[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 199 (Friday, October 16, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53305-53307]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-24979]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0459; Docket No. 030-01786]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 19-00296-10, for Amendment of the License and Unrestricted 
Release of the Department of Health & Human Services, National 
Institutes of Health's Facilities in Rockville, MD

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: Penny Lanzisera, Senior Health 
Physicist, Medical Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19406; telephone 
(610) 337-5169; 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

[[Page 53306]]

issuance of a license amendment to Byproduct Materials License No. 19-
00296-10. This license is held by the Department of Health & Human 
Services, National Institutes of Health (the Licensee), for, in part, 
its Danac-5 Building (also called the Park-5 Building) and Danac-4 
Building (also called the Flow Building). These two buildings 
(collectively, the Facilities) are located in close proximity to each 
other at 12420 Parklawn Drive and 12501 Washington Avenue in Rockville, 
Maryland, respectively. Issuance of the amendment would authorize 
release of the Facilities for unrestricted use. The Licensee requested 
this action in a letter dated February 5, 2009. Licensed activities at 
other locations under License No. 19-00296-10 will continue.
    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 February 5, 2009, 
license amendment request, resulting in release of the Facilities for 
unrestricted use. License No. 19-00296-10 was issued on December 7, 
1956, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30, and has been amended periodically 
since that time. This license authorizes the Licensee to use unsealed 
byproduct material for purposes of conducting medical research and 
development activities on laboratory bench tops and in hoods.
    The Facilities consist of office space and laboratories sited in 
two buildings, both of which are located in a commercial area. Within 
the Facilities, use of licensed materials was confined to 21,061 square 
feet in the Danac-5 Building and 26,700 square feet in the Danac-4 
Building.
    In 2004, the Licensee ceased licensed activities within the 
facilities and initiated a survey and decontamination of them. Based on 
the Licensee's historical knowledge of the site and the conditions of 
the Facilities, 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 and provided 
information to the NRC to demonstrate that it meets the criteria in 
Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release of the Facilities.
    In addition, a historical review of the Facilities identified that 
within the area subsequently occupied by the Licensee in the Danac-4 
Building, Flow Laboratories, Inc. was also licensed from May 18, 1967, 
until May 31, 1972, to use unsealed byproduct material for purposes of 
conducting laboratory tracer studies on laboratory bench tops and in 
hoods. The license for Flow Laboratories, Inc. expired on May 31, 1972, 
and no surveys were then performed. However, the assessment that was 
conducted by the Licensee included areas previously used by Flow 
Laboratories, Inc, and there is no indication that such use prevents 
the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release 
from being met.

Need for the Proposed Action

    The Licensee has ceased conducting licensed activities at the 
Facilities, and seeks their unrestricted use.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facilities shows that such activities involved use of the following 
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: hydrogen-3, 
carbon-14, chlorine-36, and calcium-45. Prior to performing the final 
status survey, the Licensee conducted decontamination activities, as 
necessary, in the areas affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted final status surveys on December 11 through 
15, 2005, and in January 2009, covering all laboratories, counting 
rooms, hallways, animal facilities, and offices located in the 
Facilities. The final status survey report was attached to the 
Licensee's amendment request dated February 5, 2009. The Licensee 
elected to demonstrate compliance with the radiological criteria for 
unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by 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 define the maximum amount of residual 
radioactivity on building surfaces, equipment, and materials, and in 
soils, that will satisfy 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 at the Facilities. 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 Facilities. 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 the proposed release of the Facilities for 
unrestricted use is in compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its 
review, the staff considered the impact of the residual radioactivity 
at the Facilities 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 the requirements of 10 CFR 
20.1402 for unrestricted release are met here. Additionally, denying 
the amendment

[[Page 53307]]

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 Maryland's Department of the Environment's Air and Radiation 
Management Administration and Hazardous Waste Administration for review 
on July 30, 2009. On August 31, 2009, the State of Maryland's 
Department of the Environment's Air and Radiation Management 
Administration and Hazardous Waste Administration responded by e-mail. 
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.

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 Documents 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 February 5, 2009, requesting amendment 
(ML090440394);
    2. Letter dated October 6, 2008, providing additional information 
(ML082910930);
    3. Historical Assessment received July 10, 2009 (ML092110007);
    4. Mercury decontamination results dated October 9, 2007 
(ML092160003);
    5. Document received August 24, 2009, providing additional 
information (ML092360695);
    6. Document received August 24, 2009, providing instrument 
calibrations (ML092360704);
    7. Document received August 24, 2009, providing instrument 
calibrations (ML092360751);
    8. Document received August 24, 2009, providing instrument 
calibrations (ML092360759);
    9. Document received August 24, 2009, providing instrument 
calibrations (ML092360764);
    10. Document received August 24, 2009, providing instrument 
calibrations (ML092580244);
    11. Document received September 1, 2009 describing survey plan 
(ML092510133);
    12. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    13. Title, 10 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    14. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;'' and
    15. 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 Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, PA this 
8th day of October 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pamela J. Henderson,
Branch Chief, Medical Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E9-24979 Filed 10-15-09; 8:45 am]
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