[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 1996)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 6799-6801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-4022]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
10 CFR Part 834
[Docket No. EH-RM-93-834]
RIN 1901-AA38
Radiation Protection of the Public and the Environment
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of limited reopening of the comment period.
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SUMMARY: On March 25, 1993, DOE published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking to add a new part establishing standards for the protection
of the public and the environment against exposure to radiation from
conduct of DOE activities. The purpose of this notice is to reopen the
comment period for 30 days in order to solicit comments on an option
being considered to protect terrestrial plants and animals from
exposure to radiation. This option is being considered in light of
comments received which recommended that radiation protection be
required for terrestrial organisms in a manner similar to that proposed
for aquatic organisms.
DATES: The comment period expires March 25, 1996. Comments received
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the
Department is able to ensure consideration of only those comments
received on or before this date.
ADDRESSES: Written comments on 10 CFR Part 834 (11 copies) should be
addressed to: PART 834, Mr. Andrew Wallo, U.S. Department of Energy,
Office of Environment, Safety and Health, EH-412, 1000 Independence
Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585.
PUBLIC READING ROOM: Copies of the March 25, 1993 Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking; written comments received on the March 25, 1993
Notice; the August 31, 1995 Notice of Limited Reopening of Comment
Periods; the draft regulatory language made available by the August 31,
1995 Notice; the September 13, 1995 corrected Notice; written comments
received on the August 31, 1995 Notice; and the December 1995 Workshop
Report are contained in Docket No. EH-RM-93-834. This docket is
available for examination in DOE's Freedom of Information Reading Room,
1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington,
D.C. 20585, (202) 586-6020, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Andrew Wallo, or Mr. Harold T.
Peterson, Jr., U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Environment, Safety
and Health, EH-412, 1000 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C.
20585, (202) 586-2409, fax (202) 586-3915.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
On March 25, 1993, the Department published a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (58 FR 16268) to codify, in a new part, the Department's
policies and procedures for protecting the public and the environment
against exposure to radiation resulting from activities conducted by or
for the Department (hereafter referred to as the Proposed Rule). The
Proposed Rule would adopt dose limits for exposure of members of the
public to radiation and require the reporting of doses above specified
levels. It would also require the assessment of all releases of
radioactive material and all doses and potential doses to the public
from DOE activities to ensure that they are managed in accordance with
the Department's ``as low as is reasonably achievable'' (ALARA) policy.
Among the dose limits proposed were limits intended to protect
native aquatic animal organisms. Subpart F proposed an absorbed dose
limit of 1 rad/day (0.01 Gray/day) for aquatic animal organisms from
exposure to radiation or radioactive material discharged in liquid
waste to natural waterways. The limit was derived from the Department's
order DOE 5400.5 and a report of the National Council on Radiation
Protection and Measurements (NCRP).1
\1\ National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements
(NCRP), ``Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Aquatic Organisms,'' NCRP
Report No. 109 (August 30, 1991). Available for sale from the
National Council on Radiation, Protection and Measurements, 7910
Woodmont Avenue, Bethesda, MD 20814.
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A public hearing on proposed 10 CFR Part 834 was held on May 13,
1993 in Germantown, Maryland and the 60-day comment period closed on
June 22, 1993.
Comments received on Subpart F of the Proposed Rule regarding
aquatic organisms recommended expanding the rule to include terrestrial
biota (both plant and animal organisms) in order to provide consistent
regulation of radiation exposure to biota.
In June of 1994, DOE sponsored a Workshop on the Effects of
Ionizing Radiation on Terrestrial Plants and Animals. This workshop was
attended by experts in radioecology and ecological risk assessment. The
purpose of the workshop was twofold: (1) to review a 1992 International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report 2 on protecting terrestrial
plants and animals from radiation and (2) to determine if there was
sufficient information to support setting standards for protection of
terrestrial biota from ionizing radiation. The workshop resulted in a
published report summarizing its consensus findings and
conclusions.3
[[Page 6800]]
The workshop participants concluded that the 0.1 rad/day (0.001 Gray/
day) limit for terrestrial animals and the 1 rad/day (0.01 Gray/day)
limit for terrestrial plants recommended by the IAEA were adequately
supported by the available scientific literature. The participants
determined that existing data support the application of the dose
limits for populations of terrestrial organisms to representative
rather than maximally exposed individuals. Doses within the limits to
representative members of a population would not be expected to cause
adverse effects on such populations. Workshop participants further
agreed with the IAEA report that protecting humans generally protects
plants and animals except when: (1) Human access is restricted but
access by biota is not restricted, (2) unique exposure pathways exist
for plants and animals that do not affect exposure of humans, (3) rare
or endangered species are present, or (4) other stresses on the
population are significant. In such cases, site-specific evaluations
were recommended to ensure that plants and animals were being
protected.
\2\ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), ``Effects of
ionizing radiation on plants and animals at levels implied by
current radiation protection standards.'' IAEA Technical Report No.
332, Vienna:IAEA (1992), Available for sale from UNIPUB, Inc., 4611-
F Assembly Drive, Lantham, MD 20706-4391 (301-459-7666).
\3\ Barnthouse, L. W., ``Effects of Ionizing Radiation on
Terrestrial Plants and Animals: A Workshop Report.'' Martin Marietta
Energy Systems. Oak Ridge National Laboratory Report, ORNL/TM-13141
(December 1995). Copies are available for sale from the National
Technical Information Service (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road,
Springfield, VA 22161. This report is also available in the docket
for this rulemaking.
