[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 231 (Tuesday, December 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77268-77270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-26427]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket No. 70-7005; NRC-2020-0209]


Waste Control Specialists LLC

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact; 
issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing an 
environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact 
(FONSI) in support of the NRC's consideration of a request from Waste 
Control Specialists LLC (WCS) to continue to store transuranic waste 
that originated from the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) without 
an NRC license under the terms of a 2014 order. The 2014 order exempted 
WCS from the NRC's regulations concerning special nuclear material 
(SNM). The current action is in response to a request by WCS dated 
August 24, 2020, to extend the possession time to temporarily store 
certain waste at specific locations at the WCS Site until December 23, 
2022.

DATES: The EA and FONSI referenced in this document are available on 
December 1, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2020-0209 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to https://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2020-0209. Address 
questions about Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
     The NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS): You may obtain publicly available documents online in 
the ADAMS Public Documents 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 ADAMS accession number for each 
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document.
     Attention: The PDR, where you may examine and order copies 
of public documents is currently closed. You may submit your request to 
the PDR via email at [email protected] or call 1-800-397-4209 
between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (EST), Monday through Friday, except 
Federal holidays.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Harry Felsher, Office of Nuclear 
Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555- 0001; telephone: 301-415-6559; email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    Waste Control Specialists LLC operates a facility in Andrews 
County, Texas (the WCS Site), that is licensed to process and store 
certain types of radioactive material contained in low-level waste 
(LLW) and mixed waste. The WCS Site is also licensed to dispose of 
radioactive, hazardous, and toxic waste. Under an Agreement authorized 
by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, a State can assume 
regulatory authority over radioactive material. In 1963, Texas entered 
into such an Agreement and assumed regulatory authority over source 
material, byproduct material, and SNM under critical mass. The WCS Site 
is licensed by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for 
possession, treatment, and storage of radioactive waste and disposal of 
LLW under Radioactive Materials License (RML) R04100.
    Section 70.3 of title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 
CFR) requires persons who own, acquire, deliver, receive, possess, use, 
or transfer SNM to obtain a license pursuant to the requirements of 10 
CFR part 70. The licensing requirements in 10 CFR part 70 apply to 
persons in Agreement States possessing greater than critical mass 
quantities, as defined in 10 CFR 150.11. However, pursuant to 10 CFR 
70.17(a), ``the Commission may grant such exemptions from the 
requirements of the regulations in this part as it determines are 
authorized by law and will not endanger life or property or the common 
defense and security and are otherwise in the public interest.''
    On September 25, 2000, WCS first requested an exemption from the 
licensing requirements in 10 CFR part 70 (ADAMS Accession No. 
ML003759584). On November 21, 2001, the NRC issued an order to WCS 
(2001 Order) granting an exemption to WCS from certain NRC regulations 
and permitted WCS, under specified conditions, to possess waste 
containing SNM in greater quantities than specified in 10 CFR part 150, 
at the WCS storage and treatment facility on the WCS Site in Andrews 
County, Texas, without obtaining an NRC license pursuant to 10 CFR part 
70. The 2001 Order was published in the Federal Register on November 
15, 2001 (66 FR 57489). The NRC issued superseding Orders to WCS in 
2004 (i.e., modified list of reagents) and 2009 (i.e., modified 
sampling requirements) that modified the conditions in the 2001 Order.
    On February 14, 2014, a radiation release event occurred at the 
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) 
Facility

[[Page 77269]]

(WIPP incident). In response, the DOE suspended operations at the WIPP 
Facility. In April 2014, WCS began receiving some specific waste from 
DOE that both WCS and DOE understood to meet both the U.S. Department 
of Transportation (DOT) shipping requirements and the conditions in the 
2009 Order. WCS began storing that waste at the Treatment, Storage, and 
Disposal Facility (TSDF), identified as the storage and processing 
facility in RML R04100. The waste was DOE transuranic waste that 
originated at LANL that was destined to be disposed of at the DOE WIPP 
Facility (i.e., ``LANL Waste''). In June 2014, WCS received information 
from DOE that some of the LANL Waste being temporarily stored at the 
TSDF may be similar to the waste that might be the cause of the WIPP 
Incident. In response, WCS moved some of the LANL Waste from the TSDF 
to the Federal Waste Facility (FWF) disposal cell for temporary 
storage.
    By letter dated July 18, 2014, WCS requested an exemption from the 
NRC's regulations to possess SNM in excess of the critical mass limits 
specified in 10 CFR 150.11 while temporarily storing some LANL Waste in 
the FWF disposal cell. The NRC issued a new order to WCS on December 3, 
2014 (2014 Order) that superseded the 2009 Order. The 2014 Order was 
published in the Federal Register on December 11, 2014 (79 FR 73647). 
The 2014 Order added new conditions, primarily related to the temporary 
storage of the LANL Waste both at the TSDF and in the FWF disposal 
cell. The State of Texas incorporated the 2014 Order Conditions into 
WCS' (TCEQ-issued license) RML R04100.
    By letters dated March 28, 2016, and August 30, 2018, (ADAMS 
Accession Nos. ML16095A361 and ML18250A289), WCS requested the 
modification of Condition 8.B.4 of the 2014 Order to extend the 
timeframe for temporarily allowing storage of the LANL Waste at the WCS 
Site from ``two years'' to ``until December 23, 2018'' and ``until 
December 23, 2020.'' By letters dated September 23, 2016, and December 
19, 2018, (ADAMS Accession Nos. ML16097A265 and ML18269A318), the NRC 
approved modifications of the 2014 Order Condition 8.B.4, extending 
WCS' authorization to store the LANL Waste at the WCS Site without a 
license under 10 CFR part 70 to ``until December 23, 2018,'' and 
subsequently ``until December 23, 2020'' by citing the closed status of 
operations at the WIPP Facility in 2016 and the safe temporary storage 
status of the LANL Waste at the TSDF and in the FWF disposal cell in 
both 2016 and 2018.
    By letter dated August 24, 2020, WCS requested that the 
effectiveness of its exemption from NRC requirements in 10 CFR part 70 
be extended with the modification of Condition 8.B.4 of the 2014 Order 
to extend the timeframe for temporarily allowing storage of the LANL 
Waste at the WCS Site for another two years, to ``until December 23, 
2022.'' That proposal is the subject of this Environmental Assessment.

