ML25006A097
| ML25006A097 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Diablo Canyon  |
| Issue date: | 12/20/2024 |
| From: | Brandt J US Dept of Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service |
| To: | Arlene B Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards |
| References | |
| Download: ML25006A097 (1) | |
Text
IN REPLY REFER TO:
2024-0020172 December 20, 2024 Briana Arlene U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Technical Review Branch 1 Division of Rulemaking, Environment, and Financial Support Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Washington D.C. 20555-0001
Subject:
Informal Consultation for the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 Proposed License Renewal, San Luis Obispo County, California
Dear Briana Arlene:
We are responding to your request for our concurrence with your determination that the Diablo Canyon Units 1 & 2 Proposed License Renewal (project) may affect, but is not likely to adversely affect, the federally listed California red-legged frog (Rana draytonii), California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), California least tern (Sterna antillarum browni), Hawaiian petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis), marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus), short-tailed albatross (Phoebastria albatrus), and southern sea otter (Enhydra lutris nereis). The request was submitted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) via electronic mail and received in our office October 21, 2024 and then revised and received on November 4, 2024.
Proposed Action NRC is proposing to renew the facility operating license for the existing Diablo Canyon power plant (DCPP) that is located on the coast of San Luis Obispo County, approximately 8 miles south of Los Osos. The facility operating license permits PG&E to operate Units 1 and 2 of the nuclear power plant for an additional 20 years, until November 2044 and August 2045, respectively. The power plant facilities are located on 750 acres of land and include two reactor buildings, a turbine building, an auxiliary building, a training building, a main warehouse, storage tanks, a cooling water intake structure, the Raw Water Storage Reservoir, 230 kilovolt (kV) and 500 kV switchyards, the Old Steam Generator Storage Facility, and an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI). The plant would continue to operate as it has previously, including maintenance, replacement, and repair of major structures, systems and components, with the exception of additional aging management programs, as needed. For a more detailed description of the project, see the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (NRC 2024). The projects activities that have potential to affect federally listed species are as follows:
Driving on the north access road (collision);
Operation of the water intake structure (impingement);
Discharge of water into Diablo Cove (thermal and chemical pollution);
Application of herbicides Movement of outdoor equipment and materials (crushing)
Presence of power lines (collision)
Protection and Mitigation Enhancements:
The following protection measures with respect to the California red-legged frog would also be implemented as a part of the project:
- DCPP personnel and contractors will not handle any California red-legged frogs.
- A biological monitor shall be present for any activities with potential to impact California red-legged frog in Diablo Creek, such as vegetation management, moving of heavy equipment or materials, or ground disturbance.
- Work within Diablo Creek should be limited to the dry season (May through October).
- DCPP personnel and contractors will look for California red-legged frogs when lifting materials, such as plastic or plywood, moving equipment, or storage bins.
- DCPP work activities will minimize standing water to the greatest extent possible.
- DCPP personnel and contractors will collect and remove all trash daily.
- DCPP personnel and contractors keep all hazardous materials at least 100 feet from Diablo Creek (e.g., fuel, oil, or other harmful chemicals).
- DCPP personnel and contractors will respond to spills, leaks, and drips immediately to protect adjacent water quality.
- DCPP personnel and contractors will drive slowly (5 mph) on the north access road between Gate Charlie and Gate Alpha when its wet, foggy, or dark outside.
- On-site DCPP personnel and contractors will receive a training on how to identify, avoid, and report California red-legged frogs (Arlene, et al., pers. comm. 2024).
- If any frog is found, DCPP personnel and contractors must:
o Stop work near the frog and carefully secure a buffer of at least 50 ft around the frog.
o Contact Environmental Operations.
o Monitor the frog to ensure it will not be harmed; expand the buffer if necessary.
o Continue monitoring until input is received, or the frog leaves the work site.
o Work may not resume until the frog has left on its own volition or the area can be entirely isolated and protected from operations.
California condor Based on Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitter data, California condors consistently travel along the Santa Lucia range more than 10 miles away from the project area. While there is no indication of California condors occurring in the close vicinity of the project area, California condors may expand into the area in the future and occasionally fly over the power plant facilities.
