[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 148 (Thursday, August 2, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42440-42442]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-15040]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-07188]


Notice of Environmental Assessment Related to the Issuance of a 
License Amendment to By-product Material License No. 21-05199-02, for 
Unrestricted Release of Former Facilities for the State of Michigan, 
Department of Environmental Quality, Lansing, 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 email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) 
is considering the issuance of an amendment to NRC By-product Materials 
License No. 21-05199-02, which is held by the State of Michigan, 
Department of Environmental Quality (licensee). The amendment would 
authorize the decommissioning and unrestricted release of the 
licensee's former facilities located at 3423 and 3500 N. Martin Luther 
King Jr. Blvd., Lansing, Michigan (the facilities). 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 the State of 
Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality 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 the State of Michigan's 
Department of Environmental Quality request to amend its license and 
release the facilities for unrestricted use in accordance with 10 CFR 
Part 20, Subpart E. The proposed action does not pertain to the 
licensee's radiological laboratory at 815 Terminal Road, in Lansing, 
Michigan, where licensed activities will continue. The 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 
February 28, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070590426). The State of 
Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality was first licensed to 
use by-product materials at its facilities at 3500 N. Martin Luther 
King Jr. Blvd. (formerly 3500 N. Logan) on June 30, 1964, and at 3423 
N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. on February 21, 1997. The licensee is 
authorized to use by-product materials for activities involving 
instrument calibration and for analysis of environmental samples. The 
licensee was authorized to use sealed sources at the facilities 
containing cesium-137, cobalt-60, americium-241, nickel-63, and 
strontium-90. Isotopes that were authorized for use at the facilities 
in an unsealed form included any by-product material up to a maximum of 
100 millicuries at any one time.
    At the 3500 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. address, the licensee 
used by-product materials in two buildings. The licensee analyzed 
environmental and special samples in its Nuclear Counting Facility in 
Building 44, and stored radiological materials in its Radioactive

[[Page 42441]]

Material Storage Bunker in Building 20. The licensee ceased using the 
Nuclear Counting Laboratory and moved all calibration standards, 
environmental samples and special samples to its new radiological 
laboratory at 815 Terminal Road, Lansing, Michigan, prior to conducting 
final status surveys in November 2000 to verify that the 3500 N. Martin 
Luther King Jr. Blvd. facility could be released for unrestricted use.
    In October 2000, the Michigan Department of Public Health requested 
the NRC terminate its SUB-1385 license, which also authorized the use 
of radioactive material in the Radioactive Material Storage Bunker in 
Building 20. The Michigan Department of Public Health provided a Final 
Status Survey Report that documented that the Radioactive Material 
Storage Bunker in Building 20 had been surveyed for residual 
contamination in 1998 and was acceptable for unrestricted use. In 
January 2001, the NRC terminated the SUB-1385 license and released the 
Radioactive Material Storage Bunker in Building 20 for unrestricted 
use. The licensee stated in a July 11, 2007, telephone conference, that 
it had not used the Radioactive Material Storage Bunker in Building 20 
since it had been released for unrestricted use by the NRC in 2001.
    At the 3423 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. address, the licensee 
maintained a facility for the calibration of portable radiation survey 
instruments and the storage of radioactive material. The licensee 
ceased using the calibration/storage facility and moved all radiation 
sources and environmental samples to its new calibration facility at 
815 Terminal Road, Lansing, Michigan, prior to conducting final status 
surveys in November 2000 to verify that the 3423 N. Martin Luther King 
Jr. Blvd. facility could be released for unrestricted use.
    The licensee conducted surveys of the facilities 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. The licensee was not required to submit a decommissioning plan to 
the NRC since any decommissioning activities and procedures implemented 
were consistent with those approved for routine operations. 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 facilities, 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 facilities 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 
facilities 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 facilities 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 facilities 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. 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 
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 Community Health 
(DCH). The Michigan DCH, Bureau of Health Systems, Division of Health 
Facilities and Services, was provided the draft EA for comment on July 
13, 2007. Mr. Bruce Matkovich, Manager, Radiation Safety Section, with 
the Michigan DCH, responded to the NRC by e-mail on July 16, 2007, 
indicating that the State had no comments regarding the NRC 
Environmental Assessment for the release of the Michigan Department of 
Environmental Quality facilities.

II. Finding of No Significant Impact

    On the basis of the EA in support of the proposed license 
amendment, 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:

[[Page 42442]]

    1. Robert D. Skowronek, Michigan Department of Environmental 
Quality, letter to Patricia Pelke, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
February 22, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML070590426).
    2. Telephone Conversation Record, Initiated by William Snell, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to Robert Skowronek, Michigan Department 
of Environmental Quality, on July 11, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML071930403).
    3. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ``Environmental Review 
Guidance for Licensing Actions Associated with NMSS Programs,'' NUREG-
1748, August 2003.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.

    Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 20th day of July 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 Patrick L. Louden,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region III.
 [FR Doc. E7-15040 Filed 8-1-07; 8:45 am]
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