ML25211A297
| ML25211A297 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Diablo Canyon  |
| Issue date: | 07/28/2025 |
| From: | Prijatel J US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 |
| To: | Kimberly Conway NRC/NMSS/DREFS/EPMB1 |
| References | |
| NUREG-1437 S62, 20250088 | |
| Download: ML25211A297 (1) | |
Text
July 28, 2025 Kim Conway U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Mailstop T-4 B72 Washington, DC 20555-0001
Subject:
NUREG-1437, Supplement 62, EPA Comments on the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the Operating License Renewal of Diablo Canyon Power Plant, Units 1 & 2, San Luis Obispo, California (CEQ Number 20250088)
Dear Kim Conway:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reviewed the above-referenced document pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act and our NEPA review authority under Section 309 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7609). The CAA Section 309 role is unique to the EPA. It requires the EPA to review and comment publicly on any proposed federal action subject to NEPAs environmental impact statement requirement.
In our letter for the Draft SEIS, the EPA did not identify significant public health, welfare, or environmental quality concerns to be addressed in the Final SEIS. We recommended that the Final SEIS clearly state the uncertainty associated with not utilizing updated environmental monitoring data for the assessed impingement-and entrainment-related impacts. We also recommended that PG&E consider committing to a feasibility reevaluation of cooling modification alternatives for Diablo Canyon Power Plants once-through cooling system.
We appreciate the detailed responses to EPAs comments included in the Final SEIS. In particular, we note that NRC updated the Impingement Mortality and Entrainment Conclusion in Section 3.7.5.1 of the SEIS to clarify that its conclusions are based on data from 1986 (impingement) and 2009 (entrainment), and also updated Section 3.7.5.1 to reflect the State Water Resources Control Board determination that there are no feasible alternatives to modify the Diablo Canyon cooling water intake system to achieve final compliance under the OTC Policy.
Thank you for the opportunity to review this Final SEIS. We would appreciate receiving an electronic copy of the ROD when it is available. If you have any questions, please contact me at (415) 947-4167,
2 or contact Jason Gerdes, the lead reviewer for this project, at (415) 947-4221 or gerdes.jason@epa.gov.
Sincerely, Jean Prijatel Manager Policy and Operations Branch JEAN PRIJATEL Digitally signed by JEAN PRIJATEL Date: 2025.07.28 08:02:10 -07'00'