83 FR 37828 - Notice of Hearing (Notice of Evidentiary Hearing and Opportunity To Provide Oral, Written, and Audio-Recorded Limited Appearance Statements); In the Matter of Crow Butte Resources, Inc. (Marsland Expansion Area)

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 149 (August 2, 2018)

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 149 (Thursday, August 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37828-37830]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-16546]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-8943-MLA-2; ASLBP No. 13-926-01-MLA-BD01]


Notice of Hearing (Notice of Evidentiary Hearing and Opportunity 
To Provide Oral, Written, and Audio-Recorded Limited Appearance 
Statements); In the Matter of Crow Butte Resources, Inc. (Marsland 
Expansion Area)

July 27, 2018.
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
Before the Licensing Board: G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chairman, Dr. 
Richard E. Wardwell, Dr. Thomas J. Hirons

    The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hereby gives notice that it 
will convene an evidentiary hearing to receive testimony and exhibits 
in this proceeding regarding intervenor Oglala Sioux Tribe's (OST) 
challenge to the May 2012 application of Crow Butte Resources, Inc., 
(CBR) seeking to amend the existing 10 CFR part 40 source materials 
license for its Crow Butte in situ uranium recovery (ISR) site to 
authorize CBR to operate a satellite ISR facility within the Marsland 
Expansion Area (MEA) in Dawes County, Nebraska. The evidentiary hearing 
will concern OST's admitted Contention 2, which raises hydrogeological-
related environmental and safety matters regarding the proposed license 
amendment. In addition, the Board gives notice that, in accordance with 
10 CFR 2.315(a) and the procedures specified below, it will entertain 
oral, written, and audio-recorded limited appearance statements from 
members of the public in connection with the issues raised by 
Contention 2.

A. Matters To Be Considered

    As set forth by the Licensing Board in a July 20, 2018 issuance, 
OST Contention 2 provides as follows:

OST Contention 2: Failure to Include Adequate Hydrogeological 
Information to Demonstrate Ability to Contain Fluid Migration
    The application and final environmental assessment fail to 
provide sufficient information regarding the geological setting of 
the area to meet the requirements of 10 CFR part 40, Appendix A, 
Criteria 4(e) and 5G(2); the National Environmental Policy Act; and 
NUREG-1569 section 2.6. The application and final environmental 
assessment similarly fail to provide sufficient information to 
establish potential effects of the project on the adjacent surface 
and ground-water resources, as required by NUREG-1569 section 2.7, 
and the National Environmental Policy Act.

LBP-18-3, 88 NRC __, __(slip op. at 43) (July 20, 2018). This issue 
will be the

[[Page 37829]]

subject matter of the evidentiary hearing and should be the focus of 
any limited appearance statements.\1\
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    \1\ As the Board also indicated in its July 2018 issuance, LBP-
18-3, 88 NRC at __(slip op. at 43), the scope of the safety and 
environmental concerns encompassed by this contention include the 
following: (1) The adequacy of the descriptions of the affected 
environment for establishing the potential effects of the proposed 
MEA operation on the adjacent surface water and groundwater 
resources; (2) exclusively as a safety concern, the absence in the 
applicant's technical report, in accord with NUREG-1569 section 2.7, 
of a description of the effective porosity, hydraulic porosity, 
hydraulic conductivity, and hydraulic gradient of site hydrogeology, 
along with other information relative to the control and prevention 
of excursions such as transmissivity and storativity; (3) the 
failure to develop, in accord with NUREG-1569 section 2.7, an 
acceptable conceptual model of site hydrology that is adequately 
supported by site characterization data so as to demonstrate with 
scientific confidence that the area hydrogeology, including 
horizontal and vertical hydraulic conductivity, will result in the 
confinement of extraction fluids and expected operational and 
restoration performance; and (4) whether the final EA contains 
unsubstantiated assumptions as to the isolation of the aquifers in 
the ore-bearing zones.
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B. Date, Time, and Location of Evidentiary Hearing

    The Board will convene an evidentiary hearing conducted in accord 
with the procedures set forth in 10 CFR part 2, subpart L, regarding 
the environmental and safety matters specified in section A above on 
the following date at the specified location and time:
    Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2018.
    Time: 8:30 a.m. Mountain Time (MT).
    Location: Crawford Community Building, 1005 1st Street, Crawford, 
Nebraska.

