ML21200A183

Public Meeting to Discuss Agency Approach to Environmental Justice: Afternoon Session

ML21200A183
Person / Time
Issue date:	07/15/2021
From:	NRC/NRR/DORL/LPL2-1
To:
Miller E
References
NRC-1584
Download: ML21200A183 (49)

Text

Official Transcript of Proceedings NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Transcript has been edited to correct grammatical errors.

Areas edited are identified with [Square brackets]

Title:

Public Meeting to Discuss Agency Approach to Environmental Justice: Afternoon Session Docket Number: (n/a)

Location: teleconference Date: Thursday, July 15, 2021 Work Order No.: NRC-1584 Pages 1-47 NEAL R. GROSS AND CO., INC.

Court Reporters and Transcribers 1323 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20005 (202) 234-4433

1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

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PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS AGENCY APPROACH TO ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

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THURSDAY, JULY 15, 2021

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The Public Meeting was convened via Teleconference, at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Joan Olmstead, Facilitator, presiding.

NRC STAFF PRESENT:

JESSICA BIELECKI, Deputy Director, Environmental Justice Review Team ALLEN FETTER, Project Manager, Environmental Justice Review Team DAVID McINTYRE JOAN OLMSTEAD, NRC Facilitator Corps NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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2 P R O C E E D I N G S (1:30 p.m.)

MS. OLMSTEAD: Good afternoon. My name is Joan Olmstead, and I[]m a member of the NRC[]s Facilitators Corps. And it[]s my pleasure to facilitate this afternoon[]s meeting.

Slide 2, please.

The purpose of this comment gathering meeting held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or NRC, staff is to describe the staff[]s interest in assessing environmental justice, or EJ, in NRC[]s programs, policies, and activities as directed by the Commission in Staff Requirements Memorandum, ADAMS Accession No. ML21113A070.

I understand some people may have had initial problems with the meeting[]s link in the Federal Register announcement. We were able to fix the link this morning and it should be working now.

So, thank you for attending this meeting. We are early in our review process and your comments are important to the NRC[]s assessment of environmental justice. Your comments we consider carefully and help shape our efforts.

This is a comment-gathering meeting. By the NRC[]s definition, this means the primary purpose NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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3 of this meeting is to receive comments from members of the public and other stakeholders. NRC staff will also hear some process-related questions if time permits.

I[]d like to note that the NRC is continuing to operate largely on work-at-home status, so participants in this meeting are working remotely or individually calling in. We recognize this configuration presents unique challenges and we continue to welcome comments about what is and isn[]t working in this meeting format.

The meeting feedback form is located at the NRC[]s recently held public meetings web page for this meeting[]s announcement. Your input helps us improve future NRC public meetings.

Slide 3, please.

The agenda for our meeting is fairly straight[-]forward. After a brief presentation by NRC to provide some information about the NRC[]s environmental justice efforts, the public will be offered an opportunity to provide comments to and ask questions of the NRC staff.

This meeting is scheduled for 1:30 to 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Daylight Time. We will try to allow for as much public input as possible, but NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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4 we generally try to adhere to the meeting schedule.

I would like to also note that there is a meeting to be held on this topic from 8:00 to 9:30 Eastern Time tonight. Please note that the teleconference information for that meeting is different from this one and is noted on the slides, and also available on the NRC[]s public meeting notice website. Today[]s call is meant to be an exchange of information and, as always in NRC public meetings, no regulatory decisions will be made.

Slide 4, please.

This slide provides logistics information on today[]s meeting. Please log in to both the Teams and call into the toll free phone line. The audio is only through this phone line. And this arrangement allows us to minimize our band width to have a more stable meeting platform to help conduct the meeting[]s question and answer and comment sessions.

If you are not on Teams and would like to view the presentation slides, they are in the NRC[]s ADAMS document database. The accession number for the package containing today[]s slides is ML21193A295.

The presentation slides ML number is also included in the public meeting announcement.

Today[]s call is an operator-moderated NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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5 phone line where participants should have their lines muted until they reach the portion of the meeting where you can provide comments to and ask questions of the NRC staff. You will be given instructions on how to provide comments and ask questions before the public comment session portion of this meeting.

As indicated in the agenda, we have allocated a substantial portion of the meeting for this process. However, if participants would like to email questions to our Public Affairs Officer during the staff presentation, please email Daniel(sic) McIntyre at dtm@nrc.gov.

Today[]s call is being recorded and will be transcribed. The transcription will be made available along with the published meeting summary.

Given the number of participants we expect on the call and the format, I would ask that as a person speaks they introduce themselves each time they speak and their affiliation. I also ask that speakers limit their use of acronyms.

For members of the public, if you[]d like to have your participation reflected on the sign-in sheet, please email Ed Miller at ed.miller, M-I-L-L-E-R, @nrc.gov or the contact information in the meeting notice.

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6 Slide 5, please.

This slide contains the speakers for this afternoon[]s and evening[]s meetings. Jessica Bielecki is the Deputy Director for the Environmental Justice Review Team and will give opening remarks; followed by Allen Fetter, the Environmental Justice Review Team[]s Project Manager.

