02-27334. South Carolina Electric and Gas Company, Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station, Unit 1; Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and Conduct Scoping Process

South Carolina Electric and Gas Company (SCE&G) has submitted an application for renewal of operating license NPF-12 for an additional 20 years of operation at Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Station (V.C. Summer), Unit 1. V.C. Summer is located in the southeastern corner of rural Fairfield County, South Carolina, approximately 26 miles northwest of Columbia, South Carolina. The application for renewal was submitted by letter dated August 6, 2002, pursuant to 10 CFR part 54. A notice of receipt of application, including the environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on September 3, 2002 (67 FR 56316). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application for renewal of the facility operating license was published in the Federal Register on October 10, 2002 (67 FR 62272). The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) in support of the review of the license renewal application and to provide the public an opportunity to participate in the environmental scoping process as defined in 10 CFR 51.29.

In accordance with 10 CFR 54.23 and 10 CFR 51.53(c), SCE&G submitted the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared pursuant to 10 CFR part 51 and is available for public inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, or from the Publicly Available Records component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible at http://www.nrc.gov/​reading-rm/​adams.html,, which provides access through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room (PERR). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, [phone], or by email to [e-mail]. The application may also be viewed on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/​reactors/​operating/​licensing/​renewal/​applications/​summer.html. In addition, the Thomas Cooper Library, located at 1322 Greene Street, Columbia, South Carolina 29208, and the Fairfield County Library, located at 300 Washington Street, Winnsboro, South Carolina 29180, have agreed to make the ER available for public inspection.

This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to the Commission's “Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,” (NUREG-1437) in support of the review of the application for renewal of the V.C. Summer operating license for an additional 20 years. Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. Title 10 of the CFR, section 10 CFR 51.95 requires that the NRC prepare a supplement to the GEIS in connection with the renewal of an operating license. This notice is being published in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the NRC's regulations found in 10 CFR part 51.

The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare a draft supplement to the GEIS for public comment. Participation in this scoping process by members of the public and local, State, and Federal government agencies is encouraged. The scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS will be used to accomplish the following:

a. Define the proposed action which is to be the subject of the supplement to the GEIS.

b. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify the significant issues to be analyzed in depth.

c. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that are peripheral or that are not significant.

d. Identify any environmental assessments and other EISs that are being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part of the scope of the supplement to the GEIS being considered.

e. Identify other environmental review and consultation requirements related to the proposed action.

f. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the preparation of environmental analyses and the Commission's tentative planning and decision-making schedule.

g. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate, allocate assignments for preparation and schedules for completing the supplement to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating agencies.

h. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, including any contractor assistance to be used.

The NRC invites the following entities to participate in the scoping process:

a. The applicant, SCE&G.

b. Any Federal agency that has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with respect to any environmental impact involved, or that is authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards.

c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental standards.

d. Any affected Indian tribe.

e. Any person who requests or has requested an opportunity to participate in the scoping process.

f. Any person who intends to petition for leave to intervene.

In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS may include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant issues related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope of issues to be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold a public meeting for the V.C. Summer license renewal supplement to the GEIS. The scoping meeting will be held at the White Hall Fellowship Room at the White Hall A.M.E. Church located at 8594 State Highway 215 South, Jenkinsville, South Carolina, on Wednesday, December 11, 2002. There will be two sessions to accommodate interested parties. The first session will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until 4:30 p.m. The second session will convene at 7:00 p.m. with a repeat of the overview portions of the meeting and will continue until 10:00 p.m. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) An overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review process, the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and the proposed review schedule; (2) an overview by SCE&G of the proposed action, V.C. Summer license renewal, and the environmental impacts as outlined in the ER; and (3) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to submit comments or suggestions on the environmental issues or the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour prior to the start of each session at the White Hall Fellowship Room. No comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in writing, as discussed below. Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the meeting on the NEPA scoping process by contacting Mr. Gregory F. Suber by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1124, or by Internet to the NRC at [e-mail] no later than November 15, 2002. Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of each session. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time permits. Public comments will be considered in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS. If special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the public meeting, the need should be brought to Mr. Suber's attention no later than November 15, 2002, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated.

Members of the public may send written comments on the environmental scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS to: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6 D 59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

Comments may be hand-delivered to the NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. To be considered in the scoping process, written comments should be postmarked by January 6, 2003. Electronic comments may be sent by the Internet to the NRC at [e-mail]. Electronic submissions should be sent no later than January 6, 2003, to be considered in the scoping process. Comments will be available electronically and accessible through the NRC's PERR link, http://www.nrc.gov/​NRC/​ADAMS/​index.html,, at the NRC Home page.

Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS does not entitle participants to become parties to the proceeding to which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Notice of opportunity for a hearing regarding the renewal application was the subject of the aforementioned Federal Register notice of acceptance for docketing. Matters related to participation in any hearing are outside the scope of matters to be discussed at this public meeting.

At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached, including the significant issues identified, and will send a copy of the summary to each participant in the scoping process. The summary will also be available for inspection through the PERR link. The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the draft supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of separate notices and a separate public meeting. Copies will be available for public inspection at the above-mentioned addresses, and one copy per request will be provided free of charge. After receipt and consideration of the comments, the NRC will prepare a final supplement to the GEIS, which will also be available for public inspection.

Information about the proposed action, the supplement to the GEIS, and the scoping process may be obtained from Mr. Suber at the aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.

Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 23rd, day of October, 2002.

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Pao-Tsin Kuo,

Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.