[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 249 (Thursday, December 28, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78231-78232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-22241]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-36974]


Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact for Proposed Pa'ina Hawaii, LLC 
Irradiator in Honolulu, Hawaii

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Notice of availability of opportunity to provide comments.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) is issuing a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for 
the Pa'ina Hawaii, LLC (Pa'ina or the applicant) license application, 
dated June 27, 2005. The draft EA is being issued as part of the NRC's 
decision-making process on whether to issue a license to Pa'ina, 
pursuant to Title 10 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 36, 
``Licenses and Radiation Safety Requirements for Irradiators.'' The 
license would authorize the use of sealed radioactive sources in an 
underwater irradiator for the production and research irradiation of 
food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products. The proposed irradiator 
would be located immediately adjacent to Honolulu International Airport 
on Palekona Street near Lagoon Drive. The irradiator would primarily be 
used for phytosanitary treatment of fresh fruit and vegetables bound 
for the mainland from the Hawaiian Islands and similar products being 
imported to the Hawaiian Islands as well as irradiation of cosmetics 
and pharmaceutical products. The irradiator would also be used by the 
applicant to conduct research and development projects, and irradiate a 
wide range of other materials as specifically approved by the NRC on a 
case-by-case basis.
    The NRC staff will also hold a public meeting to present an 
overview of the draft EA and to accept oral and written public 
comments. The meeting date, time and location are listed below:
    Meeting Date: Thursday, February 1, 2007.
    Meeting Location: Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Drive, Honolulu, 
Hawaii 96814, Hotel Telephone number 808-955-4811.
    Informal Open House: 6 p.m.--7 p.m.
    NRC Overview Presentation: 7 p.m.--7:30 p.m.
    Question and Answer: 7:30 p.m.--8 p.m.
    Comment Session: 8 p.m.--9 p.m.
    Prior to the public meeting, the NRC staff will be available to 
informally discuss the proposed Pa'ina project and answer questions in 
an ``open house'' format. This ``open house''' format provides for one-
on-one discussions with the NRC staff involved with the preparation of 
the draft EA. The draft EA meeting officially begins at 7:00 PM and 
will include: (1) A presentation summarizing the contents of the draft 
EA and (2) an opportunity for interested government agencies, 
organizations, and individuals to provide comments on the draft EA. 
This portion of the meeting will be transcribed by a court reporter. 
Persons wishing to provide oral comments will be asked to register at 
the meeting entrance. Individual oral comments may have to be limited 
by the time available, depending upon the number of persons who 
register.
    Additionally, the NRC will set up a toll-free telephone number that 
interested members of the public may use to participate. Details of the 
toll free telephone number will be provided in a public notice prior to 
the meeting.
    Please note that comments do not have to provided at the public 
meeting and may be submitted at any time throughout the comment period 
as described in the DATES and ADDRESSES sections of this notice.

DATES: The public comment period on the draft EA begins with 
publication of this notice and continues until February 8, 2007. 
Written comments should be submitted as described in the ADDRESSES 
section of this notice. Comments submitted by mail should be postmarked 
by that date to ensure consideration. Comments received or postmarked 
after that date will be considered to the extent practical. A public 
meeting to discuss the draft EA will be held as described in the 
SUMMARY section of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Members of the public are invited and encouraged to submit 
comments to the Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Mail Stop 
T6-D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. 
Please note Docket No. 030-36974 when submitting comments. Comments 
will also be accepted by e-mail at [email protected] or by facsimile to 
(301) 415-5397, Attention: Matthew Blevins.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew Blevins, Environmental Project 
Manager, Environmental and Performance Assessment Branch, Division of 
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Mail Stop T7-J8, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001. Telephone: 
(301) 415-7684; e-mail: [email protected]