And with that, I[]ll turn this over to Jessica.

Jessica.

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you, Joan.

Good afternoon and welcome to today[]s meeting on the NRC[]s review of how to address environmental justice in programs, policies, and activities.

As Joan mentioned, I am Jessica Bielecki, Deputy Director of the Environmental Justice Review Team, and I[]ll be walking us through the next few slides.

As noted on Slide 5, the Environmental Justice Review Team is composed of staff from across the agency, representing a broad range of disciplines.

For example, our team includes a senior environmental scientist, staff from the Office of Small Business and Civil Rights, state and tribal liaisons, a health NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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7 physicist, attorneys, and project managers.

Slide 6, please.

The purpose of this meeting is to describe NRC staff efforts in assessing environmental justice as directed by the Commission in an April 23rd Staff Requirements Memorandum, which we will discuss in more detail in a few minutes.

In addition, we are here to receive your comments. As Joan mentioned, your comments are critical to our review, and we very much look forward to hearing from you.

Slide 7, please.

In response to direction from the NRC[]s Commission, the multi-disciplinary Environmental Justice Review Team is conducting a systematic review of host agency programs, policies, and activities to address environmental justice. As part of its review, the team will not be examining in detail ongoing licensing actions, and such actions will not be discussed today.

Particular licensing and regulatory matters will continue to be addressed through NRC[]s normal processes.

As we will talk about a little bit more in a few slides, soliciting feedback is an important NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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8 part of this review, and a key component of today[]s meeting. We appreciate that there may be interests that extend beyond the stated scope of the meeting, and we would like to focus on discussion on comments related to this meeting.

For example, what should the NRC consider in its review of environmental justice?

Are there areas that could be enhanced?

And what are we currently doing well?

We thank you for your patience and understanding as we try to keep this meeting focused.

Slide 8, please.

The key question to help frame today[]s discussion is: What is environmental justice?

Environmental justice refers to the federal policy established in 1994 by Executive Order 12898. This executive order directed federal agencies to identify and address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of its programs, policies, and activities on minority and low income populations. As an independent agency, NRC was requested, rather than directed, to comply with this executive order. This executive order did not, in itself, create new authority for federal agencies.

Accordingly, the NRC looked to how it fit into existing NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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9 authorities at the time.

The NRC does not site, own, or manage nuclear facilities or properties. Rather, its mission is to license and regulate the nation[]s civilian use of radioactive materials in accordance with its statutory authority. As part of its licensing and regulatory activity, the NRC conducts safety, security, and environmental reviews.

Including environmental justice as part of the NRC[]s review began after Executive Order 12898 was issued. The NRC chairman at the time determined that NRC would try to carry out the goals of this order through its licensing process. In particular, its environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.

Slide 9, please.

In 2004, the Commission issued a Policy Statement on Environmental Justice. That policy statement serves as the NRC[]s current policy for addressing environmental justice in NRC licensing and regulatory activities.

Consistent with the chairman[]s 1994 determination that we just discussed, the 2004 policy explains that an environmental justice assessment is conducted through NRC[]s NEPA process. For example, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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10 when the NRC is reviewing a license application for a new reactor, reactor license renewal, or a new fuel facility, which are major federal actions under NEPA, it will consider environmental justice in its review.

The policy statement explains that the focus of an environmental justice review should be on identifying and weighing disproportionately high and adverse environmental impacts on environmental justice communities that may be different from the impacts on the general population.

The policy statement also notes that, consistent with NEPA, this is not a broad-ranging or even limited review of racial or economic discrimination.

In addition, the policy states that in conducting environmental justice review staff will consider public demographic data, community interviews, and public input through well-noticed scoping meetings to help identify environmental justice communities that may be subject to adverse environmental impact.

Slide 10, please.

With regard to the details of the staff[]s current review, the Commission directed staff to consider a number of areas, including whether the 2004 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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11 policy statement we just discussed is adequate.

The Commission also directed that the staff consider recent executive orders, practices of other federal and state agencies and tribal governments, as well as potential formal mechanisms to gather external input. As part of this review, the Commission directed the staff to engage others representing a broad range of perspectives, and to leverage institutional knowledge and use of transformation initiatives where practical.

To help inform this review we developed a number of questions on which we are particularly interested in soliciting your views. Allen Fetter, the team[]s project manager, will walk us through those questions before we open up the meeting for your comments.

Allen.

MR. FETTER: Thank you, Jessica.

Again, I[]m Allen Fetter, the team[]s project manager.

Next slide, please.

The following questions after this slide were excerpted from the Federal Register Notice and will help inform the NRC[]s staff environmental justice review.

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12 Next slide, please.

What is your understanding of what is meant by environmental justice at the NRC?

Next slide.

When the NRC is conducting licensing and other regulatory reviews, the agency uses a variety of ways to gather information from stakeholders and interested persons on environmental impacts of the proposed action.

How could the NRC expand how it engages and gathers input?

What formal tools might there be to enhance information gathering from stakeholders and interested persons in NRC[]s programs, policies, and activities?

Can you describe any challenges that may reduce your ability to engage with the NRC on environmental justice issues?

