ML18351A258
| ML18351A258 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | La Crosse File:Dairyland Power Cooperative icon.png |
| Issue date: | 12/19/2018 |
| From: | Jessie Quintero Environmental Review Branch |
| To: | Fasbender P US Dept of Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service |
| Quintero J | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18351A255 | List: |
| References | |
| Download: ML18351A258 (2) | |
Text
OFFICIAL USE ONLY-SENSITIVE INTERNAL INFORMATION OFFICIAL USE ONLY-SENSITIVE INTERNAL INFORMATION UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 December 19, 2018 Mr. Peter Fasbender Field Office Supervisor U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service MN-WI Ecological Services Field Office 4101 American Blvd East Bloomington, MN 55425
SUBJECT:
REQUEST FOR CONCURRENCE ON ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT FINDINGS RELATED TO LA CROSSE BOILING WATER REACTOR LICENSE TERMINATION PLAN (DOCKET NUMBER: 50-409)
Dear Mr. Fasbender:
On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am requesting concurrence from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) that the NRCs approval of LaCrosseSolutions, LLC (Solutions) license termination plan (LTP) for the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor (LACBWR) may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the Higgins eye pearlymussel (Lampsilis higginsii); sheepnose mussel (Plethobasus cyphyus) and the northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis). In June 2016, Solutions submitted a license amendment request to the NRC to amend its operating licenses for LACBWR. An updated application was submitted in May 2018 (Solutions 2018). The request, if granted, would add a license condition reflecting the NRCs approval of the LTP. Solutions is also requesting that the NRC amend the licenses to include a provision to allow Solutions to make certain changes to the NRC-approved LTP without prior NRC approval. LACBWR, a commercial nuclear power plant in Vernon County, Wisconsin, is licensed by the NRC, but has been permanently shut down since 1987.
Proposed Action The proposed Federal action is NRCs decision of whether to approve the LTP and amend the operating license to incorporate the LTP. The LTP describes the process Solutions will use to meet the NRCs requirements of terminating the operating licenses and to release the site for unrestricted use. Submitting the LTP is one of the final steps of decommissioning. Solutions began active decommissioning and dismantling activities in 2016, and those activities are still ongoing but expected to be complete by 2019. Decommissioning activities include building dismantling, demolition, and backfilling of subsurface structures.
Documents transmitted herewith contain Sensitive-Internal Information. When separated from the sensitive conditions in the enclosure, this document is decontrolled.
OFFICIAL USE ONLY-SENSITIVE INTERNAL INFORMATION P. Fasbender 2
OFFICIAL USE ONLY-SENSITIVE INTERNAL INFORMATION Final site surveys entail radiological surveys and potential confirmatory soil sampling. Activities occur year round but are temporary.Solutions does not plan any excavation work on the cooling water intake or discharge structures on the shoreline or within the Mississippi River. License termination activities such as radiological surveys, soil sampling, and soil removal would be temporary and involve minimal land disturbance. Demolition of remaining structures would be loud and disruptive, but temporary. The areas within the LACBWR footprint have all been previously disturbed; and some of the disturbed areas would eventually be re-seeded and re-contoured as necessary.
Environmental Assessment With this email, the NRC staff is forwarding you a copy of its draft Environmental Assessment (EA) related to the LTP for LACBWR. The enclosed draft EA was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (NEPA) (50 CFR 402.06(a)); Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 51, Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions, and the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (ESA). Please note that the draft EA is pre-decisional information that is limited to the use of the FWS and its staff. Disclosure or distribution of the EA is prohibited without prior NRC permission. The NRC staff intends to make the final EA publicly available.
Federal agencies may fulfill their obligations to consult with the Services under Section 7 of the ESA in conjunction with the interagency cooperation procedures required by other statutes, including NEPA In such cases, the Federal agency should include the results of the ESA Section 7 consultation in the NEPA document (50 CFR 402.06(b)).
Listed Species In October 2018, we carefully reviewed your agency FWSs Section 7 Consultation website for a list of species and critical habitat that may be present within the project area (FWS 2018). The NRC staff determined that four species may be present:
Northern wild monkshood (Aconitum noveboracense) - Threatened Higgins eye pearlymussel (Lampsilis higginsii) - Endangered Sheepnose mussel (Plethobasus cyphyus) - Endangered Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) - Threatened ESA Determinations In the enclosed EA, the NRC performed an assessment of whether the proposed action has the potential to adversely affect any of the four Federally listed species. This assessment is documented in Sections 3.6 and 4.3 of the draft EA. In Section 4.3 of the draft EA, the NRC staff determined that the proposed action may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect and would have insignificant or discountable effects on the following three Federally listed species:
Higgins eye pearlymussel (Lampsilis higginsii) sheepnose mussel (Plethobasus cyphyus)
Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis)
OFFICIAL USE ONLY-SENSITIVE INTERNAL INFORMATION P. Fasbender 3
OFFICIAL USE ONLY-SENSITIVE INTERNAL INFORMATION The NRC staff determined that the proposed action would have no effect on the Federally listed Northern wild monkshood (Aconitum noveboracense). For this Federally listed species, no suitable habitat exists in areas where ground disturbing activities would occur. Because of this, this species is unlikely to be present in the action area, and the proposed action would, therefore, have no effect on this species.
On behalf of the NRC, I am requesting concurrence from the FWS that the proposed action may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect the Higgins eye pearlymussel, sheepnose mussel, and northern long-eared bat pursuant to 50 CFR 402.13(a). The NRC staff requests your review and concurrence with its findings within 30 days of receipt of this letter. If you need additional information to make a determination or are otherwise unable to meet this timeline, please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss an alternate timeline. Although I understand that the FWS does not typically provide its concurrence with no effect determinations, I welcome any comments you may have.
If you have any questions regarding the project, please contact me at 301-415-7476 or via email at Jessie.Quintero@nrc.gov.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Jessie Quintero Environmental Project Manager Division of Fuel Cycle Safety, Safeguards and Environmental Review Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket No. 50-409 License No. DPR-45
Enclosure:
Draft Environmental Assessment (non-public) cc: Michelle Moser, Ecologist
OFFICIAL USE ONLY-SENSITIVE INTERNAL INFORMATION P. Fasbender 3
OFFICIAL USE ONLY-SENSITIVE INTERNAL INFORMATION
SUBJECT:
REQUEST FOR CONCURRENCE ON ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT FINDINGS RELATED TO LA CROSSE BOILING WATER REACTOR LICENSE TERMINATION PLAN (DOCKET NUMBER: 50-409)
DATED: December 19, 2018 DISTRIBUTION:
FCSE r/f ADAMS Package Accession Number: ML18351A255
(* via e-mail)
OFFICIAL RECORD COPY OFC FSCE/ERB FSCE/ERB FCSE/ERB NAME JQuintero
- AWalker-Smith CRomán DATE 12/17/18 12/17/18 12/19/18