[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 52 (Friday, March 17, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13869-13870]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-3921]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-04794]


Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Issuance of a 
License Amendment to Byproduct Material License No. 21-01443-06, for 
Unrestricted Release of a Former Facility for Warner-Lambert, LLC., Ann 
Arbor, MI

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for License Amendment.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William Snell, Senior Health 
Physicist, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 2443 
Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; telephone: (630) 829-9871; fax 
number: (630) 515-1259; or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
is considering the issuance of an amendment to NRC Byproduct Materials 
License No. 21-01443-06, which is held by Warner-Lambert, LLC 
(licensee), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc. The 
amendment would authorize the unrestricted release of the licensee's 
former facility located at Building V, Domino Farms, 24 Frank Lloyd 
Wright Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan. The NRC has prepared an 
Environmental Assessment in support of this action in accordance with 
the requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the Environmental 
Assessment, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant 
Impact is appropriate. The amendment to Warner-Lambert's license will 
be issued following the publication of this Environmental Assessment 
and Finding of No Significant Impact.

I. Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve Warner-Lambert's request to amend 
its license and release the licensee's former facility for unrestricted 
use in accordance with 10 CFR Part 20, Subpart E. The proposed action 
is in accordance with Pfizer's request to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) to amend the Warner-Lambert NRC Byproduct Material 
License by letters dated January 19, 2006 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML060240154), and February 14, 2006 (ADAMS Accession No. ML060480083). 
Warner-Lambert was first licensed to use byproduct materials at its 
Domino Farms facility on May 29, 1991. The licensee is authorized to 
use byproduct materials for activities involving in-vitro biochemical 
research. The majority of the licensee's operations involved the use of 
phosphorous-32 and iodine-125 in maximum quantities of 30 and 25 
millicuries, respectively. Over the last several years hydrogen-3 and 
carbon-14 were used more frequently, in maximum concentrations of 100 
millicuries. On January 31, 2006, Warner-Lambert completed removal of 
licensed radioactive material from the Building V, Domino Farms 
facility located at 24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, Ann Arbor.
    The licensee conducted surveys of the facility and provided this 
information to the NRC to demonstrate that the radiological condition 
of the Building V, Domino Farms facility is consistent with 
radiological criteria for unrestricted use in 10 CFR Part 20, Subpart 
E. No radiological remediation activities are required to complete the 
proposed action.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The licensee is requesting this license amendment because it has 
moved out of the Building V facility located at 24 Frank Lloyd Wright 
Drive, and is conducting licensed activities at another location. The 
NRC is fulfilling its responsibilities under the Atomic Energy Act to 
make a decision on the proposed action for decommissioning that ensures 
that residual radioactivity is reduced to a level that is protective of 
the public health and safety and the environment, and allows the 
facility to be released for unrestricted use.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff reviewed the information provided and surveys 
performed by the licensee to demonstrate that the release of the 
Building V, Domino Farms facility is consistent with the radiological 
criteria for unrestricted use specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its 
review, the staff determined that there were no radiological impacts 
associated with the proposed action because no radiological remediation 
activities were required to complete the proposed action, and that the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted use in Sec.  20.1402 have been 
met.
    Based on its review, the staff determined that the radiological 
environmental impacts from the proposed action for the Building V, 
Domino Farms facility are bounded by

[[Page 13870]]

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 or 
cumulative impacts were identified. Therefore, the NRC has determined 
that the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the 
quality of the human environment.

Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    The only alternative to the proposed action of releasing the 
licensee's former Building V, Domino Farms facility located at 24 Frank 
Lloyd Wright Drive for unrestricted use is to take no action. Under the 
no-action alternative, the licensee's facility would remain under an 
NRC license and would not be released for unrestricted use. Denial of 
the license amendment request would result in no change to current 
conditions at the Building V, Domino Farms facility. The no-action 
alternative is not acceptable because it is inconsistent with 10 CFR 
30.36, which requires licensees who have ceased licensed activities to 
begin decommissioning activities or submit a decommissioning plan, 
which upon approval, will be used to conduct decommissioning 
activities. This alternative would impose an unnecessary regulatory 
burden in controlling access to the former Building V, Domino Farms 
facility, and limit potential benefits from the future use of the 
facility.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff concluded that the proposed action is consistent with 
the NRC's unrestricted release criteria specified in 10 CFR 20.1402. 
Because the proposed action will not significantly impact the quality 
of the human environment, the NRC staff concludes that the proposed 
action is the preferred alternative.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action will not 
affect listed species or critical habitats. Therefore, no further 
consultation is required under Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. 
Likewise, the NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is not 
a type of activity that has potential to cause effect on historic 
properties. Therefore, consultation under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act is not required.
    The NRC consulted with the Michigan Department of Environmental 
Quality (DEQ). The Michigan DEQ, Waste and Hazardous Materials 
Division, Radiological Protection and Medical Waste Section was 
provided the draft EA for comment on February 23, 2006. Mr. Bob 
Skowronek, Chief, Radioactive Material and Medical Waste Unit, with the 
Michigan DEQ, responded to the NRC by telephone on February 24, 2006, 
indicating that the State had no comments regarding the NRC 
Environmental Assessment for the release of the Warner-Lambert, 
Building V, Domino Farms facility.

II. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA in support of the proposed license amendment 
to release the site for unrestricted use, the NRC has determined that 
the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality 
of the human environment. Thus, the NRC has not prepared an 
environmental impact statement for the proposed action.

III. 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 Agencywide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. 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]. The documents 
and ADAMS accession numbers related to this notice are:
    1. Carol Lentz, Pfizer, Inc., letter to Patricia Pelke, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, January 19, 2006 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML060240154).
    2. Carol Lentz, Pfizer, Inc., letter to Patricia Pelke, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, February 14, 2006 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML060480083).
    3. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental Review 
Guidance for Licensing Actions Associated with NMSS Programs,'' NUREG-
1748, August 2003.
    4. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Generic Environmental 
Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for 
License Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities,'' NUREG-1496, 
August 1994.
    5. NRC, NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' 
Volumes 1-3, September 2003.
    Documents may also be viewed electronically on the public computers 
located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor 
will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 9th day of March 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jamnes L. Cameron,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region III.
[FR Doc. E6-3921 Filed 3-16-06; 8:45 am]
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