Next slide.

How could the NRC enhance opportunities for members of the environmental justice communities to participate in licensing and regulatory activities?

What ways could the NRC enhance identification of environmental justice communities?

What has the NRC historically done well, or currently does well that we could do more of or expand NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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13 with respect to environmental justice, including engagement efforts?

And, in your view, what portions of the 2004 Policy Statement are effective?

Next slide.

What actions could the NRC take to enhance consideration of environmental justice at the NRC, considering the agency[]s mission and statutory authority?

Specifically, would you consider that NRC consider any particular organization[]s environmental justice programs in its assessment?

Looking to other state -- federal, state, and tribal environmental justice programs, what actions could the NRC take to enhance consideration of environmental justice?

Considering recent executive orders on environmental justice, what actions could the NRC take to enhance consideration of environmental justice?

And, finally, are there opportunities to expand consideration of environmental justice at the NRC, considering the agency[]s mission? If so, what are they?

Next slide.

This slide shows how you may provide NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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14 comments and a timeline for our review. You may provide them by telephone, email, mail, or through the federal rulemaking website.

A toll free number is being set up, and will be provided to those who ask for it in the next week -- who ask for it, and it[]s expected to be up and running in the next week.

We[]re also planning an additional public meeting or another public meeting or meetings during this comment period. And we ask that you submit comments by August 23rd, 2021.

And in January 22, the staff will provide the results of the review to the Commission.

And now I[]d like to turn it back over to Joan, our facilitator.

MS. OLMSTEAD: Thank you, Allen.

That brings us to the public comment and questions portion of this meeting. Our operator will now tell you how to get into the queue for making comments or asking questions.

Courtney.

OPERATOR: Thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star-1, unmute your pone, and record your name and affiliation clearly.

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15 If you need to withdraw your question, press star-2.

Again, to ask a question, please press star-1.

MS. OLMSTEAD: In an effort to ensure that we hear from as many people as possible, we ask that participants limit their comments and questions to 3 to 5 minutes. If you have additional comments, you can enter the comment queue again and provide your additional comments as time permits.

Now, first I[]d like to turn to Mr. David McIntyre to see if he has received any questions from the public by email.

MR. McINTYRE: Hi, Joan. I have not received any.

MS. OLMSTEAD: Okay. Do you want to give your name and email address again in case somebody wants to send you a question through email instead of doing it orally?

MR. McINTYRE: Sure. Anyone who would like to send me an email with a written question that we can read out during this meeting, rather than read it yourself on the line, can email me at my initials D-T, as in Thomas, M@NRC.GOV.

Thank you.

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16 MS. OLMSTEAD: Okay. Now I would like to ask the Operator to see if there is anyone in the phone queue and that would like to ask a question now.

Operator, can we have the first question, please.

OPERATOR: Yes. Our first question or comment comes from Fred Collins. Your line is open.

MR. COLLINS: Can you hear me?

MR. McINTYRE: Yes.

MS. OLMSTEAD: Yes, we can.

Yes, Mr. Collins, we can hear you.

(Pause.)

MS. OLMSTEAD: If you[]re talking now, Mr.

Collins, we cannot hear you. I did hear you say, Can you hear me? But after that we haven[]t been able to hear you.

MR. COLLINS: Can you hear me now?

MS. OLMSTEAD: Yes, I can.

MR. COLLINS: Okay. Once again, my name is Fred Collins. I am Tribal Chair for the Northern Chumash Tribal Council. We are a tribal government located in San Luis Obispo, California, and currently working on the Diablo Canyon decommissioning project.

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17 does that get to the ground level where we are?

You know, between us and you we have PG&E, which oftentimes filters and changes things to their own way. And we[]ve had considerable difficulty with PG&E in initiating environmental justice in a fair way toward tribes that are involved in this decommissioning process.

So my, one, my question is, in your oversight how do you make sure that the tribal governments are being allowed to have a seat at the table? And, you know, that[]s the most important thing for us in environmental justice is to be able to have a seat at the table and make our concerns, you know, heard. And then doing it in a way with meaningful consultation.

So, how do you handle making sure your policies, you know, work all the way to the ground level where we are and are accepted without being filtered?

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you, Mr. Collins.

This is Jessica Bielecki.

So, appreciate your comment. And it[]s something we will certainly be looking at closely as we conduct our review. What we[]ll be analyzing in the very early stages is how environmental justice is currently addressed in NRC[]s programs, policies, and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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18 activities. And then looking for whether there are opportunities to enhance or make recommendations regarding those activities.

What will be very important is hearing comments and perspectives from stakeholders, and organizations, and tribal governments like yourself.

That is going to really shape our review.

So, thank you for pointing out the need and the concerns you have. They will be noted and considered as we move forward.

MR. COLLINS: Thank you very much.

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question or comment comes from Pamela Greenlaw.

MS. GREENLAW: Yes. Do I need to dial something?

MS. OLMSTEAD: No. We can hear you. You can go on.

MS. GREENLAW: Okay, great.

