[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 21, 1997)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 2988-2989]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-1366]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 194
RIN 2060-AE30
[FRL-5679-2]
Opportunity To Present Oral Testimony on the DOE's Compliance
Certification Application for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant; Notice
of Public Hearings
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of public hearings.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) intends to certify
whether or not the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) will comply with
EPA's environmental radiation protection standards for the disposal of
radioactive waste (40 CFR part 191). The WIPP is being constructed by
the Department of Energy (DOE) near Carlsbad, New Mexico, as a
potential repository for the safe disposal of transuranic radioactive
waste. Pursuant to the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act of 1992, as amended,
EPA must certify that the WIPP will comply with EPA's radioactive waste
disposal standards, as well as other applicable environmental laws and
regulations, before DOE may commence disposal of radioactive waste at
the WIPP.
EPA will determine whether the WIPP will comply with EPA's disposal
standards based on the application submitted by the Secretary of
Energy. DOE's Compliance Certification Application was received by the
EPA on October 29, 1996. EPA is reviewing the application and has
requested supplemental information from DOE. Copies of the application
and the letter from EPA to DOE requesting additional information are
available for review at each of EPA's WIPP docket locations (see
Supplementary Information for specifics). The Administrator will make a
determination as to the completeness of the application in the near
future and will notify the Secretary of Energy, in writing, when the
Agency deems the application ``complete.'' EPA will evaluate the
``Department's'' application in determining whether the WIPP will
comply with the Agency's radioactive waste disposal standards. EPA
requests public comment on all aspects of the DOE's application.
DATES: EPA will conduct public hearings to receive comments on the
Department of Energy's (DOE) Compliance Certification Application for
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, NM on February 19,
from Noon to 5:00 p.m. and from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.; in Albuquerque,
NM on February 20 from noon to 5:00 p.m. and from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00
p.m.; and in Santa Fe, NM from Noon to 5:00 p.m. and from 7:00 p.m. to
9:00 p.m.
Testifiers are requested to pre-register. Contact Rafaela Ferguson,
EPA, by telephone or fax at (202) 233-9362 or (202) 233-9649 with the
following information: Name/Organizational Affiliation (if any)/
address/hearing date, location, time(s) available to testify, and a
daytime telephone number. Individual speakers will be allocated 5
minutes and individuals testifying as the official representative or
spokesperson on behalf of groups and organizations will be allocated 10
minutes for an oral presentation exclusive of any time consumed by
questions from the government panel and answers to these questions. In
order to guarantee an opportunity to testify, requests must be received
by February 14, 1997. Speakers not registered in advance may register
at the door and will be scheduled to testify, if openings are still
available and time permits.
ADDRESSES: EPA's public hearings to accept comments on DOE's Compliance
Certification Application will be held on February 19, at the Pecos
River Village Conference Center, Room #5, 302 South Canal Street,
Carlsbad, NM; on February 20, at the Albuquerque Convention Center,
Cochiti/Taos Room, 401 Second Street, NW, Albuquerque, NM; and on
February 21, at the Sweeney Convention Center, Room #1, 201 W. Marcy,
Santa Fe, NM.
Information on EPA's radioactive waste disposal standards (40 CFR
Part 191), the compliance criteria (40 CFR Part 194), and DOE's
compliance certification application is listed under Dockets No. R-89-
01, A-92-56, and A-93-02, respectively, and is available for review at
the following three EPA WIPP docket locations in New Mexico: in
Carlsbad at the Municipal Library, Hours: Mon-Thu, 10-9, Fri-Sat, 10-6,
and Sun 1-5; in Albuquerque at the Government Publications Department,
Zimmerman Library, University of New Mexico, Hours: Mon-Thu, 8-9, Fri,
8-5, Sat-Sun, 1-5; and in Santa Fe at the Fogelson Library, College of
Santa Fe, Hours: Mon-Thu, 8-12 Midnight, Fri, 8-5, Sat, 9-5, and Sun,
1-9. For purposes of judicial review, EPA's official docket for all
rulemaking activities under the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land
Withdrawal Act, as amended, is located in Washington, DC in the Air
Docket, Room M1500, Mailcode 6102, U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW.,
Washington, DC 20460.
