UNITED STATES 

 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

 REGION I 

 2100 RENAISSANCE BOULEVARD, SUITE 100 

 KING OF PRUSSIA, PENNSYLVANIA 19406-2713

June 27, 2013 

Sheila Pinette, D.O., Director 

Maine Center for Disease Control 

 and Prevention 

286 Water Street 

11 State House Station 

Augusta, ME 04333-0011 

Dear Dr. Pinette: 

A periodic meeting with you and your staff was held on June 4, 2013. The purpose of this 

meeting was to review and discuss the status of the Maine Agreement State Program. The U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was represented by Daniel Collins, Duncan White, and 

me. 

I have completed and enclosed a general meeting summary, including any specific actions 

resulting from the discussions. A Management Review Board (MRB) meeting to discuss the 

outcome of the periodic meeting has been scheduled for July 9, 2013 at 2:00pm. Call in 

information for the MRB will be provided in a separate transmission. 

If you feel that our conclusions do not accurately summarize the meeting discussion, or have 

any additional remarks about the meeting in general, please contact me at (610) 337-5214 or 

via e-mail at Monica.Orendi@nrc.gov to discuss your concerns. 

 Sincerely, 

 /RA/ 

 Monica Lynn Orendi 

 Regional State Agreements Officer 

 Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 

 U.S. NRC Region I 

Enclosure: 

Periodic Meeting Summary for Maine 

cc w/encl.: Jay Hyland, Manager 

 Maine Radiation Control Program 

 

 
June 27, 2013 

Sheila Pinette, D.O., Director 

Maine Center for Disease Control 

 and Prevention 

286 Water Street 

11 State House Station 

Augusta, ME 04333-0011 

Dear Dr. Pinette: 

A periodic meeting with you and your staff was held on June 4, 2013. The purpose of this 

meeting was to review and discuss the status of the Maine Agreement State Program. The U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) was represented by Daniel Collins, Duncan White and 

me. 

I have completed and enclosed a general meeting summary, including any specific actions 

resulting from the discussions. A Management Review Board (MRB) meeting to discuss the 

outcome of the periodic meeting has been scheduled for July 9, 2013 at 2:00pm. Call in 

information for the MRB will be provided in a separate transmission. 

If you feel that our conclusions do not accurately summarize the meeting discussion, or have 

any additional remarks about the meeting in general, please contact me at (610) 337-5214 or 

via e-mail at Monica.Orendi@nrc.gov to discuss your concerns. 

 Sincerely, 

 /RA/ 

 Monica Lynn Orendi 

 Regional State Agreements Officer 

 Division of Nuclear Materials Safety 

 U.S. NRC Region I 

Enclosure: 

Periodic Meeting Summary for Maine 

cc w/encl.: Jay Hyland, Manager 

 Maine Radiation Control Program 

Distribution: 

M. Beardsley, FSME L. Dimmick, FSME K. Meyer, FSME D. White, FSME 

P. Henderson, FSME B. McDermott, FSME R. Lorson, RI D. Collins, RI 

D. Janda, RI M. Orendi, RI 

SUNSI Review Complete: MLO (Reviewers Initials) 

S:\State Agreement Files\Maine\June 4 2013 Periodic meeting Summary and Transmittal letter.docx

After declaring this document An Official Agency Record it will be released to the Public. 

To receive a copy of this document, indicate in the box: "C" = Copy without attachment/enclosure "E" = Copy with 

attachment/enclosure "N" = No copy ML13183A266 

OFFICE DNMS/RI E 

NAME MOrendi/mlo 

DATE 06/27/13 

 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
 

 

Enclosure 

AGREEMENT STATE PERIODIC MEETING SUMMARY FOR 

MAINE DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH 

 RADIATION CONTROL PROGRAM 

DATE OF MEETING: June 4, 2013 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission 

(NRC) Attendees 

Maine Division of Environmental Health 

Attendees 

Monica Orendi, RSAO, Region I Jay Hyland, Manager 

Daniel Collins, Deputy Division Director, 

Region I 

Jean Geslin, Radioactive Materials Inspector 

Duncan White, Branch Chief, Office of 

Federal and State Materials and 

Environmental Management Programs 

(FSME) 

Tom Hillman, Radioactive Materials Inspector 

 Sheila Pinette, D.O., Director Center for Disease 

Control and Prevention (at exit only) 

DISCUSSION: 

During the 2011 Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program (IMPEP) review of the 

Maine Agreement State Program (the Program), the review team found the State’s performance 

satisfactory for all performance indicators reviewed. The review team made three 

recommendations. On July 21, 2011, the Management Review Board (MRB) met to consider 

the proposed final IMPEP report on the Maine Agreement State Program. The MRB determined 

that Maine’s performance for the indicator Technical Staffing and Training was satisfactory but 

needs improvement and all other indicators were found to be satisfactory. The MRB found the 

Program adequate to protect public health and safety and compatible with NRC’s program. 