Yes, my name is Pamela Greenlaw. I[]m a volunteer with Sierra Club in South Carolina. And my question is how are you going to handle the logistics of sifting through all the organizations at the grassroots level so that you[]re getting direct input?

We[]re having some difficulty in South NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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19 Carolina with a Westinghouse plant and NRC[]s dealings with trying to force a 40-year re-license for a plant that[]s creating nuclear fuel rods for the plant.

And the community repeatedly asks for -- this is an EJ community called Lower Richland -- we repeatedly ask NRC and inform NRC on how to communicate at the grassroots level. And NRC promises and does not deliver.

So, we want to know how you[]re going to select or reach the true stakeholders, not people who are just, like, selective traditional stakeholders, but how you[]re going to communicate with the entire community to get your input that you need?

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you for that question, Ms. Greenlaw. This is Jessica Bielecki again.

Your point is very well taken, and something that our team is thinking critically about how we can reach stakeholders that offer a variety of perspectives. For example, one thing that the NRC staff did differently for this meeting is we leveraged a EPA listserv in an effort to reach groups that we don[]t typically reach.

We[]re also coordinating with our colleagues in the Office of Small Business and Civil Rights to see what kind of mechanisms we may be able NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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20 to leverage to focus our outreach more meaningfully on particular environmental justice communities.

So, that[]s something we[]ll certainly be looking at, and very much appreciate any input or feedback you or your organization may have in that regard. That would be very important to us.

MS. GREENLAW: Okay. I hope at the end of this you[]ll repeat how people can get comments to you and how you[]re going to respond, because I don[]t want to take up everyone[]s time.

Thank you very much.

MS. BIELECKI: Great. Thank you.

And, Allen, at the end if you could do that, that would be wonderful.

MR. FETTER: Yeah, that will be. After everyone brings -- is finished with their comments we[]ll put that slide.

So, Ms. Greenlaw, do you have -- are you able to view the slide presentation?

Is Ms. Greenlaw still on the phone?

MS. GREENLAW: Yes, sir. I[]m still here.

MR. FETTER: Yeah, yeah. So, are you able to view the slides of this presentation or are you just listening in?

MS. GREENLAW: I[]m on phone. And this NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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21 is one of the difficulties with a lot of EJ communities, and that is that they[]re not on broadband, they cannot see the slides, and so they[]re left out of your process automatically just by virtue of lack of technology.

MR. FETTER: Yes. So, I[]ll give you my direct phone number and email at the end of this as well.

MS. GREENLAW: That[]s great.

MR. FETTER: And I can help. I can help walk you through it.

MS. GREENLAW: Well, it[]s not -- Okay.

I just wonder how the rest of the community can see these slides, too. And every meeting has slides and expect the environmental community -- I[]m sorry, the EJ community to be able to tune in, and cannot.

You can walk me through it. But how are we going to walk through the community?

MR. FETTER: Yes. And this is something we[]re all working to improve on.

MR. GREENLAW: Yes, sir. Okay, thank you so much.

MR. FETTER: Thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question or comment comes from Ellen Ginsberg.

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22 MS. GINSBERG: Good afternoon. Can you hear me?

MS. OLMSTEAD: Yes, we can.

MS. GINSBERG: Okay, thank you.

My comment is -- I[]m rather commenting rather than asking a question. And I want to say I[]m expressing our appreciation on behalf of the industry for the opportunity to provide comments. We think that this is an important undertaking that the NRC has begun, and we[]ll support it with comments and further participation.

But to start, I think it[]s important to recognize that the industry for many decades has worked, engaged with local communities, including those that are disadvantaged, providing information and making efforts to consider EJ and other community issues in their decision-making.

The industry is fully committed to giving back to the community more generally, and that takes the form of many millions of dollars in contributions to local and other non-profits, to providing funding for community-based agencies, grants, STEM funding to recruit a more diverse workforce, et cetera.

So, that having been said, we are not sitting on our haunches. And the industry recognized NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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23 very clearly the growing preeminence of the renewed interests and the renewed efforts to ensure that EJ is appropriately considered. So, we, too, have taken on an initiative to ensure that the industry is focusing on all of the things that it does well, and any actions that it might consider as enhancements.

To summarize, we[]ve got a working group at NEI of our members. We[]re looking at developing principles and also a best practices document.

But all of that notwithstanding, we think it[]s very appropriate for the NRC to have taken on this EJ given it[]s timely, given the Biden administration and, frankly, given the social content of the country at this point.

We think it[]s important to look at the executive orders, to look at the 2004 policy statement, and also to make sure that the agency, as has been said by others, goes out and gets all of the stakeholders, a diverse set of opinions so that it can evaluate them as it continues and comes to conclusion with respect to this review.

But that having been said, I think it[]s also important to recognize that the NRC is not new to this and has been -- should be commended for Ivan Selin[]s actions to take on environmental justice all NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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24 those many years ago as an independent agency when it was recommended but not required.

So, while we certainly think this is a timely review, it[]s also in our view not evidence that there are wholesale changes needed but, rather, we think this is an opportunity to check and adjust.

And the focus should well be on the policy statement.

