March 1, 2002

The Honorable James T. Walsh, Chairman

Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, HUD, and

 Independent Agencies

Committee on Appropriations

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

 I am writing on behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to report on the status

of the development of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the NRC and the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), concerning remediation of sites under NRC regulatory

authority and avoidance of dual regulation. In my letter to you of November 29, 2001, I

committed to providing a further status report. 

 The NRC staff has had several discussions with EPA since our last report to try to

reconcile our differences, and I believe we have made progress in completing the MOU. Staff

of both agencies propose an MOU which includes a table of soil concentrations for naturallyoccurring radionuclides associated with nuclear fuel cycle facilities which, if satisfied, would

allow EPA to defer to NRC. We are continuing to work on expanding the scope of the MOU to

include additional radionuclides that are key to the decommissioning of reactor sites. 

Agreement on appropriate concentrations for these additional radionuclides is needed to

minimize dual regulation at reactor sites and to ensure consistency with the Commissionís

direction. Although it remains unclear if EPAís prior concerns on statutory impediments will

impede finalization of the MOU, the Commission believes it is worthwhile to continue work with

EPA on this issue. I will report to you by May 31, 2002, on the status of our efforts to complete

a final MOU. 

 If you desire additional information or clarification, please contact me. 

Sincerely,

/RA/

Richard A. Meserve

cc: Representative Alan B. Mollohan
Identical letter sent to:

The Honorable James T. Walsh, Chairman

Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, HUD, and

 Independent Agencies

Committee on Appropriations

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

cc: Representative Alan B. Mollohan

The Honorable Joe Barton, Chairman

Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality

Committee on Energy and Commerce

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

cc: Representative Rick Boucher

The Honorable W.J. ìBillyî Tauzin, Chairman

Committee on Energy and Commerce

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

cc: Representative John D. Dingell

The Honorable James M. Jeffords

Committee on Environment and Public Works

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

cc: Senator Bob Smith

The Honorable Sonny Callahan, Chairman

Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

Committee on Appropriations

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

cc: Representative Peter J. Visclosky

The Honorable Harry Reid, Chairman

Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

cc: Senator Pete V. Domenici

The Honorable Henry Hyde, Chairman

Committee on International Relations

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

cc: Representative Tom Lantos
-3-

Identical letter sent to: (contd)

The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Chairman

Committee on Foreign Relations

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

cc: Senator Jesse Helms

The Honorable Harry Reid, Chairman

Subcommittee on Transportation, Infrastructure,

 and Nuclear Safety

Committee on Environment and Public Works

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

cc: Senator James M. Inhofe

The Honorable Roscoe Bartlett, Chairman

Subcommittee on Energy

Committee on Science

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

cc: Representative Lynn Woolsey

The Honorable Joseph I. Lieberman, Chairman

Committee on Governmental Affairs

United States Senate

Washington, D.C. 20510

cc: Senator Fred Thompson

The Honorable Dan Burton, Chairman

Committee on Government Reform 

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

cc: Representative Henry Waxman