ML030090187
| ML030090187 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Peach Bottom  |
| Issue date: | 01/09/2003 |
| From: | Larry Wheeler NRC/NRR/DRIP/RLEP |
| To: | Griffith D State of DE, Historic Preservation Office |
| Wheeler LL, NRR/DRIP/RLEP, 415-1444 | |
| References | |
| Download: ML030090187 (12) | |
Text
January 9, 2003 Mr. Daniel R. Griffith State Historic Preservation Officer Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs 15 The Green Dover, Delaware 19901-3611
Dear Mr. Griffith:
This letter responds to your correspondence of September 9, 2002, in which you disagreed with the NRC staff position that the Delaware portion of the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line corridor is outside the Area of Potential Effects (APE) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (PBAPS), Units 2 and 3.
The NRC staff has considered your views and has determined that the Delaware portion of the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission corridor is outside of the APE. Notwithstanding any representations made by NRC applicants, the Agency official (the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation) has determined that the APE for a license renewal action is the area at the power plant site and its immediate environs which may be impacted by post-license renewal land disturbing operation or projected refurbishment activities associated with the proposed action. The APE may extend beyond the immediate environs in those instances where post-license renewal land disturbing operations or projected refurbishment activities specifically related to license renewal of the nuclear power plant potentially have an effect on known or proposed historic sites. This determination is made irrespective of ownership or control of the lands of interest.
For the proposed PBAPS license renewal, the licensee has stated, and our review has shown, that there will be no major structural modifications, that maintenance activities will be confined to previously disturbed areas, and that there will be no additional land disturbance. Further, the NRC staff has determined that the decision to approve or deny the requested license renewals would not affect maintenance practices or land disturbances beyond the substations at the PBAPS site where the generating units are connected to the distribution system. Therefore, the APE for the proposed PBAPS license renewal is the plant site, which is wholly within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The PBAPS APE does not extend into Maryland or Delaware.
In its letter of December 14, 2000, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Bureau for Historic Preservation (the State Historic Preservation Office), determined that National Register-listed, eligible, historic, and archeological resources are present in the general vicinity of the PBAPS site, and stated an opinion that the proposed license renewal will not affect any of those resources. The NRC staff agreed with this determination and opinion.
Therefore, consultation was not required.
In response to your interest in the degraded portion of the feeder canal, where it crosses the transmission line corridor in Delaware, the NRC staff included this site in its review of environmental resources of interest as the staff prepared its environmental impact statement (EIS) to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The NRC staff review included a visit to the canal during the staffs PBAPS site audit in November 2001. The staff
D. Griffith disclosed its NEPA findings in its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) issued for public comment on July 5, 2002.
The NRC staff has determined that, even if the APE were to be extended through Maryland to the Delaware portion of the Keeney transmission line corridor, the proposed renewal of the PBAPS operating licenses would have no effect on the feeder canal where it crosses the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line corridor. In light of your expressed interest in this matter, we are providing, by separate correspondence, a copy of your September 9, 2002, letter, along with a copy of this reply, to the owner/operator of the Delaware portion of the Keeney transmission line corridor (who is not an NRC licensee) to ensure it is aware of your concerns (Conectiv Power Delivery, Newark, DE).
Additional information regarding the NRC staff review of your interest is enclosed. The staff will include a discussion of this matter in the Final SEIS scheduled for publication in February 2003.
No further action is considered necessary. If there are any questions regarding this correspondence, please contact me at (301) 415-1444.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Louis L. Wheeler, Senior Project Manager Environmental Section License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
Additional Responses to DE SHPO Correspondence cc w/encl: See next page
D. Griffith disclosed its NEPA findings in its Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) issued for public comment on July 5, 2002.
