SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

The NRC is considering the issuance of a license amendment request to approve the LTP, Revision 2 for the OCNGS, located in Lacey and Ocean Townships, New Jersey, as part of OCNGS Renewed Facility Operating License No. DPR-16. If approved, the amendment would add a condition to the license reflecting the NRC's approval of the LTP and establishing criteria for determining when changes to the LTP require prior NRC approval. As required by part 51 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), “Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,” the NRC prepared an EA. Based on the results of the EA, the NRC has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the license amendment request and is issuing a FONSI.

The construction permit for OCNGS was issued by the NRC in 1964, with the provisional operating license issued by the NRC to Jersey Central Power and Light in 1969. The OCNGS began commercial operation in December 1969. The 2009 renewed facility operating license for OCNGS allowed operation until April 9, 2029. By letter dated January 7, 2011, Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon) announced its plan to retire OCNGS no later than December 31, 2018. A February 14, 2018, supplement to the January 7 letter certified that operations would cease no later than October 31, 2018, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(i). Exelon permanently shut down OCNGS on September 17, 2018. Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(1)(ii), Exelon certified to the NRC that it had permanently removed fuel from the reactor vessel by letter dated September 25, 2018. Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.82(a)(4)(i), Exelon submitted a SAFSTOR Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) on May 21, 2018, to initiate decommissioning of OCNGS under the SAFSTOR method.

By letter dated August 31, 2018, Exelon submitted to the NRC an application for transfer of the OCNGS facility licenses to Oyster Creek Environmental Protection, LLC as owner and HDI as operator. This transfer was completed on July 1, 2019.

On September 28, 2018, HDI submitted a revised PSDAR to address the acceleration of decommissioning activities, and changes to the decommissioning schedule and cost estimates. The revised PSDAR established the decommissioning method as DECON.

II. Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

The proposed action is the review and subsequent approval, if appropriate, of a license amendment to the OCNGS license to approve the LTP. HDI submitted their application on August 1, 2024, the LTP Revision 1 in April 2025, and the LTP Revision 2 in December 2025. During the review of the application, the NRC staff conducted a site visit on September 17, 2025, and conducted an audit. If approved, the amendment would add a condition to the license reflecting the NRC's approval of the LTP and establishing criteria for determining when changes to the LTP require prior NRC approval. The proposed action is described in HDI's 2025 LTP application.

Purpose and Need for the Proposed Action

The purpose and need for the proposed action is to allow for the completion of decommissioning of the OCNGS site by HDI, termination of its operating license by the NRC, and subsequent release of the OCNGS site for unrestricted use. A portion of the site required for operation of the independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) would remain under the 10 CFR part 50 license until the spent fuel is shipped off-site and the ISFSI can be decommissioned. The NRC regulation at 10 CFR 50.82, “Termination of license,” sets forth the process for the licensee to decommission its nuclear power plant, including submission of the LTP. The NRC will approve the LTP, provided that the LTP meets the criteria in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(10).

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

The NRC staff considered the potential impacts of the proposed action on land use; geology and soils; water resources; climatology, meteorology, and air quality; ecological resources; socioeconomics; historical and cultural resources; public and occupation health; transportation; waste management; noise; and visual and scenic resources. The Decommissioning Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) (NUREG-0586) generically addressed many of the potential environmental impacts of decommissioning at the OCNGS. During its review of the LTP, the NRC concluded that the impacts for most resource areas—onsite land use; water resources, not including groundwater contamination; air quality; ecology, not including threatened and endangered species; socioeconomics; historic and cultural resources within the operational area; public and occupational health; transportation; noise; and visual and scenic resources—were still bounded by the Decommissioning GEIS. Therefore, the ( printed page 35279) NRC does not expect impacts associated with these resource areas beyond those discussed in the GEIS, which concluded that the impact level for these resource areas was SMALL.

In the Decommissioning GEIS, the NRC staff concluded that it could not determine the environmental impacts of decommissioning generically for five environmental resource areas (offsite land use, threatened and endangered species, aquatic ecology beyond the operational area, terrestrial ecology beyond the operational area, and historic and cultural resources beyond the operational area). The Decommissioning GEIS determined that for these five resource areas a site-specific analysis would be required. Additionally, the GEIS did not address the affected environment, nonradioactive waste management, and contamination of groundwater from decommissioning activities.

