[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 127 (Monday, July 3, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37962-37964]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-10349]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-8905]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment for Rio Algom Mining LLC, 
Ambrosia Lake, NM

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael G. Raddatz, Project Manager, 
Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555. Telephone: (301) 
415-6334; fax number: (301) 415-5955; e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) proposes to issue a license 
amendment to Source Materials License No. SUA-1473 held by Rio Algom

[[Page 37963]]

Mining LLC (the licensee), to approve a soil decommissioning plan for 
its uranium mill tailings site in Ambrosia Lake, New Mexico. The NRC 
has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this 
amendment 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 licensee's plan addresses the methods and procedures to be 
implemented to ensure that soil remediation is performed in a manner 
that is protective of human health and the environment. The Uranium 
Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act, as amended, and regulations in 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, 10 CFR part 40 require 
that material at uranium mill tailings sites be disposed of in a manner 
that protects human health and the environment. On February 15, 2000, 
May 30, 2001, and July 7, 2005, Rio Algom Mining, LLC requested that 
the NRC approve the proposed amendment. The licensee's request for the 
proposed change was previously noticed in the Federal Register on June 
29, 2000, (65 FR 40144) with a notice of an opportunity to request a 
hearing and an opportunity to provide comments on the amendment and its 
environmental impacts.
    The staff has prepared the EA in support of the proposed license 
amendment. The staff considered impacts that the licensee's Soil 
Decommissioning Plan (SDP) will have on ground water, surface water, 
socioeconomic conditions, threatened and endangered species, 
transportation, land use, public and occupational health, and historic 
and cultural resources.
    The EA supports a FONSI because of the following: The Uranium Mill 
Tailings Radiation Control Act, as amended, and regulations in Title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations, 10 CFR part 40 require that 
material at uranium mill tailings sites be disposed of in a manner that 
protects human health and the environment: The methods and procedures 
described in the SDP have been judged by staff to be acceptable because 
the plan addresses those methods and procedures to be implemented by 
the licensee to ensure that soil remediation is performed in a manner 
that is protective of human health and the environment. The actual 
decommissioning of the licensee's mill tailings site will utilize the 
SDP and as each area is remediated, it will be verified that it is in 
compliance with all regulatory requirements and the SDP.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA, NRC has concluded that there are no 
significant environmental impacts from the proposed amendment and NRC 
staff has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement.

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 Agencywide 
Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and 
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for 
the documents related to this notice are as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                  ADAMS accession
                    Document                            No.                             Date
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NUREG-1748, ``Environmental Review Guidance for        ML031000403  April 10, 2003.
 Licensing Actions Associated With NMSS
 Programs--Final Report,'' Nuclear Regulatory
 Commission, Washington, DC.
NUREG-1620, Rev. 1, ``Standard Review Plan for         ML032250190  June 30, 2003.
 Review of a Reclamation Plan for Mill Tailings
 Sites Under Title II of the Uranium Mill
 Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978,''
 Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC.
Rio Algom Mining LLC, 2004, ``Soil                     ML050400566  January 19, 2005.
 Decommissioning Plan''.
Rio Algom Mining LLC, 2005, ``Response to              ML052060155  June 15, 2005.
 Request for Additional Information for Soil
 Decommissioning Plan and the Closure Plan--
 Lined Evaporation Ponds for Ambrosia Lake
 Facility''.
Rio Algom Mining LLC, 2005, ``Response to              ML052090175  July 15, 2005.
 Request for Additional Information Items 6, 9,
 and 13 for the Soil Decommissioning Plan and
 the Closure Plan--Lined Evaporation Ponds for
 Ambrosia Lake Facility''.
Rio Algom Mining LLC, 2005, ``Response to July         ML053000439  September 26, 2005.
 21, 2005 Request for Additional Information
 for the Soil Decommissioning Plan and the
 Closure Plan--Lined Evaporation Ponds for
 Ambrosia Lake Facility''.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Letter to M.           ML052910059  October 31, 2005.
 Raddatz.
Data Recovery Plan For lA 82634 and lA 82635 at        ML060670532  December 31, 2005.
 Rio Algom Mine, Near Ambrosia Lake, McKinley
 County, New Mexico.
Final Environmental Assessment, Soil                   ML061630291  May 15, 2006.
 Decommissioning Plan for Rio Algom Mining
 LLC's Uranium Mill Tailings Site, Ambrosia
 Lake, McKinley County, New Mexico.
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[[Page 37964]]

    If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by e-mail to [email protected].
    These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public 
computers located at the NRC's PDR, O1 F21, One White Flint North, 
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 
contractor will copy documents for a fee.

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 27th day of June, 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gary S. Janosko,
Chief, Fuel Cycle Facilities Branch, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and 
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E6-10349 Filed 6-30-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P