The NRC staff has determined that, even if the APE were to be extended through Maryland to the Delaware portion of the Keeney transmission line corridor, the proposed renewal of the PBAPS operating licenses would have no effect on the feeder canal where it crosses the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line corridor. In light of your expressed interest in this matter, we are providing, by separate correspondence, a copy of your September 9, 2002, letter, along with a copy of this reply, to the owner/operator of the Delaware portion of the Keeney transmission line corridor (who is not an NRC licensee) to ensure it is aware of your concerns (Conectiv Power Delivery, Newark, DE).
Additional information regarding the NRC staff review of your interest is enclosed. The staff will include a discussion of this matter in the Final SEIS scheduled for publication in February 2003.
No further action is considered necessary. If there are any questions regarding this correspondence, please contact me at (301) 415-1444.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Louis L. Wheeler, Senior Project Manager Environmental Section License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Enclosure:
Additional Responses to DE SHPO Correspondence cc w/encl: See next page DISTRIBUTION:
L Wheeler J Tappert OGC PTKuo DMatthews HBerilla RLEP R/F Accession no.: ML030090187 Document Name: C:\\ORPCheckout\\FileNET\\ML030090187.wpd
- See prior concurrence OFFICE
- PM:RLEP
- LA:RLEP
- SC:RLEP
- OGC (NLO)
PM:RLEP D:DRIP NAME DWheeler*
HBerilla*
JTappert*
BSmith*
PTKuo*
DMatthews*
DATE 12/18/02 12/18/02 12/18/02 12/19/02 12/22/02 12/23/02 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY As the Agency official, I agree.
/RA/
Samuel J. Collins, Director NRR
Enclosure Responses to comments in correspondence received from the Delaware State Historical Preservation Office (DE SHPO) regarding the feeder canal:
Comment: The Atomic Energy Commission might not have met National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 responsibilities when it made its early 1970s decisions to grant operating licenses for Units 2 and 3 at Peach Bottom.
Response: The NRC staff carefully reviewed the records and found that the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) met the compliance standard for historic preservation consideration when the AEC made its decisions to issue the initial operating licenses for Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 (PBAPS).
The original regulations, implementing Section 106 of the Act (36 CFR 800), were promulgated in 1979, five years after the NRC granted the original licenses for operation of Units 2 and 3 at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation had no prescribed regulatory process for Federal agencies to demonstrate compliance with National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 responsibilities until 1979.
As required by Section 106, in 1972 the AEC provided information on the proposed action for PBAPS, including information on historic and archeological resources and determinations, to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation with a request for comment. There is no record to indicate that the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation objected to the AECs determinations.
The feeder canal, now identified as a historic property by the DE SHPO, was documented in September 1974, after the AEC issued the operating licenses. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was not aware of the feeder canal until informed by the DE SHPOs office in 2001.
Comment: The proposed license renewal is a Federal undertaking with the potential to affect historic properties.
Response: The NRC staff agrees.
Comment: The feeder canal is a historic resource that meets standards for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
Response: Without taking a position in agreement or disagreement with the DE SHPO, the NRC staff considered the canal as though it were a historic resource potentially eligible for listing on the National Register for the limited purpose of addressing the DE SHPOs interests.
Comment: Operation of the PBAPS under the current license has caused adverse effects on the feeder canal at the transmission line crossing.
Response: Operation and maintenance of the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line was not the cause of past adverse effects on the feeder canal at the transmission line crossing. The utility corridor at the intersection with the feeder canal is approximately 400-feet wide; it is the same width as it was in 1968, well before the Peach Bottom line was added to the corridor.
Three other overhead transmission line easements, and at least one underground utility easement share the corridor at the crossing. An NRC decision to either approve or deny the license renewal applications for PBAPS would not alter maintenance practices along the Delaware portion of the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line; maintenance would continue the same with or without the use of an easement on the corridor for the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line. The licensee does not own the land at the corridor crossing of the feeder canal nor does it have maintenance responsibility for the corridor at the crossing. The corridor is clear of trees, but is grass and brush covered, and has been in a similar condition since before the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line was constructed.
