*****
             UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
         WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001        |

            March  24,  1995            I
 Carol Browner, Chair
 Environmental JusticeInteragency
   Working Group
 ^•Environmental Protection Agency
 401 M Street, S.W.
 Washington, D.C.  20451

 Dear Ms. Browner:

 The enclosed Environmental  Justice  Strategy  is provided by the Nuclear
             Mission (HRC)  in accordance with the Presid nt'I Execute Order
             •ederal  Actions  to Address Environmental Justice in Minority
                    -Income  P°Pulations."  Also enclosed Is a description of
                    ojects wnere NRC  is addressing environmental justice.

 If you have any  questions,  I can be  reached at (301) 415-1713.    "

                                    Sincerely,
                                    Hugh L.  Thompso
                                    Environmental  J
                                      Working Group
Enclosures:
As stated
                                        C Member
                                       teragency

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                      U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
                        ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE STRATEGY
                                 MARCH 1995
 Introduction:


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                       NRC Is not a "land management" agency,  I.e
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In this regard,  the NRC is committed to giving careful  consideration to the
Background:
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                                         of environmental laws,



                                                        1  ATTACHMENT 1

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 Principles of Environmental  Justice Implementation:      i

 The goal  of the NRC's Environmental Justice Implementation  Strategy  is to
 integrate environmental  justice into the conduct  of  all  pertinent  activities
 at the agency primarily  in the NRC's fulfillment  of  its  NEPA  responsibilities
 The Strategy contains five principles of implementation.  The first  three
 principles are institutional  in nature and  serve  as  the  foundation for the
 II24S  P"nc Ples  wh^ch  are operational in nature,  i.e.,  they address
 specific  activities.   The  principles emulate the  "Principles  of Good
 Regulation"  which  have been  part of NRC policy for several  years.

             Integration  of Environmental Justice  Into NRC's MEPA Activities

             NRC  is committed  to integrating environmental justice  Into NRC's
             NEPA activities.   Greater emphasis will be placed  1n discussing
             Impacts on minority and  low-income populations when preparing
             agency NEPA  documents such  as Environmental  Impact Statements
             (EIS), supplemental  EISs,  and where appropriate, Environmental
             Assessments.

             Continue senior management  involvement       !

            The NRC Environmental Justice Group,  whose members are senior
            agency officials, will continue to provide guidance in this area
            An Environmental  Justice Coordinator has  been appointed to ensure
            appropriate policy information flow among the different entities
            within the NRC, as well  as with  outside interested members of the
            public.
                                                         i
            Openness  and  Clarity                         i

            Nuclear regulation is the public's  business,  and must  be
            transacted publicly and  candidly.   Agency positions should be
            readily understood and easily applied/  This is of particular
            import  when dealing with environmental justice issues.

            Seeking and Welcoming Public Participation    i

            The NRC maintains  regular communication with  a broad spectrum of
            entities,  such  as  the States,  Indian Tribes,  members of the public
            and other  Federal  agencies.   Outreach  programs such as  the
            Enhanced Participatory Rulemaking, open meeting  policy, and
            scheduled meetings  with  Agreement States are  being  Implemented.
            ine NRC management  is  committed to Improving  our outreach efforts
           with  stakeholders,  Including minority  and low-income communities,
           and welcoming their input.
    2  From the agency's "Principles of Good Regulations'
January 17, 1991, announcement #6.
issued in

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            Continue Review  and Monitoring of Title VI Activities

            The NRC's financial assistance programs under Title VI of the
            Civil Rights Act of 1964 are limited to funding training and
            travel under Section 274 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 as
            amended, In connection with States assuming certain regulatory
            authority over specified nuclear materials, and the award of
            grants for the support of basic and applied scientific research
            and for the exchange of scientific Information.  10 CFR Part 4
            calls for nondiscrimination with respect to race, color, national
            origin and sex in any program or activity receiving Federal
            financial assistance from the NRC.  NRC Is coimltted to monitoring
            this activity.                               i                    s
Implementation:
      The NRC's statutory offices—the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
      which regulates nuclear power plants and research r&actors; the Office
      of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards which regulates materials
      uses, fuel cycle facilities and waste disposal  facilities;  and the
      Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research responsible for rulemakings and
      confirmatory research—will assess their existing environmental
      activities and integrate environmental  justice  into these activities   as
      appropriate.

