[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 31 (Thursday, February 15, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7478-7480]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2641]


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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, for Unrestricted Release of the Defense Logistics Agency's 
Facility in Binghamton, New York

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 
I, 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 (the Licensee), 
for its Defense National Stockpile Center Binghamton Depot, located at 
Hoyt Avenue in Binghamton, New York (the Facility). Issuance of the 
amendment would

[[Page 7479]]

authorize release of the Facility for unrestricted use. The Licensee 
requested this action in a letter dated October 16, 2006. 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 16, 2006, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facility for 
unrestricted use. License No. STC-133 was issued on July 27, 1983, 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40, and has been amended periodically since 
that time. This license authorized the Licensee to use unsealed 
byproduct material for purposes of storage, sampling, repackaging, and 
transferring materials.
    The Facility is situated on 57 acres of land and consists of 
warehouse and office space. The Facility is located in a mixed 
residential/industrial area. Within the Facility, use of licensed 
materials was confined to the fire station and warehouses 8, 10, 11, 
12, 13, and 14. The area of use totaled approximately 34,000 square 
feet.
    On December 10, 2004, the Licensee ceased licensed activities and 
initiated a survey and decontamination of the Facility. 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 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 Facility and 
provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that it meets the 
criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facility, and seeks the unrestricted use of its Facility.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facility shows that such activities involved use of the following 
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: Natural uranium 
and thorium. Prior to performing the final status survey, the Licensee 
conducted decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the 
Facility affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on November 7-10, 
2005, June 15-23, 2006, July 4-6, 2006, and August 3 and 4, 2006. This 
survey covered the areas of use as stated in the Final Status Survey 
Plan, dated February 2006. The final status survey report was enclosed 
with the Licensee's amendment request dated October 16, 2006, and an 
additional information letter dated December 19, 2006. The Licensee 
elected to demonstrate compliance with the radiological criteria for 
unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by developing 
derived concentration guideline levels (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 anything other than 
industrial activities. The Licensee thus determined the maximum amount 
of residual radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, materials, 
and soils that will satisfy the NRC requirements in Subpart E of 10 CFR 
Part 20 for unrestricted release. The NRC previously reviewed the 
Licensee's methodology and proposed DCGLs, and concluded that the 
proposed DCGLs are acceptable for use as release criteria at the 
Facility. The NRC's approval of the Licensee's proposed DCGLs was 
published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, August 22, 2006, Volume 
71, No. 162, pages 48952 and 48953. The Licensee's final status survey 
results were below these DCGLs, and are thus acceptable.
    The NRC staff conducted a confirmatory survey June 15-16, 2006. 
None of the confirmatory sample results exceeded the DCGLs established 
for the Facility. 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 Facility. 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 Facility. No such hazards or impacts to 
the environment were identified. The NRC has identified no other 
radiological or non-radiological activities in the area that could 
result in cumulative environmental impacts.
    The NRC staff finds that the proposed release of the Facility for 
unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its 
review, the staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity 
at the Facility 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. This no-action alternative is not feasible because it 
conflicts with 10 CFR 40.42(d), requiring that decommissioning of 
source 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 Facility meets the requirements 
of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. 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

[[Page 7480]]

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 
December 27, 2006. On January 29, 2007, New York State 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. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities;''
    5. ``Radiological Historical Site Assessment Report, Defense 
National Stockpile Center, Binghamton Deport, Binghamton, NY'' dated 
February 2006 [ML060730408];
    6. ``Final Status Survey Plan, DNSC, Binghamton Depot, Binghamton, 
NY'' dated February 2006 [ML060730389];
    7. ``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'' published in the Federal Register Volume 71, Number 162 on August 
22, 2006, pages 48952 and 48953;
    8. Defense Logistics Agency, Submittal of Final Status Survey 
Report for the Defense National Stockpile, Binghamton, NY Depot dated 
October 16, 2006 [ML062970211];
    9. Defense Logistics Agency, Deficiency Response Letter dated 
December 19, 2006 [ML063540612]; and
    10. Defense Logistics Agency, Deficiency Response Facsimilie dated 
January 3, 2007 [ML070040099].
    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 5th 
day of February 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region 1.
 [FR Doc. E7-2641 Filed 2-14-07; 8:45 am]
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