[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 38 (Tuesday, February 26, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10291-10293]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-3585]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 030-34325]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for Amendment of a Materials Permit in Accordance 
With Byproduct Materials License No. 03-23853-01VA, for Unrestricted 
Release of a Department of Veterans Affairs Facility in Tucson, AZ

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Issuance of Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for License Amendment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 10292]]


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 e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to amend 
a materials permit held under Byproduct Materials License No. 03-23853-
01VA. The permit is held by the Department of Veterans Affairs (the 
Licensee), for its Southern Arizona VA Health Care System facilities, 
located at 3601 South 6th Avenue, Tucson, Arizona (Facility). Issuance 
of the amendment would authorize release of Building 32 (described 
below) for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a 
letter dated June 12, 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 June 12, 2007, 
materials permit amendment request, resulting in release of Building 32 
for unrestricted use. License No. 03-23853-01VA was issued on March 17, 
2003, pursuant to 10 CFR Parts 30 and 35, and has been amended 
periodically since that time. This license authorizes the Licensee to 
use byproduct materials at several Licensee facilities around the 
country, as authorized on a site-specific basis by permits issued by 
the Licensee's National Radiation Safety Committee. Under the license, 
the permits authorize the use of by-product materials for various 
medical and veterinary purposes, and for use in portable gauges.
    The Facility is situated on a 116 acre site comprised of about 40 
buildings, and is located in a mixed residential/industrial urban area 
of Tucson, Arizona. Within the Facility, Building 32 was constructed in 
1969 as a single story block frame and brick structure. The building 
was used to house animals for research until July 1975 when it was used 
for interim storage and treatment (by disposal to sewer and 
incineration) of radioactive research and medical waste. The licensee 
ceased using licensed materials in Building 32 on September 1, 2004, 
and initiated surveys and decontamination of the building. Based on the 
Licensee's historical knowledge of the site and the conditions within 
Building 32, 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 Building 32 
during September through November 2004. The results of these surveys 
along with other supporting information were provided to the NRC to 
demonstrate that the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for 
unrestricted release have been met.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities in Building 
32, and seeks the unrestricted use of Building 32.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted in Building 
32 shows that such activities involved use of the following 
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: hydrogen-3 (H-3) 
and carbon-14 (C-14). Prior to performing the final status survey, the 
Licensee conducted decontamination activities, as necessary, in the 
areas of Building 32 affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee completed final status surveys on Building 32 on 
November 8, 2004. The surveys covered all areas of Building 32. The 
final status survey report was attached to the Licensee's amendment 
request dated June 12, 2007. The Licensee elected to demonstrate 
compliance with the radiological criteria for unrestricted release as 
specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 using the screening approach described in 
NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 2. 
The Licensee used the radionuclide-specific derived concentration 
guideline levels (DCGLs), developed there by the NRC, which comply with 
the dose criterion in 10 CFR 20.1402. These DCGLs provide acceptable 
levels of surface contamination to demonstrate compliance with the NRC 
requirements in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release. 
The Licensee's final status survey results were below these DCGLs and 
are in compliance with the As Low As Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) 
requirement of 10 CFR 20.1402. The NRC thus finds that the Licensee's 
final status survey results are 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 in Building 32. The NRC staff reviewed 
available docket file records and the final status survey report to 
identify any non-radiological hazards that may have impacted the 
environment surrounding Building 32. 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 issuance of the proposed amendment 
authorizing release of Building 32 for unrestricted use is in 
compliance with 10 CFR part 20. Based on its review, the staff 
considered the impact of the residual radioactivity from Building 32 
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 30.36(d), requiring that decommissioning of 
byproduct 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 Building 32 meets the 
requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for unrestricted release. Additionally, 
denying the amendment request would result in no change in

[[Page 10293]]

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 
Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency for review on December 27, 2007. 
The State had no comments regarding the EA.
    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. E. Lynn McGuire, Department of Veterans Affairs, letter to 
Cassandra Frazier, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region III, 
dated June 12, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML071650164);
    2. Gary Williams, Department of Veterans Affairs, E-mail to William 
Snell, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region III, dated August 20, 
2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML072780281);
    3. Thomas Huston, Department of Veterans Affairs, E-mail to William 
Snell, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region III, dated September 
21, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML072910118);
    4. Thomas Huston, Department of Veterans Affairs, E-mail to William 
Snell, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Region III, dated October 
19, 2007 (ADAMS Accession No. ML072920554);
    5. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, part 20, subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    6. Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations, part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;''
    7. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities;''
    8. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance.''
    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 Lisle, Illinois, this 14th day of February 2008.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patrick Louden,
Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region III.
 [FR Doc. E8-3585 Filed 2-25-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P