ML18183A009

LTR-18-0241 Letter to Diane Curran from Craig Erlanger, NMSS Responds to Her Letter on the Scope of EIS for Holtec International HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Project

ML18183A009
Person / Time
Site:	HI-STORE
Issue date:	07/13/2018
From:	Craig Erlanger Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental Review
To:	Curran D Harmon, Curran, Harmon, Curran, Spielberg & Eisenberg, LLP
Imboden S
References
LTR-18-0241, LTR-18-0241-1FCSE, NRC-2018-0052
Download: ML18183A009 (3)

Text

UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 July 13, 2018 Ms. Diane Curran, Esq.

Harmon, Curran, Spielberg and Eisenberg, L.L.P.

1725 DeSales Street NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20036

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR A 90-DAY EXTENSION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING PERIOD FOR HOLTEC INTERNATIONALS PROPOSED CONSOLIDATED INTERIM SPENT FUEL STORAGE FACILITY LICENSE IN LEA COUNTY, NEW MEXICO (DOCKET NUMBER: 72-1051)

Dear Ms. Curran:

On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your letter dated June 13, 2018, requesting a 90-day extension of the environmental scoping period for Holtec Internationals proposed Consolidated Interim Storage Facility review due to issues with the Federal Rulemaking website (http://www.regulations.gov).

The NRCs environmental scoping period began on March 30, 2018, with the publication of a Federal Register (FR) notice of intent to conduct scoping (83 FR 13802). The scoping comment period was originally noticed for 60 days. Initially, the NRC staff provided the following three methods for submittal of public comments: 1) verbally at one of the transcribed public scoping meetings; 2) hardcopy via regular U.S. mail or hand delivery at one of the scoping meetings; or

3) electronically using the Federal Rulemaking website. Following requests from the public, the NRC extended the comment period by an additional 60 days until July 30, 2018, and provided another method for comment submittal in the form of an email address at Holtec-CISFEIS@nrc.gov (83 FR 22714). Since the beginning of the scoping period, the NRC has conducted a total of six scoping meetings and has received hundreds of comments during those meetings and by the methods discussed above.

In your letter, dated June 13, 2018, you indicated that members of the public had difficulty using the Federal Rulemaking website between April and June of 2018. The Federal Rulemaking website is part of the Federal Docket Management System, and is supported by 41 Federal agencies including the NRC. It is not managed by the NRC. In response to your letter, the NRC staff verified that the Federal Rulemaking website was operating properly during the scoping comment period. The NRC staff contacted the Federal Rulemaking website help desk and confirmed that there were no reported concerns from members of the public regarding the inoperability of the website during the scoping period. Please note that the Federal Rulemaking website provides users with a help desk number for assistance and contains a notice advising users that certain browser plug-ins or extensions may interfere with a comment submittal.

D. Curran 2 The six scoping meetings, along with the 120-day scoping period, and the four methods to submit comments, provide meaningful and ample opportunities for members of the public to submit their comments, while allowing the NRC to make timely regulatory decisions. Therefore, the staff is not planning to further extend the comment period.

If you would like to discuss any of these matters, please contact Ms. Jill Caverly, Environmental Project Manager, by telephone at 301-412-7674 or via email at Jill.Caverly@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,

/RA/

Craig G. Erlanger, Director Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards, and Environmental Review Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket No. 72-1051 cc:

Mr. Terry J. Lodge, Esq.

316 N. Michigan Street, Suite 520 Toledo, OH 43604-5627 Ms. Joni Arends Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety P.O. Box 31147 Santa Fe, NM 87594-1147 Mr. Tim Judson Nuclear Information and Resource Service 6930 Carroll A venue, Suite 340 Takoma Park, MD 20912 Ms. Leona Morgan Nuclear Issues Study Group 202 Harvard Dr. SE Albuquerque, NM 87102

D. Curran 3

SUBJECT:

REQUEST FOR A 90-DAY EXTENSION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING PERIOD FOR HOLTEC INTERNATIONALS PROPOSED CONSOLIDATED INTERIM SPENT FUEL STORAGE FACILITY LICENSE IN LEA COUNTY, NEW MEXICO (DOCKET NUMBER: 72-1051)

DATED: July 13, 2018 DISTRIBUTION: FCSE/ERB r/f, J. Cuadrado, NMSS J. McKirgan, NMSS M. Layton ADAMS Accession Number: ML18183A009 *via email OFC FCSE/ERB FCSE/ERB FCSE/ERB OGC NAME SImboden *AWalker- JCaverly *MLemoncelli Smith DATE 07/02/2018 07/02/2018 07/03/2018 07/12/2018 OFC FCSE/ERB NMSS FCSE NAME CRoman SMoore CErlanger DATE 07/12/2018 07/12/2018 07/13/2018 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY