Update on June 17, 2020 by
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SUBJECT: US NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ANNOUNCES PUBLIC MEETING WEBINAR TO RECEIVE COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE HOLTEC INTERNATIONAL CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a public meeting via webinar soliciting comments on a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s (Holtec) proposed Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel in Lea County, New Mexico. The draft EIS evaluates potential environmental impacts of Holtec’s request to build and operate the proposed CISF.
The public meeting webinar will be accessible to the public by navigating, on the day and time of the meeting, to the internet link below and entering the event number associated with the date of the webinar when prompted. Telephone access is also provided by dialing the telephone number and entering the passcode provided below. The NRC staff will present the results of the draft environmental impact analysis and receive the public’s comments on the draft report. The NRC invites members of the public to attend the public meeting webinar and to present oral comments on the draft EIS. The public meeting webinar will commence at 3:00 pm Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) on June 23, 2020.
Tuesday, June 23, 2020 – 3:00 pm MDT (5:00 pm EDT)
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Webinar Internet address: https://usnrc.webex.com/usnrc/onstage/g.php?MTID=e518b15b4271391e6b7c7232571f289d3 |
Event Number: 199 800 0026
Password: HOLTEC
Telephone access
Telephone number: 888-454-7496
Telephone passcode: 5790355
Those wishing to present oral comments are asked to pre-register by June 22, 2020, by contacting Ms. Antoinette Walker-Smith via e-mail at: Antoinette.Walker-Smith@nrc.gov. The public may also submit written comments on the draft EIS before July 22, 2020. A notice published in the Federal Register (FR) on April 27, 2020 (85 FR 23382; https://www.federalregister.gov/), announced the availability of the NRC’s draft EIS and provided instructions for submitting written comments.
The draft EIS can be found on the NRC public webpage for the Holtec CISF license application at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html. If you do not have internet access, contact the NRC Public Document Room at 800-397-4209 for assistance.
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U.S. Representative Lloyd Doggett (TX-35th) wrote NRC, urging public comment meetings across the Lone Star State be delayed until after the pandemic emergency -- currently raging in Texas -- ends, and the public comment period be held open until after the in-person meetings are completed, including in his congressional district.
Similarly, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-8th) has written NRC, urging the comment period be extended "throughout the duration of the pandemic," and to end it "no sooner than six months after this FEMA-declared emergency has passed."
Since March 20th, the united New Mexico U.S. congressional delegation has stood strong in its demand that NRC hold five in-person public comment meetings across the Land of Enchantment -- which inevitably will mean an extension to the current Sept. 22nd deadline in the Holtec CISF proceeding, in order to accommodate them.
Such calls are also being backed up by 24 Democratic U.S. Senators (including five who were recently campaigning for the presidency); see their April 8th letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), here.
Both congressional letters in early April demanded that the White House Office of Management and Budget suspend public comment and participation periods, in light of the pandemic emergency.
Instead, thus far, NRC has attempted to ram through the CISF public comment periods, exploiting or taking advantage of the pandemic emergency in order to do so.