[[Page 78232]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    On June 27, 2005, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
received a license application from Pa'ina Hawaii, LLC, that, if 
approved, would authorize the use of sealed radioactive sources in an 
underwater irradiator for the production and research irradiation of 
food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products. The proposed irradiator 
would be located immediately adjacent to Honolulu International Airport 
on Palekona Street near Lagoon Drive. The irradiator would primarily be 
used for phytosanitary treatment of fresh fruit and vegetables bound 
for the mainland from the Hawaiian Islands and similar products being 
imported to the Hawaiian Islands as well as irradiation of cosmetics 
and pharmaceutical products. The irradiator would also be used by the 
applicant to conduct research and development projects, and irradiate a 
wide range of other materials as specifically approved by the NRC on a 
case-by-case basis.
    The NRC has completed its initial evaluation of the proposed 
irradiator against the requirements found in the NRC's regulations at 
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 36, ``Licenses and 
Radiation Safety Requirements for Irradiators,'' (i.e., 10 CFR Part 
36). Typically, the licensing of irradiators is categorically excluded 
from detailed environmental review as described in the NRC regulations 
at 10 CFR 51.22(c)(14)(vii). However, the NRC staff entered into a 
settlement agreement with Concerned Citizens of Honolulu, the 
interveners in the adjudicatory hearing to be held on the license 
application. The settlement agreement included a provision for the NRC 
staff to prepare this draft EA and hold a public comment meeting in 
Honolulu, Hawaii prior to making a final decision.
    The complete draft EA is available on the NRC's Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/materials.html and by selecting ``Pa'ina Irradiator'' in 
the Quick Links box. Copies are also available by contacting Matthew 
Blevins as noted above.

II. EA Summary

    The purpose of the license request (i.e., the proposed action) is 
to authorize Pa'ina Hawaii to use sealed radioactive sources in a pool 
irradiator to be located adjacent to the Honolulu International 
Airport, Honolulu, Hawaii. Pa'ina's license request was previously 
noticed in the Federal Register on August 2, 2005 (70 FR 44396) with a 
notice of an opportunity to request a hearing.
    The staff has prepared the draft EA in support of its review of the 
license application. The staff considered impacts to such areas as 
public and occupational health, transportation of the sources, 
socioeconomics, ecology, water quality, and the effects of aviation 
accidents and natural phenomena. During routine operations the dose 
rate at the surface of the irradiator pool is expected to be well below 
1 millirem/hour. Considering the location of personnel and operational 
practices of the irradiator, it is unlikely that an employee could 
receive more than the occupational dose limit which is 5,000 millirem/
year. The expected dose rates outside the building are expected to be 
indistinguishable from naturally occurring background radiation, 
therefore it is unlikely that a member of the public could receive more 
than public dose limit which is 100 millirem/year. For the shipment of 
the radioactive sources, the maximum dose is also expected to be very 
small: 0.04 mrem/year. The staff also considered alternative treatments 
such as fumigation with methyl bromide and heat treatments.
    The staff completed consultations under Section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. 
In addition the staff is providing interested members of the public, 
the applicant, and State officials with an opportunity to comment on 
the draft EA.
    The complete draft EA is available on the NRC's Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/materials.html and by selecting ``Pa'ina Irradiator'' in 
the Quick Links box. Copies are also available by contacting Matthew 
Blevins as noted above.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has concluded that the proposed action will comply 
with the licensing requirements found in 10 CFR Part 20, ``Standards 
for Protection Against Radiation'' and 10 CFR Part 36, ``Licenses and 
Radiation Safety Requirements for Irradiators.'' Occupational and 
public exposure to radiation will be significantly less than the limits 
in 10 CFR Part 20.
    The NRC staff has prepared this draft EA in support of the proposed 
action to issue a license to Pa'ina Hawaii for the possession and use 
of sealed radioactive sources in an underwater irradiator for the 
production and research irradiation of food, cosmetic, and 
pharmaceutical products. On the basis of this EA, NRC has concluded 
that there are no significant environmental impacts and the license 
application does not warrant the preparation of an Environmental Impact 
Statement. Accordingly, it has been determined that a Finding of No 
Significant Impact is appropriate.

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: Pa'ina License Application; 
ML052060372; NRC Draft Environmental Assessment, ML063470231. 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 21st day of December, 2006.
    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Gregory Suber,
Acting Section Chief, Environmental Review Branch, Division of Waste 
Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State 
Materials and Environmental Management Programs.
 [FR Doc. E6-22241 Filed 12-27-06; 8:45 am]
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