[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 203 (Monday, October 22, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59558-59560]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-20746]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 40-9027]


Notice of Availability of Final Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact for Cabot Corporation Proposed 
Decommissioning Plan for Site in Reading, PA

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

[[Page 59559]]


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 
Cabot Corporation (Cabot or the licensee) Decommissioning Plan (DP), 
dated August 21, 2006, which requested authorization to commence 
decommissioning activities to achieve unrestricted release of a site in 
Reading, Pennsylvania. The final EA makes a finding of no significant 
impact (FONSI) for the proposed action, and is being issued as part of 
the NRC's decision-making process on whether to issue an amendment to 
license SMC-1562, pursuant to Title 10 of the U.S. Code of Federal 
Regulations Part 40, ``Domestic Licensing of Source Material 
Licenses.'' The proposed DP specifies installation of a riprap erosion 
barrier on the site slope. The site is owned by the City of Reading and 
is located in a large redevelopment area. Tentative City plans are for 
industrial activities in a new structure to be built on top of the 
slope, adjacent to the Cabot site. The site itself will not be 
developed.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Theodore Smith, Project Manager, 
Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste Management and 
Environmental Protection, Mail Stop T8-F5, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Telephone: (301) 415-6721; e-
mail: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction

    Cabot Corporation (Cabot) holds U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) Source Materials License SMC-1562, allowing the storage of 
radioactive materials at Cabot's Reading, Pennsylvania, site. Former 
ore processing in the 1960s at the facility generated waste slag 
contaminated with uranium and thorium. A smaller amount of debris from 
facility decontamination was added to the site in the late 1970s. In 
the 1980s, Cabot began onsite decommissioning activities at the main 
processing building at its Reading site, and began preparing for 
decommissioning activities at Reading site slag pile by conducting site 
characterization, determining slag leach rate constants, taking surface 
gamma measurements, and performing radiological analysis of surface and 
subsurface samples. Contaminated areas of the main building area were 
remediated in a series of cleanup actions in the early 1990s. Cabot 
originally submitted the decommissioning plan (DP) in 1998 and has 
revised it several times to address various NRC concerns. On August 21, 
2006, Cabot submitted Revision 4 of its proposed DP which proposes 
installation of a riprap erosion barrier at the site. The NRC has 
prepared an environmental assessment (EA) in support of this action in 
accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, 
the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact is 
appropriate. If approved, the license amendment incorporating the DP 
would be issued following publication of this Notice.

II. EA Summary

The Proposed Action

    Cabot requested approval of its DP, which would allow it to conduct 
decommissioning activities at the site. If approved and properly 
implemented, the DP would eventually lead to the termination of its NRC 
source materials license. In its DP, Cabot proposed to place a riprap 
erosion cover on the slag pile's slope and provided analysis to 
demonstrate that the site will be acceptable for license termination 
under unrestricted release.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The purpose of this action is to decommission an NRC-licensed site, 
allowing for its unrestricted use and termination of the source 
material license. This action is required by 10 CFR 40.42, ``Expiration 
and Termination of Licenses and Decommissioning of Sites and Separate 
Buildings or Outdoor Areas.''

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC staff concluded that the proposed decommissioning 
activities will not result in a significant impact to the environment. 
No significant impacts to the site ecology are anticipated because of 
the proposed action. The proposed action will not adversely affect 
Federal or State-listed threatened or endangered species, or regional 
historic and cultural resources. The proposed action can be viewed as a 
continuation of impacts and can be evaluated based on the previous 
impacts from past operations. In making this determination, the staff 
considered impacts to such areas as public and occupational health, 
transportation, socioeconomics, ecology, water quality, and the effects 
of natural phenomena. Further details regarding the staff's 
environmental evaluation of the proposed action are set forth in the EA 
(ML072390296)

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    The staff completed consultations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service (FWS) for consideration under Section 7 of the Endangered 
Species Act and with the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation 
Office (SHPO) for consideration under Section 106 of the National 
Historic Preservation Act. In addition the staff provided the draft EA 
to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) 
officials for comment. An addendum to the final EA sets forth the PADEP 
comments and the NRC's responses, and provides a history of operations 
at the site.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The final EA supports the proposed action to issue a license 
amendment approving Cabot's DP for the Reading site. On the basis of 
this EA, NRC has concluded that there are no significant environmental 
impacts from the proposed action, and that preparation of an 
Environmental Impact Statement is not warranted. 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:

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          Documents                       ADAMS Accession Nos.
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Licensee Decommissioning Plan  ML062360159, ML062360164,
                               ML062640081, ML062210261.
PADEP consultation...........  ML070880408, ML072390482.

[[Page 59560]]

 
SHPO consultation............  ML070430115, ML071240260,
                               ML071450487, ML072220371.
FWS consultation.............  ML06026123 , ML060730519.
Environmental Assessment.....  ML072390323, ML072390296.
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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 12th day of October 2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew Persinko,
Branch Chief, Reactor Decommissioning Branch, Division of Waste 
Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Federal and State 
Materials and Environmental Management Programs.
[FR Doc. E7-20746 Filed 10-19-07; 8:45 am]
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