[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 232 (Tuesday, December 4, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68203-68205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-23475]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 040-06377]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Source Materials License 
No. Sub-348, for Unrestricted Release of the Department of the Army, 
U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, Armament 
Research, Development and Engineering Center, Building 611b Facility in 
Picatinny, NJ

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: Betsy Ullrich, Senior Health 
Physicist, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; 
telephone (610) 337-5040; fax number (610) 337-5269; 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. SUB-
348. This license is held by the Department of the Army, U. S. Army 
Research, Development and Engineering Center (RDEC), Armament Research, 
Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) (the Licensee), for its 
activities at the Picatinny Arsenal located in Picatinny, New Jersey. 
Issuance of the amendment would authorize release of Building 611B for 
unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated 
May 14, 2007. 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 May 14, 2007 
license amendment request, resulting in release of Building 611B for 
unrestricted use. License No. SUB-348 was issued on July 13, 1961, 
pursuant to 10 CFR Part 40, and has been amended periodically since 
that time. This license authorized the Licensee to use uranium and 
thorium in any form for purposes of conducting research and development 
activities.
    The Picatinny Arsenal is situated on 6,500 acres of land and 
consists of office space, laboratories, and specialized facilities. The 
Picatinny Arsenal is located in a mixed residential and commercial 
area. Building 611B was one of several buildings where use of licensed 
material was performed under the authority of RDEC/ARDEC, one of the 
military tenants at Picatinny Arsenal. Building 611B is a single-story 
concrete structure of about 1,100 square feet, containing two test-
firing ranges. One of the firing ranges was used for the testing of 
depleted uranium munitions. Building 611B is located in a cleared area 
on a rocky and wooded hillside, within a fenced area of approximately 
40,000 square feet. Other structures within the fenced area include an 
Outdoor Storage Area and two movable electrical storage shelters.
    On November 19, 1998, the Licensee notified the NRC that they had 
ceased licensed activities and initiated a survey and decontamination 
of Building 611B. Based on the Licensee's historical knowledge of the 
site and the conditions of the Building 611B, the Licensee

[[Page 68204]]

determined that only routine decontamination activities, in accordance 
with their NRC-approved, operating radiation safety procedures, were 
required. The Licensee submitted a decommissioning plan for Building 
611B. The NRC's approval of the Licensee's decommissioning plan was 
published in the Federal Register on Friday, March 31, 2000 (65 FR 
17322). The Licensee conducted surveys of the Building 611B 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 
Building 611B and seeks the unrestricted use of this facility.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Building 611B shows that such activities involved use of depleted 
uranium, a radionuclide with a half-life greater than 120 days. Prior 
to performing the final status survey, the Licensee conducted 
decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the Building 
611B affected by this radionuclide.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey during August and 
September, 2003. This survey covered areas inside Building 611B 
including the DU Tunnel, the Non-DU Tunnel, the Foyer, the Instrument 
Room, and the Indoor Storage Area; exterior surfaces of building 611B; 
an Outdoor Storage Area; two movable electrical storage containers; and 
the open land area and bunker within the fence line for the Building 
611B area. The final status survey report was attached to the 
Licensee's amendment request dated May 14, 2007. 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 Building 611B. 
The Licensee conducted site-specific dose modeling using input 
parameters specific to the Building 611B. For soil, the Licensee used 
the RESRAD code, version 5.82, with all default values except for a 
smaller thickness of contaminated soil (0.25 meters instead of 2 
meters) and a smaller contaminated area (4000 square-meters instead of 
10,000 square-meters), and did not use the pathways for milk or meat 
ingestion because of the small area. The soil DCGL was determined to be 
186 picocuries per gram of soil. For contaminated building surfaces, 
the Licensee used the RESRAD-Build code, version 3.0 with all default 
values except for the removable fractions (10 percent instead of 50 
percent), the fraction indoors (0.33 instead of 0.5) and the exposure 
duration (250 days instead of 365 days). The building surface DCGL was 
determined to be 5,550 disintegrations per minute (dpm) per 100 square-
centimeters area. 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 Building 611B. The 
Licensee's final status survey results were below these DCGLs, and are 
thus acceptable.
    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 Building 611B. 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 Building 611B. No such hazards or impacts 
to the environment were identified, except the presence of unexploded 
ordnance identified by the Licensee. Department of the Army personnel 
surveyed the area for unexploded ordnance prior to, and during, all 
activities performed in the outdoor area surrounding Building 611B, and 
removed any unexploded ordnance found. 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 Building 611B 
for unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Although the 
Licensee will continue to perform licensed activities at other parts of 
the Picatinny Arsenal, the Licensee must ensure that this 
decommissioned area does not become recontaminated. Before the license 
can be terminated, the Licensee will be required to show that the 
entire Picatinny Arsenal, including previously-released areas, complies 
with the radiological criteria in 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, 
the staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity at the 
Building 611B 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 Building 611B 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 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 Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for review 
on October 2, 2007. On November 8, 2007, NJDEP responded by letter. 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.

[[Page 68205]]

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. Letter dated November 29, 1999, with the ``Picatinny Arsenal 
Decommissioning Plan for Building 611B'' [ML003683836];
    2. Letter dated November 24, 2000 [ML003772619] with Amendment 
No. 23 [ML003773181];
    3. Letter dated May 9, 2002 with the ``Final Survey Plan for the 
TACOM-ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal Building 611B, Revision 1, January 
2002'' [ML021400335];
    4. Letter dated October 16, 2002 with Amendment No. 26 
[ML022970431];
    5. Inspection 040-06377/2003-001, September 4, 18 and 22, 2003 
[ML032930404];
    6. Letter dated May 14, 2007 with the ``Final Survey Report for 
the TACOM-ARDEC Picatinny Arsenal Building 611B'' [ML071620348];
    7. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    8. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    9. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, 
``Environmental Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and 
Related Regulatory Functions;'' and
    10. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in 
Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities.''

    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 King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this 27th day of November 
2007.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E7-23475 Filed 12-3-07; 8:45 am]
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