[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 242 (Monday, December 18, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75772-75774]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-21463]


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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, LC., 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 decommissioning and unrestricted release 
of the licensee's former Traverwood facility located at 2900 Huron 
Parkway, Ann Arbor, Michigan (the facility). 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 facility for unrestricted use in 
accordance with 10 CFR Part 20, Subpart E. The

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proposed action is in accordance with the licensee's request to the 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to amend its license by letter 
dated August 31, 2006 (ADAMS Accession No. ML062440517). Warner-Lambert 
was first licensed to use byproduct materials at its Traverwood 
facility on June 27, 2000. The licensee is authorized to use byproduct 
materials for activities involving in-vitro biochemical research. 
Hydrogen-3 and carbon-14 were the only two isotopes with a half-life 
greater than 120 days that were used at the facility in an unsealed 
form, and these were limited to less than 25 millicuries at any one 
time in the entire building. On May 17, 2006, Warner-Lambert completed 
removal of licensed radioactive material from the Traverwood facility.
    The licensee conducted surveys of the facility as part of its 
decommissioning activities and provided this information to the NRC to 
demonstrate that the radiological condition there 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 Traverwood facility, 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 
Traverwood 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 Traverwood 
facility are bounded by 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 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 Traverwood facility. The no-action 
alternative is not acceptable because it is inconsistent with 10 CFR 
30.36, which requires that decommissioning of by-product material 
facilities be completed and approved by the NRC after licensed 
activities cease. This alternative would impose an unnecessary 
regulatory burden in controlling access to the former Traverwood 
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 November 9, 2006. Mr. Bob 
Skowronek, Chief, Radioactive Material and Medical Waste Unit, with the 
Michigan DEQ, responded to the NRC by e-mail on November 13, 2006, 
indicating that the State had no comments regarding the NRC 
Environmental Assessment for the release of the Warner-Lambert, 
Traverwood facility .

II. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA in support of the proposed license amendment 
to release the facility 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, August 31, 2006 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML062440517).
    2. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental Review 
Guidance for Licensing Actions Associated with NMSS Programs,'' NUREG-
1748, August 2003.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,


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    Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 5th day of December 2006.
George M. McCann,
Acting Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region III.
[FR Doc. E6-21463 Filed 12-15-06; 8:45 am]
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