Powerlines associated with the power plant facilities are a collision risk for California condors.
However, the larger transmission associated with the power plant is a lesser collision risk than smaller distribution lines. Work activities at the power plant facilities have the potential to create microtrash which can be harmful to California condor nests. If California condors landed at the power plant facilities, they could become habituated by interacting with workers. Based on the absence of any California condor GPS transmitter data near the powerplant facilities, California condor presence in the area is considered unlikely. Therefore, the risks from collision with power lines, microtrash, and habituation are discountable for this project and we concur with your determination that the project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the California condor.
California least tern The California least tern may be an occasional migrant through the project area during their nesting season between May and August. Their nesting habitat traditionally consisted of sandy beaches near bays and estuaries for proximity to foraging habitat, but today most nesting habitat consists of dikes, dredge spoils, airports, and sand topped islands constructed for California least terns (USFWS 2020). Currently, there are no nesting sites within 15 miles of the project area and California least terns forage no more than 5 miles from nesting habitat during nesting (USFWS 2020). A terrestrial biological resources assessment also determined that there is no suitable nesting habitat in the project area (Terra Verde 2020). California least terns may occasionally pass through the project area while migrating or seeking out foraging habitat but any effects from DCPP operations are insignificant to the occasional migrant. Therefore, we concur with your determination that the project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the California least tern.
Hawaiian petrel The Hawaiian petrel may be an occasional migrant through the project area. Its habitat typically consists of the open sea and, within the United States, only nest on the Hawaiian Islands (USFWS 1983). The Hawaiian petrel range includes the west coast of the continental United States (USFWS 2024a), but the likelihood of a Hawaiian petrel entering the project area and being adversely impacted by the operation of DCPP is discountable. Therefore, we concur with your determination that the project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the Hawaiian petrel.
Marbled murrelet The marbled murrelet may be an occasional migrant through the project area. Marbled murrelet nest in large conifers and forage in near shore coastal waters (within 1.2 miles of shore; USFWS 1997). While suitable habitat does not exist in the project area (PG&E, 2023), marbled murrelets may pass through the project area to reach foraging sites. The likelihood of a marbled murrelet
entering the project area and being affected by the operation of DCPP is discountable. Therefore, we concur with your determination that the project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the marbled murrelet.
Short-tailed albatross The short-tailed albatross may be an occasional migrant in the project area. Suitable habitat does not exist in the area for this species (PG&E 2023). While these birds disperse widely across the North Pacific during non-breeding periods, they typically remain above the 50° N latitude, and only sub-adults have been observed on the west coast of the contiguous United States (USFWS 2024c). Due to the nature of their habitat range, the likelihood of a short-tailed albatross entering the project area and being adversely impacted by the operation of DCPP is discountable.
Therefore, we concur with your determination that the project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the short-tailed albatross.
Southern sea otter Southern sea otters are present along the coast by the DCPP, and regularly gather in groups numbering up to 30 individuals within the Intake Cove, where the water intake structure for the reactor coolant system is located. Southern sea otters typically spend the night within the Intake Cove and disperse to offshore areas to forage during the day. They have also been observed rafting north of Intake Cove in Diablo Cove, where the heated water is returned to the Pacific Ocean, and at Lion Rock. The effluent that is discharged from the DCPP coolant system introduces thermal and chemical pollution that may affect southern sea otters in the area as well as the species on which they feed.
