ML18232A577
Text
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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In the Matter of )
) Docket No. 72-1051
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HOLTEC INTERNATIONAL )
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(Consolidated Interim Storage Facility) )
)
)
ORDER On July 16, 2018, the NRC provided notice in the Federal Register of Holtec Internationals (Holtec) license application to construct and operate a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) in Lea County, New Mexico.1 The Federal Register notice set a deadline of September 14, 2018, for members of the public to file a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene on Holtecs application. The Federal Register notice also provided instructions for potential parties who believe they may require access to certain non-public information, including sensitive unclassified non-safeguards information (SUNSI), on how to request access to such information.2 On July 19, 2018, Mr. Terry J. Lodge, on behalf of a number of organizations (Consolidated Requesters), submitted a request addressed to the Commission and members of the NRC staff requesting (1) a 90-day extension of the deadline for members of the public to submit comments on the environmental scoping process for the Holtec CISF license application;3 and (2) a suspension of the deadline announced in the July 16, 2018, Federal 1 Holtec Internationals HI-STORE Consolidated Interim Storage Facility for Interim Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, 83 Fed. Reg. 32,919 (July 16, 2018).
2 Id. at 32,922-24.
3 On March 30, 2018, the NRC staff published a notice in the Federal Register announcing its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement in connection with the Holtec CISF application, and providing members of the public until May 29, 2018, to submit comments on the scope of the NRC staffs environmental review. Holtec International HI-STORE
Register notice by which members of the public must submit a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene (Request).4 Holtec has filed a response opposing the Request.5 In the Request, the Consolidated Requesters state that approximately 25% of the Environmental Report prepared by Holtec as part of its license application is currently not publicly available and that this redacted information may aid in the formulation of contentions in support of an intervention petition.6 To that end, the Request states that one of the Consolidated RequestersDont Waste Michigan (DWM)filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on July 5, 2018, seeking this redacted information.7 The Consolidated Requesters thus assert that present circumstances compel the delay of commencement of the intervention petition filing period until after interested parties have attained relief under FOIA.8 The Request is denied. The Consolidated Requesters have based their Request on the lack of access to certain non-public portions of Holtecs Environmental Report, which at the time of the Request were the subject of a pending FOIA request. However, as stated above, the Federal Register notice announcing the opportunity to file a request for a hearing in this proceeding provides detailed procedures that allow potential parties to request access to non-public information they believe is necessary to meaningfully participate in the proceeding, Consolidated Interim Storage Facility Project, 83 Fed. Reg. 13,802 (Mar. 30, 2018). This public comment period was later extended to July 30, 2018. See 83 Fed. Reg. 22,714 (May 16, 2018). The NRC staff has separately responded to this request, stating that it is not planning to further extend the scoping comment period. LTR-18-0296 Letter to T. Lodge re:
Request for an Extension of the Environmental Scoping Period and Suspension of the Notice of Opportunity to Request a Hearing and to Petition for Leave to Intervene for Holtec Internationals Proposed Consolidated Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility License in Lea County, New Mexico (July 30, 2018) (ADAMS Accession No. ML18211A182).
4 Request for Additional 90-day Extension of Scoping Period (July 19, 2018) (ML18208A465).
The Request was resubmitted through the NRCs Electronic Information Exchange (EIE) on July 27, 2018.
5 Holtec Response to Intervenors Group Letter (July 30, 2018) (ML18211A653).
6 Request at 2-3.
7 Id. at 3.
8 Id. at 4.
including SUNSI.
Regardless of the resolution of DWMs FOIA request, any of the Consolidated Requesters intending to participate as parties in this proceeding may, separate from the NRCs FOIA process, file a request in accordance with the procedures included in the Federal Register notice for access to SUNSI. Unlike a FOIA request, these procedures afford certain rights to potential parties, such as a 25-day deadline to submit contentions based upon information received if access is granted, or the right to challenge an adverse access determination before a presiding officer or administrative judge.9 Although these procedures also state that requests submitted later than 10 days after publication of the Federal Register notice will not be considered absent a showing of good cause for the late filinga deadline which has passedI will, pursuant to my authority under 10 C.F.R. § 2.307(c), consider any such requests filed within 10 days of the issuance of this order. The Consolidated Requesters are reminded that, pursuant to these procedures, a request for access to SUNSI must include specific information to allow the NRC to sufficiently determine that the potential party is likely to establish standing to participate in the proceeding and has established a legitimate need for access.10 9 83 Fed. Reg. at 32,923.
10 Id.
Accordingly, pursuant to my authority under 10 C.F.R. § 2.346(b), I deny the request to delay or suspend the September 14, 2018, deadline for members of the public to submit a request for a hearing and petition for leave to intervene in this proceeding.11 IT IS SO ORDERED.
For the Commission NRC SEAL
/RA/ .
Annette L. Vietti-Cook Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of August, 2018 11 The Consolidated Requesters also cite recent unavailability or technical difficulties with Regulations.gov and ADAMS in their request, though these are predominantly in the context of their separate request to extend the deadline for members of the public to submit comments in the environmental scoping process. Request at 2, 3. As stated above, infra n.3, the NRC staff has separately responded to this request. To the extent these technical difficulties overlap with their request to delay or suspend the deadline for submission of hearing requests, these circumstances similarly do not warrant a delay or suspension of that deadline which, at the time of the request, remained 57 days away.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION In the Matter of )
) Docket No. 72-1051
)
HOLTEC INTERNATIONAL )
)
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(Consolidated Interim Storage Facility) )
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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that copies of the foregoing ORDER OF THE SECRETARY have been served upon the following persons by Electronic Information Exchange (EIE).
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel Office of the General Counsel Mail Stop: T-3F23 Mail Stop - O-15 D21 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Sarah Ladin, Law Clerk Patrick Moulding, Esq.
E-mail: sarah.ladin@nrc.gov E-mail: patrick.moulding@nrc.gov Joseph McManus, Law Clerk Mauri Lemoncelli, Esq.
E-mail: joseph.mcmanus@nrc.gov E-mail: mauri.lemoncelli@nrc.gov Christopher Hair, Esq.
Office of Commission Appellate E-mail: christopher.hair@nrc.gov Adjudication U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Krupskaya T. Castellon, Paralegal Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: krupskaya.castellon@nrc.gov E-mail: ocaamail@nrc.gov OGC Mail Center: Members of this office have Holtec Counsel received a copy of this filing by EIE service.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP 1200 Seventeenth Street, NW Dont Waste Michigan Washington, DC 20036 316 N. Michigan Street, Suite 520 Toledo, OH 43604-5627 Jay Silberg, Esq. Terry J. Lodge, Esq.
E-mail: jay.silberg@pillsburylaw.com E-mail: tjlodge50@yahoo.com Sierra Club 4403 1st Avenue SE, Suite 402 Cedar Rapids, IA 52402 Wallace L. Taylor, Esq.
E-mail: wtaylor784@aol.com
[Original signed by Brian Newell]
Office of the Secretary of the Commission Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of August, 2018