It should also be on, perhaps, whether or not the agency is sufficiently focused on reaching hard-to-reach communities. We want to make sure that the agency in its evaluations is using up-to-date data and resources and, also, considering the benefits that nuclear generation provides in terms of a non-emitting, reliable source of generation.

So, the bottom line is that the industry has for many decades engaged with its local communities and is committed to doing that with all local communities, including those that are disadvantaged.

And, again, we commend the agency for taking on this review and are planning to participate and submit comments by August 21st.

Thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question or comment comes from Elaine Cooper.

MS. COOPER: Yes. Are you ready for a NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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25 question? This is Elaine Cooper.

MS. BIELECKI: Yes. We can hear you.

MS. COOPER: Okay. My question is, so this phone conference is occurring during the working day.

In all of the community that we know, Lower Richland around Westinghouse, is at work during this time so you cannot involve the community whatsoever, number one.

Two, they don[]t have broadband in Lower Richland around Westinghouse and, therefore, they couldn[]t even participate even if they would like to.

And so, also, three, it[]s a rural community, so the word is very difficult to get out about these meetings.

So, but more or less, why are you having a meeting for the community, for partnership, during the working day? And, realizing that there is no broadband because, you know, the Biden administration is working on providing broadband, so you[]re well aware that it does not exist in this area around Westinghouse and Hopkins, South Carolina.

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you for your question, Ms. Cooper. This is Jessica Bielecki again.

And we very much appreciate the different NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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26 schedules that folks may have and trying to balance everything and participate in our meetings. So, what we tried to do for this initial kickoff meeting is we[]re having this meeting this afternoon. We[]re also having another meeting from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m.

It will be the same slides. The goal is to allow opportunities for people with different schedules to try and participate in a meeting that works for them.

In addition, hopefully the phone line for this meeting was helpful, as people can[]t have access to the slides. And feedback about how we can reach communities that may otherwise be more difficult to reach, as you describe, is certainly something that we[]re very interested in in our assessment, looking at how we[]re engaging with the communities. So, any comments you have in that regard will be very much appreciated and carefully considered.

MR. FETTER: Yes. And, Ms. Cooper, this is Allen Fetter. If you know of anyone who would like to see this, we do have this telephone bridge line available for the evening meeting. And but if anyone would like the slides who doesn[]t have any broadband or doesn[]t have any email, if you know -- if you have a list of people or communities that we could mail them to, these are still, still relevant, and so that would NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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27 be very useful for you to provide us with some information.

MS. COOPER: Okay. Could I have your email and phone number now?

MR. FETTER: Yes. Yes.

We[]re going to, actually, Joan can or Ed, can you please move the slides back to the contact information, right there. And that has my email.

MS. COOPER: And, of course, we can[]t see the slides.

MR. FETTER: Oh, you, okay. So --

MS. COOPER: We[]re on the phone.

MR. FETTER: I[]ll just say it right now.

Allen, A-L-L-E-N, dot Fetter, and that[]s F as in Frank-E-T-T-E-R @nrc.gov.

MS. COOPER: And your phone number?

MR. FETTER: 301-415-8556.

MS. COOPER: Okay. So, I[]m going to repeat the email.

MR. FETTER: And anyone who wants to call me right after the end of this meeting, I[]ll be taking calls.

MS. COOPER: That[]s Allen, A-L-L-E-N dot F as in Frank-E-T as in Tom-T as in Tom-E-R as in Robert

@nrc.org.

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28 MR. FETTER: You got it.

MS. BIELECKI: No, no, no. It[]s gov.

MR. FETTER: No, gov. I[]m sorry, I jumped ahead. Gov, gov.

MS. COOPER: Okay, dot gov.

301-415-8556?

MR. FETTER: You got it.

MS. COOPER: Okay, thank you.

MR. FETTER: Thank you.

OPERATOR: I[]m showing no further questions at this time. But if you would like to ask a question or make a statement, please press star-1 and record your name.

MS. OLMSTEAD: Okay, Operator, can you put in for the next caller, please?

OPERATOR: Our next question or comment comes from Chip Cameron.

MR. CAMERON: Hello, everyone.

MS. OLMSTEAD: Hello, Mr. Cameron. We can hear you.

MR. CAMERON: Okay, good.

One of the questions that Allen referred to that you[]re seeking comment on is titled enhance the identification of environmental justice communities. And I just wanted to refer you to the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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29 May 13th, 2021 report of the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Committee on Justice 40 and some other, other actions.

But on page 64 of that report they have recommendations for defining what they call disadvantaged communities. And I[]m not sure if that corresponds entirely with environmental justice communities. But they have 13 recommendations on what they call underserved communities there. And that might be helpful for you in your work.

And it[]s page 64 of the report of the acronym is WHEJAC, but it[]s White House Environmental Justice Advisory Committee. And that[]s my comment right now.

Thank you very much.

OPERATOR: Our next question or comment comes from Angee Brice Jacobs. Your line is now open.

MS. BRICE JACOBS: Good evening everyone.

And it[]s Tangee, T as in Tom. But thank you, I get called Angee quite often.

Thank you all for doing this call. And I would like to maybe make a suggestion. Some of you I think I met. I[]m from South Carolina. Busy summer. You all would meet at the local high school.