DCPPs National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit regulates that wastewater discharge shall not cause degradation of indigenous biota or marine communities. Additionally, nonradiological chemical pollutants are emitted at levels at or below the Environmental Protection Agencys aquatic life criteria for acute (short-term) and chronic (long-term) exposure and are therefore unlikely to negatively impact southern sea otters or their prey. Since the introduction of the power plant operations and its coolant system in 1984, some ecological shifts resulting from the thermal pollution have been recorded. The number of black abalone, red abalone, greenfishes, and rockfishes has decreased in the local marine environment, while the number of warm-tolerant species, including leopard shark, bat rays, and white seabass, has increased. However, thermal impacts from the effluent have stabilized and ecologically significant ecosystem changes are limited to Diablo Cove (PG&E 2024); the nearby Fields Cove, Lion Rock Cove, and the seal haul out area remain unaffected by these changes. Little to no temperature changes occur in the Diablo Cove below 26 feet, and red abalone were not impacted below a depth of 20 feet. The southern sea otters of this area have been observed leaving the coves to forage offshore, and southern sea otters typical dives extend up to 82 feet deep (USFWS 2015). Therefore, from the 26-to 82-foot depth contour, the typical diving habitat for southern sea otters is unaffected. Additionally, reports from PG&E indicate that the southern sea otters forage offshore, away from where habitat is locally impacted in Diablo Cove. Because southern sea otters have high energy costs associated with maintaining body temperature, southern sea otters may be rafting in Diablo Cove to save energy while resting. The warmer surface water may be especially beneficial to southern sea otters beginning estrous after weaning pups, which is a time of nutritional stress. Furthermore, southern sea otters transitioned their diet
in the early 1980s, before the beginning of DCPP operations, to include less abalone and urchins and more snails, mussels, clams, and octopus. This alteration to foraging behavior had no apparent impact on the size or health of the Diablo Canyon population (Benech 1996),
demonstrating the flexibility of their diet and lack of reliance on abalone in Diablo Cove. Benech attributed this shift to the predation by the southern sea otters themselves, whose reintroduction in 1973 likely reduced the availability of urchins and abalone. Due to the southern sea otters adaptability and offshore foraging, in addition to the DCPPs geographically limited ecological impacts on the marine environment, the continued emission of effluent into Diablo Cove is unlikely to adversely impact southern sea otters, and may provide some benefits.
Over the course of 40 years, the DCPPs impacts on the local environment have stabilized and southern sea otters have continued to thrive within the footprint of DCPP operations without measurable impacts to the fitness of the population with the potential for some affects from thermal pollution to be beneficial. Therefore, we concur with your determination that the project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the southern sea otter.
California red-legged frog California red-legged frogs are present in the project area. In March 2020, a targeted survey found one adult California red-legged frog in a pool near Diablo Creek and the north access road (Terra Verde 2020). Subsequent surveys in April and May of 2022 recorded 9 adult sightings within Lower Diablo Creek and 1 adult and 11 subadult sightings in Toms Pond, located on a coastal terrace to the north of Diablo Creek and the industrial portions of DCPP land (Terra Verde 2022). California red-legged frogs were not found in any other nearby streams during the 2022 surveys, but other non-breeding, temporary habitat may include an ephemeral drainage and a retention basin near the culverted section of Diablo Creek and two small wetlands (Terra Verde 2022). DCPP project activities may affect California red-legged frogs in the project area by injuring or killing them on roadways, exposing them to herbicides, and crushing them during the movement of outdoor equipment.
The project will avoid these affects by implementing protective measures as a part of the project.
In particular, DCPP staff and contractors will inspect for California red-legged frogs when moving outdoor materials and equipment to avoid crushing California red-legged frogs. 5 mph speed limits on the roads close to Diablo Creek during conditions conducive to dispersal will allow drivers to spot and avoid California red-legged frogs. Traffic on the north access road is limited to 10 mph in all other conditions and this traffic is infrequent (B. Arlene, et al., NRC, pers. comm. 2024). The road that crosscuts Lower Diablo Creek is barricaded to all traffic, and therefore there is no potential risk of collision on that section of road. Additionally, herbicide will not be applied to any natural areas, or around Diablo Creek due to restrictions based on an NRC Management Plan for a nearby cultural site (B. Gould, PG&E, pers. comm. 2024a).
Additionally, staff and contractors will not spray herbicide within 24 hours2.777778e-4 days <br />0.00667 hours <br />3.968254e-5 weeks <br />9.132e-6 months <br /> of a >70%
probability predicted rain event, nor within the vicinity of any potential California red-legged frog habitat (B. Gould, PG&E, pers. comm. 2024b). Finally, the training for all on-site staff will help identify, avoid, and protect California red-legged frogs throughout DCPP facilities (Arlene, et al., pers. comm. 2024).
