[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 186 (Wednesday, September 25, 2019)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50367-50369]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20319]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Parts 191 and 194
[EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-0534; FRL-10000-12-OAR]
Review Process To Determine Whether the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant Continues To Comply With the Disposal Regulations and Compliance
Criteria
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
ACTION: Notice of availability; official opening of public comment
period.
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SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, or the Agency)
intends to evaluate whether the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)
continues to comply with the Agency's environmental radiation
protection standards for the disposal of radioactive waste. Pursuant to
the 1992 WIPP Land Withdrawal Act (LWA), as amended, the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE, or the Department) must submit documentation
of continued compliance with the EPA's standards for disposal and other
statutory requirements every five years after the initial receipt of
transuranic waste at WIPP. The Agency requests public comment on all
aspects of the DOE's application.
DATES: The comment period opened on September 25, 2019, and will remain
open beyond the time when the EPA notifies the DOE that the
recertification application is complete, which will be specified in a
future Federal Register document. Announcements will be published in
the Federal Register to provide information on the Agency's
completeness determination and final recertification decision.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
OAR-2019-0534, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov/
(our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting
comments.
Email: [email protected]. Include Docket ID No. EPA-
HQ-OAR-2019-0534 in the subject line of the message.
Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air and
Radiation Docket, EPA Docket Center, Mail Code 28221T, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20460.
Hand Delivery/Courier: EPA Docket Center, WJC West
Building, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20004.
The Docket Center's hours of operations are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.,
Monday-Friday (except Federal Holidays).
Instructions: All submissions received must include the Docket ID
No. for this notice of availability. Comments received may be posted
without change to https://www.regulations.gov/, including any personal
information provided. For detailed instructions and additional
information on submitting comments, see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
section of this document.
A copy of the DOE's 2019 Compliance Recertification Application
(CRA) is linked on the EPA's WIPP website (https://www.epa.gov/radiation/certification-and-recertification-wipp#2019).
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ray Lee, Office of Radiation and
Indoor Air, Radiation Protection Division, Center for Radiation
Information and Outreach, Mail Code 6608T, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 20460;
telephone number: 202-343-9463; fax
[[Page 50368]]
number: 202-343-2305; email address: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The DOE's 2019 CRA was received by the EPA
on March 19, 2019, and a copy is linked on the EPA's WIPP website in
ADDRESSES. The EPA will determine when the DOE has provided a complete
application; the Agency's completeness determination will be conveyed
to the DOE and published in the Federal Register. The EPA will evaluate
the ``complete'' application in determining whether the WIPP facility
continues to comply with the radiation protection standards for
disposal. The Agency requests public comment on all aspects of the
DOE's application.
I. Public Participation
Written Comments
Submit your comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2019-
0534, at https://www.regulations.gov (our preferred method), or the
other methods identified in the ADDRESSES section. Once submitted,
comments cannot be edited or removed from the docket. The EPA may
publish any comment received to its public docket. Do not submit
electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business
Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted
by statute. Multimedia submissions (audio, video, etc.) must be
accompanied by a written comment. The written comment is considered the
official comment and should include discussion of all points you wish
to make. The EPA will generally not consider comments or comment
contents located outside of the primary submission (i.e. on the web,
cloud, or other file sharing system). For additional submission
methods, the full EPA public comment policy, information about CBI or
multimedia submissions, and general guidance on making effective
comments, please visit https://www.epa.gov/dockets/commenting-epa-dockets.
II. Background
The WIPP was authorized in 1980, under section 213 of the DOE
National Security and Military Applications of Nuclear Energy
Authorization Act of 1980 (Pub. L. 96-164, 93 Stat. 1259, 1265), ``for
the express purpose of providing a research and development facility to
demonstrate the safe disposal of radioactive wastes resulting from the
defense activities and programs of the United States.'' The WIPP is a
disposal system for transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste. Developed by
the DOE, the facility is located near Carlsbad in southeastern New
Mexico. TRU waste is emplaced 2,150 feet underground in an ancient
layer of salt that will eventually ``creep'' and encapsulate the waste
containers.
