[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 159 (Friday, August 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46249-46251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-16255]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-36974]


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

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[[Page 46250]]


ACTION: Notice of Availability and Finding of No Significant Impact.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) is issuing a final Environmental Assessment (EA) for 
the Pa'ina Hawaii, LLC (Pa'ina or the applicant) license application, 
dated June 23, 2005, which requested authorization to use sealed 
radioactive sources in an underwater irradiator for the production and 
research irradiation of food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical products. 
The final 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 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia Swain, Environmental Project 
Manager, Environmental and Performance Assessment Branch, Division of 
Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Mail Stop T8-F5, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: 
(301) 415-5405; e-mail: [email protected].

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 evaluation of the proposed irradiator 
against the requirements found in the NRC's regulations at Title 10 of 
the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental Protection 
Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory Functions,'' 
(i.e., 10 CFR Part 51). 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 a draft EA and hold a public comment meeting 
in Honolulu, Hawaii prior to making a final decision.
    The NRC staff published a notice in the Federal Register requesting 
public review and comment on the draft Environmental Assessment on 
December 28, 2006 (71 FR 78231) and established February 8, 2007 as the 
deadline to submit comments. Approximately 47 individual comment 
documents (i.e., letters, facsimiles, and e-mails) were received by the 
NRC. Also, 221 identical e-mails were submitted by various individuals. 
In addition, oral comments were received from 43 individuals at the 
public meeting conducted by NRC in Honolulu on February 1, 2007. The 
staff also issued a supplemental appendix to the Draft EA on June 8, 
2007 (72 FR 31866) which presented the staff's consideration of 
terrorist acts on the proposed facility. The staff established July 9, 
2007 as the deadline for submitting public comments on Appendix B and 
received comments from six individuals.
    The NRC staff reviewed each comment letter and the transcript of 
the public meeting. Comments relating to similar issues and topics were 
grouped. The final EA includes an appendix which presents summaries of 
comments, along with the NRC staff's corresponding responses. When 
comments have resulted in a modification to the draft EA, those changes 
are noted in the staff's response. In cases for which the comments did 
not warrant a detailed response, the NRC staff provided an explanation 
as to why no further response is necessary. In all cases, the NRC staff 
sought to respond to all comments received during the public comment 
period.

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 completed its final 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 provided interested members of the public, the 
applicant, and State officials with an opportunity to comment on the 
draft EA.
    The final EA includes two new sections. The first section deals 
with the NRC's consideration of terrorist activities and the second 
section discusses public comments on the draft EA and provides the 
NRC's corresponding response.
    The complete final EA is available on the NRC's Web site: http://www.nrc.gov/materials.html by selecting ``Pa'ina Irradiator'' in the 
Quick Links box. Copies are also available by contacting Patricia Swain 
as noted above.

[[Page 46251]]

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC staff has prepared this final 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 final Environmental Assessment, ML071150121. 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 10th day of August, 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patricia Swain,
Acting Chief, Environmental Review Branch, Division of Waste Management 
and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State Materials and 
Environmental Management Programs.
 [FR Doc. E7-16255 Filed 8-16-07; 8:45 am]
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