And with my just a thought, the comments that I NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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30 received here in rural Fairfield was, yes, you all came, yes, you all presented, but the real people did not understand, at least the ones that I spoke with, did not understand some of the jargon used in explaining what was happening with V.C. Summer. Okay?

So, I would like to suggest and make a comment that maybe in schools with large screens, or a church with large screens can do those with you all, but bear in mind that you[]re talking mainly to rural area people. And when talking with those rural people

-- trying to be kind -- please talk to us where local rural people can understand what you all are explaining.

Does that make sense?

MS. BIELECKI: Yes, that does. This is Jessica. Very much appreciate that comment. Thank you.

MS. OLMSTEAD: Operator, the next commenter we have?

OPERATOR: Priscilla Preston.

MS. PRESTON: Yes. This is Priscilla Preston from the Sierra Club, also calling about the Westinghouse facility in Lower Richland.

You mentioned that you put the notice out about this meeting on the EPA listserv. I wasn[]t NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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31 aware that there was one. But just to find out about this meeting was extremely difficult. I thought I had signed up for every listserv for NRC and I still did not get the notice.

What else are you going to do to communicate with people? Are you willing to have in-person -- I understand that you have in the past had in-person visits. Do you have any of those planned?

So, what are you, as of today, what are your plans for communicating with these communities?

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you for that comment and question, Ms. Preston. This is Jessica.

I appreciate you sharing the difficulty of sharing [information] about this meeting. That[]s something we can certainly consider going forward.

We are right now looking at doing some more focused outreach over the coming months, whether that is in person with individual groups, or via phone, that is something we are currently planning. We[]re hoping to do that and reach a representative sample of folks across the country to get a lot of feedback.

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32 audience as there were challenges for this meeting.

So, I hope that helps. And thank you for your comment.

MS. PRESTON: Thank you.

OPERATOR: Our next question or comment comes (inaudible.)

MS. OLMSTEAD: I[]m sorry, Operator, we can[]t hear you right now. Courtney, we cannot hear you. We can also not hear Ms. Lane.

MS. LANE: Hello. My name is Lillie Lane.

MS. OLMSTEAD: We can hear you.

MS. LANE: Yes, okay. My name is Lillie Lane. I work with Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency. And we are located in the southwestern United States where the Navajo Nation is the size of West Virginia.

And environmental justice is a foreign concept for the Navajo people. And NRC does not work with the Navajo Nation. I know that in the past they[]ve worked with tribes selectively and that they do MOAs. It wasn[]t until recent that I think NRC discovered there were still tribes out here.

So, I know they attempted to do a tribal policy, but I don[]t believe your tribal policy can be used with all the tribes. Recently we have that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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33 NRC is in the process of approving a license for USEPA and United Nuclear Corporation to clean up a mine site in northeast of Gallup, New Mexico.

This is an area where it[]s very rural, absolutely no towns, no broadband, no internet. And I am appalled that NRC proceeded to, proceeded to conduct what they called public meetings while where is a pandemic.

And so the Navajo Nation everybody knows, I believe, was hit hard by the pandemic. And our leadership has had to close the nation and we have been at home for about a year. And the what they call participation, and this is NRC, what they call public participation was a webinar.

And it was only until Navajo EPA called for translation of the technical information in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement that they hired a Navajo translator who was not very familiar with the DEIS to inform Navajo people via a recording on the main radio station on the Navajo Nation.

Some of us listened to it. And it was not, it was not informative. I[]m sorry.

And NRC also hired a person to translate, the translation came out to 15 pages. There were parts that I could not even read. And I read Navajo and I NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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34 also speak Navajo.

So, this is the kind of outreach that NRC is doing out here: absolutely none. And then they try

-- it[]s the federal agencies, Navajo people, the Navajo Nation we don[]t trust any federal agencies out here because we[]ve been living with uranium mines for 70, 80 years, and not one site has been addressed.

And this is 524 uranium mines.

So, I hope you understand what kind of work you need to do out here.

Thank you.

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you for that comment, Ms. Lane. Very much appreciate you sharing your personal experiences.

And while our action is looking more generally at how environmental justice is addressed in the agency[]s programs, policies, and activities, we[]re not looking at the details of particular licensing actions. The feedback that you and others have had, and your experience in the past is certainly valuable. And any suggestions you may have in how we can do things differently, expand activities or do things better in the future would be of great interest to our group. So, definitely encourage those comments.

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35 Thank you.

MS. LANE: Ma[]am, I[]m just, I[]m telling you, you have a lot of work. And then NRC needs to gain a better understanding of what tribes are going through. And you will also need cultural sensitivity tools.

Thank you.

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you. Appreciate that.

OPERATOR: Our next question or comment comes from Elaine Cooper.

MS. COOPER: Okay. Hello, can you hear me?

Hello?

MS. OLMSTEAD: Yes, we can.

MS. COOPER: This is actually Virginia Sanders who[]s going to be speaking right now. She couldn[]t get through.

