[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 199 (Tuesday, October 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48283-48285]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-22459]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[NRC-2011-0012]
RIN 3150-AI92
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Regulatory analysis; request for comment and public meeting.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is requesting
comment on the draft regulatory analysis, ``Draft Regulatory Analysis
for Final Rule: Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal,'' and seeking
specific cost and benefit information to better inform the updated
draft regulatory analysis.
DATES: Submit comments by November 16, 2017. 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 submit comments by any of the following methods:
Federal Rulemaking Web site: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2011-0012. Address
questions about NRC dockets to Carol Gallagher; telephone: 301-415-
3463; email: [email protected]. For technical questions contact
the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT section of
this document.
Email comments to: [email protected]. If you do
not receive an automatic email reply confirming receipt, then contact
us at 301-415-1677.
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission at 301-415-1101.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff.
Hand deliver comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (Eastern Time) Federal
workdays; telephone: 301-415-1677.
For additional direction on obtaining information and submitting
comments, see ``Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments'' in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gregory Trussell, Office of Nuclear
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-6445; email:
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Obtaining Information and Submitting Comments
A. Obtaining Information
Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2011-0012 when contacting the NRC
about the availability of information for this action. You may obtain
publicly-available information related to this action 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 Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the
ADAMS Public Documents collection 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 (if it is available
in ADAMS) is provided the first time that it is mentioned in the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section.
NRC's 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.
B. Submitting Comments
Please include Docket ID NRC-2011-0012 in your submission.
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 posts all comment submissions at http://www.regulations.gov and enters 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
[[Page 48284]]
disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that
the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such
information before making the comment submissions available to the
public or entering the comment submissions into ADAMS.
II. Background
The NRC's licensing requirements for the disposal of commercial
low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) in near-surface disposal facilities
can be found in part 61 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), ``Licensing Requirements for Land Disposal of Radioactive
Waste.'' The NRC originally adopted 10 CFR part 61 on December 27, 1982
(47 FR 57446). The existing LLRW disposal facilities are located in and
licensed by Agreement States, and those Agreement States have
incorporated many of the requirements in 10 CFR part 61 into their
corresponding regulations and as license conditions for their
licensees.
On March 26, 2015, the NRC published a proposed rule, ``Low-level
Radioactive Waste Disposal,'' for an initial 120-day comment period in
the Federal Register (80 FR 16082). The 2015 proposed rule would have
implemented changes to require new and revised site specific technical
analyses and other requirements that would have permitted the
development of site-specific waste acceptance criteria (WAC) based on
the results of these analyses. In the 2015 proposed rule, the NRC
explained that the changes would better align the requirements with
current health and safety standards (i.e., 10 CFR part 20) and identify
any additional measures that would be prudent to implement for
continued disposal of radioactive LLRW at a particular land disposal
facility. In summary, the 2015 proposed rule would have specified
requirements for:
Technical analyses for demonstrating compliance with the
public dose limits;
Technical analyses for demonstrating compliance with dose
limits for protection of inadvertent intruders;
Identification and description of defense-in-depth
protections that, taken together with the technical analyses,
constitute the safety case;
Development of site-specific WAC; and
Implementation of current dosimetry in the technical
analyses.
As a result of the comments received on the proposed rule, the NRC
staff drafted a final rule package for Commission review, ``SECY-16-
0106, FINAL RULE: Low-Level Radioactive Waste Disposal (10 CFR part 61)
(RIN 3150-AI92),'' dated September 15, 2016. The draft final rule
package is available for review under ADAMS Accession No. ML16188A290
and includes a draft Federal Register notice (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16188A371) and a draft final regulatory analysis (ADAMS Accession No.
ML16189A050).
In response to SECY-16-0106, the Commission issued a staff
requirements memorandum (SRM), SRM-SECY-16-0106 (ADAMS Accession No.
ML17251B147), dated September 8, 2017, which directed the NRC staff to
publish a supplemental proposed rule for public comment that is revised
to include Commission-directed rule changes. The Commission directed
changes that are pertinent to this public comment request are stated in
table 1.
Table 1--Rule Changes
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Draft final rule SRM direction
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Compliance period of: Compliance period of 1,000
1,000 years or years, independent of
10,000 years (if significant radionuclide content.
quantities of long-lived radionuclides
are present)
New requirements applicable to all New requirements
currently operating and future LLRW applicable to all future LLRW
disposal facilities. disposal facilities.
The regulator may use
a case-by-case basis (i.e.,
``grandfather provision'') for
applying new requirements to
only those sites that plan to
accept large quantities of
depleted uranium for disposal.
