[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 69 (Thursday, April 9, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19966-19967]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07417]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[NRC-2017-0198]


Issuance of a Revision to the Guidance Document for Alternative 
Disposal Requests

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Revised guidance; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a 
revision to its guidance document for alternative disposal requests, 
``Guidance for the Reviews of Proposed Disposal Procedures and 
Transfers of Radioactive Material Under 10 CFR 20.2002 and 10 CFR 
40.13(a).'' This document provides guidance and the NRC staff process 
for documenting, reviewing, and dispositioning requests received for 
alternative disposal of licensed material. The revision incorporates 
changes made in response to comments received on the draft guidance 
document, as well as interactions with NRC stakeholders.

DATES: The revised guidance is effective immediately for use.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2017-0198 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this action by any 
of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2017-0198. Address 
questions about NRC dockets IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual(s) listed in the FOR FURTHER 
INFORMATION CONTACT section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Document collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. To begin the search, 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 revision to the guidance

[[Page 19967]]

document, along with supporting documents, is available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML19295F109.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marlayna Doell, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-3178; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:  In October 2017, the NRC issued a draft of 
the guidance document to obtain public input on how to improve the 
alternative disposal process (ADAMS Package Accession No. ML17229B588). 
A notice of availability, requesting comment on the draft guidance 
document, was published in the Federal Register (82 FR 48727; October 
19, 2017). This Federal Register notice provided background information 
regarding the draft guidance document, solicited public comments, and 
provided notice of the NRC's plans to hold a public meeting to discuss 
the document and receive comments on the proposed changes, which 
occurred on October 19, 2017.
    The NRC reviewed and now responds to all the comments from the 
initial comment period. The NRC staff's resolution of these comments is 
incorporated into a response document that is included in the 
supporting documents for this updated revision to the guidance document 
(ADAMS Package Accession No. ML19295F109). Comments received addressed 
the following issues: General; Policy/Rulemaking; Agreement State/
Regulatory Overlap; Unimportant Quantities of Radioactive Material; 
Performance Assessment; Compliance Period and Analysis Timeframes; 
Radon; Other Off-Site Disposals--Release of Solid Material with 
Volumetric Contamination; Transportation; and Cumulative Impacts.
    The NRC staff revised the guidance document in several areas, 
including the discussions on performance assessment, off-site burial 
disposals, regulatory requirements, requests for additional 
information, other off-site disposals, release of solid material with 
volumetric contamination, non-licensees, and the overall 10 CFR 20.2002 
process in response to comments. The purpose of this revision to the 
guidance is to improve the alternative disposal process by further 
clarifying the methods and information needed to dispose of waste using 
an alternate process. This document is a rule as defined in the 
Congressional Review Act (5 U.S.C. 801-808). However, the Office of 
Management and Budget has not found it to be a major rule as defined in 
the Congressional Review Act. The revision to the guidance is available 
at ADAMS Package Accession No. ML19295F109 and is available for 
immediate use by all stakeholders.

    Dated: April 3, 2020.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Patricia K. Holahan,
Director, Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery, and Waste 
Programs, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 2020-07417 Filed 4-8-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 7590-01-P