[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37948-37949]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-17972]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


DOE Order and Manual on Radioactive Waste Management, and 
Implementation Guide

AGENCY: Department of Energy.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE) announces the availability of a 
revised DOE Order and Manual on Radioactive Waste Management (DOE O 
435.1 and DOE M 435.1-1). These documents set forth the requirements 
that DOE programs and contractors must follow in managing DOE 
radioactive waste to provide for radiological protection from DOE 
facilities, operations, and activities in accordance with the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S. C. 2011 et seq.) and other authorities. As 
part of its mission, DOE generates, stores, treats, and disposes of 
high-level, transuranic, low-level, and mixed low-level radioactive 
wastes. Accompanying the Order and Manual is an Implementation Guide, 
which discusses, in a non-prescriptive manner, acceptable methods for 
meeting the requirements of the Order and Manual. In addition, DOE has 
prepared a summary of the significant and most

[[Page 37949]]

frequent public comments received after the draft Order and Manual were 
made available for public review on August 6, 1998, and DOE's 
responses. All public comments received on the draft documents also are 
available.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Martin Letourneau, U.S. Department of 
Energy, EM-35, 19901 Germantown Road, Germantown, MD 20874, by 
telephone at 301-903-7656 or by e-mail at: 
[email protected].

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the Order and Manual and accompanying 
Implementation Guide are available on the Internet at: http://
www.explorer.doe.gov: 1776/htmls/directives/html. A summary of the 
public comments and DOE's responses is available through an Internet 
Web Site at http://www.em.doe.gov. Copies of the public comments 
received by DOE are available for viewing at the Center for 
Environmental Management Information, 955 L'Enfant Plaza, North, SW, 
Suite 8200, Washington, DC 20024, 1-800-736-3282, in DC 202-863-5084; 
and DOE Public Reading Rooms. For locations of the DOE Reading Rooms or 
other public information repositories, please contact the Center for 
Environmental Management Information at above address and telephone.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DOE Order and Manual on Radioactive 
Waste Management (DOE O 435.1 and DOE M 435.1-1) set forth the 
requirements that DOE programs and contractors must follow in managing 
DOE radioactive waste to provide for radiological protection from DOE 
facilities, operations, and activities. These documents replace the 
previous DOE Order on Radioactive Waste Management, DOE 5820.2A. The 
new Order and Manual reflect advances in radioactive waste management 
practices, and changes within DOE, since the previous DOE Order was 
issued in 1988.
    On August 6, 1998, DOE published a Notice of Availability (NOA) of 
the draft DOE Order and Manual on Radioactive Waste Management (63 FR 
42012). In the NOA, DOE requested comments from the public and 
interested parties on the draft Order and Manual by September 8, 1998.
    Overall, approximately 250 comments were received from 18 different 
entities, including states, Indian Nations, citizen groups, DOE Site-
Specific Advisory Boards, national laboratories, private individuals, 
government agencies, and corporations. The focus of the comments ranged 
from general Order and Manual process issues to specific technical 
issues. A summary of the significant and most frequently received 
public comments on DOE O 435.1, Radioactive Waste Management, and DOE's 
responses is available at the above locations.

Review Under the National Environmental Policy Act

    The objective of the Order, Manual, and Implementation Guide is to 
continue to ensure that all DOE radioactive waste is managed in a 
manner that protects worker and public health and safety, and the 
environment. On July 30, 1998, DOE executed a record of categorical 
exclusion for the draft of the DOE Order and Manual. On August 8, 1998, 
DOE made the drafts available to the public for comment. DOE then 
reviewed each of the comments it received, and revised the draft Order 
and Manual where appropriate. After considering the public comments and 
the changes prompted by those comments, DOE believes that the final 
Order and Manual, and accompanying Guide, also qualify for a 
categorical exclusion. Because the Order and Manual amend or revise the 
existing Order but do not change its environmental effect, DOE has 
determined that this revision fits within the class of actions eligible 
for categorical exclusion found in DOE's National Environmental Policy 
Act Implementing Procedures, 10 CFR Part 1021, at paragraph A5 of 
Appendix A to subpart D. DOE has determined that there are no 
extraordinary circumstances related to the Order and Manual that may 
affect the significance of the environmental impacts of the Order and 
Manual, and that the Order and Manual are not ``connected'' to other 
actions with potentially significant impacts or to other proposed 
actions with cumulatively significant impacts. Accordingly, neither an 
environmental impact statement nor an environmental assessment is 
required.

    Issued in Washington, D.C. July 8, 1999.
James M. Owendoff,
Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.
[FR Doc. 99-17972 Filed 7-13-99; 8:45 am]
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