We concur with your determination that the project may affect but is not likely to adversely affect the Californian red-legged frog. California red-legged frogs interactions with roads and the industrial sections of the DCPP project area are likely but the implementation of protective measures makes the potential for adverse effects insignificant or discountable.
Conclusion We concur with your determination that the Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 Proposed License Renewal may affect, but is not likely to affect, the federally listed species discussed above.
Further consultation pursuant to section 7(a)(2) of the Act is not required. If the proposed action changes in any manner that may affect a listed species or critical habitat or if new information becomes available about the listed species in the project area that would change your determination, you must contact us immediately to determine whether additional consultation is required. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact our office at (805)677-1766 or by electronic mail at fw8venturasection7@fws.gov.
Sincerely, Joseph Brandt Asst. Field Supervisor JOSEPH BRANDT Digitally signed by JOSEPH BRANDT Date: 2024.12.20 14:44:14 -08'00'
LITERATURE CITED Benech, S.V. 1996. Observations of the Sea Otter, Enhydra lutris, Population, Between Point Buchon and Rattlesnake Creek, San Luis Obispo, California, January through December 1995. Ventura, California. ADAMS Accession No. ML11166A128. TN10305.
Gould, Bo. 2024a. Senior Environmental Coordinator, Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Email addressed to Bryce Koester, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 8, dated December 11, 2024.
Gould, Bo. 2024b. Senior Environmental Coordinator, Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Email addressed to Bryce Koester, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 8, dated December18, 2024.
PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric). 2023. Letter from P. Gerfen, Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, to NRC Document Control Desk, dated November 7, 2023, regarding Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2, Docket No. 50-275, OL-DPR-80, Docket No. 50-323, OL-DPR-82, License Renewal Application. Avila Beach, California. ADAMS Accession No. ML23311A154. TN9822.
PG&E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company). 2024. Letter from M.R. Zawalick, Vice President, Business and Technical Services, to NRC Document Control Desk, dated May 16, 2024, regarding Responses to NRC Requests for Additional Information on the Diablo Canyon Power Plant License Renewal Application Environmental Report. PG&E Letter DCL-24-052, Avila Beach, California. ADAMS Accession No. ML24137A314.
TN10032.
Terra Verde (Terra Verde Environmental Consulting, LLC and ERM). 2020. Diablo Canyon Decommissioning, Terrestrial Biological Resources Assessment. San Luis Obispo, California. TN10098.
Terra Verde (Terra Verde Environmental Consulting, LLC and ERM). 2022. Site Assessment for California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) Diablo Canyon Power Plant.
San Luis Obispo, California.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2024a. Hawaiian Petrel (Pterodroma sandwichensis).
Available on the internet at <https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/6746>. Accessed December 16, 2024.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2024c. Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus).
Available on the internet at <https://www.fws.gov/species/short-tailed-albatross-phoebastria-albatrus>. Accessed December 16, 2024.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2020. California least tern (Sternula antillarum browni) 5-year Review: 2020 Summary and Evaluation. Carlsbad Fish and Wildlife Office, Carlsbad, CA. 120 pp.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 2015. Southern Sea Otter (Enhydra lutris nereis) 5-Year Review: Summary and Evaluation. Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1997. Recovery plan for the threatened marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) in Washington, Oregon, and California. Portland Fish and Wildlife Office.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). 1983. Hawaiian Dark-Rumped Petrel and Newells Manx Shearwater Recovery Plan. https://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/830425.pdf U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). 2024. Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants Supplement 62 Regarding License Renewal of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, Units 1 and 2. Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. ADAMS Accession No. ML24299A167 IN LITTERIS Arlene, B., Conway, K., Healy, S., Gould, B., et al. 2024. Conservation Biologist & ESA Consultation Coordinator, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Video call with Bryce Koester, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 8, on December 12, 2024.