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              SPECIFIC PROJECTS WHERE NRC IS ADDRESSING
                        ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE


 The  staff of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR)  recently
 performed an evaluation of environmental justice in preparing its  draft
 supplement to the Final Environmental Statement Related to the Operation
 of Watts Bar Nuclear Plant Units 1 and 2.  The environmental  justice
 review was performed In two phases.  In the first phase,  the  staff
 Zr Snr?o^C?2L?C2?0m*c* T*c1il« «* ethn1c Infonntlon -for  the Watts
 Bar Nuclear (WBN) Plant region and concluded that th« HBN  Plant is
 located in a predominately non-minority, low-income area.  Input to  the
 staff's evaluation was solicited from the public during the public
 comment period.  No comments were received on environmental justice.
 The staff then considered in the second phase whether the  low-income
 community near the WBN Plant is expected to experience
 disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental
 effects and concluded the community would not experience such  impacts.
 The Environmental  Protection Agency did not comment on  environmental
 justice during its review of the draft  supplement.   The WBN site review
  f pr°viri«9 the NRC.wlth a means to begin assessing the effectiveness
 ot its NEPA process  in  addressing environmental  justice issues  in  its
 Pi=rj1n9*JCtJV^1es'   *W1«wwHy.  the "Environmental Standard Review
 Plan  for the Environmental  Review of Construction Permit Applications
 for Nuclear  Power  Plants,"  ESRP (NUREG-0550),  will  include staff review
 guidance on  evaluation  of environmental  justice.  NRR intends to utilize
 workshops  and  media  announcements to  solicit  input  from affected
                        NR?  a"tic1Pates gaining considerable information
?S2nC2Id+?tS  an !xtf ?1v? Public scoping process (i.e., workshops,  local
town meetings, etc.) in the preparation of environmental impact
?hf nnM?S    r *Jaj?r Ilcens1"9 act1ons 1n order to solicit input from
the public on the  issues to be reviewed.  This scoping process will,  to
the maximum extent possible, include specific solicitations from
minority and  low-income communities on environmental  justice issues
JSli1?!!*11?' ?nviro"mental 1mPact statements are published in draft  in
?Sfn   DSM -Clt Pub1ic cT"ents PHor to the proposed actions being
taken.  Public comment and opportunity for hearing aro solicited via
Federal Register notice.

Louisiana Energy Services (LES) applied to the NRC in  January 1991, for
fo,, JSJIn    ubUlld * S""1?1?" enr]chment plant in  Claiborne  Parish,
Louisiana   Northern Louisiana, Including Claiborne Parish,  Is an
economically depressed area,  and the proposed site is  near  two small
communities popuated almost  entirely by African  Americans.   The Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and  Safeguards (NMSS)  issued the  Draft
Environmental  Impact Statement  in November 1993.   Since the  Executive
                                                           ATTACHMENT 2

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 Order  had  not  been  issued  as  of  that date, there was no discussion of
 environmental  justice  in the  Draft  EIS, although thore was a discussion
 of the socio-economic  impacts of the proposed action.  The Final
 Environmental  Impact Statement was  issued in August 1994.  It contains a
 discussion of  environmental justice, including a description of the
 surrounding neighborhoods, the site selection process and a
 consideration  of whether there was possible discrimination in the
 process, and possible disproportionate Impact.  The statement concludes
 that there Is  no evidence  of  discrimination, and that there will be no
 significant disproportionate  impacts on minorities or economically
 disadvantaged  persons.                              ]

The Office of  Nuclear Regulatory Research (RES) is using an enhanced
participatory  process for developing radiological criteria for
decommissioning.  As part of  this process, the NRC conducted a series of
seven workshops from January  through May 1993.  Workshop participants
represented a  broad spectrum  of interests Including interests related to
environmental justice.

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