A gravel-surfaced utility road meanders through the corridor and crosses the remnant trench for the feeder canal underneath the Peach Bottom line, but is not exclusively for maintenance of the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line. The access road that crosses the feeder canal replaced previous fords in the area of the corridor dating back to as early as 1937.
The old feeder canal alignment remains a visible and well-defined feature along much of its original route through present-day woodlands. It displays less definition and more in-filling as it passes under the transmission corridor. The changes under the transmission corridor are cumulative effects from a range of human and natural activities that extend back in time to a period well before the addition of the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line to the utility corridor.
NRC team review of aerial photographs indicates the feeder canal remained relatively intact until after 1968. At that time, and before 1977, small noticeable changes began to occur and continue today. First, a utility road crossed the feeder canal at a new place in the transmission corridor and below the present-day Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line. Second, a series of cumulative changes began then, and continue to the present. These include gradual loss of vegetation along the alignment of the canal and a progressive loss of sharpness in the features of the canal as viewed from the air.
Comment: The NRC staff should consider three specific actions to take into account the effects of the undertaking to grant the license renewals for PBAPS.
Response: The DE SHPO requests fall into two categories: (1) an action suggested with the intent to correct the perceived negative result of past operations, and (2) specific actions to prevent future deterioration of the feeder canal. The NRC staff forwarded the recommendations to the applicant in correspondence dated November 26, 2001, even though the recommended actions have no direct bearing on the undertaking.
For the license renewal period, the applicant indicated that it plans (1) no major structural modifications, (2) to limit maintenance activities to previously disturbed areas, and (3) no additional land disturbance. Consistent with the NRCs "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants" (NUREG-1437), under such conditions, the NRC staff believes continued operation of PBAPS would have no effect on any known or on potential unknown or undiscovered historic or archaeological resources located in areas of potential effect.
As part of its consideration of the DE SHPO correspondence, the NRC staff completed a supplementary analysis based on a scenario which postulated the inclusion of the Delaware portion of the Peach Bottom-to-Keeney transmission line corridor in the National Historic Preservation Act Area of Potential Effect. In that supplemental analysis, the NRC staff applied the criteria of adverse effect pursuant to 36 CFR § 800.5(a)(1) and found that the proposed undertaking to extend the PBAPS licenses would not alter the characteristics of the potentially historic property known as the Chesapeake and Delaware feeder canal. This conclusion followed consideration of DE SHPO views concerning such effects and incorporated analyses of past, present, and potential future conditions.
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Units 2 and 3 License Renewal Environmental Review cc:
Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Exelon Generation Company, LLC 300 Exelon Way Kennett Square, PA 19348 Site Vice President Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Exelon Generation Company, LLC 1848 Lay Road Delta, PA 17314 Plant Manager Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Exelon Generation Company, LLC 1848 Lay Road Delta, PA 17314 Regulatory Assurance Manager Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Exelon Generation Company, LLC 1848 Lay Road Delta, PA 17314 Resident Inspector U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station P.O. Box 399 Delta, PA 17314 Regional Administrator, Region I U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 475 Allendale Road King of Prussia, PA 19406 Mr. Roland Fletcher Department of Environment Radiological Health Program 1800 Washington Blvd.
Baltimore, MD 21230 Correspondence Control Desk Exelon Generation Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, KSA 1-N-1 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Rich Janati, Chief Division of Nuclear Safety Bureau of Radiation Protection Department of Environmental Protection Rachel Carson State Office Building P.O. Box 8469 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8469 Board of Supervisors Peach Bottom Township 545 Broad Street Ext.
