46624 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 

Conservation Act of 1978, Public Law 

95–541. 

SUMMARY: The National Science 

Foundation (NSF) is required to publish 

notice of permit applications received to 

conduct activities regulated under the 

Antarctic Conservation Act of 1978. 

NSF has published regulations under 

the Antarctic Conservation Act at Title 

45 Part 670 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations. This is the required notice 

of permit applications received. 

DATES: Interested parties are invited to 

submit written data, comments, or 

views with respect to this permit 

application by October 13, 2009. This 

application may be inspected by 

interested parties at the Permit Office, 

address below. 

ADDRESSES: Comments should be 

addressed to Permit Office, Room 755, 

Office of Polar Programs, National 

Science Foundation, 4201 Wilson 

Boulevard, Arlington, Virginia 22230. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Nadene G. Kennedy at the above 

address or (703) 292–7405. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

National Science Foundation, as 

directed by the Antarctic Conservation 

Act of 1978 (Pub. L. 95–541), as 

amended by the Antarctic Science, 

Tourism and Conservation Act of 1996, 

has developed regulations for the 

establishment of a permit system for 

various activities in Antarctica and 

designation of certain animals and 

certain geographic areas as requiring 

special protection. The regulations 

establish such a permit system to 

designate Antarctic Specially Protected 

Areas. 

The applications received are as 

follows: 

1. Applicant, Permit Application No. 

2010–010, Christopher A. Linder, 6548 

31st Ave., NE., Seattle, WA 98115. 

Activity for Which Permit Is Requested 

Enter Antarctic Specially Protected 

Areas. The applicant plans to enter Cape 

Crozier (ASPA 124) and New College 

Valley, Caughley Beach, Cape Bird 

(ASPA 116) to take still photographs, 

video and audio recordings to document 

the natural history of the South Polar 

Skuas nesting in these two locations 

near penguin rookeries. 

Location 

Cape Crozier (ASPA 124) and New 

College Valley, Caughley Beach, Cape 

Bird (ASPA 116). 

Dates 

December 1, 2009 to January 31, 2010. 

Nadene G. Kennedy, 

Permit Officer, Office of Polar Programs. 

[FR Doc. E9–21728 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7555–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 030–34325; NRC–2009–0392] 

Notice of Environmental Assessment 

Related to the Issuance of a License 

Amendment to Master Materials 

License 03–23853–01va, for 

Unrestricted Release of Two Buildings 

at Veterans Affairs Facility in Iowa City, 

IA 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Issuance of Environmental 

Assessment and Finding of No 

Significant Impact for License 

Amendment. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Katie Streit, Health Physicist, Materials 

Control, ISFSI, and Decommissioning 

Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 

Safety, Region III, U.S. Nuclear 

Regulatory Commission, 2443 

Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532; 

Telephone: (630) 829–9621; fax number: 

(630) 515–1259; or by e-mail at 

Katherine.Streit@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) is proposing to 

amend a materials permit held under 

Master Byproduct Materials License No. 

03–23853–01VA. The permit is held by 

the Department of Veterans Affairs (the 

Licensee), for its Veteran Affairs (VA) 

Medical Center located in Iowa City, 

Iowa. Issuance of the amendment would 

authorize release of Buildings 3 and 28 

(the Facilities) for unrestricted use. The 

Licensee will continue its operation of 

other facilities under this permit and its 

master materials license. The Licensee 

requested this action in a letter dated 

March 19, 2009 (ML090910183). The 

NRC has prepared an Environmental 

Assessment (EA) in support of this 

proposed action in accordance with the 

requirements of Title 10, Code of 

Federal Regulations (CFR), Part 51 (10 

CFR Part 51). Based on the EA, the NRC 

has concluded that a Finding of No 

Significant Impact (FONSI) is 

appropriate with respect to the 

proposed action. The amendment will 

be issued to the Licensee following the 

publication of this FONSI and EA in the 

Federal Register. 

II. Environmental Assessment 

Identification of Proposed Action 

The proposed action would approve 

the Licensee’s March 19, 2009, materials 

permit amendment request, resulting in 

release of the Facilities for unrestricted 

use. License No. 03–23853–01VA was 

issued on March 17, 2003, pursuant to 

10 CFR Parts 30 and 35, and has been 

amended periodically since that time. 

This master license authorizes the 

Licensee to use byproduct materials at 

several Licensee facilities around the 

country, as authorized on a site-specific 

basis by permits issued by the 

Licensee’s National Radiation Safety 

Committee. Under the license, the 

permits authorize the use of by-product 

materials for various medical and 

veterinary purposes, and for portable 

gauges. 

Under the master materials license 

permit, buildings 3 and 28 were used as 

two research labs located at the VA 

Medical Center in Iowa City, IA. 