MS. SANDERS: Yes, I[]m a community organizer in a rural community. And my problem with a lot of the information and a lot of the questions the previous calls have said about the lack of your, the NRC[]s ability to not reach the people who are most negatively impacted by the issues that you are presenting. My problem is with ADAMS. ADAMS is supposed to be your way of communicating with us and NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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36 giving us the information that you need. But ADAMS is written in such a scientific manner that we need a translator to tell us what you[]re really trying to communicate to us.

My problem, my question to you is, is there any way that you can communicate with us on ADAMS in a manner that would be more understandable to us as organizers and for the people in the community that we are working with?

And one other question I have is when will you start doing in-person meetings again? Because I think now that COVID has been sort of contained and the country is opening up again, I would like to know when would you start doing in-person meetings?

Because I think the most effective way for you to get input from the community and for you to give input from these EJ communities and give the EJ communities input is in-person meetings.

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you, Ms. Sanders, for your comment. Appreciate your comment about ADAMS and suggesting that it be more understandable.

If there are any particular suggestions on how we might be able to do that, certainly open to that.

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37 on when we will be doing in-person meetings. I think locality conditions vary across the country, so I don[]t have that information for you today. But we certainly appreciate the value that in-person meetings have.

MS. SANDERS: And may I give one other suggestion?

MS. BIELECKI: Uh-huh.

MS. SANDERS: As I said, I[]m working in a very rural community. And when you give deadlines to people working in rural communities, it[]s your deadlines aren[]t enough time for us to interact with the people in the communities and get the information out to them and get the input from them.

So, I would request that you look at extending these deadlines that you give us because it[]s very hard, as I said. And I[]ve heard some of the other callers talk about the lack of broadband.

And most of the people that I work with don[]t even have access to a computer or the internet. So, it would be helpful for us if you would extend, give us a longer period in your deadline and extend your deadlines to make it easier for us -- or not easier for us, but make it better for us to be able to contact all of these people in rural areas that are affected by whatever NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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38 the issues are.

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you for that. And I appreciate the challenges with deadlines. When we set our deadline for this particular comment period -- and this is Jessica again -- we selected 45 days, trying to balance, you know, providing time for folks as well as time for us to do an analysis and provide an end product to our Commission, as directed, by January.

That said, if folks have a need for additional time, I would ask that any such request be provided to us in writing and we will consider them as we are able. So, thank you for that.

MS. SANDERS: Can I clarify that?

What you[]re telling me, if you give us a deadline we can contact you and ask for an extension of that deadline?

MR. FETTER: That[]s correct. This is Allen Fetter.

MS. BIELECKI: And whether or not it may be granted will depend on the particular, the particular -- and I[]m speaking for our project, the Environmental Justice Review Team.

MS. SANDERS: In the past we, in the past we[]ve asked for extension. And I can[]t ever remember an extension being granted. But I understand NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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39 what you[]re saying: we can ask for the extension but it[]s based on whether or not your time frame will allow that.

MS. BIELECKI: And my response is specific to our review team. As we were trying to say earlier, we[]re not looking at particular licensing actions, regular licensing. Our typical licensing and rulemaking activities will continue to be conducted through our normal processes.

I hope that helps. Thank you.

MS. SANDERS: Okay. Okay, thank you.

Bye-bye.

OPERATOR: I[]m showing no further questions or comments at this time. But if you would like to make a question or comment, please press star-1 and record your name.

(Pause.)

MR. FETTER: If there are no further comments, Ms. Greenlaw wanted us to go back -- well, she[]s not on the slides, but if we go back to the slides for others to see, to tell her how to get some comments in.

OPERATOR: Pamela, your line is now open.

MS. GREENLAW: Thank very much.

Okay. I have two questions. One, this NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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40 has been recorded because it[]s a public meeting.

How do we access the recording of this, of this meeting?

MR. FETTER: Well, a transcript will be provided, provided in about approximately 10 days after the meeting, depending on its availability. But in terms of the actual audio, maybe somebody else on the team can provide that. I think it is --

MS. GREENLAW: Okay. If it[]s on ADAMS, we need to know how to look it up. One of the problems with ADAMS is that we don[]t understand how titles are put on things, so we can[]t find some.

MR. FETTER: Yeah, yeah. And that[]s my, my job as the project manager. So, you[]ve got my direct line. And you have my email.

MS. GREENLAW: Okay.

MR. FETTER: So, please, please, if anyone has trouble with ADAMS, please get in touch with me directly and I will help you out.

MS. GREENLAW: Okay. And my second question, you said that there is going to be another meeting from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m., but we weren[]t given a date or time.

MR. FETTER: That[]s today.

MS. GREENLAW: I[]m sorry. Date. I[]m sorry, date.

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41 MR. FETTER: That is today.

MS. GREENLAW: Today?

MR. FETTER: Yes.

MS. GREENLAW: Oh, okay. Thank you very much.

MR. FETTER: Yes.

So, Pam, I don[]t know if you can still hear me, but there is a telephone number -- I[]ll read it slowly for you -- that if you want to leave a voicemail comment, if you don[]t want to send an email, the number is 301-415-3875. And people can leave a voicemail in the language of their choice.

