[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 92 (Thursday, May 13, 1999)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 25863-25864]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12159]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 194
[FRL-63423]
RIN 2060-AG85
Inspection Date at Idaho National Engineering and Environmental
Laboratory and Availability of Waste Characterization and Quality
Assurance Program Documents Applicable to Transuranic Radioactive Waste
at the Nevada Test Site Proposed for Disposal at the Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of availability; opening of public comment period.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the
date for an upcoming inspection of the Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). The inspection will be conducted the
week of May 17, 1999. Additional information on the INEEL inspection,
including the announcement of a public comment period on relevant site
documents, was previously published on April 16, 1999, at 64 FR 18870.
EPA is also announcing the availability of, and soliciting public
comments for 30 days on, Department of Energy (DOE) documents on waste
characterization and quality assurance programs applicable to
transuranic (TRU) radioactive waste at the Nevada Test Site (NTS)
proposed for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The
documents are: ``Bechtel Nevada Transuranic Waste Characterization
Quality Assurance Project Plan, L-E10.301.LWC, May 1998'' (hereafter
NTS TRU QAPjP); ``Nevada Test Site Transuranic Waste Certification and
Quality Assurance Plan, B-A20/97.03, Revision 0, 2/4/98'' (hereafter
NTS Certification Plan); ``Mobile Characterization Services (MCS)
Transuranic Waste Characterization Program Quality Assurance Project
Plan, MCS-102, Rev. B, 10/21/98'' (hereafter MCS TRU QAPjP); and
``TRUtech Team Mobile Systems Program Transuranic Waste
Characterization Quality Assurance Project Plan, TT-DOC-001, August 17,
1998'' (hereafter TRUtech TRU QAPjP). These documents are available for
review in the public dockets listed in ADDRESSES. The EPA will use
these documents to evaluate waste characterization systems and
processes and the quality assurance program at NTS. In accordance with
[[Page 25864]]
EPA's WIPP Compliance Criteria at 40 CFR 194.8, EPA will conduct an
inspection of waste characterization systems and processes and an audit
of the quality assurance program at NTS the week of June 7, 1999, to
verify that these programs can properly control the characterization of
transuranic waste at issue, consistent with the Compliance Criteria.
This notice of the inspection and comment period accords with 40 CFR
194.8.
DATES: The EPA is requesting public comment on the Nevada Test Site
documents as they apply to the scope of the inspection announced in
this notice. Comments must be received by EPA's official Air Docket on
or before June 14, 1999.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted to: Docket No. A-98-49, Air
Docket, Room M-1500 (LE-131), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 401
M Street, SW, Washington, DC, 20460.
The DOE documents (NTS TRU QAPjP, NTS Certification Plan, MCS TRU
QAPjP, and TRUtech TRU QAPjP) are available for review in the official
EPA Air Docket in Washington, D.C., Docket No. A-98-49, Category II-A-
2, and at the following three EPA WIPP informational docket locations
in New Mexico: in Carlsbad at the Municipal Library, Hours: Monday-
Thursday, 10am-9pm, Friday-Saturday, 10am-6pm, and Sunday, 1pm-5pm; in
Albuquerque at the Government Publications Department, Zimmerman
Library, University of New Mexico, Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8am-9pm,
Friday, 8am-5pm, Saturday-Sunday, 1pm-5pm; and in Santa Fe at the
Fogelson Library, College of Santa Fe, Hours: Monday-Thursday, 8am-
12pm, Friday, 8am-5pm, Saturday, 9am-5pm, and Sunday, 1pm-9pm.
Copies of items in the docket may be requested by writing Docket A-
98-49 at the address provided above, or by calling (202) 260-7548. As
provided in EPA's regulations at 40 CFR Part 2, and in accordance with
normal EPA docket procedures, a reasonable fee may be charged for
photocopying.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Oliver, Office of Radiation and
Indoor Air, (202) 564-9732, or call EPA's 24-hour, toll-free WIPP
Information Line, 1-800-331-WIPP, or visit our website at http://
www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp/announce.html.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: General background for this notice is
identical to that provided in previous Federal Register notices. (See
64 FR 18870, 14418)
The Nevada Test Site (NTS) documents submitted by DOE to EPA are:
NTS TRU QAPjP, NTS Certification Plan, MCS TRU QAPjP, and TRUtech TRU
QAPjP (see SUMMARY for full titles). The NTS TRU QAPjP, MCS TRU QAPjP,
and TRUtech TRU QAPjP set forth the quality assurance program applied
to TRU waste characterization at NTS. The NTS Certification Plan sets
forth the waste characterization procedures for TRU wastes at NTS.
After EPA reviews these documents, EPA will conduct an inspection of
NTS the week of June 7, 1999, to determine whether the requirements set
forth in these documents are being adequately implemented in accordance
with Conditions 2 and 3 of the EPA's WIPP certification decision
(Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 194). In accordance with Sec. 194.8 of the
WIPP compliance criteria, EPA is providing the public 30 days to
comment on the documents placed in EPA's docket relevant to the site
approval process.
If EPA determines that the provisions in the documents are
adequately implemented, EPA will notify the DOE by letter and place the
letter in the official Air Docket in Washington, D.C., and in the
informational docket locations in New Mexico. A positive approval
letter will allow DOE to ship TRU waste from NTS to the WIPP. The EPA
will not make a determination of compliance prior to the inspection or
before the 30-day comment period has closed.
Information on the EPA's radioactive waste disposal standards (40
CFR Part 191), the compliance criteria (40 CFR Part 194), and the EPA's
certification decision is filed in the official EPA Air Docket, Dockets
No. R-89-01, A-92-56, and A-93-02, respectively, and is available for
review in Washington, D.C., and at the three EPA WIPP informational
docket locations in New Mexico. The dockets in New Mexico contain only
major items from the official Air Docket in Washington, D.C., plus
those documents added to the official Air Docket after the October 1992
enactment of the WIPP LWA.
Dated: May 7, 1999.
Robert Perciasepe,
Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation.
[FR Doc. 99-12159 Filed 5-12-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