Building 3 is a two-story building 

containing 28301 gross square feet of 

space. Building 28 is a one-story 

building containing 6099 gross square 

feet of space. Radioactive materials were 

used for non-medical research starting 

in 1980 for Building 3 and in 1987 for 

Building 28. Both buildings contained 

research laboratories, office space, and 

other mechanical support areas. 

Building 3 additionally contained 

laboratory ventilation exhaust fans, 

chemical diffusers, and storage space. 

The licensee ceased licensed activities 

at the Facilities in the spring of 2007 

and conducted a final status survey and 

decontamination of the facilities in 

August 2007. 

Based on the licensee’s historical 

knowledge of the site and the conditions 

of Buildings 3 and 28, the licensee 

determined that only routine 

decontamination activities, in 

accordance with their NRC approved, 

operating radiation safety procedures, 

were required. The licensee was not 

required to submit a decommissioning 

plan the NRC because worker cleanup 

activities and procedures are consistent 

with those approved for routine 

operations. The licensee conducted 

surveys of Buildings 3 and 28 and 

provided information to the NRC to 

demonstrate that Buildings 3 and 28 

meet the criteria in Subpart E of 10 CFR 

Part 20 for unrestricted release. 

Need for the Proposed Action 

The licensee has ceased conducting 

licensed activities at the facilities, and 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 46625 

seeks the unrestricted use of Buildings 

3 and 28. 

Environmental Impacts of the Proposed 

Actions 

The historical review of the licensed 

research activities conducted in 

Buildings 3 and 28 shows that the 

following radionuclides with half-lives 

greater than 120 days were used: 

Hydrogen-3, Carbon-14, Sodium-22, 

Calcium-45, Cobalt-57, Cadmium-109, 

Gadolinium-151 and Gadolinium-153. 

Prior to performing the final status 

survey, the Licensee conducted 

decontamination activities, as 

necessary, in the areas of Buildings 3 

and 28 affected by these radionuclides. 

The licensee conducted a final status 

survey during August 2007 

(Agencywide Documents Access and 

Management System (ADAMS) 

Accession No. ML090910316, 

ML090910669, ML090910721, 

ML090910727). The final status survey 

report was attached to the Licensee’s 

amendment request dated March 19, 

2009. The licensee elected to 

demonstrate compliance with the 

radiological criteria for unrestricted use 

as specified in 10 CFR 20.1402 by 

setting the Derived Concentration 

Guideline Limits (DCGLs) to the surface 

contamination levels in unrestricted 

areas as described in NUREG–1556, 

‘‘Consolidated Guidance About Material 

Licenses’’ Volume 9, Appendix R, Table 

R.3. The licensee used the surface 

contamination levels in unrestricted 

areas to satisfy the NRC requirement in 

Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for 

unrestricted use. The licensee’s final 

status survey results were below the 

DCGLs and are in compliance with the 

As Low As Reasonably Achievable 

(ALARA) requirement of 10 CFR 

20.1402. The NRC thus finds that the 

licensee’s final status survey results are 

acceptable. 

Based on its review, the staff has 

determined that the affected 

environment and any environmental 

impacts associated with the proposed 

action are bounded by the impacts 

evaluated by the ‘‘Generic 

Environmental Impact Statement in 

Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 

Criteria for License Termination of NRCLicensed Nuclear Facilities’’ (NUREG– 

1496) Volumes 1–3 (ML042310492, 

ML042320379, and ML042330385). The 

staff finds there were no significant 

environmental impacts from the use of 

radioactive material within Buildings 3 

and 28. The NRC staff reviewed the 

docket file records and the final status 

survey report to identify any nonradiological hazards that may have 

impacted the environment surrounding 

the buildings. No such hazards or 

impacts to the environment were 

identified. The NRC has identified no 

other radiological or non-radiological 

activities in the area that could result in 

cumulative environmental impacts. 

The NRC staff finds that the proposed 

release of Buildings 3 and 28 for 

unrestricted use is in compliance with 

10 CFR 20.1402. Based on its review, 

the staff considered the impact of the 

residual radioactivity from Buildings 3 

and 28 and concluded that the proposed 

action will not have a significant effect 

on the quality of the environment. 

Environmental Impacts of the 

Alternatives to the Proposed Action 

Due to the largely administrative 

nature of the proposed action, its 

environmental impacts are small. 

Therefore, the only alternative the staff 

considered is the no-action alternative, 

under which the staff would leave 

things as they are by simply denying the 

amendment request. This no-action 

alternative is not feasible because it 

conflicts with 10 CFR 30.36(d) requiring 

that decommissioning of byproduct 

material facilities be completed and 

approved by the NRC after licensed 

activities cease. The NRC’s analysis of 

the licensee’s final status survey data 

confirmed that Buildings 3 and 28 meet 

the requirements of 10 CFR 20.1402 for 

unrestricted use. Additionally, denying 

the amendment request would result in 

no change in current environmental 

impacts. The environmental impacts of 

the proposed action and the no-action 

alternative are therefore similar, and the 

no-action alternative is accordingly not 

further considered. 