Note: The dockets in New Mexico only contain major items from
the official docket (WDC) plus all those documents added to the
official docket since October 1992 when the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act
was enacted.
As provided in 40 CFR part 2, a reasonable fee may be charged for
photocopying docket materials.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rafaela Ferguson, Office of Radiation
and Indoor Air, (202) 233-9362 or call EPA's 24-hour toll-free WIPP
Information Line, 1-800-331-WIPP.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Department of Energy is developing
the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad in southeastern
New Mexico as a deep geologic repository for disposal of transuranic
(TRU) radioactive waste. TRU wastes are materials containing elements
having atomic numbers greater than 92 in concentrations greater than
100 nanocuries of alpha-emitting TRU isotopes, with half-lives greater
than twenty years, per gram of waste. Most TRU wastes are items that
have become associated with the production of nuclear weapons, e.g.,
rags, equipment, tools, and contaminated organic and inorganic sludges.
On October 30, 1992, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Land
Withdrawal Act (Pub. L. 102-579) was enacted, and on September 23,
1996, the Act was amended. Among other things, the Act, as amended,
specifies the terms and conditions for the DOE's activities at the WIPP
and the regulatory requirements which apply throughout various stages
of the repository's development including the requirement that before
beginning disposal of radioactive wastes at the WIPP, DOE must
demonstrate that the WIPP will comply with the Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) radioactive wastes disposal standards, e.g.,
``Environmental Standards for the Management and Disposal of Spent
Nuclear Fuel, High-Level and Transuranic Radioactive Wastes'' (40 CFR
Part 191).
[[Page 2989]]
Under the Act, as amended, EPA is required to develop criteria for
the Administrator's certification of compliance with the 40 CFR part
191 disposal standards. On February 11, 1993, EPA published an Advance
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 58 FR 8029, in the Federal Register
requesting information and comments pertinent to the development of the
compliance criteria.
On January 11, 1995, EPA Administrator Carol Browner signed the
proposed compliance criteria rule. The 90-day public comment period
began on January 30, the date the proposed compliance criteria rule
notice appeared at 60 FR 5766 in Part II of the Federal Register, and
ended on May 1, 1995. EPA opened a second public comment period on
August 1, which ended on September 15, 1995 (60 FR 39131). EPA issued
final compliance criteria on February 9, 1996, at 61 FR 5224-5245,
approximately one year after prosposal in the Federal Register. On
March 29, 1996, EPA issued the Compliance Application Guidance (CAG)
which provided DOE with specific guidelines regarding the format and
content of the compliance certification application and a clear
description of the information that EPA would need to make its
certification decision. The guidance provided in the CAG is within the
framework established by 40 CFR parts 194 and 191 and under the
authority of the WIPP Land Withdrawl Act, as amended. On November 15,
1996, EPA published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) in
the Federal Register at 61 FR 58499-58500, entitled ``Decision to
Certify Whether the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Complies With the 40
CFR Part 191 Disposal Regulations and the 40 CFR Part 194 Compliance
Criteria.'' The WIPP Land Withdrawal Act, as amended, requires the DOE
to demonstrate compliance with EPA's disposal standards and to submit
an application for certification of WIPP's compliance to the EPA
Administrator. In submitting such an application, the DOE must meet the
requirements of the EPA compliance criteria that will be used by the
Agency to certify whether or not the WIPP complies with the radioactive
waste disposal standards.
If EPA decides that the WIPP meets its radioactive waste disposal
standards, then DOE may proceed with the opening of the WIPP. Following
the opening of the facility and throughout its operational phase, DOE
will be required to submit a re-certification application to EPA every
five years. The Agency will review this application and determine
whether the WIPP remains in compliance with the disposal standards. The
public will be permitted to inspect and comment on any re-certification
application. By law, all public comments must be considered by the
Agency prior to making a final decsion on WIPP's continued operation.
Dated: January 15, 1997.
Rob Brenner,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 97-1366 Filed 1-17-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P