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On August 31, 1995, DOE published a Notice of Limited Reopening of
Comment Periods (60 FR 45381), corrected September 13, 1995 (60 FR
47498), of the draft final rule, 10 CFR Part 834 (the Notice), for
public review and comment. The Notice specifically requested comment on
Subpart F, ``Requirements for the Protection of Biota,'' concerning
dose limits for aquatic animals. The regulatory language made available
by the Notice reserved a section for requirements for the protection of
terrestrial plants and a section for the protection of terrestrial
animals. The comment period ended October 13, 1995.
Commenters on the dose limit in Subpart F agreed that populations
of aquatic animal organisms would be protected under the draft final
rule. Commenters also indicated, however, that similar protection for
terrestrial organisms should be developed under this rule and that the
currently reserved paragraphs, Sec. 843.232 for terrestrial plants and
Sec. 834.233 for terrestrial animals, be included in the current
rulemaking. The comments support the concepts in the current scientific
literature which are summarized in the 1992 IAEA Report No. 332 \2\ and
the DOE-sponsored workshop report.\3\
Based on comments received supporting the inclusion of terrestrial
plants and animals and the findings and conclusions of the Workshop on
the Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Terrestrial Plants and Animals,
the Department is considering the option of including in 10 CFR Part
834 a section, 834.232, which would contain dose limits for the
protection of terrestrial plants; a section, 834.233, which would
contain dose limits for the protection of terrestrial animals; and a
section, 834.234, which would require a demonstration of compliance.
The demonstration of compliance section would allow for a graded
approach for compliance with Secs. 834.231, 834.232, and 834.233 to
take into consideration various degrees of potential exposure of plants
and animals to radionuclides in the aquatic and terrestrial
environments. This approach recognizes the concept that if humans are
protected, aquatic and terrestrial biota are protected as well and that
special measures for protecting plants and animals are, therefore, not
needed under such conditions. However, in situations where (1) the
protection of humans is achieved by controlling access to contaminated
areas without commensurate restrictions of access by biota, (2) unique
exposure pathways exist for plants and animals that do not affect
exposure of humans, (3) rare or endangered species are present, or (4)
other stresses on the population are significant, additional
evaluations or measures may be required to protect biota.
Based on the similarity of approach between the methods of
regulating exposure to aquatic and terrestrial organisms, the
Department is considering the option of including the requirements for
protection of terrestrial organisms in the final rule in 10 CFR Part
834 at the same time as the final rule is issued.
Summary of Provisions for Protection of Biota
The Department is considering the option of including the following
provisions in Subpart F of proposed 10 CFR Part 834 for the Protection
of Biota. Under Sec. 834.231, aquatic animals would be protected by
requiring that a DOE activity shall be conducted in a manner such that
the absorbed dose to aquatic animals (e.g., fish, mollusk, crustacean
or any other aquatic invertebrate) would not exceed 1 rad (0.01 Gray)
per day from exposure to radiation or radioactive material released
into the aquatic environment.
Terrestrial plants, pursuant to Sec. 834.232, would be protected by
requiring that a DOE activity shall be conducted in a manner such that
the absorbed dose to terrestrial plants (e.g., fern, conifer, or
flowering plant) would not exceed 1 rad (0.01 Gray) per day from
exposure to radiation or radioactive material released into the
terrestrial environment.
Terrestrial animals, pursuant to Sec. 834.233, would be protected
by requiring that a DOE activity shall be conducted in a manner such
that the absorbed dose to terrestrial animals (e.g., amphibian,
reptile, bird, or mammal) would not exceed 0.1 rad (0.001 Gray) per day
from exposure to radiation or radioactive material released into the
terrestrial environment.
Compliance under Sec. 834.234(a) would be demonstrated by: (1)
estimating the absorbed dose to a representative aquatic or terrestrial
organism, or to models of hypothetical organisms chosen to represent
populations or whole communities of such organisms; (2) using secondary
effluent or environmental concentration-based screening criteria
derived by calculating doses to a representative organism; or (3)
meeting the conditions of Sec. 834.234(c). Site-specific analyses would
be required in some cases pursuant to Sec. 834.234(a)(1) and (2).
Endangered species under Sec. 834.234(b) would be protected (1) by
providing that, unless the conditions of Sec. 834.234(c) are met,
potential doses to a hypothetical maximally exposed plant or animal
shall be evaluated to confirm whether measures taken to protect
populations of non-endangered species would be adequate for the
protection of endangered species, or (2) if the requirements of
Sec. 834.234(b)(1) cannot be ensured, by implementing remedial
measures.
Pursuant to Sec. 834.234(c), no analysis of exposure to terrestrial
or aquatic biota would need to be performed if the potential exposure
to radionuclides in the aquatic or terrestrial environments were such
that a human could continuously inhabit the location of the
contaminated media, ingest the water and food grown on the media, and
the potential dose would not exceed the limit for members of the
general public (100 mrem or 1 mSv per year) in Subpart B of the
Proposed Rule, Sec. 834.101. If this dose limit is not exceeded, the
biota may be considered protected and no analysis of exposure to the
biota would need to be performed.
Request for Comments
Comments are invited on whether the proposed dose limits are
adequate to protect terrestrial and aquatic
[[Page 6801]]
organisms. In evaluating these limits, it should be noted that the
proposed dose limit for protection of members of the general public
(100 mrem or 1 mSv per year) is equivalent to 0.00027 rad per day and,
where exposure of humans can occur, would be far more restrictive than
the proposed dose limits for terrestrial or aquatic organisms. The
Department urges interested members of the public to comment on the
important issues discussed above. Comments submitted previously in
response to the Department's August 31, 1995 and September 13, 1995
Notices need not be resubmitted.
Issued in Washington, D.C. on February 15, 1996.
Tara O'Toole,
Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 96-4022 Filed 2-21-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
