10 .ý ý1•' 1, UNITED STATES0 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSIONZ .WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001

January 26, 2009

Mitchell Leverette, ChiefSolid Minerals DivisionBureau of Land ManagementU.S. Department of the Interior1849 C Street, NW (501 LS)Washington, DC 20240

SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) BETWEEN THE BUREAU OFLAND MANAGEMENT (BLM) AND THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY.COMMISSION (NRC)

Dear Mr. Leverette:

I am enclosing a copy of the proposed revision to the draft MOU we sent via e-mail, that mystaff discussed with you and Roger Haskins on the telephone on December 9, 2008.

The development of the MOU resulted from meeting with personnel from a number of BLM FieldOffices in September 2008 during a week of public meetings the NRC held for the Draft GenericEnvironmental Impact Statement (DGEIS) for In-Situ Leach (ISL) Uranium Milling Facilities.Discussions with field office personnel revealed an overlap (redundancy) in coverage ofNational Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) actions by the BLM and NRC for surface-disturbingactivities such as construction and operations of ISL facilities. Since BLM regulations requirethat an environmental assessment (EA) be prepared for a Plan of Operation (for surfacedisturbances greater than 5 acres), and because an ISL facility would potentially disturb more.than 5 acres of surface, both the BLM and NRC would be involved in developing EAs for thesame action. It was suggested at several of these meetings that a MOU between the twoagencies could be developed that would reduce the need for redundant NEPA documents forthe same potential ISL facility.

The NRC has received letters of commitment from industry proposing to submit licenseapplications for up to 29 uranium recovery facilities (new, expansion, re-start), with four alreadyreceived. Many of these are new ISL facilities, and all license applications would require aNEPA review, and minimally, development of an environmental assessment (EA). Attached tothis letter is a table of potential ISL facilities and a map of potential ISL facility locations in theState of Wyoming.

The current draft MOU is based upon the template MOU that the BLM uses with other state andfederal agencies and the initial draft MOU that Roger Haskins from BLM's Mining LawAdjudication Division sent to us. In addition to standard agreement language, the draft MOUoutlines the specific roles and responsibilities of each agency that would be carried out by NRCstaff and BLM Field Office personnel. The MOU would be used to implement site-specificreviews which will include developing site-specific schedules, the details of which would beworked out with NRC's Environmental Project Managers and points of contact in the appropriateBLM Field Office.

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M. Leverette -2-

The current draft has been reviewed by NRC's technical staff and Office of General Counsel.We await the BLM Solicitor's review and will discuss any substantive changes that may benecessary. The final MOU would be signed by NRC's Director of the Office of Federal andState Materials and Environmental Programs, Dr. Charles Miller. As stated in our last telephoneconversation, the Director would sign for the BLM, U.S. Department of the Interior.

We appreciate your efforts in supporting this action and trust that this submittal is sufficient forthe BLM's continued review. If you have any questions regarding this letter and the enclosures,please contact Alan B. Bjornsen at (301) 415-1195 for technical issues and Joan Olmstead at(301) 415-2859 for legal issues.

Sincerely,

Lar W. amper, iire-Divi ion f Waste Ma grement

and E vironmental ProtectionOffice f Federal and State Materials

and Environmental Management Programs

Enclosures:1. Proposed Revision2. Table3. Map

cc: R. Haskins (BLM)

ENCLOSURE 1

(8 pages)

(b)(5)

PROPOSED ISL FACILITIES IN WYOMING BLM FIELD OFFICES

Site Name Owner/Applicant Buffalo Casper

Christiansen Ranch CogemaMoore Ranch _ Uranium OneLost Creek Lost Creek ISR, LLCJAB and Antelope ' Uranium OneNichols and Hank .Uranerz EnergYLost Creek Lost Creek ISR, LLC

Sweetwater Kennecott UraniumLost Soldier iUR EnergyLudeman .Uranium One

Smith-Hghland, _PRI

Collins Draw IjUranerz Energy_Ale-mand-Ross lUranium OneWest Alkali Creek !Wild Horse EnergyRuby Ranch 1PRIReno Creek IStrathmore MineralsSweetwater . Wild Horse Energy____Sky . Strathmore MineralsGas HillsDewey Terrace iPowertechUranium

Lander R•

Re-Start _

New

-New,--J

NewEx-- -_pansion

N ew ~LII...

Nm

New

New

Expansion

awlins 1

New

)ansionpansionNew

ExJEx

Newcastle

New-New

Application Rec'd

Apr-07Oct-09Mar-09Sep-09

..... D...... ec. D C-09TBD

Jan-10.. 5TBD

Mar-09Mar-09

TBD

Dec-10Oct-11Mar-11May-1l1Sep-11Oct-11

TBDTBDTBD

New New

Exoansion

New.

New

NewExpansion

New

_Expansion

AladdinNorth Butte PRI

Revised Jan. 23, 2009

Enclosure 2

- 4F/V c4a-j