The hearing will continue from day-to-day until concluded. CBR, the NRC 
staff, and OST will be parties to the hearing and will sponsor 
witnesses and evidentiary material.
    Any member of the public who plans to attend the hearing is advised 
that security measures may be employed at the entrance to the room 
where the hearing will take place, including searches of hand-carried 
items such as briefcases or backpacks, and is reminded to arrive in 
sufficient time to allow for security screening. Items that could 
readily be used as weapons will not be permitted in the room where the 
evidentiary hearing sessions will be held. Also, during the evidentiary 
hearing session no signs will be permitted in the hearing room.

C. Date, Time, and Location of Oral Limited Appearance Statement 
Session

    A 10 CFR 2.315(a) oral limited appearance session regarding the MEA 
ISR proceeding will be held on the following date at the specified 
location and time:
    Date: Sunday, October 28, 2018 (if there is sufficient interest).
    Time: 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. MT.
    Location: Scottsbluff Room, Chadron State College Student Center, 
1000 Main Street, Chadron, Nebraska.

D. Participation Guidelines for Oral Limited Appearance Statements

    Any person not a party, or the representative of a party, to this 
proceeding will be permitted to make an oral statement setting forth 
his or her position on matters of concern relating to the proceeding. 
Although these statements do not constitute testimony or evidence, they 
nonetheless may help the Licensing Board and/or the parties in their 
consideration of the matters of concern in this proceeding relating to 
OST Contention 2.
    Oral limited appearance statements will be entertained during the 
hours specified in section C above, or such lesser period as may be 
necessary to accommodate the speakers who are present. In this regard, 
if all scheduled and unscheduled speakers present at the session have 
made a presentation, the Licensing Board reserves the right to 
terminate the session before the ending time listed in section C above. 
The Board also reserves the right to cancel the Sunday afternoon 
session scheduled above if there has not been a sufficient showing of 
public interest as reflected by the number of preregistered speakers.
    Any member of the public who plans to attend the limited appearance 
session is strongly advised to arrive early to allow time to pass 
through any security measures that may be employed. Attendees are also 
requested not to bring any unnecessary hand-carried items, such as 
packages, briefcases, backpacks, or other items that might need to be 
examined individually. Items that could readily be used as weapons will 
not be permitted in the room where this session will be held. During 
the oral limited appearance session, signs no larger than 18 inches by 
18 inches will be permitted, but may not be attached to sticks, held 
over one's head, or moved about in the room.
    The time allotted for each limited appearance statement normally 
will be no more than five minutes, but to ensure everyone will have an 
opportunity to speak, may be further limited depending on the number of 
written requests to make an oral statement that are submitted in 
accordance with section E below and/or the number of persons present at 
the designated times.

E. Submitting a Request To Make an Oral Limited Appearance Statement

    A person wishing to make an oral statement who has submitted a 
timely written request to do so will be given priority over those who 
have not filed such a request. To be considered timely, a written 
request to make an oral statement must either be mailed, faxed, or sent 
by email so as to be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Monday, 
October 12, 2018. Based on its review of the requests received by 
October 12, 2018, the Licensing Board may decide that the Sunday 
afternoon session will not be held due to lack of adequate interest in 
that session. Written requests to make an oral limited appearance 
received after Monday, October 12, 2018, will be honored to the extent 
practicable.
    Written requests to make an oral statement should be submitted to:

Mail: Administrative Judge G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Atomic Safety and 
Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop T-3A02, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax: (301) 415-5205 (verification (301) 415-5277).
Email: [email protected] and [email protected].

F. Submitting Written Limited Appearance Statements

    As provided in 10 CFR 2.315(a), any person not a party, or the 
representative of a party, to the proceeding may submit a written 
statement setting forth his or her position on matters of concern 
relating to this proceeding. Although these statements do not 
constitute testimony or evidence, they nonetheless may help the Board 
or the parties in their consideration of the matters of concern in this 
proceeding relating to OST Contention 2.
    A written limited appearance statement may be submitted at any 
time, however, for the statement to be the most helpful to the Board 
and parties relative to the evidentiary hearing on Contention 2, it 
should be submitted so as to be received by Wednesday, October 24, 
2018. The written limited statement should be sent to the Office of the 
Secretary using one of the methods prescribed below:

Mail: Office of the Secretary, Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax: (301) 415-1101 (verification (301) 415-1677).
Email: [email protected].


