Environmental Impact Statement - radioactive monticello

Appendix A
provided the public with information on the application located in the NRC Public Document
Room or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's document system
(ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html, the
Public Electronic Reading Room. Toll free telephone numbers were provided in the Notice to
assist the public with the use of ADAMS and in contacting key NRC personnel on the project.
Although not required by NEPA, the NRC has elected to take steps during the scoping process
to ensure that interested parties have additional opportunities to become informed about the
project and to gain access to process and site-specific information to enhance their participation.
at the level they so choose. In addition to the official source of information in the NRC Public
Document Room and ADAMS, the NRC believed that it would be useful to the public to provide
a copy of the environmental information associated with the application for inspection at a
public library close to the site area; for the Monticello project, two public libraries (Monticello
and Buffalo) were kind enough to support our effort. The local libraries also have information to
assist the public in using ADAMS if an individual does not have intemet access from another
source. Consequently, any individual who is interested in obtaining information from the NRC
related to any environmental review for any license renewal project can go to any public library
and use library resources to obtain access.
The NRC has established an open process to permit all members of the public to participate in
the scoping process. Comments can be provided to the NRC in person, by mail, and by e-mail.
In addition, the NRC has elected to conduct public meetings during the scoping process to
ensure that interested parties have an additional opportunity to gain access to information about
the project and the process to effectively participate. The NRC provided the information about
the public meetings in the Federal Register Notice and posted the meeting time and location at
the NRC's website (www.nrc.gov). The NRC also published a press release to inform the
media about the purpose, time and location of the meetings, but the NRC does not control the
actions of the media; consequently, the NRC also pays for advertisements in a reasonable set
of local newspapers (the St. Cloud Times and the Monticello Times) to share the information
with the public. The NRC meetings were facilitated and, in advance of the meetings, the
facilitator contacted elected and appointed officials as well as known representatives of interest
groups so that they could inform their constituencies of the opportunity to participate in the
meetings. Finally, the NRC placed posters about the meeting in public places in the Monticello
site area.
Two meetings were held on the same day to make it convenient for interested parties who had
obligations (e.g., work or family) to choose whether they would participate in one or both
meetings. Preregistering for either of the meetings assists the staff in determining the quantity
of materials that it should bring to enhance the level of understanding and participation. During
the days leading up to the meetings, the environmental review team generally conducts an
audit in the site area and may no longer have access to office resources; consequently, the
public was encouraged to contact the staff by June 23, 2005, to preregister. However, the NRC
attempts to accommodate all interested parties at the public meetings whether they were
preregistered or not. No member of the public was denied the opportunity to participate in the
NUREG-1437, Supplement 26 A-12 August 2006 1