Based on the results of the IMPEP review, the review team recommended, and the MRB 

agreed, that the next full IMPEP review take place in four years and that a periodic meeting be 

held in approximately two years. 

TOPICS COVERED DURING THE MEETING INCLUDED:

Program Strengths

The Program noted several strengths. The program manager stated that the program staff is 

very dedicated and works well together. There is also good managerial support at the program 

level and above. The Program has good administrative support. The Program has NRC’s 

license tracking system (LTS) installed and has plans to have a training webinar provided by 

FSME. 
Maine Periodic Meeting Summary 2 

Enclosure 

Program Weaknesses

The program manager stated that the Program’s weakness is that their data is located in 

several different places. Data going back to the beginning of the Program is located in hard 

copy files. The Program also has digital copies going back approximately two years. There are 

also a number of databases for tracking licenses by type, inspection frequency, and user. The 

program manager stated that much of the data is tracked by hard copy in order to close out a 

recommendation being evaluated during the 2011 IMPEP and because of data entry errors. 

The program manager is hopeful that once LTS is properly implemented it will help to decrease 

the amount of time and effort that is now being expended on data entry and review. 

Feedback on the NRC’s Program

The Program commented that both the overall relationship and communications with the NRC 

are good. The Program also expressed its appreciation for the NRC training classes and stated 

that the training instructors are very knowledgeable. Last, the program manager discussed 

Maine’s appreciation for the IMPEP process. The manager stated that IMPEP is a model 

program and the State welcomes both the periodic meetings and the IMPEP reviews. The 

Program feels that the IMPEP process also helps raise managerial awareness of the Program. 

Agreement State Program Staffing and Training

The Program currently consists of two filled technical staff positions, one vacant technical staff 

position, and a program manager. With the vacancy the Program comprises approximately 2.4 

full time equivalents (FTE); however, when the vacancy is filled the Program will be composed 

of 3.2 FTE. The vacancy was created when the only fully qualified staff member retired on short 

notice in September 2012. 

The program manager is a fully qualified license reviewer and inspector. The program manager 

performed one inspection with one of the new staff in January 2013. The program manager 

also reviews licensing documents produced by the staff. The two technical staff are still going 

through the qualification process and are only qualified for lower priority inspections such as 

portable and fixed gauges and small medical facilities. 

Support for staff training exists in the Program. Maine has been utilizing NRC’s training courses 

to support the qualifications of the technical staff. The 2011 IMPEP had one recommendation in 

this indicator. The recommendation and status are below. 

Recommendation 1: The review team recommends that the State develop and implement a 

strategy to address current and future staffing vacancies in order to maintain the effectiveness 

and efficiency of the Program. 

Status: The program manager stated that in order to address the recommendation, the 

Program’s original plan was to move the staff member over from the State’s low level waste 

program to the radioactive materials program when the individual returned from military duty in 

order to try and address this recommendation. This staff member was moved to the program in 

September 2011. The program manager stated that by doing this, the hope was to increase the 

Program’s FTE from 2.4 to 3.2 when the vacant staff position left unfilled by the hiring freeze 

was finally able to be filled. The Program was able to fill that vacant position in June 2012 and 

increase the Program’s FTE to 3.2. However, the unexpected departure of a staff member in 

September 2012 has caused the Program to return to 2.4 FTE. The vacant position created by 
Maine Periodic Meeting Summary 3 

Enclosure 

the September 2012 retirement is unable to be filled at this time due to a hiring freeze. Thus the 

increase in FTE has not yet been realized. 

Organization

The Maine Agreement State Program is located in the Radiation Control Program which is 

located in the Division of Environmental Health in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention 

under the Department for Health and Human Services. 

Program Budget/Funding

The Program is 100 percent fee funded. Maine recently increased its fees and now charges 50 

percent of NRC fees from 2009. The funds are placed into a dedicated fund for the Radioactive 

Materials Program. Although the money is placed into a dedicated fund money can be taken 

out of the fund by one of three ways: 1) stacap, which is a 3.45% tax that is assessed monthly 

on the account and goes into the general fund, 2) dicap, which allows the Maine Department of 

Health and Human Services to take money out of the account every month based on FTE, it 

amounts to approximately $8,100.00 per FTE per year, and 3) a change in legislation, which is 

rare. The program manager stated that currently money from the general fund is being used to 

cover the costs of the Program in order to help with a deficit that occurred before the fee 

increase was enacted. 