Delta, PA 17314-9203 Mr. Richard McLean Power Plant and Environmental Review Division Department of Natural Resources B-3, Tawes State Office Building Annapolis, MD 21401 Dr. Judith Johnsrud National Energy Committee Sierra Club 433 Orlando Avenue State College, PA 16803 Manager-Financial Control & Co-Owner Affairs Public Service Electric and Gas Company P.O. Box 236 Hancocks Bridge, NJ 08038-0236
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 cc: Manager Licensing-Limerick and Peach Bottom Exelon Generation Company, LLC Nuclear Group Headquarters Correspondence Control P.O. Box 160 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Director - Licensing Mid-Atlantic Regional Operating Group Exelon Generation Company, LLC Nuclear Group Headquarters Correspondence Control P.O. Box 160 Kennett Square, PA 19348 Vice President-Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Exelon Generation Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Senior Vice President Mid-Atlantic Regional Operating Group Exelon Generation Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, KSA 3-N Kennett Square, PA 19348 Senior Vice President, Nuclear Services Exelon Generation Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Vice President, Mid-Atlantic Operations Support Exelon Generation Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, KSA 3-N Kennett Square, PA 19348 Manager License Renewal Exelon Generation Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way Kennett Square, PA 19348 Public Service Commission of Maryland Engineering Division Chief Engineer 6 St. Paul Center Baltimore, MD 21202-6806 Chief Operating Officer Exelon Generation Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Senior Vice President, Operations Support Exelon Generation Company, LLC 4300 Winfield Road Warrenville, IL 60555 Mr. Oliver D. Kingsley, President Exelon Nuclear Exelon Generation Company, LLC 200 Exelon Way, KSA 3-E Kennett Square, PA 19348 Mr. George Meyn Whiteford Branch Library 2407 Whiteford Road Whiteford, MD 21160 Ms. Martha Gunder or Ms. Essy Day Collinsville Community Library 1632 Delta Road Brogue, PA 17309 Ms. Katrina Anderson, Director Quarryville Library P.O. Box 678 357 Buck Road Quarryville, PA 17566
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 cc: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission Bureau for Historic Preservation Commonwealth Keystone Bldg, 2nd Floor 400 North Street Harrisburg, PA 17120-0093 Delaware Historical Preservation Office 15 The Green Dover, DE 19901 ATTN: Faye Stocum Maryland Historical Trust 100 Community Place Crownsville, MD 21032 Chief Billy Tyac Piscataway Indian Nation P.O. Box 131 Accokeek, MD 20607 Chief Roy Crazy Horse, Chairperson The New Jersey Commission on American Indian Affairs Department of State P.O. Box 456 Trenton, NJ 08625-0456 Mr. Jim Rementer Delaware Tribe of Indians 220 NW Virginia Ave Bartlesville, OK 74003 Ms. Mervin Savoy, Tribal Chairperson Piscataway-Conoy Confederacy P.O. Box 1484 La Plata, MD 20646 Kip Adams 43 River Road Airville, PA 17302 Barbara Baldwin 670 Burk Road Delta, PA 17314 Paul Barnett 1909 Rivervue Drive Drumore, PA 17518 B. Birchall 303 Tucquan Glen Holtwood, PA 17532 Mary Boyd 518 Burke Road Delta, PA 17314 William Coble 1854 Rivervue Drive Drumore, PA 17518 Traci Confer 1434 Elbridge Street Philadelphia, PA 19149 James Donnelly 2794 Chestnut Run Road York, PA 17402 Amy Donohue 657 East Posey Road Airville, PA 17302 Jeff Griffith 210 Griffith Road Delta, PA 17314 Bill Dorward 2163 Berryhill Street Harrisburg, PA 17104
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 cc: Mike Ewall 1434 Elbridge Street Philadelphia, PA 19149 William R. Farally Sheet Metal Workers Intl.
