[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 15, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 13435]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3715]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-08838]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment for the Department of the 
Army's Facility at Jefferson Proving Ground

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas McLaughlin, Project Manager, 
Decommissioning Directorate, Division of Waste Management and 
Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and 
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001; Telephone: (301) 415-5869; fax number: (301) 415-5398; e-mail: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of 
a license amendment to the Department of the Army (Army or licensee) 
for License No. SUB-1435. The amendment would authorize an alternate 
decommissioning schedule pursuant to 10 Code of Federal Regulations 
(CFR) part 40.42(g)(2), for the Army to conduct site characterization 
and prepare and submit a decommissioning plan for its facility at 
Jefferson Proving Ground, Madison, Indiana. NRC has prepared an 
Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this 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.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of this proposed action is to amend Radioactive 
Materials License SUB-1435 to allow the Army to decommission its 
Jefferson Proving Ground facility using an alternate schedule for 
submittal of a decommissioning plan pursuant to 10 CFR part 
40.42(g)(2). The Army is requesting a 5-year period to characterize the 
site and submit a decommissioning plan. The Army's request is contained 
in a letter to NRC dated May 25, 2005.
    The NRC staff has determined that all steps in the proposed site 
characterization could be accomplished in compliance with the NRC 
public and occupational dose limits and effluent release limits. In 
addition, the staff has concluded that approval of the alternate 
decommissioning schedule would not result in a significant adverse 
radiological or non-radiological impact on the environment.
    If the NRC approves the license amendment, the authorization will 
be documented in an amendment to NRC License No. SUB-1435. However, 
before approving the proposed amendment, the NRC will need to make the 
findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 
NRC's regulations. These findings will be documented in a Safety 
Evaluation Report in addition to the EA.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The staff has prepared the EA (summarized above) in support of the 
Army's proposed alternate schedule for submittal of a decommissioning 
plan. The NRC staff has concluded that there will be no significant 
adverse environmental impacts associated with approving the Army's 
license amendment request. On the basis of the EA, the NRC has 
concluded that the environmental impacts from the action are expected 
to be insignificant and has determined not to prepare an environmental 
impact statement for the action.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at 
the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agency-wide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession number for 
the documents related to this notice are: The Army's letter to NRC 
dated May 25, 2005, ML051520319; the EA prepared for this action, 
ML053130257; Federal Register Notice for Amendment No. 13, ML053220289. 
If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail to [email protected].
    Any questions should be referred to Thomas McLaughlin, Division of 
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington DC 20555, Mailstop T-7E18, telephone (301) 415-
5869, fax (301) 415-5397.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this seventh day of March, 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Claudia M. Craig,
Acting Deputy Director, Decommissioning Directorate, Division of Waste 
Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material 
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E6-3715 Filed 3-14-06; 8:45 am]
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