Conclusion 

The NRC staff has concluded that the 

proposed action is consistent with the 

NRC’s unrestricted use criteria specified 

in 10 CFR 20.1402. Because the 

proposed action will not significantly 

impact the quality of the human 

environment, the NRC staff concludes 

that the proposed action is the preferred 

alternative. 

Agencies and Persons Consulted 

On July 27, 2009, the NRC provided 

a draft of this EA to the State of Iowa, 

Iowa Department of Public Health, 

Bureau of Radiological Health. The State 

responded during phone conversation 

on August 10, 2009, and had no 

comment or questions regarding the EA. 

The NRC staff has determined that the 

proposed action is of a procedural 

nature and will not affect listed species 

or critical habitat. Therefore, no further 

consultation is required under Section 7 

of the Endangered Species Act. The 

NRC staff also determined that the 

proposed action is not the type of 

activity that has the potential to cause 

effects on historic properties. Therefore, 

no further consultation is required 

under Section 106 of the National 

Historic Preservation Act. 

III. Finding of No Significant Impact 

The NRC staff has prepared this EA in 

support of the proposed action. On the 

basis of this EA, the NRC finds that 

there are no significant environmental 

impacts from the proposed action, and 

that preparation of an environmental 

impact statement is not warranted. 

Accordingly, the NRC has determined 

that a Finding of No Significant Impact 

is appropriate. 

IV. Further Information 

Documents related to this action, 

including the application for license 

amendment and supporting 

documentation, are available 

electronically at the NRC’s Electronic 

Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, 

you can access the NRC’s image files of 

NRC’s public documents. If you do not 

have access to ADAMS, or if there are 

problems in accessing the documents 

located in ADAMS, contact the NRC 

Public Document Room (PDR) Reference 

staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301–415–4737, 

or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. The 

documents related to this action are 

listed below, along with their ADAMS 

accession numbers. 

1. National Health Physics Program 

Request for Decommissioning for 

Unrestricted Release of Buildings 3 & 28 

for Demolition, dated March 19, 2009 

(ADAMS Accession No. ML090910183). 

2. Radiological Assessment of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 

Center Deconstruct Buildings 3 and 28, 

Iowa City, IA, Volume 1, dated August 

26, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML090910316). 

3. Radiological Assessment of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 

Center Deconstruct Buildings 3 and 28, 

Iowa City, IA, Volume 2, dated August 

26, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML090910669). 

4. Radiological Assessment of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 

Center Deconstruct Buildings 3 and 28, 

Iowa City, IA, Volume 3, dated August 

26, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML090910721). 

5. Radiological Assessment of the 

Department of Veterans Affairs Medical 

Center Deconstruct Buildings 3 and 28, 

Iowa City, IA, Volume 4, dated August 

26, 2008 (ADAMS Accession No. 

ML090910727). 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
46626 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 174 / Thursday, September 10, 2009 / Notices 

6. Title 10 Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 20, Subpart E, 

‘‘Radiological Criteria for License 

Termination.’’ 

7. Title 10 Code of Federal 

Regulations, Part 51, ‘‘Environmental 

Protection Regulations for Domestic 

Licensing and Related Regulatory 

Function.’’ 

8. NUREG–1556, ‘‘Consolidated 

Guidance about Material Licenses,’’ 

Volume 9. 

9. NUREG–1757, ‘‘Consolidated 

Decommissioning Guidance.’’ 

If you do not have access to ADAMS, 

or if there are problems in accessing the 

documents located in ADAMS, contact 

the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) 

Reference staff at 1–800–397–4209, 301– 

415–4737, or by e-mail to 

pdr.resource@nrc.gov. These documents 

may also be viewed electronically on 

the public computers located at the 

NRC’s PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint 

North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 

MD 20852. The PDR reproduction 

contractor will copy documents for a 

fee. 

Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 24th day of 

August 2009. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Christine A. Lipa, 

Branch Chief, Materials Control, ISFSI, and 

Decommissioning Branch, Division of Nuclear 

Materials Safety, Region III. 

[FR Doc. E9–21854 Filed 9–9–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

NUCLEAR REGULATORY 

COMMISSION 

[Docket No. 70–157; NRC–2009–0382] 

Notice of Opportunity To Request a 

Hearing for License Renewal 

Application From the University of 

Texas at Austin and Order Imposing 

Procedures for Access to Sensitive 

Unclassified Non-Safeguards 

Information (SUNSI) and Safeguards 

Information (SGI) for Contention 

Preparation 

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of license renewal 

application and opportunity to request a 

hearing. 

