    [Federal Register Volume 90, Number 84 (Friday, May 2, 2025)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 18851-18852]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 2025-07608]

    [[Page 18851]]

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    ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

    [EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0309; FRL-12689-01-OAR]

    Planned Change Request for Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
    Replacement Panels 11 and 12; Closing of Public Comment Period

    AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

    ACTION: Notice of availability with request for public comment; closing
    of public comment period.

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    SUMMARY: On July 16, 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or
    the Agency) announced for public comment the availability of a Planned
    Change Request (PCR) submitted by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
    to modify the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The proposed change
    will involve adding two additional waste panels west of the current
    repository to replace lost disposal capacity resulting from the 2014
    radiological incident and ground control issues throughout WIPP's
    operational history. A 60-day comment period was provided for the PCR
    that expired on September 16, 2024. After requests from stakeholders
    for an extension, the EPA reopened the public comment period
    indefinitely on October 22, 2024. The Agency is now announcing the
    closure of the public comment period.

    DATES: With this notice, the Agency is closing the public period for
    the documents published on July 16, 2024 at 89 FR 57887 and extended on
    October 22, 2024 at 89 FR 74348 on June 2, 2025.

    ADDRESSES: You may send comments, identified by Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-
    OAR-2024-0309, by any of the following methods:
         Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov
    (our preferred method). Follow the online instructions for submitting
    comments.
         Email: a-and-r-Docket@epa.gov. Include Docket ID No. EPA-
    HQ-OAR-2024-0309 in the subject line of the message.
         U.S. Postal Service Mail: U.S. Environmental Protection
    Agency, EPA Docket Center, Air and Radiation Docket, Mail Code 28221T,
    1200 Pennsylvania Avenue 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. EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0309. Comments received may be posted without
    change to https://www.regulations.gov, including any personal
    information provided. For detailed instructions on sending comments,
    see the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section of this document. A copy of
    the DOE's 2024 PCR is linked on EPA's WIPP website (https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2024-03/24-0168-wipp-pcr-panels-letter-enclosures.pdf).

    FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ray Lee, Radiation Protection
    Division, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, Mail Code 6608T,
    Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW,
    Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 343-9463; email address:
    lee.raymond@epa.gov.

    SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Submit your comments, identified by Docket
    ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0309, 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. 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. The written comment is considered
    the official comment and should include discussion of all points you
    wish to make. 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.
        Tips for preparing your comments. When submitting comments,
    remember to:
         Identify the document by docket number, subject heading,
    Federal Register date, and page number.
         Provide a brief description of yourself and your role or
    organization.
         Explain why you agree or disagree; suggest alternatives
    and substitute language for your requested changes.
         Describe any assumptions and provide any technical
    information and/or data that you used.
         Illustrate your concerns with specific examples and
    suggest alternatives.
         Explain your views as clearly as possible, avoiding the
    use of profanity or personal threats.
         Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
    deadline identified.

    I. Background

        The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is a transuranic (TRU)
    radioactive waste disposal system developed by the DOE that is located
    near Carlsbad in southeastern New Mexico. TRU radioactive waste is
    emplaced about 650 meters (2,150 feet) underground in an ancient layer
    of salt that will eventually ``creep,'' encapsulate, and isolate the
    waste from the surrounding environment. The 1992 WIPP Land Withdrawal
    Act (Pub. L. 102-579) (LWA) limits radioactive waste disposal in the
    WIPP to TRU radioactive wastes generated by defense-related
    activities.\1\ The WIPP LWA provides EPA with authority to oversee and
    regulate the WIPP. The WIPP must meet EPA's generic radioactive waste
    disposal standards at 40 CFR part 191, subparts B and C. 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.
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        \1\ 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.
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        In 1996, the Agency issued the WIPP Compliance Criteria, which are
    located at 40 CFR part 194, as mandated by WIPP LWA, section 8(c).\2\
    DOE submitted the initial WIPP Compliance Certification Application
    (CCA) in 1996. The Agency then issued the certification decision on May
    18, 1998, determining that the WIPP met the standards for radioactive
    waste disposal. Since the 1998 certification decision, EPA has
    conducted ongoing independent technical reviews, certification/
    recertifications, and inspections of all WIPP activities related to
    compliance with the Agency's disposal regulations. The WIPP has been
    recertified four times since the initial CCA in 1996, with the most
    recent recertification decision occurring in 2022.\3\
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        \2\ 61 FR 5224-5245 (February 9, 1996).
        \3\ 87 FR 26126 (May 3, 2022).
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        As part of the original design of the WIPP repository in the
    initial CCA, the underground waste disposal region at