And there is also a specific email we[]ve set up to receive comments directly. And I[]ll read that slowly: nrc-ejreview@nrc.gov. And that[]s and then also if anyone wants to send in via regular mail, get in touch with me and I can give you the regular mailing address and the federal rulemaking site links as well.

OPERATOR: Our next question or comment comes from Jeff Semantik.

MR. SEMANTIK: Yeah. Good afternoon.

Appreciate you taking the opportunity to listen to comments.

Just and I save these in email, but I just NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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42 want to highlight a couple of things. We[]ve got a couple sites in our state that are under NRC jurisdiction that, you know, are looking for radiological clean-ups. But they[]re not licensed facilities. So, you know, some of them are former radium sites that used non-military radium for manufacturing. And there[]s also some old former manufacturing sites that were identified and they were being cleaned up.

So, you know, one question is how, you know, if you focus on policies and procedures, you do have some sites that do not have licenses, and you don[]t have that ability to do those reviews, to include environmental justice. And I think that you don[]t see that involvement to that extent.

In both of the sites I dealt with, the environmental justice aspects were brought into one site by the EPA, and the other site by the Department of Energy. And they did a job. In fact, in one site an NRC official commented to us that environmental justice is not part of our mission.

And so, you know, I do ask that you take a look at including environmental justice in your mission, and also whether you[]re going to include it in your nuclear safety culture policy statements, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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43 including environmental justice as an aspect of safety culture.

And then my final comment would be that, you know, the environmental justice communities are pretty diverse. In some areas they[]re rural. In many of our areas they[]re urban. I think the NRC could reach out to most of the states and some of the local governments, and tribes have environmental justice points of contact that can provide a lot of information about what[]s the best way to interact and work out. And it[]s not a one-size-fits-all, it is diverse across this country. And I think working with local officials will help you a lot on that.

Thank you.

MS. BIELECKI: Thank you for those suggestions.

OPERATOR: I[]m showing no further comments at this time. But as a reminder, please press star-1 and record your name.

MS. OLMSTEAD: While we[]re waiting I[]d like to ask David if he received any emails with questions?

MR. McINTYRE: No further -- well, there was one other email question from Samuel Miranda. Hold on and I will call it up and we can read that.

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44 He says the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 directs the NRC to enhance environmental quality.

Would environmental justice be included in that directive?

Specifically, what reviews or actions does the NRC staff expect to undertake pertaining to environmental justice that are not already implemented during established environmental impact studies that are performed as part of the nuclear plant licensing process?

What part of environmental justice would not be encompassed by the NRC[]s mandate to protect the public health and safety?

And how much would environmental justice cost the taxpayers? How would the costs be justified?

And that[]s his questions.

MS. BIELECKI: Great. Thank you for reading that, Dave. And thank you for the question.

As I mentioned, we[]re early in our review process. And what we[]re doing initially is looking at how environmental justice is currently addressed in our programs, policies, and activities. And from there we[]ll look to see if there are opportunities to expand or enhance.

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45 to your questions right now, but we will certainly note those comments and consider as we continue with our review. Thank you.

OPERATOR: We still do not have anyone in line to speak or comment. I[]ll give it a couple more minutes.

(Pause.)

OPERATOR: We have a comment from Priscilla Preston. Your line is open.

MS. PRESTON: Okay, thank you. Again, Priscilla Preston calling about the Westinghouse facility in Lower Richland near Columbia, South Carolina.

You mentioned in your question something about other environmental justice programs that we wanted to know that you could maybe model your program on. Is that correct?

MS. GREENLAW: Yes.

MS. PRESTON: Okay. So, are you asking then for detailed programs that other organizations may have in the area that they feel have worked effectively, and you want us, you want those sent to you. Is that correct?

MS. GREENLAW: Yes. If you have examples that you think may be helpful as we undertake our NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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46 review, please do.

MS. PRESTON: Okay. Thank you.

OPERATOR: I[]m showing no further questions.

MS. OLMSTEAD: All right. Since we have no further questions, I[]m going to apologize because my neighbor[]s mowing their lawn, if you hear that in the background. But I[]d like to thank everybody for attending.

And before introducing Jessica to close out the meeting, I[]d like to remind everyone to fill out the meeting feedback form located at NRC[]s recently held public meetings web page for this meeting[]s announcement. Your input helps us improve future NRC public meetings.

Jessica.

MS. BIELECKI: Thanks, Joan.

And thank you again for your attendance and for all of the comments that we received today.

We very much appreciate your time and feedback.

As I mentioned, we are [early] in our review process, and the results of our review are going to culminate in a report to our Commission in January 2022. So, as we conduct our review and continue to engage in the coming months, we will carefully consider NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W.

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47 the comments we receive.

While we[]re not looking at particular licensing actions, we do appreciate any experiences or suggestions folks may have as we continue on.

So, thank you again. And we look forward to hearing from you and engaging with you in the coming months. That[]s all I have.

OPERATOR: That concludes today[]s conference. Thank you for participating. You may disconnect at this time.

(Whereupon, at 2:37 p.m., the above-entitled matter was concluded.)

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