1750 New York Ave, NW Washington, DC 20006 Jeffrey D. Foster 1012 Fieldstone Court Lancaster, PA 17603 Steve Frantz Morgan, Lewis & Bochius 1800 M Street, NW Washington, DC 20036 Timothy J. Gearan 906 Pennsylvania Ave, SE Washington, DC 20003 Ernest Eric Guyll 471 Kirks Mill Road Nottingham, PA 19362 Rick Farrington P.O. Box 208 Delta, PA 17314 Salvatore Ferranti 20 Paper Mill Road Delta, PA 17314 William A. Griffith 177 Griffith Road Delta, PA 17934 Janet Harris P.O. Box 79 Delta, PA 17314 David Harry 3853 Heaps School Road Pylesville, MD 21132 Laura Jacobson 3964 Prospect Road Street, MD 21154 Jane Lee 183 Valley Road Etters, PA 17319 Shirley Liebman 91 Pinnacle Road, West Holtwood, PA 17532 Sam McConnell 815 Pikes Peak Road Delta, PA 17314 Noble McHugh 611 Willow Valley Lakes Drive Willow Street, PA 17584 Gary D. Morgan 108 Academy Road Kirkwood, PA 17536 Mary Osborn 4951 Highland Street Harrisburg, PA 17111 Terry Peck 7193 Jonestown Road Harrisburg, PA 17112 Karen Patterson 900 Trail Ridge Road Aiken, SC 29803
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 cc: Rebecca Ritzel 8 W. King Street P.O. Box 1328 Lancaster, PA 17608 Cindy Seibel P.O. Box 425 Delta, PA 17314 Michelle Soder 545 Broad Street Extended Delta, PA 17314 John Tucker 2916 Sunset Drive Dallastown, PA 17313 Paul Wiley 509 Wiley Drive Delta, PA 17314 Susan Allen 1612 Michelle Ct, Apt E Forrest Hill, MD 21050 Karen Anderson 2250 N. George St York, PA 17402 Bernard August 101 Cardiff Ct. W.
Newark, DE 19711 Frieda Berryhill 2610 Grendon Dr.
Wilmington, DE 19808 Rita Bright 851 Federal Hill Rd.
Street, MD 21154 Alan Brinser 2605 Interstate Dr.
Harrisburg, PA 17057 Bruce L. Clark 133 Skyline Drive New Holland, PA 17557 Jess Collins 10 Hays St.
Bel Air, MD 21014 Roger Cooper 1154 Flintville Rd.
Delta, PA 17314 Donna Cuthbert P.O. Box 3063 Stowe, PA 19464 Martha Denick 343 Countryside Ct.
Collegeville, PA 19426 Mike Fetrow 118 Pleasant Acres Rd.
York, PA 17402 Linda Gallucci 140 Leader Heights Rd.
York, PA 17403 Chris Kauffman 415 S. Charles St, Apt 4 Red Lion, PA 17356 Paul Gunter 1424 16th St, NW, #404 Washington, DC 20036
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3 cc: Joseph Mangano 786 Caroll St.
Brooklyn, NY 11215 Chris Neumann 297 Kilgore Rd.
Delta, PA 17314 Catherine Reed 295 Slab Rd.
Delta, PA 17314 David M. Ritter 215 Pennsylvania Ave, SE Washington, DC 20003 Jon Rutter 8 West King St.
Lancaster, PA 17603 Sandy Smith 1650 Furnace Rd.
Brogue, PA 17309 Robert M. Scarborough 218 N. George St.
York, PA 17401 Ben and Sandy Shapiro 1601 Waterbury Ct.
Bel Air, MD 21014 Hal Trimble 805 N. Shippen St.
Lancaster, PA 17602 Silver Cloud Washburn P.O. Box 460 Conowingo, MD 21918-0460 Martha Wickelhaus 314 N. Morris St.
Shippensburg, PA 12257 Heather Will 2005 S. Queen St.
York PA 17403 Norm and Joan Wurzback 100 Highland Lane Brogue, PA 17309 Mr. Alan P. Nelson Nuclear Energy Institute 1776 I Street, N.W., Suite 400 Washington, DC 20006-3708 APN@NEI.ORG Mr. William Maher, PE 203 Hazelton Court Mullica Hill, NJ 08062