II. Environmental Assessment

Description of the Proposed Action

    The proposed action is the WCS request to modify the 2014 Order 
Condition 8.B.4. to allow WCS to continue to store the LANL Waste at 
specific locations at the WCS Site for an additional two years, until 
December 23, 2022, without an NRC license.

Need for the Proposed Action

    WCS is making this request to continue to store the LANL Waste 
while the DOE-led Interagency Project Team (including WCS, DOE, EPA, 
NRC, the State of Texas, and the State of New Mexico) works to 
recommend a path forward for disposition of the LANL Waste. While the 
WIPP Facility has resumed operations, some of the LANL Waste at the WCS 
Site cannot be shipped off the WCS Site at this time because it does 
not meet DOT shipping requirements. WCS has indicated that it will not 
be able to ship the LANL Waste to another appropriate location by the 
timeframe specified in the 2014 Order Condition 8.B.4, as modified by 
the NRC letter dated December 19, 2018. The purpose of this EA is to 
assess the potential environmental impacts of the WCS request to modify 
the 2014 Order Condition 8.B.4. to allow WCS to store the LANL Waste at 
specific locations at the WCS Site for additional two years, until 
December 23, 2022. This EA does not approve or deny the requested 
action.

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed Action

    The NRC does not expect changes in radiation hazards to workers or 
to the environment. WCS will continue to ensure that the LANL Waste in 
both the FWF disposal cell and the TSDF remain stored safely and 
securely, and will notify the NRC of any events as appropriate, as set 
out in the 2014 Order. No changes to its handling or associated hazards 
would occur as a result of granting the requested change. Other 
environmental impacts would be the same as evaluated in the EA that 
supported the 2014 Order, as applicable to the activities associated 
with the continued safe storage of the LANL Waste.

Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action

    As an alternative to the proposed action, the NRC staff could deny 
the WCS request and therefore, not issue a modification to the Order 
Condition 8.B.4. that would authorize continued storage of the LANL 
Waste at the WCS Site (i.e., the ``no action'' alternative). Upon 
expiration of the timeframe in the 2014 Order Condition 8.B.4., as 
modified by the December 19, 2018, NRC letter to WCS, WCS would still 
be required to maintain the material safely. In addition, the NRC 
authorization of any change to the current storage of the LANL Waste at 
the WCS Site would still be required and WCS has submitted no such 
proposal to the NRC. As a result, under this alternative, there would 
be no environmental impacts different from the proposed action, 
although WCS would be required to secure a license or other regulatory 
authorization for the storage of the material or potentially be in 
violation of 10 CFR part 70 upon the expiration of the term in the 2014 
Order Condition 8.B.4.
    Thus, the ``no action'' alternative would not result in changes to 
the environmental impacts evaluated in the NRC's prior EAs that 
supported the 2014 Order or the previous NRC orders. Those prior EAs 
concluded that there would be no significant radiological or non-
radiological environmental impacts associated with the storage of SNM 
at the WCS Site, consistent with the conditions in those NRC Orders.

Agencies and Persons Consulted

    On November 9, 2020, the staff consulted with TCEQ by providing a 
draft of the EA for review and comment. By email dated November 13, 
2020 (ADAMS Accession No. ML20321A189), TCEQ provided comments on and 
recommended corrections to the draft EA. The NRC staff modified the EA 
to appropriately address the TCEQ comments and recommended corrections.
    The proposed action does not involve the development or disturbance 
of additional land. Hence, the NRC has determined that the proposed 
action will not affect listed endangered or threatened species or their 
critical habitat. Therefore, no further consultation is required under 
Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act. Likewise, the NRC staff has 
determined that the proposed action does not have the potential to 
adversely affect cultural

[[Page 77270]]

resources because no ground disturbing activities are associated with 
the proposed action. Therefore, no consultation is required under 
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

III. Finding of No Significant Impact

    The NRC has reviewed the WCS August 24, 2020, request to supplement 
the 2014 Order again to extend the possession time of the LANL Waste at 
specific locations at the WCS Site. The NRC has found that effluent 
releases and potential radiological doses to the public are not 
anticipated to change as a result of this action and that occupational 
exposures are expected to remain within regulatory limits and as low as 
reasonably achievable. On the basis of this environmental assessment, 
the NRC concludes that the proposed action will not have a significant 
effect on the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC 
has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement for the 
proposed action.

    Dated: November 24, 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. 2020-26427 Filed 11-30-20; 8:45 am]
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