[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 152 (Tuesday, August 8, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40379-40380]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-19490]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-5274-8]


Availability of Draft Department of Energy Petition to Grant the 
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) a Variance From the Land Disposal 
Restrictions

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency announces the availability 
for public comment of a draft no-migration variance petition submitted 
to the Agency by the Department of Energy (DOE) for its Waste Isolation 
Pilot Plant (WIPP) on May 31, 1995. The WIPP is a geological repository 
intended for the disposal of transuranic mixed hazardous and 
radioactive wastes generated by DOE in the production and 
decommissioning of nuclear weapons. The hazardous portion of the waste 
is subject to the land disposal restrictions of the Resource 
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as codified at 40 CFR Part 268. 
DOE's no-migration petition is intended to show that the WIPP will 
comply with the land 

[[Page 40380]]
disposal restrictions by demonstrating that hazardous constituents will 
not migrate out of the WIPP disposal unit for as long as the wastes 
remain hazardous (a regulatory period of up to 10,000 years).

DATES: Public comments on the draft no-migration petition should be 
submitted on or before October 10, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft petition are available to the public at 
the following address: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, RCRA 
Docket (5305) 401 M Street SW., Washington, DC 20460. Comments on the 
petition also should be sent to this address. One original and two 
copies should be submitted and should be identified by the regulatory 
docket reference number F-95-WIPA-FFFFF. The docket is open from 9 a.m. 
to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. Docket 
materials may be reviewed by appointment by calling (202) 260-9327. Up 
to 100 pages of material from the docket may be copied at no cost. 
Additional copies are $0.15 per page.
    Copies of the draft petition also are available to the public at 
RCRA dockets that EPA has opened in New Mexico. These dockets are in 
the same locations as the currently existing dockets for the EPA Office 
of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA). ORIA is responsible for regulating 
the radioactive portion of the WIPP waste through 40 CFR Part 191. 
Petition locations are: (1) EPA's docket in the Governmental 
Publications Department of the Zimmerman Library of the University of 
New Mexico located in Albuquerque, New Mexico (open from 8:00 a.m. to 
9:00 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, 
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on 
Sunday); (2) EPA's docket in the Fogelson Library of the College of 
Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at 1600 St. Michaels Drive (open from 
8:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight on Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 
5:00 p.m. on Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. 
to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday); and (3) EPA's docket in the Municipal Library 
of Carlsbad, New Mexico, 101 South Halegueno (open from 10:00 a.m. to 
9:00 p.m. on Monday through Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Friday 
and Saturday, and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday). Up to 100 pages of 
material from the docket may be copied at no cost. Additional copies 
are $0.15 per page.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general information about the no-
migration and RCRA permitting process, contact the RCRA/Superfund 
Hotline, U.S Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20460, (800) 424-9346 (toll-free) or (703) 412-9810 in 
the Washington, DC metropolitan area. The TDD number for hearing-
impaired callers is (800) 553-7672. For information on the specific 
aspects of the petition, and issues discussed in this notice, contact 
Reid Rosnick (703-308-8758) or Chris Rhyne (703-308-8658), Office of 
Solid Waste (5303W) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 M St., 
SW, Washington, DC 20460.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In accordance with the provisions of 40 CFR 
268.6, EPA granted a conditional no-migration variance to DOE on 
November 14, 1990 (55 FR 47709). This variance allowed DOE to place 
hazardous waste subject to the land disposal restrictions of the 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in the WIPP for the 
limited purposes of below-ground testing and experimentation over a ten 
year period. In 1993, DOE cancelled the proposed test period, after a 
determination that the tests and experiments could be done faster and 
more cheaply above ground. As a result, the 1990 determination was made 
moot, and DOE was informed that a new petition for a long-term 
demonstration would need to be submitted and approved before any waste 
could be accepted at the facility. The draft petition made available 
today is the first step in that approval process.
    EPA is aware that this draft petition is not complete, in that all 
of the required information for a long-term demonstration is not 
contained in the document. This petition covers only the disposal phase 
of the project (the first twenty five years of operation of the 
facility), and does not address the long-term post-closure performance 
of the repository. DOE has noted that it intends to submit the portion 
of the petition that addresses the long-term migration potential in 
June, 1996. EPA has provided guidance to DOE on the requirements for 
submitting a complete petition through the Agency's guidance document 
entitled ``No-Migration Variance to the Hazardous Waste Land Disposal 
Prohibitions: A Guidance Manual for Petitioners,'' and by encouraging 
pre-submission discussions with DOE. The Agency will also provide 
comments on DOE's submitted draft petition to provide early guidance to 
DOE. By today's Federal Register notice, the EPA encourages the public 
to provide comments that will inform its review of DOE's draft 
petition.
    EPA also emphasizes that after the June, 1996 submission, EPA will 
review the full petition and determine, through a formal rulemaking, 
whether to issue the variance or deny the no-migration petition. 
Interested members of the public will have a full opportunity to 
comment on the petition and EPA's review as part of the rulemaking 
process.

    Dated: July 26, 1995.
Elliott P. Laws,
Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. 95-19490 Filed 8-7-95; 8:45 am]
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