[[Page 37830]]


In addition, using the same method of service, a copy of the written 
limited appearance statement should be sent to the Licensing Board 
Chairman as follows:

Mail: Administrative Judge G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Atomic Safety and 
Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop T-3A02, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Fax: (301) 415-5599 (verification (301) 415-6094).
Email: [email protected] and [email protected].

G. Submitting Audio-Recorded Limited Appearance Statements

    As provided in 10 CFR 2.315(a), any person not a party, or the 
representative of a party, to the proceeding may submit an audio-
recorded statement setting forth his or her position on matters of 
concern relating to this proceeding. Although these statements do not 
constitute testimony or evidence, they nonetheless may help the Board 
or the parties in their consideration of the matters of concern in this 
proceeding relating to OST Contention 2.
    To ensure that the Licensing Board members will have the 
opportunity to review an audio-recorded limited appearance statements 
prior to the beginning of the evidentiary hearing, an audio-recorded 
limited appearance statement must be submitted so that it is received 
by Friday, October 12, 2018. All recordings must conform to the 
directions below in order for the Board and parties to consider the 
information and concerns contained therein. All audio-recorded limited 
appearance statements will be transcribed by a court reporter and 
included in the docket of this proceeding.

1. Size

    Due to technical constraints, all audio-recorded limited appearance 
statements submitted must be no more than 15 minutes in length.

2. Format and Submission

    Audio-recorded limited appearance statements may be sent to the 
Board one of two ways. An audio-recorded limited appearance statement 
may be sent by email to [email protected] as an attachment. The 
total size of the email cannot exceed 17 megabytes (MB). The attached 
file must be sent as an .mp3, .mp4, or .dss file.
    An audio-recorded limited appearance statement may also be sent by 
mail on either a compact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD) to:

Mail: Administrative Judge G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Atomic Safety and 
Licensing Board Panel, Mail Stop T-3A02, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.

H. Availability of Documentary Information Regarding the Proceeding

    The CBR application and license and various staff documents 
relating to the application are available on the NRC website at https://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/materials/uranium/licensed-facilities/crow-butte.html.\2\ These and other documents relating to this proceeding 
also are available for public inspection at the Commission's Public 
Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville 
Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, or electronically from the 
publicly-available records component of NRC's document system (ADAMS) 
at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic Reading 
Room), including the agency's Electronic Hearing Docket, https://adams.nrc.gov/ehd/ (under Docket No. 40-8943-MLA-2). Persons who do not 
have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the 
documents located in ADAMS should contact the NRC PDR reference staff 
by telephone at (800) 397-4209 or (301) 415-4737 (available between 
8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except federal 
holidays), or by email to [email protected].
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    \2\ On May 24, 2018, the staff notified the Board that, in 
accordance with 10 CFR 2.1202(a), the CBR license amendment license 
had been issued, effective immediately. See Letter from Emily 
Monteith, NRC Staff Counsel, to Licensing Board at 1 (May 24, 2018). 
Although section 2.1213(a) afforded OST the opportunity to seek a 
stay of this staff action, no such request was filed. Nonetheless, 
the CBR license amendment is subject to any merits determinations 
the Board might make relative to OST's pending contention.
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I. Information Updates to Schedule

    Any updates or revisions to the evidentiary hearing schedule or the 
schedule for the limited appearance session can be found on the NRC 
website at www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/index.cfm, or by 
calling (800) 368-5642, extension 5036 (available between 7:00 a.m. and 
9:00 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, except federal holidays), or by 
calling (301) 415-5036 (available seven days a week, twenty-four hours 
a day).
    It is so ordered.

    For the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.

    Rockville, Maryland, July 27, 2018.
George P. Bollwerk III,
Chairman, Administrative Judge.
[FR Doc. 2018-16546 Filed 8-1-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P