[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 162 (Tuesday, August 22, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48954-48955]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-13837]



[[Page 48954]]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-05379]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 29-10211-01, for Termination of the License and 
Unrestricted Release of the Fisher Scientific Company's Facilities in 
Fair Lawn, NJ and Somerville, NJ

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Hammann, Health Physicist, 
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone (610) 
337-5399; fax number (610) 337-5269: 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 Byproduct Materials License No. 29-
10211-01. This license is held by Fisher Scientific Company (the 
Licensee), for its facilities located at 1 Reagent Lane in Fair Lawn, 
New Jersey and 755 State Highway 202 in Somerville, New Jersey (the 
Facilities). Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of the 
Facilities for unrestricted use and termination of the NRC license. The 
Licensee requested this action in a letter dated December 5, 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 NRC 
plans to take the proposed action 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 December 5, 2005, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facilities for 
unrestricted use and the termination of its NRC materials license. 
License No. 29-10211-01 was issued on August 4, 1964, pursuant to 10 
CFR Part 30, and has been amended periodically since that time. This 
license authorized the Licensee to use sealed and unsealed byproduct 
material for purposes of conducting research and development, 
instrument calibration, and sample analysis activities on laboratory 
bench tops and in hoods.
    The Facilities occupy a total of 133,800 square feet (80,800 square 
feet in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and 53,000 square feet in Somerville, New 
Jersey) and both consist of office space, laboratories, and storage 
space. The Fair Lawn, New Jersey location is in an industrial zone and 
the Somerville, New Jersey location is in a mixed residential/
commercial area.
    In 2005, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and initiated a 
survey and decontamination of the Facilities. Based on the Licensee's 
historical knowledge of the site and the conditions of the Facilities, 
the Licensee determined that only routine decontamination activities, 
in accordance with their 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 conducted surveys of the Facilities and provided 
information to the NRC to demonstrate that it meets the criteria in 
Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release and for license 
termination.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facilities, and seeks the unrestricted use of its Facilities and the 
termination of its NRC materials license. Termination of its license 
would end the Licensee's obligation to pay annual license fees to the 
NRC.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facilities show that such activities involved use of the following 
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: hydrogen-3, 
carbon-14, nickel-63, and cesium-137. Prior to performing the final 
status survey, the Licensee conducted decontamination activities, as 
necessary, in the areas of the Facilities affected by these 
radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on June 19, 2006. The 
final status survey report was submitted in support of the Licensee's 
amendment request dated December 5, 2005. The Licensee elected to 
demonstrate compliance with the radiological criteria for unrestricted 
release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by using the screening approach 
described in NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning 
Guidance,'' Volume 2. The Licensee used the radionuclide-specific 
derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs), developed there by the 
NRC, which comply with the dose criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These 
DCGLs define the maximum amount of residual radioactivity on building 
surfaces, equipment, and materials, and in soils, that will satisfy the 
NRC requirements in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted 
release. The Licensee's final status survey results were below these 
DCGLs and are in compliance with the As Low As Reasonably Achievable 
(ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC thus finds that the 
Licensee's final status survey results are acceptable.
    Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected 
environment and any environmental impacts associated with the proposed 
action 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) Volumes 1-3 (ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385). 
The staff finds there were no significant environmental impacts from 
the use of radioactive material at the Facilities. The NRC staff 
reviewed the docket file records and the final status survey report to 
identify any non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the 
environment surrounding the Facilities. No such hazards or impacts to 
the environment were identified. The NRC has identified no other 
radiological or non-radiological activities in the areas surrounding 
the Facilities that could result in cumulative environmental impacts.
    The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the Facilities for 
unrestricted use and the termination of the NRC materials license is in 
compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, the staff 
considered the impact of the residual radioactivity at the Facilities 
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,

[[Page 48955]]

under which the staff would leave things as they are by simply denying 
the amendment request. This no-action alternative is not feasible 
because it conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d), requiring that 
decommissioning of byproduct material facilities be completed and 
approved by the NRC after licensed activities cease. The NRC's analysis 
of the Licensee's final status survey data confirmed that the 
Facilities meet the requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted 
release and for license termination. 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 New 
Jersey Bureau of Environmental Radiation for review on July 13, 2006. 
On July 20, 2006, New Jersey Bureau of Environmental Radiation 
responded by letter. 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. Amendment request dated December 5, 2005 (ML053500284);
    2. Request for Additional Information dated January 5, 2006 
(ML060090118);
    3. Response dated January 25, 2006 (ML060340478);
    4. Final Status Survey Report dated March 9, 2006 (ML060800678);
    5. Request For Additional Information dated April 12, 2006 
(ML061070606);
    6. Final Status Survey Report dated June 15, 2006 (ML061740168);
    7. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance'';
    8. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination'';
    9. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions'';
    10. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities''.
    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 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 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 I.
[FR Doc. E6-13837 Filed 8-21-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P