[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 162 (Tuesday, August 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48952-48953]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13834]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 04000341]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Source Materials License 
No. Stc-133 Authorizing the Use of Site-Specific Derived Concentration 
Guideline Levels for Unrestricted Release of the Defense Logistics 
Agency, Defense Nuclear Supply Center Depot in Binghamton, NY

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: Dennis Lawyer, Health Physicist, 
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
1, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone 610-
337-5366; fax number 610-337-5393; or by e-mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the 
issuance of a license amendment to Source Materials License No. STC-
133. This license is held by Defense Logistics Agency (DLA or the 
Licensee) at multiple sites. The site at issue is its Defense National 
Stockpile Center located at Hoyt Avenue in Binghamton, New York (the 
Facility). Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of the 
Facility for unrestricted use using site specific Derived Concentration 
Guideline Levels (DCGLs). The use of the site specific DCGLs requires 
an exemption to the definition of weighting factors in 10 CFR 20.1003. 
The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated October 19, 2005. 
The NRC has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of 
this proposed action in accordance with the requirements of Title 10, 
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 51 (10 CFR Part 51). Based on 
the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) is appropriate with respect to the proposed action. The 
amendment will be issued to the Licensee following the publication of 
this FONSI and EA in the Federal Register.

II. Environmental Assessment

Identification of Proposed Action

    The proposed action would approve the Licensee's October 19, 2005, 
license amendment request for site-specific DCGL unrestricted use 
release criteria at DNSC Binghamton through issuance of an exemption to 
the definition of weighting factors in 10 CFR 20.1003. License No. STC-
133 was issued on July 23, 1983, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40, and has 
been amended periodically since that time. This license authorized the 
Licensee to use unsealed source material for purposes of storage, 
sampling, repackaging, and transfer.
    Based on the Licensee's historical knowledge of the site and the 
conditions of the Facility, the Licensee determined that only routine 
decontamination activities, in accordance with its NRC-approved, 
operating radiation safety procedures, were required. The Licensee was 
not required to submit a decommissioning plan to the NRC because worker 
cleanup activities and procedures are consistent with those approved 
for routine operations. The Licensee will conduct surveys of the 
Facility and provide information to the NRC to demonstrate that the 
Facility meets the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for 
unrestricted release by using the approved DCGL.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facility, and seeks the approval of site-specific DCGLs through 
issuance of an exemption to the definition of weighting factors in 10 
CFR 20.1003. The licensee needs these site specific DCGL values to 
release the Facility for unrestricted use. NRC is fulfilling its 
responsibilities under the Atomic Energy Act to make a timely decision 
on a proposed license amendment that ensures protection of public 
health and safety and the environment.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facility shows that such activities involved use

[[Page 48953]]

of the following radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: 
Natural uranium and thorium mixtures.
    The Licensee is electing to demonstrate compliance with the 
radiological criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 
20.1402 by developing DCGLs for its Facility. The Licensee conducted 
site-specific dose modeling using input parameters specific to the 
Facility and a conservative assumption that all residual radioactivity 
is in equilibrium. Federal Guidance Report Number 13 was used to modify 
the dose conversion factors because it is based on an improved, more 
realistic dosimetry model. The selected critical age group is adults as 
the expected future use of this facility will be industrial. Based on 
the type of building railroad distribution and truck access, there is 
no compelling evidence to indicate that the building will be used for 
other than industrial activities. The NRC has reviewed the Licensee's 
methodology and proposed DCGLs and concluded that the proposed DCGLs 
are acceptable for use as release criteria at the Facility. Federal 
Guidance Report Number 13, as an updated dosimetry model, uses 
different weighting factors than is published in 10 CFR Part 20. The 
weighting factors are used to determine effective dose equivalent and 
total dose equivalent. Therefore, an exemption to the definition of 
weighting factors in 10 CFR 20.1003 is required to use Federal Guidance 
Report Number 13. The use of Federal Guidance Report Number 13 for dose 
modeling and weighting factors is acceptable for this Facility.
    Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected 
environment and any environmental impacts associated and concluded that 
the proposed action will not have a significant effect on the quality 
of the human environment.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    Due to the largely administrative nature of the proposed action, 
its environmental impacts are small. Therefore, the only alternative 
the staff considered is the no-action alternative, under which the 
staff would leave things as they are by simply denying the amendment 
request. Additionally, denying the amendment request would result in no 
change in current environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of 
the proposed action and the no-action alternative are therefore 
similar, and the no-action alternative is accordingly not further 
considered.

Conclusion

    The NRC staff has 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

    NRC provided a draft of this Environmental Assessment to the State 
of New York's Department of Environmental Conservation for review on 
June 21, 2006. On July 27, 2006, the State of New York responded by 
electronic mail. The State agreed with the conclusions of the EA and 
otherwise had no comments.
    The NRC staff has determined that the proposed action is of a 
procedural nature, and will not affect listed species or critical 
habitat. Therefore, no further consultation is required under Section 7 
of the Endangered Species Act. The NRC staff has also determined that 
the proposed action is not the type of activity that has the potential 
to cause effects on historic properties. Therefore, no further 
consultation is required under Section 106 of the National Historic 
Preservation Act.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared this EA in support of the proposed 
action. On the basis of this EA, the NRC finds that there are no 
significant environmental impacts from the proposed action, and that 
preparation of an environmental impact statement is not warranted. 
Accordingly, the NRC has determined that a Finding of No Significant 
Impact is appropriate.

IV. Further Information

    Documents related to this action, including the application for 
license 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 documents 
related to this action are listed below, along with their ADAMS 
accession numbers.
    1. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    2. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    3. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;''
    4. Letter dated October 19, 2005, ``Amendment to Source Materials 
License'' [Adams Accession No. ML053060017]
    5. Letter dated December 29, 2005, ``Amendment to Source Material 
License STC-133--Request to use Commodity Specific DCGLs at Binghamton 
and Somerville Depots'' [ML060040304]
    6. Letter dated February 7, 2006, ``Amendment to Source Material 
License STC-133--Request to Use Commodity Specific DCGLs at Binghamton 
and Somerville Depots'' [ML060410319]
    7. Letter dated April 26, 2006, ``Defense Logistics Agency, Request 
for Additional Information Concerning Application for Amendment to 
License'' [ML061220479]
    8. ``Radiological Historical Site Assessment Report, Defense 
National Stockpile Center, Somerville Depot, Hillsborough, NJ'' dated 
January 2006 [ML060730422]
    9. ``Radiological Historical Site Assessment Report, Defense 
National Stockpile Center, Binghamton Depot, Binghamton, NY'' dated 
February 2006 [ML060730408]
    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]. These 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 Region 1, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia this 15th 
day of August 2006.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region 1.
[FR Doc. E6-13834 Filed 8-21-06; 8:45 am]
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