ML20119B088

Letter to the Honorable Michelle Lujan Grisham, from NRC Chairman Svinicki NRC Delay Any Public Meetings and Extend the Public Comment Period on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Holtec Proposed Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilit

ML20119B088
Person / Time
Site:	HI-STORE
Issue date:	05/15/2020
From:	Kristine Svinicki NRC/Chairman
To:	Grisham M State of NM, Governor
Jose Cuardrado-Caraballo
References
CORR-20-0049, LTR-20-0154
Download: ML20119B088 (1)

Text

May 15, 2020 The Honorable Michelle Lujan Grisham Governor of New Mexico State Capitol, Room 400 Santa Fe, NM 87501

Dear Governor Lujan Grisham:

On behalf of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), I am responding to your April 17, 2020, letter requesting that the NRC extend the public comment period on the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Holtec Internationals proposed consolidated interim storage facility in Southeast New Mexico until the COVID-19 pandemic threat has passed and public meetings can be held. You also asked that public meetings, once resumed, be held at locations across New Mexico.

The 60-day comment period on the draft EIS was scheduled to close on May 22, 2020.

Given recent events associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency, and the corresponding actions taken by Federal and State governments to mitigate its spread, the NRC staff has extended the public comment period for an additional 60 days until July 22, 2020. A notice of this extension was published in the Federal Register on April 27, 2020.

The NRC staff plans to hold a nationwide webinar and five public meetings in New Mexico during the public comment period to present the staffs preliminary findings and receive public comments. As the COVID-19 public health emergency evolves, the NRC staff will continue to re-evaluate these plans for engaging the public, and will consider whether additional extensions to the comment period are warranted.

If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me or have your staff contact John Lubinski, Director of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, at (301) 415-0595.

Sincerely, Kristine L. Digitally signed by Kristine L. Svinicki Svinicki Date: 2020.05.15 13:06:46 -04'00' Kristine L. Svinicki