[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 45 (Thursday, March 6, 2008)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 12043-12045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-4428]


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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

40 CFR Part 268

[EPA-HQ-RCRA-2007-0936; FRL-8538-7]


Land Disposal Restrictions: Site-Specific Treatment Variance for 
P- and U-Listed Hazardous Mixed Wastes Treated by Vacuum Thermal 
Desorption at the EnergySolutions' Facility in Clive, Utah

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) is 
proposing to grant a site-specific treatment variance to 
EnergySolutions LLC (EnergySolutions) in Clive, Utah, for the treatment 
of certain P- and U-listed hazardous waste containing radioactive 
contamination (``mixed waste'') using vacuum thermal desorption (VTD). 
This variance is an alternative treatment standard to treatment by 
combustion (CMBST) required for these wastes under EPA

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rules implementing the land disposal restriction (LDR) provisions of 
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The Agency has 
determined that combustion of the solid treatment residue generated 
from the VTD unit is technically inappropriate due to the effective 
performance of the VTD unit. Once the P- and U-listed mixed waste are 
treated using VTD, the solid treatment residue can be land disposed 
without further treatment. This proposed treatment variance is 
conditioned upon EnergySolutions complying with a Waste Family 
Demonstration Testing (WFDT) plan specifically addressing the treatment 
of these P- and U-listed wastes, which is to be implemented through a 
RCRA Part B permit modification for the VTD unit.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before April 7, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
RCRA-2007-0936, by one of the following methods: www.regulations.gov: 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
    Email: [email protected] and [email protected]. Attention Docket 
ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2007-0936.
    Fax: 202-566-9744. Attention Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2007-0936.
    Mail: RCRA Docket (2822T), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Attention Docket 
ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2007-0936. Please include a total of 2 copies.
    Hand Delivery: EPA/DC, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave., 
NW., Washington, DC. Such deliveries are only accepted during the 
Docket's normal hours of operation, and special arrangements should be 
made for deliveries of boxed information.
    Instructions: Direct your comments to Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-
2007-0936. EPA's policy is that all comments received will be included 
in the public docket without change and may be made available online at 
http://www.regulations.gov, including any personal information 
provided, unless the comment includes information claimed to be 
Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose 
disclosure is restricted by statute. Do not submit information that you 
consider to be CBI or otherwise protected through http://www.regulations.gov or e-mail. The http://www.regulations.gov Web site 
is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will not know your 
identity or contact information unless you provide it in the body of 
your comment. If you send an e-mail comment directly to EPA without 
going through http://www.regulations.gov, your e-mail address will be 
automatically captured and included as part of the comment that is 
placed in the public docket and made available on the Internet. If you 
submit an electronic comment, EPA recommends that you include your name 
and other contact information in the body of your comment and with any 
disk or CD-ROM you submit. If EPA cannot read your comment due to 
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA 
may not be able to consider your comment. Electronic files should avoid 
the use of special characters, any form of encryption, and be free of 
any defects or viruses. For additional information about EPA's public 
docket, visit the EPA Docket Center homepage at http://www.epa.gov/epahome/dockets.htm.
    Docket: All documents in the docket are listed in the http://www.regulations.gov index. Although listed in the index, some 
information is not publicly available, e.g., CBI or other information 
whose disclosure is restricted by statute. Certain other material, such 
as copyrighted material, will be publicly available only in hard copy. 
Publicly available docket materials are available either electronically 
in http://www.regulations.gov or in hard copy at the HQ-Docket Center, 
Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-RCRA-2007-0936, EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 
Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC. The Docket Facility is open 
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal 
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202) 
566-1744, and the telephone number for the RCRA Docket is (202) 566-
0270. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying docket materials.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For more information on this 
rulemaking, contact Juan Parra, Hazardous Waste Minimization and 
Management Division, Office of Solid Waste (MC 5302 P), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone (703) 308-0478; fax (703) 308-8443; or 
[email protected] or Elaine Eby, Hazardous Waste Minimization and 
Management Division, Office of Solid Waste (MC 5302 P), U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW., 
Washington, DC 20460; telephone (703) 308-8449; fax (703) 308-8443; or 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Does This Action Apply to Me?

    The only regulated entity that will be affected by this proposed 
rule is EnergySolutions located in Clive, Utah.

Why Is EPA Using a Proposed Rule?

    This document proposes to take action by granting a site-specific 
treatment variance to EnergySolutions located in Clive, Utah. We also 
have published a direct final rule identical to this proposal in the 
``Rules and Regulations'' section of this Federal Register because we 
view this action as noncontroversial and anticipate no significant 
adverse comment. We have explained our reasons for this action in the 
preamble to the direct final rule.
    If we receive no significant adverse comment, we will not take 
further action on this proposed rule. If we do receive such adverse 
comment, we will publish a timely notice in the Federal Register 
informing the public that the final rule will be withdrawn due to 
adverse comment. We will address all public comments in any subsequent 
final rule based on this proposed rule. We do not intend to institute a 
second comment period on this action. Any parties interested in 
commenting must do so at this time. For further information about 
commenting on this rule, see the ADDRESSES section of this document.

Direct Final Rule and Location of Regulatory Text for This Proposal

    The regulatory text for this proposal is identical to that for the 
direct final rule published in the Rules and Regulations section of 
this Federal Register. For further supplemental information, the 
detailed rationale for the proposal, and the regulatory revisions, see 
the information provided in the direct final rule published in the 
Rules and Regulations section of today's Federal Register.

Statutory and Executive Order Reviews

    For a complete discussion of all of the administrative requirements 
applicable to this action, see the direct final rule in the Rules and 
Regulations section of this Federal Register.

Regulatory Flexibility Act

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires an agency 
to prepare a regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to 
notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the Administrative 
Procedure Act or any other statute unless the agency certifies that the 
rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. Small entities include small businesses, 
small

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organizations, and small governmental jurisdictions.
    This site-specific treatment variance does not propose to create 
any new requirements. Rather, it proposes an alternative treatment 
standard for specific waste codes and applies to only one facility. 
Therefore, we hereby certify that this rule will not add any new 
regulatory requirements to small entities. This rule, therefore, does 
not require a regulatory flexibility analysis.

List of Subjects in 40 CFR Part 268

    Environmental protection, Hazardous waste, Mixed waste and 
variances.

    Dated: February 28, 2008.
Susan Parker Bodine,
Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.
[FR Doc. E8-4428 Filed 3-5-08; 8:45 am]
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