ML22300A164

Letter to Ed Mayer Re Notice of Availability of the Holtec CISF Final EIS Supplement 1

ML22300A164
Person / Time
Site:	HI-STORE
Issue date:	10/27/2022
From:	John Moses NRC/NMSS/DREFS
To:	Mayer E Holtec
References
Download: ML22300A164 (4)

Text

Ed Mayer, Program Director Holtec International 1 Holtec Blvd Camden, NJ 08104

SUBJECT:

NOTICE OF AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT SUPPLEMENT 1 FOR HOLTEC INTERNATIONALS PROPOSED CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY LOCATED IN LEA COUNTY, NEW MEXICO (DOCKET NUMBER: 72-1051)

Dear Ed Mayer:

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff has completed a supplement to the final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) (NUREG-2237) for the construction and operation of Holtec Internationals (Holtec) proposed consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel in Lea County, New Mexico. The NRC staff will publish a Federal Register (FR)

Notice of Availability (NOA) to notify the public that the FEIS Supplement 1 is publicly available from the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System ML22299A238. In addition, the NRC staff plans to make printed copies of the FEIS Supplement 1 available to the public at several public libraries in the vicinity of the proposed CISF site.

Two comment letters that were submitted to the NRC during the comment period on the DEIS were inadvertently not included in appendix D to the FEIS. The comment letters were discovered after the publication of the FEIS in July 2022. Supplement 1 to the FEIS considers and responds to these two comment letters and documents the NRCs evaluation of each of these comment letters that were not included in the FEIS. While the comments do not provide new and significant information regarding the project or its environmental impacts, the NRC staff determined that in view of the circumstances described above, and in accordance with title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) section 51.92(c), preparation of a Supplement to the FEIS will further the purposes of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended.

Supplement 1 to the FEIS will be made public on October 27, 2022.

The NRC staffs recommendation in the FEIS remains unchanged. The NRC staff recommends issuance of an NRC license to Holtec to construct and operate a CISF at the proposed location, subject to the determinations in the staffs safety review of the application. This recommendation is based on (i) the license application, which includes Holtecs Environmental Report and supplemental documents, and Holtecs responses to the NRC staffs requests for additional information; (ii) the NRC staffs consultation with Federal, State, tribal, and local agencies, and input from other stakeholders, including members of the public; (iii) the NRC staffs independent review; (iv) the NRC staffs assessments provided in the FEIS, and (v) information in Supplement 1 to the FEIS. October 27, 2022 After the NRC files the FEIS Supplement 1 with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the EPA will publish a separate NOA of the FEIS Supplement 1 in the FR. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.100(a)(1)(ii), the NRC must wait 30 days after publication of the EPAs NOA before it can make a licensing decision. The NRC expects to make a licensing decision in early 2023.

Should you have any questions concerning the FEIS Supplement 1, please contact Jill Caverly of my staff. Jill can be reached via phone at 301-415-7674 or via email at Jill.Caverly@nrc.gov.

Sincerely, John M. Moses, Deputy Director Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Docket No. 72-1051 cc:

Tessa Telles U.S. Bureau of Land Management Carlsbad Field Office 620 E Greene St Carlsbad, NM 88220 Lawrence Mel Massaro U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety 526 Mountain Ave Altoona, PA 16602 Eli Martinez U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 1201 Elm Street, Suite 500 Dallas, TX 75270 James Kenney, Secretary New Mexico Environment Department Harold L. Runnels Building 1190 St. Francis Drive, Suite N4050 Santa Fe, NM 87505Jeff Pappas, Ph.D.

State Historic Preservation Officer and Director New Mexico State Historic Preservation Division 407 Galisteo St., Suite 236 Santa Fe, NM 87501 Ron Kellermueller New Mexico Department of Game and Fish One Wildlife Way Santa Fe, NM 87507 P.O. Box 25112 Santa Fe, NM Steve Vierck Economic Development Corporation of Lea County 200 E. Broadway St., Suite A201 Hobbs, NM 88240 Carlsbad Soil and Water Conservation Service 3219 S Canal Carlsbad, NM 88220 Signed by Moses, John on 10/27/22

E. Mayer

Sam Cobb Eddy County Commissioners Mayor of Hobbs 101 West Greene Street City Hall Carlsbad, NM 88220 200 E. Broadway Hobbs, NM 88240 Mayor of Artesia 511 W. Texas Ave.

Lea County Commissioners Artesia, NM 88210 Attn: Mike Gallagher, County Manager City Hall Mayor of Roswell 200 E. Broadway City Hall Hobbs, NM 88240 425 N Richardson Roswell, NM 88201 Dale Janway Mayor of Carlsbad Mayor of Lovington City Hall City Hall 101 N. Halaqueno 214 S. Love Carlsbad, NM 88221 Lovington, NM 88260

Carlsbad City Council Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance City Hall City of Carlsbad 101 N. Halaqueno 101 N. Halagueno Carlsbad, NM 88221 Carlsbad, NM 88220

Ltr ML22300A164 OFFICE NMSS/REFS NAME JMoses JM DATE Oct 27, 2022