[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 99 (Monday, May 24, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28014-28015]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-13020]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Proposed Grant Program for Agreement States for Formerly NRC-
Licensed Sites; Public Comment
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is seeking stakeholder
views on a proposal to pursue a separate appropriation from the General
Fund. The separate appropriation would make funds available through a
grant program to assist Agreement States in completing file reviews,
and remediation in certain cases, for sites formerly licensed by the
NRC. Based on review of files for previously terminated licenses, the
NRC has identified a number of sites for which there is insufficient
documentation on site decommissioning or sealed source disposition. If
the site is located in an Agreement State, any radioactive material
present at the site is subject to Agreement State regulatory
jurisdiction.
DATES: Submit written comments by June 18, 1999. Comments received
after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the
NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or
before this date.
ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to: Chief, Rules and Directives
Branch, Mail Stop: T6-d59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001 or by Internet electronic mail at
[email protected]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dennis Sollenberger, Office of State
Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-
0001, by telephone 301-415-2819 or by Internet electronic mail at
[email protected]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The NRC has been reviewing files for previously terminated licenses
to determine whether there was appropriate documentation in the files
that the sites were adequately decontaminated prior to termination of
the license and release of the site. This project was initiated in 1977
for licenses terminated prior to 1965. Subsequent effort was initiated
in 1989 for licenses terminated after 1965, which was later expanded to
include all terminated licenses. A number of files have been identified
for which there is insufficient documentation about site
decommissioning or sealed source disposition.
Radioactive material remaining at a site located within an
Agreement State, including material originally licensed by the NRC or
its predecessor, is the regulatory responsibility of the Agreement
State. Therefore, an Agreement State has jurisdiction for license file
reviews, initial site investigations, and remediation of any sites
identified as being contaminated, and any sites where the file has
inadequate accounting of sealed sources.
Discussion
The NRC staff has analyzed options relating to NRC formerly
licensed sites located in Agreement States. This
[[Page 28015]]
information is set out in Commission Paper--SECY-28-273, ``Potential
Funding Assistance for Agreement States for Closure of Formerly
Terminated NRC Licenses'' dated November 20, 1998. In this paper, the
NRC staff reports on Agreement State and NRC staff actions and presents
options and recommendations for funding Agreement States' efforts in
addressing this issue.
The Commission responded to this paper through issuance of a Staff
Requirement Memorandum (SRM) for SECY-98-273. In this memorandum, the
Commission approved the NRC staff recommendation to continue Agreement
State jurisdiction over formerly licensed sites and to develop a grant
program to make funds available to Agreement States for file review and
remediation in certain cases. The recommended option is to pursue a
separate appropriation from the General Fund. This separate
appropriation, if approved, would fund Agreement States, through
grants, to assist in completing file reviews and the remediation of
formerly NRC-licensed sites in certain cases. Such cases include sites
when no responsible party can be located, or the responsible party does
not have the resources to conduct the remediation, and the site does
not qualify for cleanup under the Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act.
In the SRM for SECY-98-273, the Commission directed the staff to
seek stakeholder views before pursuing a General Fund appropriation.
Public comments are requested on:
The option of pursuing a separate appropriation from the
General Fund to establish a fund for use by Agreement States through
grants to assist in file reviews and, when necessary, the remediation
of formerly NRC-license sites.
Aspects that should be considered in development of a
decision framework that describes how NRC would allocate the
appropriated funds, if approved, to individual Agreement States.
Aspects that NRC should consider in development of a grant
program for providing funds, if approved, to individual Agreement
States to ensure a relatively fair and equitable allocation of
available funds. For example, the funds could be provided to individual
Agreement States based on the estimated cost for each site to comply
with a 25 millirem/year public dose standard. Additional risk-ranking
of the sites may also be necessary in the event that appropriated funds
are less than requested.
Additional information on cost estimates for site
remediation (See cost estimates stated in SECY-28-273. Also see all
Agreement States letter SP-99-016.)
The above three documents, SECY-28-273, SRM-SECY-28-273 and SP-99-
016, are available on the NRC homepage at: http://www.hsrd.ornl.gov/
nrc/agstates/program/sp99016.pdf
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 18th day of May 1999.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Paul H. Lohaus,
Director, Office of State Programs.
[FR Doc. 99-13020 Filed 5-21-99; 8:45 am]
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