    [[Page 18852]]

    WIPP is divided into panels. A panel is a group of rooms mined into the
    salt, connected by tunnels called drifts. EPA certified the WIPP in
    1998 and most recently recertified the WIPP in 2022 based on a planned
    footprint of 10 waste panels.
        On March 14, 2024, EPA received a planned change request (PCR) from
    DOE per 40 CFR 194.4(b)(3) that seeks the Agency's approval to add two
    replacement waste panels to the west of the current repository. These
    two panels, 11 and 12, are being constructed to replace waste disposal
    volume that was lost in panels 7 and 9 due to the 2014 radiological
    release that contaminated the south end of the repository.\4\
    Additionally, panels 1 and 2 were not completely filled due to ground
    control issues from being kept open so long before waste was emplaced.
    DOE has calculated that to replace the volume lost, 1.7 panels of waste
    volume will be needed, rounded up to 2 panels for construction.\5\ DOE
    also states that the waste volume with panels 11 and 12 will not exceed
    the LWA waste disposal volume limit. The PCR contains a performance
    assessment DOE has conducted to support a demonstration that the
    repository will continue to meet the numeric release limits of EPA's
    disposal regulations for the WIPP. As part of the performance
    assessment, DOE calculated releases based on a repository design of 19
    panels, which is the anticipated WIPP repository configuration at the
    time of closure.
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        \4\ For a discussion of the 2014 incidents at the WIPP, see
    EPA's third recertification determination. 82 FR 33106, 33107 (July
    19, 2017).
        \5\ Knerr, R. (DOE/CBFO), Dunagan, S. (NWP LLC). Class 3 Permit
    Modification Request [Letter to Maestas, R. (NMED)] (July 30, 2021).
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        With this PCR, DOE is only seeking EPA's approval of the two new
    planned panels and provided documentation to address the two new panels
    within the context of the 19-panel design. However, after additional
    review the Agency requested \6\ DOE to submit a subsequent performance
    assessment using a 12-panel configuration as a sensitivity study to
    supplement the calculations already provided with the initial
    submission. DOE provided its last set of responses to EPA questions on
    April 21, 2025. The Department would have to submit a separate request
    for approval of any additional panels beyond panels 11 and 12.
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        \6\ Peake, T. (EPA). Re: Twelve-Panel PA sensitivity study for
    EPA's review of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Replacement Panel
    Planned Change Request (November 26, 2024).
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    II. Request for Comments/Closure of Public Comment Period

        Over the past year, EPA has solicited public comment on DOE's
    documentation of its PCR to add two new waste panels--panels 11 and
    12--at the WIPP facility, and the demonstration of compliance with
    EPA's disposal regulations. EPA has now received and posted for public
    review all information requested from DOE. Additional background
    information related to the Agency's review of DOE's application--
    including an electronic copy of the PCR itself--is available in the
    public docket \7\ established for this action and on the EPA WIPP
    website.\8\
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        \7\ Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OAR-2024-0309 (https://www.regulations.gov).
        \8\ https://www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp-news#WIPP-PCR.
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        As outlined in this notice, the Agency will continue to accept
    comment until June 2, 2025. Upon completion of EPA's evaluation of the
    PCR, the Agency will announce a decision on the proposed two new panels
    along with a response to comments document and related technical
    support documents.

    Jonathan D. Edwards,
    Director, Office of Radiation and Indoor Air.
    [FR Doc. 2025-07608 Filed 5-1-25; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 6560-50-P