[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25863-25864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12159]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 194

[FRL-63423]
RIN 2060-AG85


Inspection Date at Idaho National Engineering and Environmental 
Laboratory and Availability of Waste Characterization and Quality 
Assurance Program Documents Applicable to Transuranic Radioactive Waste 
at the Nevada Test Site 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 
date for an upcoming inspection of the Idaho National Engineering and 
Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The inspection will be conducted the 
week of May 17, 1999. Additional information on the INEEL inspection, 
including the announcement of a public comment period on relevant site 
documents, was previously published on April 16, 1999, at 64 FR 18870.
    EPA is also announcing the availability of, and soliciting public 
comments for 30 days on, Department of Energy (DOE) documents on waste 
characterization and quality assurance programs applicable to 
transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) 
proposed for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The 
documents are: ``Bechtel Nevada Transuranic Waste Characterization 
Quality Assurance Project Plan, L-E10.301.LWC, May 1998'' (hereafter 
NTS TRU QAPjP); ``Nevada Test Site Transuranic Waste Certification and 
Quality Assurance Plan, B-A20/97.03, Revision 0, 2/4/98'' (hereafter 
NTS Certification Plan); ``Mobile Characterization Services (MCS) 
Transuranic Waste Characterization Program Quality Assurance Project 
Plan, MCS-102, Rev. B, 10/21/98'' (hereafter MCS TRU QAPjP); and 
``TRUtech Team Mobile Systems Program Transuranic Waste 
Characterization Quality Assurance Project Plan, TT-DOC-001, August 17, 
1998'' (hereafter TRUtech TRU QAPjP). These documents are available for 
review in the public dockets listed in ADDRESSES. The EPA will use 
these documents to evaluate waste characterization systems and 
processes and the quality assurance program at NTS. In accordance with

[[Page 25864]]

EPA's WIPP Compliance Criteria at 40 CFR 194.8, EPA will conduct an 
inspection of waste characterization systems and processes and an audit 
of the quality assurance program at NTS the week of June 7, 1999, to 
verify that these programs can properly control the characterization of 
transuranic waste at issue, consistent with the Compliance Criteria. 
This notice of the inspection and comment period accords with 40 CFR 
194.8.

DATES: The EPA is requesting public comment on the Nevada Test Site 
documents as they apply to the scope of the inspection announced in 
this notice. Comments must be received by EPA's official Air Docket on 
or before June 14, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to: Docket No. A-98-49, Air 
Docket, Room M-1500 (LE-131), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401 
M Street, SW, Washington, DC, 20460.
    The DOE documents (NTS TRU QAPjP, NTS Certification Plan, MCS TRU 
QAPjP, and TRUtech TRU QAPjP) are available for review in the official 
EPA Air Docket in Washington, D.C., Docket No. A-98-49, Category II-A-
2, 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.
    Copies of items in the docket may be requested by writing Docket A-
98-49 at the address provided above, or by calling (202) 260-7548. As 
provided in EPA's regulations at 40 CFR Part 2, and in accordance with 
normal EPA docket procedures, a reasonable fee may be charged for 
photocopying.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Oliver, Office of Radiation and 
Indoor Air, (202) 564-9732, or call EPA's 24-hour, toll-free WIPP 
Information Line, 1-800-331-WIPP, or visit our website at http://
www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp/announce.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: General background for this notice is 
identical to that provided in previous Federal Register notices. (See 
64 FR 18870, 14418)
    The Nevada Test Site (NTS) documents submitted by DOE to EPA are: 
NTS TRU QAPjP, NTS Certification Plan, MCS TRU QAPjP, and TRUtech TRU 
QAPjP (see SUMMARY for full titles). The NTS TRU QAPjP, MCS TRU QAPjP, 
and TRUtech TRU QAPjP set forth the quality assurance program applied 
to TRU waste characterization at NTS. The NTS Certification Plan sets 
forth the waste characterization procedures for TRU wastes at NTS. 
After EPA reviews these documents, EPA will conduct an inspection of 
NTS the week of June 7, 1999, to determine whether the requirements set 
forth 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, EPA is providing the public 30 days to 
comment on the documents placed in EPA's docket relevant to the site 
approval process.
    If EPA determines that the provisions in the documents are 
adequately implemented, 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 DOE to ship TRU waste from NTS to the WIPP. 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: May 7, 1999.
Robert Perciasepe,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 99-12159 Filed 5-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P