Licensing and Inspection Programs

The Program currently has approximately 125 specific licenses. The Program has completed 

111 licensing actions since the May 2011 IMPEP. The technical staff has signature authority for 

all types of licensing actions. All completed licensing actions undergo a peer or managerial 

review before being signed and issued. 

All of the Program’s inspection frequencies are performed at the same frequency as the NRC’s. 

At the time of the periodic meeting, the Program reported that of the 125 licensees, it has 6 

licensees implementing the Increased Controls and Fingerprinting requirements. The program 

manager also stated that the Program was composed largely of Priority 5 licensees and that 

only 19 percent fell into the Priority 1, 2, and 3 categories. The Program also reported that it 

had 14 overdue Priority 1, 2, and 3 inspections by more than 25 percent of the inspection 

frequency since the last IMPEP review. The Program has performed five priority 1, 2, and 3 

inspections since the last IMPEP review. The program manager stated that it was decided that 

the Program would take a hit in the area of overdue inspections in order to allow the two 

technical staff to become fully qualified inspectors. The program manager stated that the two 

technical staff should be fully qualified by August and they will then work on taking care of the 

backlog of overdue inspections. Once the backlog is taken care of the Program will focus on 

performing inspections in accordance with their assigned inspection priority. 

The Program believes that it completed one initial inspection since the last IMPEP; however, it 

was completed by the staff member who retired in September 2012 and documentation of the 

inspection cannot be found. The program manager stated that they may need to go out and 

repeat this inspection. It was noted that this was a Priority 1 licensee and the initial inspection 

was originally due by May 22, 2012. If the original initial inspection was completed the Program 

would need to complete an inspection of this licensee by no later than August 22, 2013, in order 

to keep from going overdue by more than 25 percent of the Priority 1 inspection frequency. 

Therefore an inspection needs to be completed in the near future whether paperwork from the 
Maine Periodic Meeting Summary 4 

Enclosure 

initial inspection is found or not. The Program also has two additional initial inspections, that are 

not currently overdue, that need to be completed. 

The Program received 58 reciprocity notifications from 24 reciprocity licensees since the last 

IMPEP. The Program has completed one reciprocity inspection, which the Program believes 

was either a priority 3 or a priority 5 licensee, since the last IMPEP review. 

The 2011 IMPEP review generated one recommendation in this indicator. The recommendation 

and its status are below. 

Recommendation 2: The review team recommends that annual supervisor accompaniments 

be performed for each radioactive materials staff member to ensure quality and consistency 

within the program. 

Status: The program manager accompanied the one fully qualified inspector in calendar year 

2011 but did not accompany this individual before they retired in September 2012. The program 

manager has not performed any annual supervisory accompaniments to date in calendar year 

2013. The program manager stated during the periodic meeting that the two technical staff 

going through their qualifications have been signed off to perform certain lower priority 

inspections based on completion of training, prior work experience, observations from 

accompaniments performed by the senior inspector (before his retirement), and the program 

manager’s review of their inspection work products. The program manager has not included 

field observations of the inspectors in his decision to qualify his staff to perform lower priority 

inspections. 

Regulations and Legislative Changes

The Program is designated as the State's radiation control agency. No legislation affecting the 

Program was passed since the last IMPEP review and the Program is not subject to sunset 

requirements. 

The Maine Regulations for Control of Radiation, found in Maine Administrative Rules 10-144A 

CMR 220, apply to all ionizing radiation. Maine requires a license for possession and use of all 

radioactive material, including naturally occurring materials, and accelerator produced 

radionuclides. Maine also requires registration of all equipment designed to produce X-rays or 

other ionizing radiation. 

At the time of the periodic meeting, there were no NRC amendments overdue for adoption. 

However, it was noted by the May 2011 IMPEP review team that the final published rules 

submitted for NRC review in March 2010 generated 22 NRC comments. The review team made 

a recommendation based on this finding. The recommendation and its status are listed below. 

Recommendation 3: The review team recommends that the State expedite action to address 

the comments identified in NRC letters dated August 31, 2006, and June 18, 2010, to 

promulgate and complete changes to the State regulations. 

