[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 236 (Friday, December 7, 2012)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 72997-72998]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29527]
========================================================================
Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 236 / Friday, December 7, 2012 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 72997]]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
10 CFR Part 61
[NRC-2011-0012]
RIN 3150-AI92
Low-Level Waste Disposal
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory basis and preliminary rule language; second request
for comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to
amend its regulations that govern low-level radioactive waste (LLRW)
disposal facilities to require new and revised site-specific analyses
and to permit the development of criteria for waste acceptance based on
the results of these analyses. These amendments will ensure that waste
streams that are significantly different in terms of radiological
characteristics (e.g., half-life) from those considered in the
technical basis for the current regulations can be disposed of safely
and meet the performance objectives for land disposal of LLRW. These
amendments will also increase the use of site-specific information to
ensure that public health and safety would continue to be protected.
The NRC is publishing a second version of preliminary rule language
and has revised the regulatory basis document that will support this
rulemaking. NRC is taking this action to inform interested stakeholders
of the current status of the NRC's activities and to solicit public
comments on the preliminary rule language. The regulatory basis
document is being made available to inform stakeholder comments on the
preliminary rule language. The NRC is not requesting comments on the
regulatory basis.
DATES: Comments on the preliminary rule language should be submitted no
later than January 7, 2013. Comments received after this date will be
considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to assure
consideration only for comments received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: You may access information and comment submissions related
to this preliminary rule language, which the NRC possesses and are
publicly available, by searching on http://www.regulations.gov under
Docket ID NRC-2011-0012. You may submit comments by any of the
following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for documents filed under Docket ID NRC-
2011-0012. Address questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher;
telephone: 301-492-3668; email: [email protected].
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do
not receive a reply email confirming that we have received your
comments, contact us directly at 301-415-1677.
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission at 301-415-1101.
For additional direction on accessing information and submitting
comments, see ``Accessing Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Andrew Carrera, Office of Federal and
State Materials and Environmental Management Programs, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone 301-415-
1078, email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Accessing Information and Submitting Comments
A. Accessing Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0012 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this document. You may access
information related to this document, which the NRC possesses and are
publicly available, by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0012.
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR): You may examine and
purchase copies of public documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may access publicly available documents online in the NRC
Library at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the
search, select ``ADAMS Public Documents'' and then select ``Begin Web-
based ADAMS Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's
Public Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-
4737, or by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number
for each document referenced in this notice is provided the first time
that a document is referenced.
The November 2012 preliminary rule language is available
electronically under ADAMS Accession Number ML12311A444. The regulatory
basis document, ``Regulatory Analysis for Proposed Revisions to Low-
Level Waste Disposal Requirement (10 CFR Part 61),'' that supports this
rulemaking is available under ADAMS accession number ML12306A480.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2011-0012 in the subject line of your
comment submission, in order to ensure that the NRC is able to make
your comment submission available to the public in this docket.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact
information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your
comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov as well as enter the comment submissions into
ADAMS. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove
identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons
for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to
include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be
publicly disclosed in their comment submissions. Your request should
state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to
remove such information before making the comment
[[Page 72998]]
submissions available to the public or entering the comment submissions
into ADAMS.
II. Discussion
The NRC is proposing to amend its regulations, in part 61 Title 10
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR), ``Licensing Requirements
for Land Disposal of Radioactive Waste,'' to require new and revised
site-specific analyses and to permit the development of criteria for
waste acceptance based on the results of these analyses. These
amendments will ensure that waste streams that are significantly
different in terms of radiological characteristics (e.g., half-life)
from those considered in the technical basis for the current
regulations can be disposed of safely and meet the performance
objectives. These amendments will also increase the use of site-
specific information to ensure that public health and safety would
continue to be protected. These changes would revise the existing site-
specific analysis for protection of the general population to include a
10,000-year compliance period (i.e., performance assessment); add a new
site-specific analysis for the protection of inadvertent intruders that
would include a 10,000-year compliance period and a dose limit (i.e.,
intruder assessment); add a new long-term analysis for certain long-
lived wastes that would include a post-10,000-year performance period;
and revise the pre-closure analysis to include updates to the
performance assessment, intruder assessment, and long-term analyses.
The NRC would also be adding a new requirement to develop criteria for
the acceptance of waste for disposal based on either the results of
these analyses or the existing waste classification requirements. While
the existing regulatory requirements are adequate to protect public
health and safety, these amendments would enhance the safe disposal of
LLRW. The NRC is also proposing additional changes to the regulations
for disposal licensees to reduce ambiguity, facilitate implementation,
and better align the requirements with current health and safety
standards. This rule would affect LLRW disposal facilities that are
regulated by the NRC or the Agreement States.
In May, 2011, the NRC published preliminary rule language (76 FR
24831) and the associated regulatory basis document for public comment.
Since then, the NRC staff received additional directions from the
Commission in a Staff Requirements Memorandum to COMWDM-11-0002/COMGEA-
11-0002 (ADAMS accession number ML120190360). The Commission directed
staff to expand the limited-scope revision regarding site-specific
analyses to bring a clearer, risk-informed approach to Part 61. Based
on the Commission's direction, the NRC staff revised the regulatory
basis document associated with this rulemaking and developed a second
(November 2012) version of the preliminary rule language.
The NRC is inviting stakeholders to comment on the November 2012
preliminary rule language. The NRC is publishing the November 2012
preliminary rule language and its associated regulatory basis to
provide increased awareness to interested stakeholders, inform
stakeholders of the current status of the NRC's activities, and solicit
public comments on the November 2012 preliminary rule language. The
November 2012 preliminary rule language and its associated regulatory
basis document supercede the May 2011 versions.
The NRC will review and consider any comments on the November 2012
preliminary rule language received by January 7, 2013. Comments
received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do
so, but the NRC is able to assure consideration only for comments
received on or before this date. Stakeholders will have additional
opportunity to comment on the proposed rule when it is published in
accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act.
The NRC will respond to all stakeholder comments in the Statements of
Consideration for the final rule.
The NRC may post updates to the preliminary rule language on the
Federal rulemaking Web site under Docket ID NRC-2011-0012. The
Regulations.gov Web site allows members of the public to set-up email
alerts so that they may be notified when documents are added to a
docket. Users are notified via email at an email address provided at
the time of registration for the notification. Directions for signing
up for the email alerts can be found at http://www.regulations.gov. To
do so, navigate to a docket folder you are interested in and then click
the ``Sign up for Email Alerts'' link.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of November, 2012.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Deborah Jackson,
Deputy Director, Division of Intergovernmental Liaison and Rulemaking,
Office of Federal and State Materials and Environmental Management
Programs.
[FR Doc. 2012-29527 Filed 12-6-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P