Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Proposed Generic Environmental Impact Statement
for Uranium Milling Facilities

Generic Environmental Impact Statement for In Situ Leach Uranium Milling Facilities - Draft Report for Comment (NUREG-1910, Vols. 1-2)

• Volume 1 - Chapters 1 - 4
~ Introductory Pages and Chapter 1 (PDF - 5.45 MB)
~ Chapter 2 (PDF - 6.44 MB)
~ Chapter 3, Sections 3.1 - 3.2 (PDF - 7.19 MB)
~ Chapter 3, Sections 3.3 - 3.4 (PDF - 10.40 MB)
~ Chapter 3, Section 3.5 (PDF - 6.82 MB)
~ Chapter 4, Sections 4.1 - 4.3 (PDF - 8.68 MB)
~ Chapter 4, Sections 4.4 - 4.5 (PDF - 6.40 MB)

• Volume 2 - Chapters 5 - 12 and Appendices A - F
~ Chapters 5 - 12 (PDF - 12.0 MB)
~ Appendices A - F (PDF - 4.50 MB)

• GEIS Scoping Summary Report

The draft GEIS is also available on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1910/
and http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/licensing/geis.html.

Public comments on the Draft GEIS will be accepted through October 7, 2008. Comments may be addressed to the Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Mailstop T6-D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C., 20555-0001. Comments may also be submitted by electronic mail to NRCREP.Resource@nrc.gov. Please include “Uranium Recovery GEIS” in the subject line.

Schedule of Public Meetings to Receive Comments:

Spearfish, South Dakota - August 25
Chadron, Nebraska: August 27
Newcastle, Wyoming: August 29
Gallup, N.Mexico: September 8
Grants, N.Mexico: September 9
Albuquerque, New Mexico: September 11
Gillette, Wyoming: September 23
Casper, Wyoming: September 25

Schedule and Meeting Locations
(NOTE: The notice mistakenly reverses the locales of the last two meetings.) The meetings will also be publicized on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov under Public Meetings.

Background

In early 2007, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced its intention to develop a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) for Uranium Milling. The propsed GEIS would specifically focus on the environmental impacts of in situ leach (ISL) operations. In situ leach is now sometimes referred to by industry as "in situ recovery," or "ISR." One of the reasons for developing a GEIS for ISL operations is to facilitate the licensing of a number of newly proposed ISL operations. The NRC intends to rely on the GEIS and the more limited site-specific environmental review in an Environmental Assessment (EA) to satisfy the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act for new ISL projects. The NRC has stated that they will not complete the environmental review of any new ISL proposals until the GEIS is issued. An EA would be accompanied by a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). If the NRC could not issue a FONSI, then a site-specific Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) would be required.

Reliance on the GEIS and a site-specific EA would save prospective licensees money. The cost of the development of the GEIS is to be spread to all NRC licensees. So, a prospective ISL licensee would not have to provide the funding for a full site-specific EIS, but only a more limited EA. An EA does not demand the extensive participation of the public that is required for an EIS.

In July 2007, the NRC began the scoping process for the proposed GEIS. The NRC published a Notice of Intent in the Federal Register on July 24, 2007 (72 Fed. Reg. 40344-40346). The original scoping period was to end on September 4, 2007. The scoping period was extended three times: on August 31 (72 Fed. Reg. 5014), September 27 (72 Fed. Reg. 54947), and November 1 (72 Fed. Reg. 61912). The scoping comment period was finally extended to November 30, 2007. The NRC held three public meetings to receive oral and written comments: Casper, Wyoming, and Albuquerque and Gallup, New Mexico.

There has already been much opposition to the the development of the GEIS that would be used in place of the site-specific EIS process. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson stated his opposition to the GEIS process in a letter to the Chairman of the NRC. Hundreds of individuals and community and environmental organizations submitted oral and written comments, challenging the NRC's GEIS process and objecting to any reliance on the GEIS in place of an EIS for each proposed ISL uranium recovery operation.






Updated July 29, 2008