Status: The Program manager stated that staff is working on addressing the comments made 

by the NRC in its letters dated August 31, 2006 and June 18, 2010. The Program hopes to 

have the changes incorporated by the end of calendar year 2013. 

 
Maine Periodic Meeting Summary 5 

Enclosure 

Event Reporting

The Program has had no reportable events since the last IMPEP review. The Program has had 

five scrap metal alarms and 15 solid waste alarms, which were all non-reportable events, since 

the May 2011 IMPEP. 

Response to Incidents and Allegations

The Program is aware of the need to maintain an effective response to incidents and 

allegations. When notified of an incident, the radioactive materials staff in the Program will be 

assigned to investigate and document the incident and determine if the event requires a call to 

the NRC Headquarters Operations Center. The inspector is responsible for recording the event 

in the Nuclear Materials Events Database (NMED) local incident database and transferring 

updates to the NRC’s contractor responsible for maintaining NMED. Since the last IMPEP 

review, the Program has received no allegations. 

During the periodic meeting, the Program’s follow-up to a 2011 incident involving an NRC 

licensee, working under reciprocity in Maine, was discussed. The issue was identified when the 

material reached its destination at the NRC service provider licensee’s offices in Idaho. The 

Maine Program was notified by the NRC of the incident and the Program conducted appropriate 

immediate follow-up at the hospital where the service provider licensee performed its work. 

That follow-up ensured that the hospital facility was not contaminated and that there was no 

adverse effect on public health and safety. The program manager stated that the Program’s 

consideration of potential enforcement actions against the licensee is still on going. 

Sealed Source and Device Evaluation (SS&D)

At the time of the May 2011 IMPEP, no SS&D certificates had been issued by the Program and 

there were no manufacturers of SS&Ds in the State. Accordingly, the IMPEP team did not 

review this indicator. During the periodic meeting the program manger stated that a 

manufacturer and distributor (M&D) had located itself in Maine and had submitted an SS&D 

sheet for approval to the Program on May 31, 2013. The program manager stated that the New 

England States have signed the New England Radiological Health Compact so the Program is 

able to utilize expertise in another State to help perform the SS&D review and approval. The 

program manager stated that Maine has decided to initially receive help from Massachusetts. 

The Program plans to use Massachusetts to perform the SS&D reviews until such time as the 

Program can get one or both staff qualified. The Program is planning to send at least one staff 

member to the SS&D course being held in the spring of 2014 and also has plans to send that 

staff person to Massachusetts to obtain additional training. Currently the M&D licensee who 

submitted the SS&D sheet only has plans to submit that one sheet. However the M&D licensee 

did express to the Program that they hope to obtain other contracts and may need to submit 

additional SS&D’s in the future. 

State’s Mechanisms to Evaluate Performance

A Performance Management System is being rolled out for the entire Maine Center for Disease 

Control and Prevention. The Program will use information from the IMPEP questionnaire as 

performance measures that will be input into this new system on a regular basis. The system is 

in the process of being created and the Program expects it will be rolled out by the end of 

calendar year 2013. The Program has no other currently utilized internal mechanisms to 

routinely evaluate performance. 
Maine Periodic Meeting Summary 6 

Enclosure 

CONCLUSIONS: 

The Maine Agreement State Program has shown declining performance since the May 2011 

IMPEP review. This decline in performance is largely due to the retirement of the only fully 

qualified technical staff member in September 2012. Since the last IMPEP two new technical 

staff members have joined the Program and there is currently one vacancy that cannot be filled 

due to a hiring freeze. The Program has 14 inspections of priority 1, 2, and 3 overdue by more 

than 25 percent of their inspection due date. In addition the Program has performed only one 

reciprocity inspection of the 24 reciprocity licensees. Supervisory accompaniments of the 

current staff have not been completed by the program manager and staff is being considered 

qualified without having had a supervisory field observation of their inspection skills. 

Prior to concluding the periodic meeting, the NRC representatives met with Dr. Sheila Pinette, 

Director of the Maine CDC. During that discussion, which was attended by the Program 

manager and staff, concerns regarding the staff qualifications and status of inspections were 

discussed. Dr. Pinette expressed her full support for ensuring that these concerns are 

addressed and the program regains compliance with NRC program requirements. 

Based on the above, NRC staff recommends that the Maine Agreement State Program be 

placed on Monitoring. Additionally the staff recommends that the Program create a program 

improvement plan, that quarterly status calls between the NRC and the Program be conducted, 

that a periodic meeting be held in May 2014, and that the next IMPEP review of the Maine 

Agreement State Program be conducted as scheduled in May 2015.