DATES: A request for a hearing must be 

filed by November 9, 2009. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Rafael L. Rodriguez, Project Manager, 

Fuel Manufacturing Branch, Division of 

Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office 

of Nuclear Material Safety and 

Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission, Mail Stop EBB–2–C40M, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, 

Telephone: (301) 492–3111; Fax 

number: (301) 492–3363; e-mail: 

Rafael.Rodriguez@nrc.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Introduction 

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission (NRC) has received, by 

letter dated December 13, 2007, an 

application from the University of Texas 

at Austin (UT or licensee) requesting 

renewal of its Special Nuclear Materials 

License No. SNM–180. License No. 

SNM–180 authorizes the licensee to 

receive title to, own, acquire, receive, 

possess, use, and transfer plutonium 

and uranium enriched up to 20% wt. 

The licensee will use the licensed 

material to supplement its training and 

instruction programs in the field of 

nuclear engineering. The licensed 

material will be used in the UT Nuclear 

Engineering Teaching Laboratory 

located at the University’s J.J. Pickle 

Research Campus (formerly known as 

the Balcones Research Center). 

An administrative review, 

documented in a letter to UT dated 

February 26, 2008, found the 

application acceptable to begin a formal 

technical review. If the NRC approves 

the application, SNM–180 will be 

renewed for a period of 10 years. 

However, before approving the 

proposed renewal, the NRC will need to 

make the findings required by the 

Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended 

(the Act), and the NRC’s regulations. 

These findings will be documented in a 

Safety Evaluation Report and an 

Environmental Assessment or 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

II. Opportunity To Request a Hearing 

The NRC hereby provides notice that 

this is a proceeding on an application to 

renew License No. SNM–180 for the 

University of Texas at Austin. Any 

person whose interest may be affected 

by this proceeding and who desires to 

participate as a party, must file a request 

for a hearing and a specification of the 

contentions which the person seeks to 

have litigated in the hearing, in 

accordance with the NRC E-Filing rule, 

which the NRC promulgated on August 

28, 2007 (72 FR 49139). All documents 

filed in NRC adjudicatory proceedings, 

including documents filed by interested 

governmental entities participating 

under 10 CFR 2.315(c) and any motion 

or other document filed in the 

proceeding prior to the submission of a 

request for hearing or petition to 

intervene, must be filed in accordance 

with the E-Filing rule. The E-Filing rule 

requires participants to submit and 

serve documents over the Internet or, in 

some cases, to mail copies on electronic 

storage media. Participants may not 

submit paper copies of their filings 

unless they seek a waiver in accordance 

with the procedures described below. 

To comply with the procedural 

requirements of E-Filing, at least ten 

(10) days prior to the filing deadline, the 

petitioner/requestor must contact the 

Office of the Secretary by e-mail at 

Hearing.Docket@nrc.gov, or by calling 

(301) 415–1677, to request: (1) A digital 

ID certificate, which allows the 

participant (or its counsel or 

representative) to digitally sign 

documents and access the E-Submittal 

server for any proceeding in which it is 

participating; and/or (2) creation of an 

electronic docket for the proceeding 

(even in instances in which the 

petitioner/requestor (or its counsel or 

representative) already holds an NRCissued digital ID certificate). Each 

petitioner/requestor will need to 

download the Workplace Forms 

ViewerTM to access the Electronic 

Information Exchange (EIE), a 

component of the E-Filing system. The 

Workplace Forms ViewerTM is free and 

is available at http://www.nrc.gov/sitehelp/e-submittals/install-viewer.html. 

Information about applying for a digital 

ID certificate is available on NRC’s 

public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/ 

site-help/e-submittals/applycertificates.html. 

Once a petitioner/requestor has 

obtained a digital ID certificate, had a 

docket created, and downloaded the EIE 

viewer, it can then submit a request for 

hearing or petition for leave to 

intervene. Submissions should be in 

Portable Document Format (PDF) in 

accordance with NRC guidance 

available on the NRC public Web site at 

http://www.nrc.gov/site-help/esubmittals.html. A filing is considered 

complete at the time the filer submits its 

documents through EIE. To be timely, 

an electronic filing must be submitted to 

the EIE system no later than 11:59 p.m., 

Eastern Time on the due date. Upon 

receipt of a transmission, the E-Filing 

system time-stamps the document and 

sends the submitter an e-mail notice 

confirming receipt of the document. The 

EIE system also distributes an e-mail 

notice that provides access to the 

document to the NRC Office of the 

General Counsel and any others who 

have advised the Office of the Secretary 

that they wish to participate in the 

proceeding, so that the filer need not 

serve the documents on those 

participants separately. Therefore, 

applicants and other participants (or 

their counsel or representative) must 

apply for and receive a digital ID 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES