[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 121 (Wednesday, June 24, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 34347-34348]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-16798]



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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 194

[FRL-6114-5]
RIN 2060-AG85


Quality Assurance and Waste Characterization Program Documents 
Applicable to Transuranic Radioactive Waste From the Idaho National 
Environmental and Engineering Laboratory Proposed for Disposal at the 
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Notice of availability; opening of public comment period.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the 
availability of, and soliciting public comments for 30 days on, 
Department of Energy (DOE) documents on quality assurance and waste 
characterization programs applicable to transuranic (TRU) radioactive 
waste at the Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory 
(INEEL) proposed for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant 
(WIPP). The documents include: ``Idaho National Environmental and 
Engineering Laboratory Quality Assurance Project Plan For The 
Transuranic Waste Characterization Program'' (dated August 31, 1997), 
``Program Plan for Certification of INEEL Contact-Handled Stored 
Transuranic Waste'' (dated October 1997), and ``INEEL TRU Waste 
Characterization, Transportation, and Certification Quality Program 
Plan'' (dated December 1997). These documents are available for review 
in the public dockets listed in ADDRESSES. The EPA will use these 
documents to evaluate INEEL's quality assurance and waste 
characterization programs and processes for compliance with the WIPP 
compliance criteria. The EPA will conduct a review at DOE's Carlsbad 
Area Office the week of July 6, 1998, to verify the proper 
establishment of applicable nuclear quality assurance (QA) requirements 
and QA procedures of INEEL, and to review documents regarding the 
capability of INEEL to properly perform waste characterization. The EPA 
will perform an inspection at INEEL the week of July 27, 1998, for the 
purpose of evaluating the implementation of these programs. This notice 
of the inspection and comment period accords with the EPA's WIPP 
compliance criteria at 40 CFR Part 194.

DATES: The EPA is requesting public comment on these documents. 
Comments must be received by the EPA's official Air Docket on or before 
July 24, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to: Docket No. A-93-02, Air 
Docket, Room M-1500 (LE-131), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 
M Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20460.
    The DOE documents, ``Idaho National Environmental and Engineering 
Laboratory Quality Assurance Project Plan For The Transuranic Waste 
Characterization Program'' (dated August 31, 1997), ``Program Plan for 
Certification of INEEL Contact-Handled Stored Transuranic Waste'' 
(dated October, 1997), and ``INEEL TRU Waste Characterization, 
Transportation, and Certification Quality Program Plan'' (dated 
December 1997), are available for review in the official EPA Air Docket 
in Washington, D.C., Docket No. A-93-02, Category X-B, and at the 
following three EPA WIPP informational docket locations in New Mexico: 
in Carlsbad at the Municipal Library, Hours: Monday-Thursday, 10am-9pm, 
Friday-Saturday, 10am-6pm, and Sunday 1pm-5pm; in Albuquerque at the 
Government Publications Department, Zimmerman Library, University of 
New Mexico, Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8am-9pm, Friday, 8am-5pm, Saturday-
Sunday, 1pm-5pm; and in Santa Fe at the Fogelson Library, College of 
Santa Fe, Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8am-12pm, Friday, 8am-5pm, Saturday, 
9am-5pm, and Sunday, 1pm-9pm.
    As provided in the EPA's regulations at 40 CFR Part 2, and in 
accordance with normal EPA docket procedures, if copies of any docket 
materials are requested, a reasonable fee may be charged for 
photocopying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chuck Byrum, Office of Radiation and 
Indoor Air, (505) 665-7555, or call the EPA's 24-hour toll-free WIPP 
Information Line, 1-800-331-WIPP.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    The DOE is developing the WIPP near Carlsbad in southeastern New 
Mexico as a deep geologic repository for disposal of TRU radioactive 
waste. As defined by the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (LWA) of 1992 (Pub. 
L. No. 102-579), as amended (Pub. L. No. 104-201), TRU waste consists 
of materials containing elements having atomic numbers greater than 92 
(with half-lives greater than twenty years), in concentrations greater 
than 100 nanocuries of alpha-emitting TRU isotopes per gram of waste. 
Most TRU waste consists of items contaminated during the production of 
nuclear weapons, such as rags, equipment, tools, and organic and 
inorganic sludges.
    On May 13, 1998, the EPA announced its final compliance 
certification decision to the Secretary of Energy (published May 18, 
1998, 63 FR 27354). This decision states that the WIPP will comply with 
the EPA's radioactive waste disposal regulations at 40 CFR Part 191, 
subparts B and C.
    The final WIPP certification decision includes conditions that (1) 
prohibit shipment of TRU waste for disposal at WIPP from any site other 
than the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) until the EPA determines 
that the site has established and executed a quality assurance program, 
in accordance with Secs. 194.22(a)(2)(i), 194.24(c)(3), and 
194.24(c)(5) for waste characterization activities and assumptions 
(condition 2 of Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 194); and (2) prohibit 
shipment of TRU waste for disposal at WIPP from any site other than 
LANL until the EPA has approved the procedures developed to comply with 
the waste characterization requirements of Sec. 194.24(c)(4) (condition 
3 of Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 194). The EPA's approval process for 
waste generator sites is described in Sec. 194.8. As part of the EPA's 
decision-making process, the DOE is required to submit to the EPA 
appropriate documentation of quality assurance and waste 
characterization programs at each DOE waste generator site seeking 
approval for shipment of TRU radioactive waste to WIPP. In accordance 
with Sec. 194.8, the EPA will place such documentation in the official 
Air Docket in Washington, D.C., and informational dockets in the State 
of New Mexico for public review and comment.
    The documents submitted to the EPA for INEEL are: ``Idaho National 
Environmental and Engineering Laboratory Quality Assurance Project Plan 
For The Transuranic Waste Characterization Program'' (dated August 31, 
1997), ``Program Plan for Certification of INEEL Contact-Handled Stored 
Transuranic Waste,'' (dated October, 1997), and ``INEEL TRU Waste 
Characterization, Transportation, and Certification Quality Program 
Plan,'' (dated December 1997). The ``Idaho National Environmental and 
Engineering Laboratory Quality Assurance Project Plan For The 
Transuranic Waste Characterization Program'' sets forth the waste 
characterization procedures for TRU wastes at INEEL. The ``Program Plan 
for Certification of INEEL Contact-Handled Stored Transuranic Waste'' 
sets forth the

[[Page 34348]]

procedures to certify contact-handled stored TRU waste. The ``INEEL TRU 
Waste Characterization, Transportation, and Certification Quality 
Program Plan'' sets forth the quality assurance program that the DOE 
purports to comply with the requirements of Sec. 194.22. After the EPA 
reviews these documents for adequacy, the EPA will conduct an 
inspection of a DOE audit of the site to determine whether the 
requirements set out in these documents are being adequately 
implemented in accordance with Conditions 2 and 3 of the EPA's WIPP 
certification decision (Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 194). In accordance 
with Sec. 194.8 of the WIPP compliance criteria, the EPA is providing 
the public 30 days to comment on the documents placed in the EPA's 
docket relevant to the site approval process.
    If the EPA determines that the provisions in the documents are 
adequately implemented, the EPA will notify the DOE by letter and place 
the letter in the official Air Docket in Washington, D.C., and in the 
informational docket locations in New Mexico. A positive approval 
letter will allow the DOE to begin shipping TRU waste from INEEL. The 
EPA will not make a determination of compliance prior to the inspection 
or before the 30-day comment period has closed.
    Information on the EPA's radioactive waste disposal standards (40 
CFR Part 191), the compliance criteria (40 CFR Part 194), and the EPA's 
certification decision is filed in the official EPA Air Docket, Dockets 
No. R-89-01, A-92-56, and A-93-02, respectively, and is available for 
review in Washington, D.C., and at the three EPA WIPP informational 
docket locations in New Mexico. The dockets in New Mexico contain only 
major items from the official Air Docket in Washington, D.C., plus 
those documents added to the official Air Docket after the October 1992 
enactment of the WIPP LWA.

    Dated: June 16, 1998.
Richard D. Wilson,
Acting Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 98-16798 Filed 6-23-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P