For the proposed action, there are no planned activities outside of the operational area. Plant personnel would need to enter radiological areas less frequently during decommissioning when compared to plant operation; thus, occupational dose during decommissioning would be significantly lower than it was during operation of the plant. During decommissioning, HDI would continue to use the various protection programs to ensure public and occupational doses remain below regulatory limits in 10 CFR part 20 and 10 CFR part 50.

HDI commits to using best management practices and obtaining all necessary licenses from Federal or State agencies to protect the surrounding lands. The proposed action would result in no significant change to the off-site impacts and there would be no reasonably foreseeable significant effects associated with decommissioning activities at the OCNGS site. The proposed action does not include the use of any previously undisturbed land, or alterations to site surface waters or vegetated lands.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff considered only the “no-action alternative.” Under the no-action alternative, the NRC would not approve the LTP or the license amendment request because regulatory requirements have not been met. If the NRC was unable to approve the LTP because the regulatory requirements had not been met, then HDI would have to take the necessary actions to ensure the regulations are met. HDI would need to take additional action to prepare an LTP that meets the requirements in 10 CFR 50.82(a)(10), and the updated LTP would then need to be submitted to the NRC for approval prior to license termination. Under this scenario, until HDI resubmits the LTP, activities at the OCNGS would likely continue and the environmental impacts would neither increase nor decrease as a result of the additional time required for the LTP resubmission.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

By letter dated April 15, 2026, the NRC staff provided a copy of the draft EA to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for their review. By letter dated May 6, 2026, the NJDEP responded with multiple comments regarding figure legibility, groundwater wells, potential pathways for soil contamination, decommissioning activity details, and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) consultation with the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office (NJ SHPO). The NRC staff made changes in EA sections 1.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.8, and 4.1 to address these comments.

By letter dated February 24, 2026, the NRC staff requested U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) concurrence on the staff's impact determination for the following Federally protected species: American chaffseed, eastern black rail, Knieskern's Beaked-rush, monarch butterfly, Northern long-eared bat, rufa red knot, swamp pink, tricolored bat, Atlantic sturgeon, green sea turtle, Kemp's ridley sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, and loggerhead sea turtle. By letter dated April 2, 2026, the FWS concurred with the NRC staff's effect determinations. Therefore, the NRC's obligations under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act are satisfied.

The NRC staff made a preliminary determination of No Adverse Effect based on HDI's architectural survey report and sent the report and correspondence to the NJ SHPO requesting concurrence on December 17, 2025. The NJ SHPO responded by letter dated January 15, 2026, stating that they did not concur with the NRC staff's preliminary determination, and in their opinion, six buildings/structures contribute to the NRHP-eligibility of OCNGS as a whole; the letter also requested additional/updated maps. On March 3, 2026, the NRC staff sent correspondence to the NJ SHPO requesting concurrence on a revised determination of effect.

The NJ SHPO concurred with the determination of adverse effect by email dated March 17, 2026, which also agreed to the applicability of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to resolve adverse effects. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) responded by letter dated March 6, 2026, where they elected not to participate in the resolution of adverse effects.

On August 20, 2025, the NRC staff also initiated consultation with four Federally recognized Indian Tribes with historic and ancestral ties to the project vicinity—the Delaware Nation, Delaware Tribe of Indians, Shawnee Tribe, and Stockbridge-Munsee Community, and three Tribes recognized by the State—the Powhatan Renape Indians, Ramapough Lenape Indian Nation, and Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Indians of New Jersey. The NRC has received no responses to date from any Tribe, other than to decline to consult.

On April 16, 2026, the draft historic and cultural resources section of the EA, including the draft MOA, was made available to consulting parties and the public for review and comment. The MOA was signed on June 3, 2026.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

Based on its review of the proposed action, in accordance with 10 CFR part 51 requirements, the NRC staff has determined that the license amendment of the 10 CFR part 50 license for OCNGS will not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. No significant radiological or non-radiological impacts are expected from the proposed action at OCNGS. Therefore, the NRC staff has determined that pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, “Determinations based on environmental assessment,” preparation of an environmental impact statement is not required for the proposed action, and

10 CFR 51.32, “Finding of no significant impact,” a FONSI is appropriate. In accordance with 10 CFR 51.32(a)(4), this FONSI incorporates the EA set forth in this notice by reference.

IV. Availability of Documents

The documents identified in the following table are available to interested persons through ADAMS. Documents with an ADAMS accession number are available for public inspection online through ADAMS at https://www.nrc.gov/​reading-rm/​adams or in person at the NRC's PDR as previously described. ( printed page 35280)

Authority:42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.

91 FR 35277