NRC APPROVES GOVERNOR CERTIFICATIONS FOR CONTINUED 

REGULATION OF NEW BYPRODUCT MATERIALS 

 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved certifications by the governors of the 

agency’s 34 Agreement States that their states will continue to regulate certain radioactive 

materials placed under NRC’s authority by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 

 That law, signed by President Bush on Aug. 8, 2005, expanded the definition of 

“byproduct material” subject to NRC’s authority to include discrete sources of radium-226, 

material made radioactive in a particle accelerator, and other radioactive material that the 

Commission determines could pose a threat to public health and safety or the common defense 

and security. Previously, these materials were regulated by the states. 

 Although the legislation made NRC’s authority over these new materials effective 

immediately, the agency issued a waiver allowing states to continue to regulate them while the 

agency drafted regulations to implement the new requirements. The final rule implementing that 

authority takes effect Nov. 30. 

 In the certifications, the governors said their state programs for regulating radioactive 

material effectively cover the expanded definition of byproduct material and that they intend to 

continue regulating these materials. In approving the certifications, the NRC has determined that 

the state programs provide adequate protection of public health and safety and the environment, 

and that the existing agreements between NRC and these states cover the expanded definition of 

byproduct material. At the same time, the NRC is terminating the waivers for these states. Users 

of the newly added byproduct material currently licensed or registered by these states will 

continue to be subject to state regulatory authority. 

 “This is an important milestone in NRC’s implementation of the Energy Policy Act of 

2005 and reflects broad cooperation between our agency and our state partners in the effective 

regulation of radioactive material,” said NRC Chairman Dale E. Klein. 

 The 34 Agreement States whose certifications were approved today are Alabama, 

Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, 

Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New 

NRC NEWS

U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 

Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 

E-mail: opa@nrc.gov 

Site: http://www.nrc.gov

No. 07-161 November 30, 2007
Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, 

Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin. 

 NRC will assume authority over the newly defined byproduct material in the 16 nonAgreement States, federal agencies and recognized Indian tribes, the District of Columbia, 

Puerto Rico and U.S. territories and possessions in stages, as set out in the agency’s transition 

plan, which was published Oct. 19 in the Federal Register. 

 The transition plan, the state certifications and the NRC’s approvals of the certifications 

are available on the NRC Web site at this address: http://nrc-stp.ornl.gov/narmtoolbox.html. 

### 

 News releases are available through a free listserv subscription at the following Web address: 

http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/listserver.html . The NRC homepage at www.nrc.gov also offers a SUBSCRIBE 

link. E-mail notifications are sent to subscribers when news releases are posted to NRC's Web site.