[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 90 (Monday, May 10, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25934-25935]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-10517]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Number 030-34325]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for Release of Facility for Unrestricted Use for 
the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bath, NY

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding 
of No Significant Impact.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Division of Nuclear 
Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region III, 2443 
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; telephone (630) 829-9871; or 
by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

[[Page 25935]]

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
release of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) Medical Center in 
Bath, New York, for unrestricted use.
    The NRC staff has prepared this environmental assessment (EA) to 
support this licensing action in accordance with the requirements of 10 
CFR Part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of 
No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. The amendment will be 
issued following the publication of this Notice.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of the proposed action is to release the DVA Medical 
Center in Bath, New York, for unrestricted use. Although the Bath, New 
York facility is not a permittee under the DVA NRC Master Material 
License (MML) Number 03-23853-01VA, the DVA requested the NRC review 
and approve the facility for unrestricted release because radioactive 
byproduct material was identified at the facility. The approval is 
consistent with a March 17, 2003, Letter of Understanding (LOU) between 
the NRC and DVA for DVA permittees. The LOU requires the DVA to submit 
for NRC review, permittee requests for the release of buildings for 
unrestricted use where radioactive materials with a half-life greater 
than 120 days were used. During a special inspection at the Medical 
Center in Bath, the DVA discovered radioactive materials in the form of 
five old stock vials of carbon-14, four carbon-14 standards, and four 
hydrogen-3 standards, which have half-lives greater than 120 days. On 
November 20, 2003, the DVA submitted a request to the NRC, consistent 
with the LOU, to release the Medical Center in Bath, New York, for 
unrestricted use. The DVA Medical Center provided survey results which 
demonstrated that the facilities were in compliance with Title 10, Code 
of Federal Regulations (CFR) 20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria for 
Unrestricted Use.'' No radiological remediation activities are required 
to complete the proposed action. The NRC staff has reviewed the 
information provided and surveys performed by the DVA to demonstrate 
compliance with the license termination criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR 
20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use,'' to ensure the 
NRC's decision is protective of public health and safety and the 
environment.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The staff has prepared the EA (summarized above) in support of the 
DVA's request to release the DVA Medical Center in Bath, New York, for 
unrestricted use. Based on its review, the staff has determined that 
the affected environment and the environmental impacts associated with 
the decommissioning of the DVA's facilities are bounded by the impacts 
evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of 
Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496). Additionally, no non-
radiological impacts were identified. The staff also finds that the 
proposed release for unrestricted use of the DVA's facilities is in 
compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402, and finds no other activities in the 
area that could result in cumulative impacts. On the basis of the EA, 
the staff has concluded that the environmental impacts from the 
proposed action would not be significant. Accordingly, the staff has 
determined that a FONSI is appropriate, and has determined that the 
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted.

IV. Further Information

    In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' 
the DVA's request, the EA summarized above, and the documents related 
to this proposed action are available electronically for public 
inspection and copying from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) 
component of NRC's document system (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from 
the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. These 
documents include DVA's letter dated November 20, 2003, with enclosures 
(Accession No. ML033280739); and the EA summarized above (Accession No. 
ML041210173). These documents may also be viewed electronically on the 
public computers located at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O 1 
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 
The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Persons 
who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing 
the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR reference 
staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to 
[email protected].

    Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 30th day of April 2004.
George M. McCann,
Acting Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, RIII.
[FR Doc. 04-10517 Filed 5-7-04; 8:45 am]
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