish PUD), and Portland, OR (to serve the interests of the SW Washington public utilities participating in Energy Northwest and the customers of other entities in Oregon purchasing power from BPA, which includes distribution of power from the facility).

Please provide a copy of the notice list for public notice utilized by the NRC for the relicensing application and EIS process; and, please provide a copy of the scoping document or direct us to where it is on the NRC website.

Please inform us as to how the public can sign up to receive all notices in regard to the application and environmental impact statement (EIS). In reviewing the NRC website and clicking on public involvement for the Energy NW / CGS facility there does not appear to be a link or form for the public to sign up to receive notices. We ask that the NRC provide such an accessible means for the public to participate, which would be directly in keeping with the President's Open Government Directive.

We also request, in keeping with the Open Government Directive, that the NRC post on line its Requests for Additional Information and the applicants' responses.

As the region's largest citizens' group concerned with nuclear waste issues at Hanford, where the CGS facility is located, we are interested in ensuring that there is broad public involvement and adequate notice regarding the EIS and opportunity for the region's utility ratepayers and others to comment. We are concerned that we did not receive any notice of the scoping meeting held in April, 2010, nor did other organizations with whom we collaborate and who have a record of interest in the facility and it spent fuel storage and plans for fuel.

Please explain to us why the deadline for requesting hearings on the safety of the facility elapsed prior to the NRC conducting the required NEPA environmental impact statement process. The NEPA process exists to inform both decision makers and the public in regard to potential significant impacts to human health and the environment. Thus, requiring petitions to be filed for participation in, or hearings on, safety issues prior to the NRC performing its nondiscretionary duties under NEPA appears to run contrary to the intent of NEPA and sensible sequencing of public involvement. Indeed, it requires the public to both be prescient and to file challenges to issues which may be adequately responded to otherwise in the NEPA process. We petition the Commission to reopen the petition deadline after the completion of the NEPA process and issuance of the Final EIS.

Gerry Pollet, JD; Executive Director, Heart of America Northwest "The Public's Voice for Hanford Clean-Up" 1314 NE 56th St. #100 Seattle, WA 98105 (206)382-1014

office@hoanw.org and Gerry@hoanw.org