The 1992 WIPP LWA (Pub. L. 102-579) \1\ limits radioactive waste
disposal in the WIPP to TRU radioactive wastes generated by defense-
related activities. TRU waste is defined as waste containing more than
100 nano-curies per gram of alpha-emitting radioactive isotopes, with
half-lives greater than twenty years and atomic numbers greater than
92. The Act further stipulates that radioactive waste shall not be TRU
waste if such waste also meets the definition of high-level radioactive
waste, has been specifically exempted from regulation with the
concurrence of the Administrator, or has been approved for an alternate
method of disposal by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The TRU
radioactive waste proposed for disposal in the WIPP consists of
materials such as rags, equipment, tools, protective gear and sludges
that have become contaminated during atomic energy defense activities.
The radioactive component of TRU waste consists of man-made elements
created during the process of nuclear fission, chiefly isotopes of
plutonium. Some TRU waste is contaminated with hazardous wastes
regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA; 42
U.S.C. 6901-6992k). The waste proposed for disposal at the WIPP derives
from Federal facilities across the United States, including locations
in Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee
and Washington.
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\1\ The 1992 WIPP Land Withdrawal Act was amended by the ``Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant Land Withdrawal Act Amendments,'' which were
part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997
(Pub. L. 104-201).
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The WIPP must meet the EPA's generic disposal standards at 40 CFR
part 191, subparts B and C, for high-level and TRU radioactive waste.
These standards limit releases of radioactive materials from disposal
systems for radioactive waste and require implementation of measures to
provide confidence for compliance with the radiation release limits.
Additionally, the regulations limit radiation doses to members of the
public and protect ground water resources by establishing maximum
concentrations for radionuclides in ground water. To help in
determining whether the WIPP facility meets these disposal standards,
the Agency issued the 1997 WIPP Compliance Criteria (40 CFR part 194),
which provides guidance for interpretation and implementation of the
disposal standards specifically for the WIPP site. The Compliance
Criteria--along with its accompanying preamble and supporting
documents--describe what information the DOE must provide and how the
EPA evaluates WIPP's performance and provides ongoing independent
oversight. The Agency implements its environmental radiation protection
standards, 40 CFR part 191, by applying the WIPP Compliance Criteria,
40 CFR part 194, to the disposal of TRU radioactive waste at the WIPP.
For more information about 40 CFR part 191, refer to Federal Register
documents published in 1985 (50 FR 38066, Sep. 19, 1985) and 1993 (58
FR 66398, Dec. 20, 1993). For more information about 40 CFR part 194,
refer to Federal Register documents published in 1996 (61 FR 5224, Feb.
9, 1996) and 1995 (60 FR 5766, Jan. 30, 1995).
Using the process outlined in the WIPP Compliance Criteria, the EPA
determined on May 18, 1998 (63 FR 27354), that the DOE had demonstrated
that the WIPP complied with the Agency's radioactive waste disposal
regulations at subparts B and C of 40 CFR part 191. The EPA's
certification determination permitted the WIPP to begin accepting TRU
waste for disposal, provided that other applicable conditions and
environmental regulations were met.
Since the 1998 certification decision, the EPA has conducted
ongoing independent technical review and inspections of all WIPP
activities related to compliance with the Agency's disposal
regulations. The initial certification decision identified the starting
(baseline) conditions for the WIPP site and established the waste and
facility characteristics necessary to ensure proper disposal in
accordance with the regulations. At that time, the EPA and the DOE
understood that future information and knowledge gained from the actual
operations of the WIPP would result in changes to best practices and
procedures for the facility.
In recognition of this, section 8(f) of the amended WIPP LWA
requires the EPA to evaluate all changes in conditions or activities at
the WIPP every five years to determine if the facility continues to
comply with the Agency's disposal regulations. This determination is
not subject to standard rulemaking procedures or judicial review, as
stated in the aforementioned section of the WIPP LWA.
The first recertification process began with the DOE's submittal of
the initial CRA, which was received by the Agency on March 26, 2004.
The EPA deemed the CRA-2004 to be complete on
[[Page 50369]]
September 29, 2005, and published its first WIPP recertification
decision on March 29, 2006 (71 FR 18010).
