[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 206 (Tuesday, October 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55273-55274]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-25780]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2009-0469; Docket No. 030-04552]


Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding of 
No Significant Impact for License Amendment to Byproduct Materials 
License No. 19-10306-01 for Unrestricted Release of the Department of 
the Army's Rad Yard Facility Located in the Bush River Study Area, 
Aberdeen Proving Ground, 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: Dennis Lawyer, Health Physicist, 
Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania; telephone 610-
337-5366; 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 Byproduct Materials License No. 19-
10306-01. This license is held by the Department of the Army, U.S. Army 
Research, Development and Engineering Command (the Licensee), for its 
5-acre Rad Yard Facility (the Facility), located in the Bush River 
Study Area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Issuance of the 
amendment would authorize release of the Rad Yard Facility for 
unrestricted use. The Licensee requested this action in a letter dated 
September 18, 2008. 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 September 18, 
2008, license amendment request, resulting in release of the Rad Yard 
Facility for unrestricted use. License No. 19-10306-01 was issued on 
October 27, 1964, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 30, and has been amended 
periodically since that time. This license authorized the Licensee to 
use unsealed byproduct materials at the Rad Yard Facility for purposes 
of storing and processing radioactive waste. The license also 
authorized use of licensed material at other locations that will not be 
affected by this action; therefore, the license will not be terminated 
if the proposed action is approved.
    The Rad Yard Facility is situated on approximately five acres and 
consists of two vacated small buildings, abandoned-in-place concrete 
slabs, sumps, and a waste water tank. The Facility is located in within 
the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground, Edgewood Area and borders on the 
Bush River.
    In October 2002, the Licensee ceased licensed activities at the 
Facility and initiated a survey and decontamination of the Facility. 
The Licensee contracted with Weston Solutions Inc. to perform 
remediation under reciprocity and their New Mexico License No. RD-245-
20. Weston Solutions Inc. performed the decontamination in accordance 
with their NRC-approved, operating radiation safety procedures. The 
Licensee conducted surveys of the Facility 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 
Facility, and seeks the unrestricted use of its Facility.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The historical review of licensed activities conducted at the 
Facility shows that such activities involved use of the following 
radionuclides with half-lives greater than 120 days: carbon 14, 
technetium 99, cobalt 60, strontium 90, and cesium 137. Prior to 
performing the final status survey, the Licensee's contractor conducted 
decontamination activities, as necessary, in the areas of the Facility 
affected by these radionuclides.
    The Licensee conducted a final status survey on November 14 through 
December 12, 2007, February 12, 2008, and May 22, 2008. This survey 
included soil sampling and surface readings on the remaining building 
components at the Facility. The final status survey report was attached 
to the Licensee's amendment request dated September 18, 2008. The 
Licensee elected to demonstrate compliance with the radiological 
criteria for unrestricted release as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by 
developing site-specific derived concentration guideline levels 
(DCGLs), based in part on the screening approach described in NUREG-
1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance,'' Volume 2. The 
DCGL values were 5 pCi/g for cesium 137 and 0.5 pCi/g for cobalt 60, 
which would also be sufficient to mitigate the carbon 14, technetium 99 
and strontium 90 levels. 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.
    The NRC staff conducted a confirmatory survey and sampling on 
November 13-14, 2007, and May 22, 2008. One of the building surface 
confirmatory survey results exceeded the DCGLs established for the 
Facility. Upon discovery, the licensee performed decontamination of the 
location and increased the measurement protocol to perform a 100 
percent scan of the building. No other confirmatory survey or sample 
results exceeded the DCGLs established for the Facility. 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

[[Page 55274]]

Licensee also considered and appropriately accounted for the dose 
contribution from previous site releases. The calculation was submitted 
in a letter dated January 14, 2009. The staff finds there were no 
significant environmental impacts from the use of radioactive material 
at the Facility. 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 Facility. The 
site has been impacted by arsenic contamination. The Army intends to 
remediate the arsenic contamination following the NRC-approved release 
of the facility for unrestricted use. 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 Facility for 
unrestricted use and the amendment of the NRC materials license is in 
compliance with 10 CFR 20.1402, including the impact of residual 
radioactivity at previously-released site locations of use. Based on 
its review, the staff considered the impact of the residual 
radioactivity at the Facility 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 Facility 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 
Maryland Department of the Environment for review on June 12, 2009. On 
June 23, 2009, the Maryland Department of the Environment's Air and 
Radiation Management Administration and Hazardous Waste Administration 
responded by electronic 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 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. NUREG-1757, ``Consolidated NMSS Decommissioning Guidance;''
    2. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination;''
    3. Title 10, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 51, ``Environmental 
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related Regulatory 
Functions;''
    4. NUREG-1496, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support 
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of NRC-
Licensed Nuclear Facilities;''
    5. Final Status Survey Report, Bush River Study Area, Radioactive 
Waste Management Facility dated September 18, 2008 (ML082700930);
    6. Final Status Survey Plan, Bush River Study Area, Radioactive 
Waste Management Facility dated October 2007 (ML073090556);
    7. Bush River Study Area, Removal Action report for Non-Time 
Critical Removal Action Radioactive Waste Management Facility, Final 
dated January 2007 (ML071520147);
    8. Department of the Army letter dated November 6, 2007, Final 
Status Survey Plan Revision 1 (ML073130509);
    9. Department of the Army letter dated January 14, 2009 
(ML090280503) with report (ML090280516);
    10. ORISE Analytical Results dated August 21, 2009 (ML092510292); 
and
    11. ORISE Analytical Results dated June 11, 2008 (ML081840212).
    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 this 20th 
day of October 2009.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
James P. Dwyer,
Chief, Commercial and R&D Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I.
[FR Doc. E9-25780 Filed 10-26-09; 8:45 am]
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