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III. Discussion
In addition to specified rule language changes, the Commission, in
SRM-SECY-16-0106, also directed the NRC staff to ``be informed by
broader and more fully integrated, but reasonably foreseeable costs and
benefits to the U.S. waste disposal system resulting from the proposed
rule changes, including pass-through costs to waste generators and
processors.'' To support development of the new supplemental proposed
rule as directed by the Commission in SRM-SECY-16-0106, the NRC staff
is seeking comment on how to improve the approach/methodology and
actual cost data currently used in the draft final rule regulatory
analysis to provide more accurate cost and benefit data in the final
regulatory analysis. In particular, the NRC is seeking information on
any cost changes that should be incorporated into the regulatory
analysis in light of the Commission's changes to the draft final rule
identified in table 1.
All comments provided will be considered in improving the
regulatory analysis to ensure that it is sufficiently informed by
broader and more fully integrated, but reasonably foreseeable, costs
and benefits to the U.S. waste disposal system; however, the NRC staff
does not plan to provide responses to these comments. In addition, the
NRC staff is requesting that comments be limited to focus on the
regulatory analysis itself--the NRC plans to issue a separate notice
and comment period on the changes being proposed in the supplemental
proposed rule in 2018. At that time, members of the public will also be
provided another opportunity to provide comments on the revised
regulatory analysis, which will be updated based on comments from this
action.
During the comment period for this action, the NRC will conduct a
public meeting at the NRC's Headquarters that will explain the cost and
benefit information it is seeking in this notice and to address
questions. Information regarding the public meeting is posted on the
NRC's public meeting Web site. The NRC's public meeting Web site is
located at https://www.nrc.gov/public-involve.html.
The NRC has also posted the meeting notice on the Federal
rulemaking Web site at http://www.regulations.gov under Docket ID NRC-
2011-0012. The NRC will post additional materials related to this
document, including any public comments received, on the Federal
rulemaking Web site. The Federal rulemaking Web site allows you to
receive alerts when changes or additions occur in a docket folder. To
subscribe: (1) Navigate to the docket folder (NRC-
[[Page 48285]]
2011-0012); (2) click the ``Sign up for Email Alerts'' link; and (3)
enter your email address and select how frequently you would like to
receive emails (daily, weekly, or monthly).
IV. Requested Information and Comments
This section provides specific questions associated with the draft
regulatory analysis (ADAMS Accession No. ML16189A050). These questions
will also be discussed at the public meeting. The NRC staff will
consider the responses to these questions as it revises the regulatory
analysis.
Question 1: Is the NRC considering appropriate alternatives for the
regulatory action described in the draft regulatory analysis?
Question 2: Are there additional factors that the NRC should
consider in the regulatory action? What are these factors?
Question 3: Is there additional information concerning regulatory
impacts that the NRC should include in its regulatory analysis for this
rulemaking?
Question 4: Are all costs and benefits properly addressed to
determine the economic impact of the rulemaking alternatives? What cost
differences would be expected from moving from the discussed 1,000 year
and 10,000 year compliance periods to a single 1,000 year compliance
period? Are there any unintended consequences of making this revision?
Question 5: Are there any costs that should be assigned to those
sites not planning to accept large quantities of depleted uranium for
disposal in the future?
Question 6: Is NRC's assumption that only two existing LLRW sites
(i.e., EnergySolutions' Clive Utah disposal facility and Waste Control
Specialists' Texas disposal facility) plan to accept large quantities
of depleted uranium for disposal in the future reasonable?
Question 7: What additional costs or cost savings, not already
considered in the draft regulatory analysis, will the supplemental
proposed rulemaking or alternatives cause to society, industry, and
government? What are the potential transfer (``pass-through'') costs to
the waste generators and processors?
V. Availability of Documents
The documents identified in the following table are available to
interested persons through one or more of the following methods, as
indicated.
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ADAMS
Accession No./
Document Federal
Register
Citation
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December 27, 1982 10 CFR part 61 Statement of 47 FR 57446
Considerations.........................................
March 26, 2015, 10 CFR part 61 proposed rule............ 80 FR 16081
SECY-16-0106, FINAL RULE: Low-Level Radioactive Waste ML16188A290
Disposal (10 CFR part 61) (RIN 3150-AI92)..............
SECY-16-0106 draft Federal Register notice.............. ML16188A371
SECY-16-0106 draft regulatory analysis.................. ML16189A050
SRM-SECY-0106........................................... ML17251B147
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Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of October 2017.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel S. Collins,
Director, Division of Material Safety, State, Tribal and Rulemaking
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2017-22459 Filed 10-16-17; 8:45 am]
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