The EPA received the DOE's second CRA on March 24, 2009. The Agency
deemed the CRA-2009 to be complete on June 29, 2010, and published the
second WIPP recertification decision on November 18, 2010 (75 FR
70584).
The EPA received the Department's third CRA on March 26, 2014. The
Agency deemed the CRA-2014 to be complete on March 10, 2017, and
published the third WIPP recertification decision on July 10, 2017 (82
FR 33106).
The EPA received the Department's fourth CRA on March 19, 2019.
After the EPA has determined that the application is complete, the
Agency will review the CRA-2019 to ensure that all of the changes made
at the WIPP since the third recertification process have been
accurately reflected and that the facility will continue to safely
contain TRU radioactive waste. An approved CRA-2019 (along with any
supplemental completeness information submitted by the DOE) would serve
as the baseline for the next recertification that will occur starting
in 2024.
With today's notice, the Agency solicits public comment on the
DOE's documentation of whether the WIPP facility continues to comply
with the disposal regulations. An electronic copy of the application is
available for review and linked on the EPA's WIPP website (https://www.epa.gov/radiation/certification-and-recertification-wipp#2019).
Additional background information related to the Agency's
recertification activities is available in the public dockets and on
this website. The EPA will evaluate DOE's complete application and make
a determination whether the WIPP continues to comply with the radiation
protection standards for disposal. The EPA will consider public comment
and other information relevant to the WIPP's compliance. The Agency is
most interested in public comment on issues where changes to the
disposal system have occurred that may potentially impact the WIPP's
ability to remain in compliance with requirements in the EPA's disposal
regulations, as well as any areas where the public believes that
changes have occurred that have not been identified by the DOE.
The EPA's first step in the recertification process is a
``completeness'' determination of DOE's application. The EPA will make
this completeness determination as a first step in its more extensive
technical review of the application. This determination is based on a
number of the Agency's WIPP-specific guidances, most notably, the
``Compliance Application Guidance'' (CAG; EPA Pub. 402-R-95-014) and
``Guidance to the U.S. Department of Energy on Preparation for
Recertification of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant with 40 CFR parts
191 and 194'' (Docket A-98-49, Item II-B3-14; December 12, 2000). Both
guidance documents include guidelines regarding: (1) Content of
certification/recertification applications; (2) documentation and
format requirements; (3) time frame and evaluation process; and (4)
change reporting and modification. The Agency developed these guidance
documents to assist the DOE with the preparation of any compliance
application for the WIPP. It is the EPA's intent that these guidance
documents give the DOE and the public a general understanding of the
information that is expected to be included in a ``complete''
application of compliance. However, the DOE does not have to resubmit
information already supplied to the EPA in prior recertification
applications. The focus of each recertification is on any changes to
the disposal system since the previous recertification decision. The
EPA may request additional information as necessary from the DOE to
ensure the completeness of the CRA.
Once the 2019 recertification application is deemed complete, the
EPA will provide the DOE with written notification of its completeness
determination and publish a Federal Register document announcing this
determination. All correspondence between the EPA and the DOE regarding
the completeness of the CRA-2019, and any additional information sent
by the DOE, such as the supplementary results and calculations planned
for submittal in December 2019, will be placed in the public docket
(via www.regulations.gov) and linked on the Agency's WIPP website
(https://www.epa.gov/radiation/certification-and-recertification-wipp#2019).
The EPA will make a final decision as to whether the WIPP continues
to meet the disposal regulations after each of the aforementioned steps
(i.e., technical analysis of the application, issuance of a notice on
the CRA-2019's completeness in the Federal Register, and analyses of
public comment) have been completed. As required by the LWA, the Agency
will make a final recertification decision within six months of issuing
its completeness determination.
List of Subjects in 40 CFR Parts 191 and 194
Environmental protection, Radiation protection, Transuranic
radioactive waste, Waste isolation pilot plant, Waste treatment and
disposal.
Dated: September 12, 2019.
Jonathan D. Edwards,
Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air.
[FR Doc. 2019-20319 Filed 9-24-19; 8:45 am]
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